Strollerderby

Japan's immigration laws are quite ridiculous and do have a lot to do with xenophobia amoung the more conservative members of the government (the same govt. that denies the massacre at Nanking and the whole situation with 'comfort women').  

I personally started learning Japanese as someone working in the fashion industry because I thought that it would be a great opportunity to work in that countries fashion industry.  That did lead to learning a lot about their culture which is quite amazing, but like many countries that have been more insular in the past, dealing with the newly global world is problematic.  

I do recall something about the immigration office refusing to allow Velvet Revolver entrance into the country because they thought they would make trouble.  That was pretty funny yet silly in some ways.

The Japanese are notoriously racist too.  Noriko is not a citizen because she is not 100% Japanese by blood.  She is without a country. Children born in Japan of mixed race are also not citizens even if one parent is a citizen and Japanese.  They dont want mixing.  The orphanages that the Japanese pretend dont exist are full of half Japanese children that have no rights or ciizenship.  They cannot work when they are adults or receive an education.  

Alice, I have no idea where you are getting your information about Japan, but you are wrong. I know this for a fact as my children are "mixed"- half American and half Japanese.  They are in fact Japanese citizens as well as American. They have dual citizenship and carry both passports when we travel. I know hundreds of such "mixed" kids who are in fact Japanese citizens with Japanese passports and full benefits. All "mixed" kids are recognized as citizens if the proper paperwork and procedures are filed at birth, just as is required of children born to two Japanese parents.    

There are some cases of "mixed" children of Japanese men who deny paternity which of course causes problems for the child and mother, but as a general blanket statement you are 100% wrong.

Noriko is not a citizen because her parents are not Japanese, and Japan does not grant citizenship just because you are born on their soil.  America is one of the few countries that does.  

I guess I understand her decision to stay in Japan, and at least she has family there still. But I couldn't imagine not seeing my mom for 5 years.

I don't know much about Japan, but my Uncle is in the Navy and him and his wife and 3 kids were stationed in Japan for a year, and are now returning there for awhile. They said it was great and my aunt was even really excited to be going back to Japan... so it cant be all that bad.

At 13 I would have wanted to stay with my parents, but our situation was different from the Calderons' situation. Maybe her parents even want her to stay there and told her how to choose. They wanted better opportunities for her than they felt she'd have in the Philippines.