Girl feeding pigeons

All @ Buddhika Weerasinghe

Living in harmony

Two birds

Japanese married couple shoots the photographs at Public Park in Fukui, Japan March 18, 2010. Japan have four style weeding ceremony as a Shinto, Christian, Buddhist, or non-religious but most of younger  mainly wearing western type weeding costume too and many weeding take place in spring. Local media report about 70,000 couple marries annually.

Japanese married couple shoots the photographs at Public Park in Fukui, Japan March 18, 2010. Japan have four style weeding ceremony as a Shinto, Christian, Buddhist, or non-religious but most of younger  mainly wearing western type weeding costume too and many weeding take place in spring. Local media report about 70,000 couple marries annually.  Pix & test @ Buddhika Weerasinghe

Dinosaur’s among the snow.

A structure’s of Dinosaur among the snow at Katsuyama, in Fukui prefecture, Japan. Katsuyama Dinosaurs museum is on of large Dinosaurs museum in the world

Make a better change

We can’t go on pretending day by day

That someone, somewhere will soon make a change

We’re all a part of God’s great big family

And the truth

You know, love is all we need

We are the world, we are the children

We are the ones who make a brighter day!

That “We are the world” song sang together Ghana, South Africa, Pakistan, Indonesian and Korean foreign workers who live in Japan during the annual stage rally on 7 March in Tokyo and demanding job security and right of equality for foreign resident live in Japan.Hundreds of foreign workers and Japanese supporters of foreign workers right are there under the rain and demanding to Japanese government to make a better working right condition for foreign residence.

Drug Ayers, 46 years old motor engineer said, I came to Japan 18 years ago with my wife. Very hard to lives in Japan. Nobody help foreign workers and government policies against to foreigners, still didn’t give me permanent residence visa.  Without high stand skill so difficult to find the job, said Ayers.

I think foreigners come to Japan for work, wasting their life and time, said Ayers.

Pictures & story @ Buddhika Weerasinghe

Gust workers story in Japan.

Hundred years ago young poor girls from rural areas were brought to the urban side and forced in to hard and cheap labour by company owners of Japan.. Japanese people call those girls jokou aisi or Girls sad Stories. That system was continued by urban companies even up to 30-40 year ago. That structure has now changed to the use of foreign labor after the Japanese government set up Industrial Training and Technical Internship Program in 1993 as a way to contribute internationally. “Now we are saying “foreign trainee’s sad stories” said Ichiro Takahara heads the Fukui office of the Advocacy Network for Foreign Trainees.

Takahara has been involved in the foreign trainees issue in Fukui Prefecture since 1999. He was helped about 300 foreign trainees. Also, he has helped 50 trainees to escape from factories and receive outstanding salaries in last ten years. He has so far helped 17 trainees escape this year.
He has helped five Chinese female trainees to escape by the end of October from Tode Bussan, fabric factory in Toyama. Those Chinese female trainees came to Japan three years ago to receive training and work to fabric factory. They told their stories over lunch recently.

“Yummy …..Yummy…. good food. This is first time we have come out for food to a restaurant during last three years, we never even tried to taste Chinese food in restaurants” said Zaimei.” They were happy but there sad faced told their sad story.
Zaimei was 27 years old girl and she came with another four girls to Japan three years ago on 16th November 2006. At the sewing fabric-company those girls received 25,000 yen (US$ 285) payment for their hard labor over 12 hours of work per day.
All of them escaped from the company on 28th October 2009 and went to local labor office to make a complaint against to company and demand their balance salary.
Japanese companies have been known to be lax on rights of foreign workers. They treat to foreign labors like a third class citizens. Some of Japanese ompanies force to foreign labors to work over time and pay less than what is required by law. Female workers also fear sexual assault.

“We need to work 12 hours every day from 9 mornings to night 9. After work we feel so tired and so much pain in our legs. During the working time we can not sit. Only 70 minutes are given to sit during the lunch time. We need to work hard more than Japanese labors. The Japanese usually do overseer jobs. Every day we need to do a minimum 4 hours of over time but our company didn’t pay all of over time money for last three years. They also cut half of our salary for accommodate,” said Zaimi.
Japanese large scale companies have also started to move aboard in search of inexpensive labour and have opened factories in Korea and China since 1970. More and more large companies are shifting overseas.
At the same time small and middle scale business owners have demanded inexpensive labour in Japan. Adhering to the request the government allowed foreign labours to comes and work in Japan as trainees.
Even though Japanese companies treated them not like a trainees. Most of companies treated trainee’s as hard labour workers.
Training period was about one year during which period companies paid minimum wage.

“Before I came to Japan I haven’t knowledge Japanese company like this. Japanese workers and we are doing same work but salary’s so different. It is not fair” said Jiang Fang, 27 years old girl. She came Japan to make money for a better education for her child who was eight years old daughter.
When she was seeking advice from Chinese company Japan had high technology as senior staff very kind of to junior staff. Also, Chinese company charge from her about 7,000 US$ to send her to Japan with promises of free dormitory.

“Few days after I came Japan I feel that promises was totally different and senior officers were totally not kind for us. Some time they try assault us. We couldn’t complain against the officers. When we complained against to them they send us back home. That is why we decided to escape from that company and make a complaint at labour office,” said Fang.
“Most of company owners think foreign trainees like cats and dogs.” said Takahara.
Pictures & Story @ Buddhika Weerasinghe

Well come to spring!

Children and men’s wearing red-kimono dance around the traditional drums and beat the drum around the city of Katsuyama, Fukui prefecture in north Japan. That all of performance held top of the specially prepared 12 wood stages placed at various street junctions in the city and it called"Katsuyama Sagicho Festival".

Which festival had more than 300 years history from Heian period.Katsuyama Sagicho is type of harvest festival, When I was visit Katsuyama during the festival I seen city’s so lively run with drum sound and songs of folk poetry. Also many people gathering around the performance functioning street side stage and eat food from roadside food stall. It’s like real festival picture in the street.

Every year last weekend of February they are performing Sagicho, "spring welcome" festival and people pray for a successes harvest and safety coming year. Drums herald the start of the festival on the last Saturday in February. The festival continues until midnight on the following day. The festival ends with the lighting of several huge bonfires on the shores of the Kuzuryu River. Tradition says that the beautiful bonfire reflecting against the winter sky will appease and delight the gods as they return to their home.