• Rafaela Yoshiy Olivares Graduate Schhol of Education, The University of Tokyo

• Misako Nukaga Associate Professor, Graduate School of Education, The University of Tokyo

As Brazilian community celebrates thirty years of immigration in Japan, the integration of young migrants to Japanese society has become a matter that requires more and more attention. Research data indicates that compared to students from Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese background, Brazilian students have the lowest educational achievement reaching only 60% of high school enrolment and 10% of Japanese university enrolment, not to mention the high dropout rate.

While Japanese government is reluctant to introduce a social integration policy to promote educational and occupational achievement of young migrants, a movement of resilience has emerged within the Brazilian community in recent years. That is to organize non-formal education activities aiming to provide a second chance for those who lost educational opportunities due to linguistic, cultural and institutional barriers.

In this research, she conducted semi-constructed interview with students and educators of three different types of ethnic non-formal education (ENFE) – distance higher-education, job training and language learning – to identify their role in the empowerment of migrant youth as well as their limitations.