Making and Maintaining Social Relationships of Foreign Residents through Religious Facilities: Case Study of Filipinos in Southern Part of Ibaraki Prefecture

This study discusses making and maintaining social relationships with foreigners in Japan through religious activities. It is based on interviews with Filipinos living in the southern part of Ibaraki prefecture on the outskirts of the Tokyo metropolitan area regarding the relationships between their activities in Catholic churches and daily life. Filipinos in Japan comprise two main groups: middle-aged women who came to Japan in the period from the 1980s to the 2000s; and young people who have migrated via the technical intern training program since 1993. Both groups visit Catholic churches for spiritual fulfillment and develop social relationships with compatriots. They emphasize that the churches provide a link to their home country. Many middle-aged women have married Japanese residents and have lived in Japan for a long time. However, they have been unable to develop their own concentrated resident areas. As a result, the churches continue to be the main centers for building contacts for the immigrants. Filipinos frequently change jobs and move from one location to another. This makes it difficult for them to maintain social relationships in a workplace or neighborhood. At the same time, they regularly attend churches, which helps them sustain connections with other Filipino immigrants. Thus, Catholic churches function as a node for Filipinos after they settle in Japan. From these results, religious facilities are important for multitiered, multigenerational communities of Filipinos.