Japan Press Weekly

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2023 May 31 - June 6 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

2nd gen. war-displaced Japanese orphans who returned from China need public support

Second-generation Japanese war orphans, who returned from China after Japan-China diplomatic relations were normalized in 1972, submitted about 27,000 signatures to both the Lower House speaker and the Upper House president on June 5, demanding that the support law currently applied only to their parents be also applied to the second-generation returnees.

In submitting the signatures, they held a rally in the House of Councilors members' office building. Japanese Communist Party Takahashi Chizuko (Lower House) and Kurabayashi Akiko (Upper House) attended the rally.

Due to the long-standing government policy of restricting the number of returnees from outside Japan after WWII, the return of many second-generation Japanese who had been left behind in China was delayed. Even after they returned to Japan, they could not receive sufficient public assistance to live in Japan. At present, their parents, or the former Japanese war orphans, are eligible for assistance from the "Act on Measures on Expediting of Smooth Return of Remaining Japanese in China and for Assistance in Self-Support after Permanent Return to Japan".

The second-generation returnees said, "We have no support from the government. We are also victims of the war, the same as our parents. We want to live in Japan with dignity."

Past related article:
> 2nd-generation Japanese returnees from China seek public assistance [April 19, 2022]