Key words: Brazilian schools in Japan, Japanese Brazilian children, Oizumi-machi, geography of education A lot of Brazilians of Japanese descent have come to live in Japan as so called guest or immigrant workers since 1990. As of 2000, the number of those registered Brazilians amounts to about 250000 throughout Japan. Since most of them have families with children and end up staying in Japan for a long time, they share the burden of their education with the authorities of local communities

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... they live. The purpose of this study is to make clear the number of Brazilians with the alien registration and the distribution of Brazilian schools in Japan, and the education of Brazilian children in Oizumi-machi, Gunma prefecture. Oizumi-machi is a self-governing town where the ratio of the number of Brazilians with alien registration to the population of the town is highest. The results of this study are as follows: 1. As a result of legislative change in June 1990, second and third generation Japanese Brazilians have been given residential eligibility with special work permit. Consequently, as of December 2000, there are as many as about 250000 Brazilians living in Japan. They have a tendency to concentrate in areas such as northern part of Kanto district, central highland of Chuubu district, Toukai district, and the midland of Kinki district where manufacturing industries are thriving. 2. As they came to live together in the same communities on a large scale, the communities have started to establish schools for Brazilians since the middle of 1990s; as of September 2001, the number of such schools as approved by the Brazilian government stands at 20. Many of them, therefore, have a choice between local Japanese schools and Brazilian schools, depending upon their vision of their children's future. 3. There are four Brazilian schools with different backgrounds and educational policies in Oizumi-machi and its vicinity. The result of the present investigation into the education of Brazilian children living in this area reveals that about 53 % of them go to local public elementary or junior high schools and about 20% go to Brazilian schools and the rest remain unknown.