With the increasing number of Japanese people residing abroad, the socio-cultural differences confronted while living abroad may compromise individuals’ mental health. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 Japanese people residing in Brazil and, using M-GTA, analyzed the narratives of their difficulties and coping methods. Concerning difficulties, vigilance and precautions against social unrest were noted, as was the inconvenience of not being conversant in the host language, with some even suggesting the importance of learning English. Coping methods were categorized as social-life, interpersonal, and parenting, with behavioral and cognitive skills summarized for each. Security and safety measures were emphasized for social-life skills, and detailed points for daily consideration were extracted from the interview data. Regarding interpersonal skills, how to associate with people from the host country and with compatriots was highlighted. Parenting skills involve measures to improve children’s lives.

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This study investigated how foreign employees who graduated from a Japanese university engage in cross-cultural adaptation at their Japanese workplaces. Four foreign employees of Japanese enterprises were interviewed in depth and their statements were recorded for qualitative analysis. The results of the analysis showed that all the interviewees alike sought to achieve cross-cultural adaptation by coordinating orientations of both assimilation and differentiation;however, the proportion between the two orientations differed with each individual. Results also revealed that the practices of assimilation and differentiation were both experienced in an ambivalent manner by the interviewees. These findings can be further utilized to improve management of foreign employees in Japanese enterprises and career support for international students at Japanese universities.

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Nowadays, Japanese schools have become more transnationalized. The aim of this paper is to illustrate teachers’educational practices in a transnationalized Japanese school, based on fieldwork at the Japanese School of Guam. The results are threefold. Firstly, teachers have created transnational educational practices to cope with paradoxical situations such as “teaching children who have been living or will be living in Guam with the Japanese national curriculum.” They acquired a dual frame of reference—“Japan” and “Guam”—and developed educational practices taking both society and culture into consideration. Secondly, teachers also criticized their educational practices in Japan and the Japanese formal education system. Finally, at the same time, teachers were faced with difficulties in their transnational educational practices.

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This study investigates the factors involved in creating the personal networks of performers who participated in the “City A” and “K University” theater play joint project in 2016 and 2017. For this examination interviews were conducted with one director, one staff member in charge of the project, and 14 performers. Analyses of these interviews using threestage coding reveals eight factors influencing the construction of their social networks: rules sharing, places sharing, time sharing, feelings before performing, relationship adjustments by director, life sharing, relationship adjustments by members, and post-performance relationships. Among them, “relationship adjustments by director” and “life sharing” are the most important factors for their personal networks. Also found was the inefficiency of the theater play in promoting the creation of personal networks.

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This research considers the impact of the technical intern training system by examining interviews with trainees who have returned to their home country. Since the 2000s, institutional problems and human rights issues related to the technical intern training system have become much-discussed topics. However, few studies have been done on trainees after they have repatriated. Based on interviews, transcribed verbatim from videos, with trainees who have returned to Indonesia, the present article examines what kind of impact the technical internships had on their lives. Most trainees consider the exposure to the Japanese language and Japanese people’s sense of diligence and enthusiasm for work to be more valuable than the technical skills they acquired.

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