Faster than a speeding bullet train

Tthe Shinkansen, Japan’s highspeed express train that connects the Narita Airport and downtown Tokyo. I was on board from Tokyo to Kyoto after a short ride on the JR Line from Ueno to Tokyo.

The Shinkansen was speeding at 160 kilometers per hour for a ¥2,520

laptop, tablet and mobile phone.

I learned that I am one of the more than 3 million visitors to Japan, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO). Although there has been a decrease of tourists elsewhere, visitors from Southeast Asia — including the Philippines and Vietnam — increased by 20 percent compared to 2017. China accounted for more than a million.

Aquno International Airport Terminal 3 to Narita after a less than an hour’s delay (which has become normal given the state of the Philippines’ international airports).

- dow I saw what seemed to be a blur of dwellings ( which were predominantly high-rises in Tokyo and single detached houses in Nagoya). From there, verdant

of the track until Kyoto.

Navigating the gates and platforms of Japan’s rail stations is not that bad. But not that easy either. There were English signs, true. But the labyrinth needed a personal touch. So, I relied on personal touch — asking directions from the station ticket masters. That worked. And there was no shortage of helpful Japanese pointing, not with their lips as Filipinos do, but with gestures and smiles. Language was a barrier, but human interaction was not.

The short ride on the JR Liner from Ueno to Tokyo was fast as well. Tickets were printed out and marked by the ticket agent to emphasize which one we should use from Ueno to Tokyo, then Tokyo to Kyoto. I was traveling with my eldest living sister and

time visitors to Japan.

were beneficiaries of tickets and accommodation courtesy of my grandniece who works as photographer for Summit Hold

hence the freebie), we wandered aimlessly in the streets of Ueno, crossing a road that turns out to be a food haven for workers and visitors alike, then on the main road (signs were mostly in Japanese) and to the closest park.

founded as Heian in 794 and had its golden age during the court’s heyday from 794 to 1185. Home to many cultural landmarks and historical sites, Kyoto is thought of as the heart of Japan.”

Our own hearts were beat

in Kyoto, but where would the temples be? Impromptu as our second day in Japan was, we did not have any maps — just the optimism that we would find what we came for. Surprisingly the station agents and even restaurant workers were not familiar — or could not understand our questions for directions — with the location of the temples we wanted to go to.

rail station and hopped on the local train, still asking for directions and destinations. I sat beside a German couple who had a tourist map of Kyoto. It turned out they were temple

in Japanese is close to zilch, my German is zero.

a small station), we decided to try the next one, ready or not, right or wrong. My instinct paid dividends. It was the Inari stop. Turned out the gods were with us.

The Fushimi Inaril-taisha Shrine is one of the most popular shrines in Japan. The seemingly unending path or over 5,000 vibrant orange torii gates that wind through the hills, start with a huge torii where

Climbing the stone steps was a Japanese family of four, the eldest being a matriarch assisted by a Filipina caregiver. How did I know? Filipinos stand out among their Japanese counterparts — by skin color and bearing mostly.

I decided against striking a conversation while the Filipina caregiver was at work.

Looks like she will be joined soon by at least a new batch of 50 nurses and 300 caregivers that the Philippine government is preparing to deploy to Japan next year.

On March 3, 2019, the Philippine Overseas Employment Admnistration (POEA) announced work opportunities for 50 nurses ( and 300 caregivers ( pursuant to the next “batch of vacancies… for deployment to Japan under the Framework for the Movement of Natural Persons of the Philippines-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (PJEPA) and the Japan

fare Services (Jicwels).”

In 2010, there were less than a hundred — legally and otherwise — caregivers in Japan, based on POEA statistics. The top three destination countries for caregivers were Israel, Taiwan and Canada; 6,184 care workers beat the combined deployment (2,908)to the two countries.

Six years later, there were

choreographers and dancers.

Japan is a graying country in need of elderly carers. Its ‘sandwich

care of parents, them being parents themselves. This phenomenon is not exclusive to Japan. The US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe constitute the continents and countries in need of caregivers and care workers.

- lia, New Zealand and the UK are preferred destinations as Englishspeaking countries with better pay and working conditions, Japan has been a formidable challenge.

The POEA and PJEPA believes they can hurdle that linguistic concern. This year Japan is reported to need 800,000 caregivers.

P70,000 per month, free Japanese language training, and no placement fee, the POEA’s optimism seems not to be misplaced.

Filipino nurses and caregivers are preferred in Japan because of their reputation in the care industry.

According to the interpreter of Taiji Yamada, chairman of the board of Taizankai, the Japanese have seen how caring the Filipinos are when comes to health. This is probably the main reason

Filipino caregivers.

This year and the next, the POEA seek to turn the tide and speed up the recruitment of nurses and caregivers to the Land of the Rising Sun.

But there’s the language problem. English is a de facto second language for most Filipinos. But Nihongo? Nah.

Maybe ramen, sashimi and anime are familiar words but getting into an understandable conversation without a propensity of gestures is rare, unless one has been moored in Japanese culture or tied a wedding knot.

In 2017, Filipinos made up Japan’s fourth-largest foreign community, according to the Ministry of Justice. After reaching a high of 245,518 in 1998, migration of Filipinos fell to 144,871, gradually recovering the years after.

During that decade, Japanese-Filipino marriages were the most frequent of all international marriages in Japan.

Japan’s immigration authority reports say there has been an increase in the number of foreigners who consider marrying a Japanese national. An official announcement explains that foreigners wishing to come to Japan as spouses need a visa for a spouse or child of a Japanese national. - formed at a municipality where

Japanese spouse resides). Visas for a de facto or common law relationships are not issued. The requirement to have met in person and able to communicate are strictly enforced to curtail marriage by convenience.

The Commission on Filipinos Overseas reports 542,725 Filipinos (mainly women) have married foreign spouses, up from 7.819 to an average of 20,000 plus since 2009.

The number of Filipino spouses of Japanese nationals (2,149) was second only to the United States (3,314) in 1989. Six years

10,190 for those migrating to US as spouses and 8,601 to Japan.

Since 2013, the number of Filipino spouses of Japanese nationals never went beyond the 2,000 mark. Over a 40-year period, green card holder spouses in the US was almost twice as big

237, 155 to 124,370.

Communication, or the ability to interact with an elderly employer or spouse, is key to migration to the land where the word “tsunami” took on a different meaning in 2011 after a tragic intensity 9 earthquake.

Caregivers intending to be part of the PJEPA and POEA venture are required to undergo a total of 12 months intensive Japanese

language training before working, which consist of six months intensive preparatory Japanese language training in the Philippines ( live- in) and six months intensive Japanese language training in Japan (live-in).

Those who have a Japanese Language Proficiency Training

empted from doing the JLPT in the Philippines.

JLPT level N3 seems to be the median. At this level, a caregiver is expected “to read listen and understand written materials

everyday topics; grasp summary information such as newspaper headlines and read slightly dif

- eryday situations and understand the main points of the content if some alternative phrases are available to aid one’s understanding.”

Candidates must be motivated and committed to work and study as candidate for “to obtain a national license in Japan.

The average P70,000 monthly salary should be enough of a motivating factor, given the low monthly pay that even licensed nurses get in the Philippines.

Could the speed of deployment reach Shinkanshen levels then? Maybe if the temple gods and monks’ spirit give their blessings. For that, a collective

from OFW families.