CHIBA -- A film portraying the importance of opportunities for residents in Japan with foreign roots to learn their native languages was screened on a college campus here, accompanied by a discussion between students with such backgrounds and the Korean director of the film.

The movie titled "In Between -- In Search of Native Language Spaces --" (Hazama -- Bogo no tame no ba o sagashite --) was shown at the Kanda University of International Studies in the city of Chiba's Mihama Ward in December.

Directed by Kiho Park, a Korean resident in Japan, the film opens with a scene in which the director himself feels a sense of discomfort while visiting South Korea about the difference between the Korean language he uses and the locally spoken language in his "home country." The film goes on to depict a scene in which a Nepalese child born and living in Japan talks over the phone with their grandmother in Nepal while being taught their native tongue from their mother. This and other scenes shed light on the issue of children with foreign roots in Japan having little opportunity and few places to learn their mother languages outside their home.

Also featured in the film is a child who has to return to their home country due to their parents' unstable residency status, albeit being unable to speak their mother tongue, as well as a child who refuses to go back to their native country because they cannot speak the language. The film also raises the question of whether the now ubiquitous phrase "multicultural society" is casually used without regard to Japan's history of discrimination in the past.

Through his career, Park has addressed issues such as challenges faced by students attending evening or correspondence high schools, as well as children with foreign roots, in their learning activities. He also directed a documentary film concerning menstruation, a topic that tends to be considered taboo in Japan. In the latest film, Park himself interviews some of the people appearing in it and narrates the work.

After the screening at the university on Dec. 19, the director held a talk session with four students with foreign roots over issues including the importance of introducing a law to guarantee opportunities for people to learn their mother tongues in Japan. One of the students said, "I could relate to the film as I've experienced what was shown in it," while another student revealed, "When I visited the country of my father's origin, they didn't understand me when I spoke, making me feel as if I was cast out both in Japan and my home country."

(Japanese original by Ichiro Ito, Chiba Bureau)