Assistance for Foreign Resident Communities

In order to establish a framework of support for foreign residents living in Hyogo prefecture, and also to support the independence of foreign resident communities with weak institutional foundations that support foreign residents, the Hyogo International Association is experimentally operating a program in cooperation with NGOs to nurture and support foreign resident communities and their core human resources.

Although they have weak financial or organizational foundations, the following three groups provide active support of the foreign residents living in Hyogo.

• NGO VIETNAM in KOBE (Vietnamese Community, Representative: Ha Thi Thanh Nga)
• Comunidade Brasileira de Kansai (Brazilian Community, Representative: Malina Matsubara)
• Hyogo Latin Community (Peruvian Community, Representative: Roxana Ajipe Oshiro)

Takatori Community Center (A specified nonprofit corporation, Chairman of the Board: Hiroshi Kanda)

Cooperation is necessary between the foreign resident communities, NGO, and the Hyogo International Association. The role of these three organizations is as follows:

Foreign resident community: Supporting foreign residents
(Examples)

• Consultation services
• Collecting and supplying information on living in Japan
• Publishing native language information magazines
• Operating Japanese language classes
• Support education for foreign children (including classes in their native language)
• Medical interpretation services
• Other support programs

NGO: Offering knowledge to support, creating and overseeing business plans

Hyogo International Association: Financial support, information for foreign resident communities and NGOs, contact between the prefecture and other organizations