ABSTRACT
Since the 1990s, a large number of migrants have arrived in Japan with their school-age children. Without prior substantial experience of overtly multi-ethnic and multicultural student populations, Japanese schools have attempted to respond to this challenge, initially with individual school level initiatives, and later with assistance from local education boards and governments, and subsequently from the national government. While these attempts were no doubt helpful for the children’s adaptation to their new environment, they were not suffi cient. Many migrant children struggled to keep up with school work, found school to be culturally alienating and were unable to advance beyond compulsory schooling. Some opted to leave regular schools for independently operated ethnic schools.
