Problems of Housing and Cross-cultural Communication Facing international Students

1996 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 07459024
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: 広領域
• Research Institution: Ritsumeikan University
• Principal Investigator: OKUGAWA Otohiko Ritsumeikan University, Social Sciences, Professor, 産業社会学部, 教授 (60148385)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): LIM Bor Ritsumeikan University, Social Sciences, Associate Professor, 産業社会学部, 助教授 (10202409) ; TAKAGI Masao Ritsumeikan University, Social Sciences, Professor, 産業社会学部, 教授 (70118371)
• Project Period (FY): 1995 – 1996
• Keywords: international students / cross-cultural communication / cross-cultural dyscommunication / international students from Asia / housing problems / student housing / company dormitory / privately funded international students

Research Abstract

A questionnaire survey was first conducted on international students (IS), focusing upon the difficulty they had experienced in Japan in terms of housing and cross-cultural communication. The IS in question, enrolled in provate institutions and almost exclusively from Asia, are found, for the most part, to live in sub-standard housing, about 30,000 yen/month less in rent than an average Japanese student (JS). Partly because the IS are, on the average, four years older than the JS,but mostly because of the JS' indifference to Asian cultures in general, there is little interaction among them, both on and off campus.
A series of in-depth interviews was also conducted and video-taped for purposes of analyzing specific situations in which the IS faced dyscommunication with the Japanese. When this videotape was shown to the JS,we found out that we were able to sensitize the JS to the problems faced by the IS,e.g., an IS being refused to rent an apartment simply because he/she is a foreigner.
In order to have a first-hand information on the housing situations, we paid a visit to the 18 IS places and drew diagrams for each. One such place was a company dormitory, where the rent is 4,000 yen/month, the same rent for the employees. We found this housing arrangement to be ideal for the IS in two respects : 1) it is an affordable rent thereby not having to get a part-time job ; 2) the company employees living there are of the some age group as the IS.
In conclusion, we propose that a Japanese university offers a course for the JS in its curriculum on Cross-cultural Communication with the Asian students, and that the university officials cooperate with community leaders in such a way that the company dorms are accessible to the IS.