By Suvendrini Kakuchi
TOKYO, May 19 2004 (IPS)

It took Chaturani Perera two years to convince Japanese immigration officials to grant her a student visa. The 20-year-old Sri Lankan had to prepare the necessary documents and accrue a hefty 10,000 U.S. dollars – her family’s life savings – in a bank account

”At that time, all I dreamed about was studying in Japan, a vital step for a better career,” says the energetic woman, who now speaks flawless Japanese. Chaturani will receive a certificate in computer programming from the college she is attending in March next year, the same month her student visa expires. She then plans on going home.

”Life in Japan has been complex,” she explains. ”While studying here has given me an edge over others back home, it has been tough struggle to survive, and many times I almost gave up.”

Activists who work with students from other Asian countries agree that studying in Japan presents many difficulties, but they contend Chaturani should consider herself lucky.

”At least she got to finish her studies and return home,” says Yayori Kosugi, who volunteers teaching Japanese language. ”There are tens of thousands of students like her who cannot make it to the end due to financial problems and difficulties in adjusting to Japanese society.”

The plight of Japan’s 110,000 foreign students, who mostly come from China, South Korea and Taiwan, is worsening. Although their numbers are minuscule, accounting for just 2.6 percent of total post-secondary enrollment, they have once again caused a headache for the nation, which began a campaign in 1983 to internationalise its homogeneous college campuses.

Foreign students have sparked a national debate and pitted their supporters against immigration officials, who recently tightened the screening process for students to combat what they say is a wave of crime committed by Chinese students.

The strict checks have resulted in a sharp decline in the number of students granted visas. In April, when the new screening process was implemented, visa approvals fell by nearly 50 percent – only 10,657 overseas students were accepted to study in Japan, down from 19,777 accepted in the same month last year.

The Justice Ministry reports it received 23,285 student visa applications in April. Of these, 16,188 were filed by Chinese nationals but only 4,302 were approved.

”The new checks are aimed at weeding out students who are coming here to work rather than study,” a ministry official said in a statement released last week. ”For that purpose, it is important to find out his financial means and Japanese language ability. Checks on the applicant’s background are also emphasised to prevent fraudulent cases and protect domestic security.”

Students and activists, however, are alarmed. They say that while the need to prevent crime committed by students is understandable, the government must take pains to protect opportunities for foreigners who want to study in Japan.

”The surge in crime committed by overseas students is deeply troubling. But, it is important to understand that new checks must be accompanied by more support for serious students,” said Shi Wei, a former student and head of the Tokyo Chinese Centre, a support group for Asian students.

At the root of the new policy of clamping down on foreign students are crime statistics released by the Justice Ministry. They indicated that 28 percent of the foreigners arrested for crimes last year, or 2,468 people, were in Japan on student visas. Chinese nationals topped the list.

In one particularly gruesome case, three Chinese students have been charged with murdering a Japanese family that included two young children last June. Police investigators say the students were hired to kill the family.

Their arrests in January were followed by a severe crackdown on students, including a ban on three Japanese-language schools ordered by the police with the tacit approval of a shocked public.

In a bid to encourage a more balanced policy, Ho Hei, a Chinese national studying for her doctorate at Kobe University, is determined to highlight the struggles of foreign students in Japan. Several groups have undertaken a similar effort.

”There is no excuse for resorting to crime,” she says. ”But the fact is that Asian students do want to study in Japanese universities, and to prevent crime they need more support from the government.”

Research shows that students from other Asian nations are eager to enroll in programmes such as computer programming, graphic design, law and medicine due to the higher academic standards Japanese universities maintain.

The trend will grow, experts say. They point out that the growing affluence in Asia and one-child policy in China have helped parents to bear the cost of sending their children to study in Japan, where it is almost 10 times more expensive than elsewhere in Asia.

Even so, according to activists, most parents and students cannot cope after a year in Japan.

Ho Hei says Chinese students cannot survive on the paltry scholarships provided by the Japanese government, which average 500 to 700 dollars a month, They are forced to take jobs – Japanese immigration laws allows students to work 28 hours a week – to pay their bills, leaving them with insufficient time to study.

To ensure that it continues to attract ”top-quality” Asian students, Ho says: ”Japan has to do more.”

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