I am a Korean Resident in Japan
GyeongAbe Chang(Faculty of Economics, 3rd Year)
From the title of this article, it is clearly understood that I am a Korean resident living in Japan, and I am the fourth since my great grandparents arrived in Japan. What I am going to tell you in this article is not about the history of a resident living in Japan nor an understanding the certainty of the Korean residents in Japan, but an introduction of myself. I hope that readers will realize there are Korean residents, like me, living in Japan.
I was born in Japan, and was raised by eating Japanese foods and speaking Japanese as my native language. But, I have never been to Korea before. Many people might feel this to be strange and feel puzzled. Some might have questions like “Why can he live in Japan, even though he is not both Japanese and Korean? Why is he living in Japan? Why is his native language Japanese and not Korean? And Why haven’t he never been to Korea before?” I want to explain, in the following paragraphs, about these points many people may wonder about.
First, I want to explain to you the reason why I can live in Japan. The reason is really simple; I have “a special permanent residency” to live in Japan. I won’t go much in details about this special permanent residency because I will have to go through the history of it. To put it easily, this special permit proves that I can live in Japan forever. I want to also explain about why I am living in Japan. The reason is that our basis of family life style is in Japan. Because my family has been living in Japan since my great-grandparents’ generation, all my life support is based on the Japanese lifestyle.
Next, I want to explain about why my native language is Japanese. To me, speaking in Japanese is comfortable and it comes out naturally because my family was born there. My greatgrandparents, who used to live in Korea, have conversations with the mixture of Japanese and Korean. It is soothing for me when I am communicating with the Japanese people.
Finally, I want to explain about
why I don’t go to visit Korea.
The reason is I just don’t want
to go there. If I do go, it feels as
if I am there in Korea for a
vacation and not going back to
my home country. There’s not
much of a deeper meaning to not
going there. Of course I do want
to go, and I am planning to go
to Korea soon.
Up to this point, many people may think that I am no different from a Japanese person. It is true; I was born in Japan, never been to Korea before, and the conversations I have with my family is all in Japanese. (The only time we speak Korean, is when we call each other’s names.) Probably from these points, many might think I am just like a Japanese person.
Now, I want to tell you how the Korean residents in Japan are different from the Koreans themselves. All these information is based on my own experience. I will note some points I thought were different.
The biggest and obvious difference between the two is their citizenships. My citizenship is Korea so I have to receive “a foreigner registration certificate.” As the law states, I have to always hold onto this certificate all the time. The back side of my passport writes “Republic of Korea” in Korean and it is made in Korea. Whenever I go aboard to countries besides Korea and Japan, I have to have the “Re-entry into a country’s permit” to enter the country. Even though I have the special permanent residency with me, I am still considered as a Korean so I have to fill out the form while traveling by plane. Once I leave Japan for a vacation, it is necessary for me to fill out the form in order for me to come back to Japan. This form is only needed when you are coming back from a country that is not your home country. I don’t have a permit for the Japanese election as well. The difference between them comes from the feelings I have towards both Japan and Korea. What I mean by this is that whenever I see the Korean boom of foods, I get really excited. I also feel proud of the Korean K-Pop groups which are popular in Japan.
Throughout this article, there were parts that make people feel I am no different from the Japanese or other parts makes people feel I am very different from the Japanese. To me, I consider myself to be strange for the position I am at, to live in Japan as a Korean resident.
To conclude, I want to tell you about my opinions and thoughts about being a Korean resident in Japan.
In my opinion, I feel very weird to be both Japanese and Korean. I don’t know which I stand for;both Korea and Japan or neither. They are reciprocal to each other. For example, I cheer for both countries, Korean and Japan, in the Olympic Games. Some people may think I am not patriotic or thinks of me as an awkward person but, I cheer for both countries because Japan is the country I was born, and Korean is my home county. It might be only for me, but I also feel I understand about both Korea and Japan myself. Because I am a Korean resident in Japan, I feel grateful to have the things I love, and be supportive towards many people. I truly love both Korea and Japan!
