Voices of Filipinos in Japan: Language, work, identity, inclusion

Last March 4, at the Shizuka Prefectural University, a lecture presenting the voices of Filipinos in Japan we interviewed last year was held.

In January 1, 1992, my book on Filipino Entertainers in Japan: An Introduction was published by The Foundation for Nationalist Studies Inc. through the kindness of our nationalist historian, Renato Constantino.

The voices of about 28 Filipino women entertainers and the 18 who answered our questionnaires were heard through the 134 pages of the book which discussed in Chapter 1 - The turning point – the reasons for coming to Japan, their initial passage to Japan and flying to Japan, Chapter 2 - Touchdown: Japan – their early impression of Japan and the Japanese, their encounter with entertainment (This is Entertainment?) and there is business like show business, and Chapter 3 - Homecoming Philippines (To go home, to stay or to overstay?), going to Japan, positive or negative and, to ban or not to ban: all must decide and act now.

Philippine Ambassador to Japan, Ramon V. del Rosario, through the introduction of Deputy Ambassador Benjamin Sanvictores, commissioned me to research on why so many Filipino women were coming to Japan, despite the real danger of death which claimed the life of a very young Filipino entertainer in Fukushima, Maricris Sioson. Her media-sensationalized death triggered a major diplomatic row between the Philippines and Japan and a Philippine Senate investigation.

In October 1991, Ambassador Ramon del Rosario emphasized that “this is a project whose time has come. We have to decide as a nation, once and for all, that building a stronger Philippines should not be at the expense of the exploitation of the Filipino women.”

The voices in that first book of ours were those of very young, female Filipino entertainers first sighted in Japan in large numbers from 1979, surged from 9,125 in 1983 to 41,423 in 1988, then to 42,867 in 1991.

The issues/concerns/problems that they raised then are still being echoed by more than 50 Filipinos we interviewed last year, from October to December, 2025 principally those in the Chubu and Kanto areas.

The Filipino voices shared during that Wednesday lecture were no longer predominantly those of single/young/female entertainers because the demographic landscape of Filipino migrants in Japan has totally diversified since the 1990s.

Instead, the voices heard last Wednesday was an orchestra composed of male/female Filipinos of various ages, with various residence statuses and coming from various prefectures within Japan.

These 2026 voices focused on problems they experienced, like language/cultural gap, work-family-identity-related issues, and those or marginalization/exclusion within Japan and even within their own families/households and Filipino society/culture!

More and urgent short/long-term bilateral/multisectoral responses need to be added to the ongoing responses to better protect more Filipino migrants in Japan.

Thank you to the Shizuoka Prefectural University, to Prof. Michiyo Yoneno-Reyes for facilitating that lecture, to Professor/Dean Sachi Takahata (the Japanese translator of my book on entertainers) and the University of Shizuoka Center for Global Studies (CEGLOS) to Prof. Ryo Matsumaru, Director and Shimamura-sensei of Toyo University Center for Sustainable Development Studies their kind research assistance/support, to the Commission on Filipino Overseas (CFO) through Ms. Ivy Miravalles and their Chubu team for sharing their field report/questionnaire results, to the Philippine Consulate in Nagoya officials/staff, to Dr. Hiroya Takamatsu of Musashino University Entrepreneurship Institute for his invaluable data assistance/analysis/presentation, to Virgie Ishihara of Filipino Migrant Center, Nestor Puno of Nagoya’s Ecumenical Learning Center, to the Filipino Nagkakaisa NPO and Philippines Nakama Organization, to Dr. May Salavia for her research results on Mental Health of Filipino migrants, to all our informants/respondents who shared their precious time/experiences/VOICES, and, to all who shared their time onsite/online for the March 4 lecture.

Most especially, thank you, dear God, for your guidance for that March 4 fruitful lecture.