NORIKO CALDERON

Yes, you read it correctly. That is a Japanese given name attached to a Spanish surname. Which, if you think about it, is remarkable.

Noriko Calderon is a thirteen year old girl in Saitama prefecture who found out two years ago that she was Philippino. It happened when her mother was arrested for being an illegal alien. Turns out her dad was one too.
Up to that moment, Noriko had believed that she was Japanese - she was born in Japan, she speaks only Japanese, she is pretty much indistinguishable from her classmates at the junior high school she attends.
And, of course, she knows no Tagalog whatsoever.


That last is not as strange as it sounds, when you consider that her parents had no cause to share either personal characteristics or data with their child that would draw unfavourable attention and get them all kicked out of Japan.
In fact, they would have had every reason to learn accentless Japanese themselves, and impart that same 'accentless accent' to their daughter. Which, apparently, they did successfully.

I would imagine that even the food they ate at home was in no way remarkable or non-Japanese.
Even knowing about pork-adobo, dinuguan, or pancit molo, would mark the child as eccentric, deviant, oddball, and ....... FOREIGN.


Noriko's mother was arrested in July of 2006 for not having proper papers during a spot-check of foreigners on the streets near a train station.
Since then, the family has been trying to stay in Japan, though it looks like all legal options have come to naught. The parents have been ordered to leave Japan by the end of the month. Noriko may be allowed to stay, however that does not appear to be a realistic option.


BBC article:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7887704.stm

Quote:
Justice Minister Eisuke Mori, who oversees immigration, told reporters: "I have decided not to grant a special residential permit to the entire family."
A leading human rights lawyer handling the case said the immigration bureau had told the parents they had until 27 February to choose a departure date.
The immigration authorities warned that Noriko's 36-year-old father could be detained if he refused to leave.
"We accept neither the deportation of the whole family nor sending back only the parents," said lawyer Shogo Watanabe.
He said he would continue negotiating for the parents to be allowed to stay at least until the daughter was older.
Noriko's father said: "She is 13 years old. She cannot survive or protect herself alone."


I seriously doubt that dumping a young Japanese girl who cannot speak any Tagalog into the middle of the Philippines is either wise or in the girl's best interest. And it could possibly endanger her, as she has absolutely no survival skills in that environment, nor any clue about the dynamics of Philippino social relations. One would hope that the Japanese would understand this.

Even if they do have unrealistic faith in the survival skills and adaptability of Japanese-educated juveniles in any context.



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