「レッツゴー キャム！」Cam, Ikuzo! Come follow Camden’s journey! December 2024

On November 26th, the current state of intercultural cohesion in Matsudo and the necessary steps going forward to promote participation in a society of intercultural cohesion were discussed at “The 2nd Community Care Promotion Conference”, which was held in the Akira Citizens’ Center.

According to the “Guidelines for Promoting Intercultural Cohesion in Matsudo City Hall”, as of the 2023, the amount of foreign residents living in Matsudo grew to 18,839, which was an increase of around 160% compared to the number of foreign residents in the year 2014. At this conference, as the number of foreign residents continues to increase from last year as we head into 2025, staff from medical institutions and other organizations related to the accepting foreign residents in our community were split into groups to discuss the challenges that are faced while helping foreigners in their workplace.

To use a bit of an extreme example, considering that even if all Japanese people learned English, there would still be trouble communicating with foreigners who are not native to an English speaking country, so some group participants raised the point that there is a responsibility on the part of foreigners in Japan to make an effort to learn Japanese. However, it is not a matter of difficulties with language alone. Due to factors like religion, there are also cases where cultural barriers can form. Even within a single religion, depending on one’s country of origin or sect within the religion, the requests a religious individual makes to a medical institution can vary, so some participants concluded that in order to understand the perspectives of everyone individually, we cannot afford to have an attitude of indifference towards other cultures. According to the “Basic Survery on Foreign Residents in FY2022”, of the foreigners who responded saying they were dissatisfied with their life in Japan, 18.1% of them chose “There is discrimination against foreign nationals” as the reason for their dissatisfaction, which was the 3rd most chosen reason, and possibly an indication of the “indifference” towards foreign cultures. Of course to counter this indifference, it would be nice to simply have the curiosity to study other cultures, but having such a motivation can be hard for people who have never interacted with cultures other than their own, so it is crucial to figure out how those people can be inspired learn about other cultures. As someone who is from the United States which is known as a “melting pot” of people from different cultural backgrounds living together, I believe that there are reasons to be optimistic about Matsudo’s prospects in this point of time when it comes to more people having an interest in foreign cultures and overcoming this challenge.

Actually, if I were to make a comparison with the places I have previously lived in America, Matsudo is the city where I feel the most surrounded by a diversity of cultures. Having a presence of a lot of cultures should mean that there are many opportunities to bridge the gap between those cultures. In October, the Matsudo International Culture Festival was a great opportunity for exchange, and people from various countries operating food stalls can be seen at other events in Matsudo. There are also 31 International Cultural Ambassadors in Matsudo from 14 different countries who offer exchange and cultural experiences in Matsudo with the help of the Matsudo City International Exchange Association (MIEA). Events like cooking classes and tai chi classes are continuously being held, but organizations within Matsudo City are able to request other kinds of cultural introductions as well. Please check out the list of International Cultural Ambassadors to see what cultures they specialize in, so we can create more opportunities in Matsudo to engage with other cultures!

11月26日に明市民センターで、松戸市の多文化共生の現状やこれからの多文化共生社会に向けた社会参加について議論する「第2回地域ケア推進会議」が行われました。

「松戸市多文化共生庁内推進指針」によると、令和5年度時点では、松戸市に住んでいる外国人市民が18,839人になり、平成26年に比べると約1.6倍に増加しました。今回の会議では、令和5年度に比べ、外国人市民が段々と増えている中、医療機関やその他外国人の受け入れに関心がある団体に勤めている参加者がグループに分かれ、皆さんの職場で外国人を対応する際にどのような問題があるかについて対話をしました。

極端な例ですが、日本人全員が英語を取得しても、英語を母国語としない外国人もいることから、解決になりませんので、外国人には日本語を勉強する責任があるという視点があげられたのですが、言葉だけの問題ではありません。また、宗教などの影響で文化の壁を越えられない状況が生じる場合もあります。一つの宗教の中でも、出身地や宗派によって医療機関に対する要望が変わってきますので、人を決めつけず、誰でも個人として受け入れるため、異文化に対する無関心である態度でいられないという結論になりました。出入国在留管理庁の「令和4年度在留外国人に対する基礎調査」によると、日本での生活で満足していない外国人の方の18.1%が「外国人に対する差別がある」と満足していない理由として回答し、この回答が3番目に多い理由となり、その「無関心」を表していることかと思います。これを解決するには、知的好奇心を持ち、勉強をすることが重要ですが、異文化とあまり触れたことがなく、そもそも好奇心が湧かない人にどう興味を持たせるかが鍵となります。様々な人種が混在して暮らしている「人種のるつぼ」と言われるアメリカの出身である私の視点からだと、今の時点の松戸では皆さんが異文化に興味を持ち、この困難を乗り越える展望がとてもいいと思います。

実は、今までアメリカで住んでいたところに比べると、松戸市の方が一番世界の多様な文化を感じることが出来ています。多様な文化を感じるということは、日本人と外国人の理解の橋渡し役を担う機会がたくさんあることでしょう。10月の松戸市国際文化祭という国際交流のイベントが実施され、それ以外にも市内で開かれるイベントに行っても様々な国の方が出店しています。松戸市国際交流協会（MIEA）の交流や文化の体験ができるイベントを開催する14の出身国から構成される国際文化大使（31名）も松戸市で活躍をしています。料理教室や太極拳教室などのイベントが常に行われていますが、松戸市内の団体の場合、他の内容も国際文化大使に依頼を頼むことができますので、MIEAのホームページの松戸文化大使一覧表でそれぞれの文化大使が紹介できる文化を確認し、異文化を共有し合う機会を増やしましょう！