English Audio Request

Yesterday, I got a phone call from a friend of mine who is an American lady and has been living in Japan for maybe 20 years.

I heard something from her that really weighed on my mind.

She has been suffering from a problem regarding her 10-year-old daughter. The girl is a young, sensitive half-Japanese girl. It's sad to say, but it is true that she has been bullied for years at school.

On Skype, the girl seems to have contacted her two older sisters who are high school and college students now in the US. They said to the little girl, "It will never stop." Never? Is it hopeless?

I was shocked to find out that those older daughters also faced bullying at school in Japan. The mother told me that there was no choice but for them to leave Japan after graduating from their junior high school.

I don't know why this awful thing is happening to them.

Is it just because they are half-Japanese? Is it because the mother's Japanese language ablility is not enough to get this problem across to teachers at school?

I know that the mother has been trying to adjust herself in Japan for a long time. In my view she is a quiet person.

I heard another similar case before that an Australian mother had four children with her Japanese husband. She lived near my house. It was more serious, because they were not able to go to school. As a result, the mother and children left Japan for Australia several years ago.

I feel I am doing something shameful writing about it, because I'm a Japanese person who loves my own country. However, I can't help but think, " Why, why, why?"