Essays of People with Two Hearts:

A Book and Multimedia Art Documentary Project With Community Essay Reading Activities of Filipino Immigrants in Japan on Family Value Formation, Commitment Between the Philippines and Japan, Peace Between Two Nations and Building Multicultural Society.

Rationale

Two hearts refers to Filipino immigrants whose love in the Philippines and Japan has grown equally through decades as parents and as civic leaders residing in Japan. They are the living witnesses of yesterday’s generations of Japan immigrants. Their meaningful life is worth learning and an important anthropological contribution to the development of multicultural society of Japan.

Compared to the history of Filipino migration in North America, Japan has much shorter period (after World War II) but has very peculiar developments needing elaboration and further studies. Given that the Japanese society is currently in the process of knowing and accommodating the concept of multicultural society, the more it needs hard facts and evidences on how the local people can live together in harmony with foreigners in the country.

People with two hearts or the Filipino immigrant in Japan who lives in the country for nearly three decades or more has big stories needing to be told. They are the people who continuously keep their commitments to the loved ones and compatriots back in the Philippines that at the same time keep on living their commitment to the Japanese society.

Their long years of experience makes them good in giving a parent advise to the new generation of Filipino-Japanese families in keeping good family values within the union and on how each countries cultural heritage within the family can best promoted. As civic leaders, their active participation in community affairs kept people abreast to human rights protection and promotion, protecting resources for the consumption of next generation, and quest for a peaceful world. A well seasoned people who have maintained faith within the family of differing beliefs and religion and more.

Nobody will doubt that the documented testimonies of people with two hearts across Japan whose three decades or more experience living in the country will be a powerful printed and multimedia materials for family value formation, greater understanding between the Philippines and Japan, quest for peace between two nations and usable material for building multicultural society in Japan.

It is for this purpose that the Center for Japanese-Filipino Families (CJFF) is initiating the book and multimedia art documentary project titled Tales of People with Two Hearts with commissioned known writers and multimedia artist. The project will be a joint collaboration and co-ownership between CJFF, the writers and the multimedia artist and by the chosen people with two hearts whose lives and dedication will be printed on books and available in multimedia art (video and internet).

Objectives

1. To provide documented materials for promoting family value education and for promoting friendship, understanding and cooperation along the issues of peace and for building multicultural society.

2. To document and to keep an anthropological and ethnographical records of Filipino-Japanese families in Japan.

3. To organize essay reading sessions and video showing in communities where people of two hearts resides as educational related activities for the community and for documentation purposes.

Documentation scope and Methodologies

1. Twelve people will be selected out of long list of names to be gathered from various parts of Japan. Public notice, invitation and advertisement to search for possible person as subject will be distributed by CJFF. The selection of twelve people will be based on duration of stay in Japan, remarkable experiences, impact of presence in the community, notable contributions to the family/community and society, willingness of the subject person, and others.

2. The form in gathering and in building the information and data needed is through interviews and story telling activities to be organized in the communities. Story telling as a popular form will be attended close family members, friends, and other community members with the subject person as the story teller. The story telling sessions will be used for documentary purposes besides holding this is very educational.

3. There will be twelve story telling sessions to be held one after the other in various part of Japan where the subject person resides. Each story telling session will produce booklet as primary output materials for distribution.

4. The compiled interviews and story session will comprise the stories of the book and later the video film.

Thematic questions

1. Questions of Identity: how to construct/negotiate competing identities rooted in Filipino or Japanese practices. Does there a kind of Filipino-Japanese identity being promoted?

2. Questions of Cultural Values: how does religious orientation of Filipino affect the generally indifferent religious orientation of the Japanese?

3. Questions of Economic Roles and Practices: what are economic roles of family members, especially in a situation where the Filipina mother is an active income earner; does this create tensions with the Japanese male partner?

4. Questions of Political Roles and Practices: does the Filipina mother, especially if she is gainfully employed, question/reconstruct traditional gender and power relationships within the family; how does the Japanese-Filipino family relate to the wider Japanese community, and how are they seen by mainstream Japanese?

5. Questions of bicultural union: Does the expectations for having a Filipino wife and Japanese husband met? What are the threat and opportunities within the marriage? What are the aspirations as a family especially from point of view of children and youth, and identifying the day-to-day problems and struggle as well as successes of members of Japanese-Filipino families?

Mechanics and Methodologies

Institutional partnership and collaboration work with known writers and multimedia artist together with people with two hearts all over Japan will be developed by CJFF. There are several newspaper and magazines companies who cater to Filipino communities that are present in almost all regions of Japan. CJFF will establish network and partnership with these writers and publishing companies to collaborate in the people with two hearts project by having one of their writers to make an essay of a people with two hearts living in their regions. The written essay will be printed on a booklet for each people with two hearts as part of compendium of booklets of essays.

After a year of collecting and printing of essays of people with two hearts, a Night of Tribute and Giving Honor to People with Two Hearts will be the culminating activity. It is a night wherein all people with two hearts, the writers and publishers and invited guest will pay tribute to the most noted people with two hearts. Certificates of recognition and appreciation will be awarded to all who participated in the event. After the culmination night, book making and printing will be done.

People with Two Hearts Program Committee will be formed by CJFF. As of this writing, Prof. Rolando Tolentino of the Osaka University of Foreign Studies; and Rev. Toshifumi Aso, chairperson of CJFF have confirmed their commitment to become part of the program committee.

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