We have been maintaining an electronic bulletin board on the net for you to exchange your ideas and opinions. Here is an excerpt of some of the messages.
The following discussion was carried out on the Japanese section of the BBS.

WARNING This page contains both English and Japanese.
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日本語メインのＢＢＳはこちらです　（下記の意見交換はこちらで行われました）

What do I do?

for your information, the editors have written
a tentative explanation on the word "kikokushijo".
Please click the word to read it.

from Kotori

This may sound banal, but my simple advice would be: "keep up the fight, and eventually, you'll learn to live with and most certainly enrich your beautifully unique identity - don't give up!"

Anyway, I am in my early 30s and have graduated LONG ago. Yet, I am still considered as a Kikoku"SHIJO" which is highly insulting as an adult. (The expression "shijo" is somewhat sexist as well.)

from RyuKan

My advice to you is, other than what Kotori has already told you, find people like yourself. I think we all need some sort of belongingness and we fail to find it from our surroundings... Talk to people who share your view of the world. Find someone who is positive with your opinion. You don't have to make the rest of the world happy and you must go your own way. Once yourself we can learn to live with those who are different from ourselves...

HAHAHA mebe I should write a book! (but I'm sure someone already wrote about it!)

P.S. My fav word is "You got choice!"

Yuki

from Kotori

いつか、コーヒーを飲んでいたら・・・
「Happiness is where you find it」
と、マグカップに書いてありました。

たまには肩の力を抜いて、そのままの自分らしさをまず、自分自身がacceptしてあげていいんじゃないかな・・・
という気が、ふと、しました。

from Nori

Well, that specific word may mean smtg slightly different in Japanese compared to English, but I am also one of you. This year, as a returnee student I managed to get thru the entrance exam but till then, I was never sure if it was the right choice to be back here in this country. Yes, this is my home country I recognise that, but since I lived abroad for about 10 years in total by now, 8 years in Italy from when I was 11, the "spirit" as you call is not the same as the people who passed all their lives in Japan. It was somehow real painful not to be able to feel who you really are, but in the end, I came to a conclusion that this kind of vagueness is the thing which we gained from our experience. I don't think it is necessarily important to strongly feel "I am Japanese" or "I am American".

I personally feel that I'd rather not be any of them. Rather, I'd stay as "kikokushijo" 'cos we KNOW both sides, and furthermore, we could be objective when looking at things without being biased because of our patriotism!:-)

from miwa

　本当は自分がどこに所属しているのかとか、そういう事を考えなくてすむ社会のほうがいいのではないかと思います。あくまで個人的な意見ですが、どこかに所属しているというのは確かに安心感が得られる一方、自分らしさを保つのが難しい気がします。同質のものだけで固まるのではなく、お互いの個性、価値観を認め合ったうえでの緩やかなつながりが私にとっては理想的なのではないかと思っています。 Noriさんの考えに私も共感します。私も自分を帰国子女だといえるのは、日本、イギリス両方の価値観が入っているためです。両方のいいところを持っていたいと願いつつも、実際は両国の間で宙ぶらりんになってる気もしたりして・・・。

　自分は人と違うし、違って当然なんだ！というほどの強さもないのでいろいろうまく行かないたびに悩んでるけど、自分の思ってることを素直に出せる、そして、同じように悩んでたりする人の考えに触れることのできる、こういう場所ってすごく意味のあるものだと思います。

from Nobu

Nori-san mentioned that bicultural people could be more objective. This idea opened up and started so much in my life. Yes I am still struggling, but here is my take on this: I cannot help but see everything biculturally; I feel like a minority, not a lot of people understand me; but I also feel special and proud that I can see things differently -- it's a gift -- utilize it. Not everyone gets a chance to become multicultural; therefore it is my responsiblity to "spread the gospel". What can I do to help people to understand differences? Help friends struggling with their personality -- it could be a cultural phenomenon. Let the Christian people who tell others that they'll go to hell if they don't believe in God that there's thousands of other religions out there. Globalization is still progressing -- think of yourself as one of the pioneers in history! I know, this is so idealistic... in fact I need some input from y'all. I feel a strong longing to be accepted as a Japanese, and this is fine with me. But my problem is that I don't know enough about Japan. Sometimes I feel that I try to reject the American education because I am afraid that it will form my fundamental beliefs. I have been reading in Japanese to try to compensate...is this a common struggle? Do you think I'm missing something in the picture?

from Risky

　所属ということについて言うと、やはり、一人では生きていけないわけですから、絶対何かに所属しないといけないのはまず間違いないでしょう。それは、身近なもので言うと家族であったり、学校、会社であったりすると思います。ただ、日本に帰ってきて、たまたま、所属した集団が個の存在を尊重しないような集団であったとしても、それが全てではありません。中にはちゃんと個を尊重する集団もたくさんあります。運悪く自分が個を尊重する集団に入れなかったとしても、それは帰国子女というあなたの非ではなく、あなたの価値を見出せないその集団が悪いのだと思います。Nobuさん達が言うように、帰国子女の皆さんはより幅広い目で物事をより客観的に見ることができると思いますし、それは、今の世界の社会の中でどんどん欠如していっているものでもあります。ですから、皆さんにはその力を是非社会の為に使って貢献してもらいたいですなぁ。

あなたもＢＢＳで発言してください。よろしくお願いします。

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