An Inter Press Service Feature

TOKYO, Dic 16 (IPS) - The thought that her parents would be so proud of her once she finally saves enough to buy a house keeps Imelda going through her gruelling schedule of cleaning houses by day and working as a Tokyo bargirl at night.

But with the onset of the holiday season, the 26-year-old Filipina is seized by homesickness, an affliction she shares with Japan's thousands of foreign workers.

And while many of those from countries like Bangladesh, Thailand, Sri Lanka and China do not share the religious beliefs that make the Christmas season special for workers from the Philippines and Latin America, they still miss their families most at a time when even workaholic Japan slows down to take a break.

"It's never going to be like what we have at home," says Naw Aung, a Burmese worker who fled his country five years ago. "But nevertheless Christmas day is even more important to us because we are together and can console each other."

Adds Luz, a Filipina who has left her six children with her mother-in-law back home so she can work as a domestic helper here: "The terrible loneliness we have experienced through the year can be shared during Christmas."

Imelda agrees, and says she will be one of the 25 people who will squeeze into a tiny two-room home of a friend on Christmas. "This year is even more special because the holiday falls on a week-end. Last year I had to work till eleven in the night," she says, visibly excited days before the party is to take place.

"We will have Philippine food, and will sing and dance," she adds. "It's the only time we are not afraid to upset the Japanese neighbours."

Still, Imelda's eyes betray some sadness when she tries to explain how important the day has become for Japan's poor and powerless migrant labour.

"Nobody misses the party because more than the fun everybody knows it is the only time we have to console each other for completing another long and gruelling year," she says. "My friends congratulate me for sending so many presents back home and then tell me to take care of myself and work hard in 1995."

Filipina and Thai women, who constitute the majority of Asians working in the entertainment industry, are the most vulnerable group in Japan's estimated 200,000 foreigners working without legitimate visas.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service