The New Japayuki

By Carlo Osi
INQUIRER.net
Posted date: November 27, 2007

I recently came across an Inquirer online article about two Filipinas who suffered terrible fates in Singapore. Lured by the prospect, if not outright promise of increased earning capacity, these two decent ladies traveled to Singapore only to be ensnared in the dragnet of prostitution. Their fate was unfathomable.

True, there are hundreds of other Filipinos in Singapore who are professionals tapped for their technical skills or analytical know-how. Other than the US and Hong Kong, Filipino lawyers seeking work abroad certainly see that small island as another important center of opportunity. But as in many other city centers in the world, some of our countrymen are lured into work they did not sign up for – despicable sex-related jobs they would not have considered at all had they known beforehand.

This is not a new phenomenon. It’s been said that prostitution is the oldest profession after all. But being forced into it by contractual trickery or extreme poverty is regrettable and deeply worrisome. Have we not learned to suppress lawless, possibly fly-by-night recruitment agencies which cajole our young women for supposedly honest-to-goodness job placements, only to find themselves trapped, helpless and desperate? The short answer to this is, yes we have learned, but also yes, this type of illicit organization still abounds.

To some extent, this may be because some Filipinos are too innocent, too gullible or plainly too ignorant of the accompanying dangers. To be sure, not all jobs abroad carry inherent dangers. We would not have 10% or so of our population working literally everywhere in the world if the only jobs open to our race were fraught with potential harm. But there are certain jobs – and I say this with no intent to castigate – particularly those related to bar or club entertainment, that arguably have high potential for danger.

The two Filipinas managed to escape their wretched conditions in Singapore, buy there are most likely countless others still trapped in there; they need to be found and properly assisted. To be fair, their plight can be said to be the exception; it is not the general rule that Filipinas who work in Singapore end up forcibly working in the sleaziest of professions. There simply has to be more vigilance to curb this rising trend – or so the article claimed.

Beyond Singapore, Japan has been the center of similar controversies for decades. In the 1980’s, the term “Japayuki” was coined to describe Filipinas bound for Japan under the pretext of housekeeping or honest entertainment work, only to be compelled to work as prostitutes in the thriving sex industry. They were hospitality girls. Derogatory as it was, many Filipinas bound for work in Japan were tagged Japayukis regardless of their kind of work.

It’s hard to cite precise statistics, but these Japayukis were able to remit sizeable amounts to support their families back home. Unless they were poorly paid or not paid at all, some were estimated to earn just a little less than $3,000 a month, more than an office lady, entry-level manager or second year law associate would earn in the Philippines. Serving their own ends, they were able to contribute to the national economy. They joined the country’s “Bagong Bayani,” new heroes who toil in foreign lands to send much needed dollars home.

The disparaging term Japayuki may have been born from the Japanese word “Karayuki,” a Japanese lady who went abroad to work (but were most likely sold) as prostitutes in nearby countries, notably Singapore, from 1870 to 1940. Japayuki was most likely coined to mean a reverse migration of Filipinas trooping to Japan to do exactly what the Karayuki did pre-war.

In practice, Japayuki refers to Filipinas who worked, or are working, as cultural dancers, bar hostesses or entertainers in Japan – with a sternly negative connotation. It has also become Filipino slang often used to justify how one amassed a small fortune in a relatively short time, presumably while “working” or “entertaining” in Japan. For the few men who become entangled in this profession, the term specifically developed for them was “Hosto,” but it did not adapted as widely as the term Japayuki.

Like the two Filipinas in Singapore, the confluence of shady recruiters, malevolent deception, physical detention, passport confiscation and round-the-clock monitoring characterized the plight of many Japayukis. Haven’t we all heard a story of some innocent young lady tricked to work in Japan with the lure of comfortable salaries but forced into white slavery upon arrival?

While in Japan, I happened to come across one of our own countrymen unabashedly telling other foreigners that these Filipino ladies volunteered to go into prostitution; and that there is absolutely no bar or entertainment joint in that country which promotes illegal activities because they allegedly have complete government papers.

What a mockery! Either he was too blind or too dumb (or both) to believe that the Filipinas were duped into, and did not contract for such slavery. It’s like some Japanese legislators saying that comfort women in WWII were recruited by a private third party, voluntarily signed up for the job and received handsome salaries. Still in denial, one may conclude.

But there is an emerging positive connotation to the term Japayuki. It’s time to reform its undesirable vibe to generally mean Filipinos Japan-bound or already residents, without any sexual or negative implication. More importantly, a new type of Japayuki should be denominated: someone going to or already in Japan because of talents, skills, knowledge, practice or expertise, not for any illegal activity.

Part of this necessary evolution stems from the fact that so many Filipino scholars are being sent to Japan to study education, law, dentistry, engineering, agriculture and a host of other courses. Mostly Mombusho (Japanese government) scholars, these students at the undergraduate, graduate (masteral) and post-grad levels do not pay any tuition, are given generous stipends, assigned dorm units and sent to top universities. Every year, there are at least 150 to 250 students who leave for Japan as Mombusho scholars and spread to as far north as Hokkaido University to as far south as schools in Okinawa.

Academic stay can range from 6 months to 5 or more years, especially for those enrolled in Masters and/or PhD programs. Ateneo undergrads usually attend the Japan in Today’s World (JTW) program for 6 months, while UP Lawyers perform exceptionally well in the YLP-Mombusho one-year LL.M. program. Recruits for the teacher-training program come from all Philippine regions. Thus, Filipino students can be found literally everywhere in Japan nowadays.

Besides these students, other newer Japayuki legally reside and work in Japan as religious workers, software engineers, hotel staff, restaurant operators and nurses, to name a few. In Tokyo, there are even a handful of Filipino lawyers working in the top-tier firms while two attorneys are consulting for an Osaka law firm. Thus there is a burgeoning trend for newer and better opportunities for Filipinos wanting to work or study in Japan.

There must therefore be a gradual shift from the denigrating, generically Japayuki to student-Japayuki, religious worker-Japayuki and so forth. To perpetuate a useless stigma contributes absolutely nothing to national growth and maturity.

The life of a student-Japayuki is admittedly a blissful one. Where in the world will one find a country willing to sponsor thousands upon thousands of scholars from all over the world for years-long scholarships? No tuition at all, no significant school fees to pay, monthly receipt of stipends reaching thousands of dollars and regulated capacity to work part-time. Not even the
US can match this kind of generosity.

Even if a university in Europe could match this, its scholarships are circumscribed only to a specific university, not to most of the other learning institutions in that country. Japan is radically and astutely different in that Mombusho scholarships are open to various nationalities spread out in public and private universities around the country. The scholarship program is a national government program, not merely university-based.

Student-Japayukis are sometimes awarded additional travel allowance and internship opportunities, leading to a fulfilled experience at the end of the program. Hence, student-Japayukis are not known to illegally extend their stay in Japan, work with expired work permits, marry Japanese to forestall deportation or become involved in unlawful matters.

Student-Japayukis are well liked by the faculty because of the natural genius and exuberance of Filipinos. With their politeness and honesty, they mirror basic Japanese attitudes. They are also markedly singled out as achievers and almost always outperform and outclass other nationalities, even those from North America. This may not be due only to sheer talent, but also the need to correct the once precarious connotation of a Filipina in Japan as most likely a hospitality girl.

Fueled by desire to prove one’s self and in part due to national pride, student-Japayukis and generic worker-Japayukis typically prove to be the cream of the crop. Since the country normally sends the best and the brightest, it is not surprising that Japan keeps on seeking more and more Filipino student-Japayukis and worker-Japayukis.

I happen to be one of the recent student-Japayukis who finished a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from a renowned university in west Japan. Taught entirely in English, with Japanese language as an optional course, the one-year LL.M. program was both insightful and useful. It allowed me to interact and study with notable law scholars from many parts of the world under highly competent Japanese and European professors.

It also provided me with a platform, particularly among my Japanese friends and lawyer-acquaintances, to demonstrate that Filipinos are truly worth investing scholarship money in. I likewise experienced being a worker-Japayuki (an OCW in Japan) on a research job and legal consulting work after I graduated.

The imperfect relationship between our two countries notwithstanding, it must be recognized that Japan does a lot of good when it sends Filipinos to Japanese universities to amass innumerable knowledge for use back home. Through constant interaction with fellow student- and worker-Japayukis, it dawned on me that the loathsome term ‘Japayuki’ must be reinterpreted and redefined. The Philippines must be more mature in realizing that nothing can be had in name-calling and stigmatization. There is a new Japayuki and no one can denigrate her or him.

The author was a Young Leaders Program/Mombusho scholar at the Kyushu University Faculty of Law in Fukuoka, Japan where he took his Master of Laws in 2005-2006. Before graduation, he was recruited as research associate and has also performed legal consulting work with Japanese lawyers. He is now an LL.M-candidate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and undergoing a cross Wharton School -disciplinary program. He is an on-leave Associate in one of the country’s biggest law firms in Makati City.