Interview with Ms. H

"In our family, we’ve always spoken Chinese at home. My child actually completed first grade in China, so the foundation was already there. After we moved to Japan, I’ve made sure he continues studying Chinese. Every summer I send him back to his grandmother’s house, where he keeps learning. I don’t want him to lose touch with China, and I don’t want him to give up on the language.

Looking ahead, I imagine different paths. Maybe he’ll go to university here in Japan, but then do graduate school in China—that would be perfectly fine. My hope is that he grows up able to move seamlessly between three languages—Chinese, Japanese, and English—so that whichever direction he chooses, he’s ready.

I’ve seen how much China has changed. When I think back to 2016 or 2018, the air pollution in Beijing was a serious problem. But now it’s so much better. If the environment and other conditions in China keep improving, I would fully support him if he wanted to go back. That’s why I never completely cut ties with Beijing; I’ve kept our apartment there, just in case. If things change, we can make decisions quickly.

Of course, not every Chinese family in Japan takes this approach. Many who came here as international students and then stayed, raising their children entirely in Japan, find that their kids rarely speak good Chinese. Once those children go through kindergarten, elementary, and middle school all in Japanese, they essentially become Japanese in every way. Some even take Japanese names. For those families, I think the chance of ever going back to China is very small."