Hoshino Rene is from Cameroon.

He's lived in Japan since age four.

A manga creator, he draws from his own experience.

He turns the unusual situations, discoveries, and curiosity he encountered in Japan into humorous stories.

I'm able to illustrate these differences
because I think, "Hey, I'm awesome."

In this program, we follow Rene as he meets children with foreign roots and turns their thoughts into manga.

This time, he teams up with a high school student from Nepal.

Interested in helping others, she takes the initiative in school activities.

However, she's always felt alienated in Japan.

So when I said I was ignored, or that I was transparent.

What experiences caused her to feel this way?

Hoping to help, her parents share their experiences and thoughts on connecting with Japanese people.

Don't try to do it alone. It's about making friends.

And when someone's got your back, anything is possible.

Will she be able to give voice to her thoughts?

To help draw them out, Rene Goes to School.

Rene visits Yokohama City.

Learning that a high school student at an international school here wants to make a manga together,

Rene is on his way to meet her.

This is Horizon Japan International School.

Hello.

Rene is greeted by the Secondary School principal.

I'm manga creator Hoshino Rene.

Nice to meet you. Welcome to our school.

The school has about 460 students between the ages of three and eighteen.

Close to fifty-five nationalities are represented here.

There are also Japanese students who've returned to Japan after living abroad.

Rene heads to the meeting spot: the school cafeteria.

-Is she here? Is Sudina here?
-Yes. Hello. Nice to meet you.

Sudina Wosti is seventeen years old.

Her parents are both Nepalese.

Sudina is in the middle of selling Nepalese curry.

It's part of a fundraiser that she proposed to the school.

Curry lunch boxes bought from a nearby Nepalese restaurant are being sold at the school,

with a portion of the proceeds going to assist people experiencing poverty in Nepal.

So you're organizing this for Nepal?

I am.

So buying one of these will make
a difference in Nepal?

Yes, we will buy clothes, beds, and
other things for people without money.

That's neat.
In that case, I'd like to buy one.

It's a delicious way to make a contribution.

-Let's talk later.
-Thank you.

After lunch, Rene visits a classroom where a Japanese lesson is in progress.

Excuse me. Sudina invited me to join the
Japanese lesson.

Great idea.

May I join?

Of course. Please have a seat.

Thank you.
You're my new classmates.

-"Nimasu."
-Boil?

English is the primary language at this school.

And Japanese is optional.

The class takes a break to hold a Q&A with Rene.

What's the best experience you've had
in Japan?

The best?

A date.

Sudina brings up a question close to her heart.

Have you ever felt discriminated against?

I've had people make fun of my skin color.

Growing up, some kids taunted me
for being black. I hated that.

I even got into a fight.

It was in elementary school. I lost it.
and ran at them. The teacher stepped in.

Sudina, you attended a Japanese school.
How was it?

I didn't have Japanese friends.

What was the Japanese kids' attitude
towards you?

They didn't seem to want to talk.

So it felt like they were avoiding you.

Sudina was born in Shinjuku, Tokyo.

She attended a Japanese nursery school till age four.

At age five, she and her mother moved back to Nepal while her father remained in Japan for work.

She returned to Japan at age nine once her father's curry store was up and running...

...and attended a public elementary school for just one year.

Rene is curious about what the experience was like for Sudina.

Moving to the rooftop field, they sit down for a chat.

How many international students
were there?

Three in the whole school.

So the three of you formed a group.
And the Japanese students?

They didn't talk to us.

So you felt left out?

It was more like we weren't even
seen as part of the school.

-Like you weren't there?
-Exactly.

She sums up what it was like during her time at elementary school.

So when I say I was like ignored, I was transparent.

She felt unseen by her classmates.

Since then, she's found it hard to interact with Japanese people.

In Nepal, she enjoyed playing soccer with her elementary school friends.

But in Japan, she was too afraid to approach her classmates and gave up playing the sport.

It's still the same in restaurants.

If I go with a Japanese friend,
the staff will talk to them and not me.

I see. So, the Japanese servers will avoid
looking at you. As if you're not there.

Since you speak and look differently,
people sometimes ignore you.

Even though you're a fellow human and can
communicate, they assume you can't.

Yes.

She tells Rene about a recent experience that made her feel discriminated against.

The spouses of the restaurant employees
don't speak any Japanese.

So when they go to banks or other places,
I go with them as their interpreter.

And the discrimination is so obvious.

They act like they don't want you to be there.

Like, when I went with my aunt, like they made us stay there for an hour and read this one piece of paper.

And I kept saying that I understood what it meant and that my aunt has all the papers that we needed,

but he was like, he was not convinced that we had it.

And he just kept on making us read like the whole same thing for like an hour and then when we were like,

"oh yeah, we have the papers," he was like, "oh, it's too late now. You can't open an account."

What is that about?

I don't know.

Because you explained it all, right?

Sudina wants to make a manga to share her experience with people from other nationalities.

Let's do this!

To get more information and ideas for the manga, Rene goes to meet Sudina's parents.

He visits a Nepalese curry restaurant that her father runs in Yokosuka City.

Hello.

Welcome.

-Hello. Nice to meet you.
-Long time, no see.

Is this your place? It's really nice.
And that's a sharp suit!

Sudina's father, Lok Nath, has four stores, including this curry restaurant.

Her mother, Uma, helps out with them.

Both parents are from a mountain village in Nepal.

I was born in the mountains.
The school was up there too.

It would take an hour one way.

There was no running water.

Or as much food as in Japan.

Sudina's father worked at a hotel in Kathmandu.

There, he befriended a Japanese guest and decided to move to Japan.

He began by studying at a Japanese language school and then a business school to learn management.

Sudina's mother raised the children while holding a part-time job.

Her parents are familiar with the struggle of adapting to a new country.

Sudina tells them about the reception she recently received.

When we go to the bank,
sometimes they ignore us.

People discriminate against immigrants.

Didn't she tell you that she couldn't
open an account?

It happens.It was the same for me
when I couldn't write in Japanese.

It's a lot better now. When we first arrived,
people would look at me and run away.

You always say, "It's easier now."

Rene picks up on an interesting point from their conversation.

It's an important theme.

The worldview of each generation.

There's the generation of parents
who chose to come to Japan,

the generation born in Japan,
and then the generation after that.

For those born here, this is their place.

So, being treated differently feels wrong.

As a child, Rene also considered himself the same as the Japanese kids around him.

His manga depicts the moment he found out things were a bit different.

I think it's changed a bit...

As an elementary student, I'd check my skin color every day before school.

Why, you ask?

You know, I've been in Japan for about three years now.

So I think I'll look just like everyone else in a few more.

No, you won't. Your race doesn't change based on where you live.

Whaat! You're kidding, right?

I'm going to stay different forever...

Hearing about Sudina's recent experiences and feelings,

her parents encourage her not to let them hold her back and to be the one to reach out.

The way I see it, things are changing.

All the menus used to be in Japanese.
We'd go there and make English ones.

It's up to us.

If you can't open an account, go again
and ask what else needs to be done.

With the help of Japanese people,
we immigrants can change things.

But you have to keep at it.

What do you think of that?

It made me want to help change things.

Hearing of their struggles in Japan,
I want to help make it easier for others.

I won't say never give up.

Because there's a lot you just can't do.
Instead, it's more about making friends.

The more friends you have, the more
people you can turn to for advice or help.

Her father's insight gives Sudina food for thought.

Rene receives an invite from Sudina's father to attend a festival he organized with his Japanese friends.

He meets up with Sudina, who is wearing a traditional costume.

Hi, Sudina!

So this is it.

The flag of Nepal.

This festival celebrates Nepal's culture.

Sudina's father hopes to promote cultural exchanges between Nepalese and Japanese people

and has been working on the project for a few years.

This is the first of what they hope will be many.

This is fun!

I used to play with these!
It takes me back.

Called a chungi, it's used for a game of keep-ups.

You're good!

Like a Nepalese.

This is a Japanese toy called kendama.

Japanese and Nepalese children can be seen playing with toys from the other's country.

You did it! Awesome!

For Sudina's father, this festival reflects the hopes he's carried since coming to Japan.

Heart is more important than words.

People don't need words to communicate.
Body language is sufficient.

And events like this open doors for
communication. Like, "How was the curry?"

"You sing well." Or "You dance well."

Communication is the most important thing.

It brings people together and helps them
understand other cultures.

Rene joins in the final dance.

Together? Okay.

Sudina's parents are proactively creating opportunities for cultural exchanges and leading by example.

In elementary, you formed a group
with two international students,

separate from the Japanese students.

But you actually wanted to be friends.
A place like this might have helped.

Your parents organized this.
How do you feel about them?

Proud.

The event has given her a renewed appreciation of her parents' determination.

Today, they're holding their last online meeting about the manga.

So about friends.

It's an important theme that has stuck
in my head since our last conversation.

Instead of keeping it in, I think we need
to speak up and draw attention to it.

There weren't many immigrants
in my dad's day.

But there are a lot more now, so this is
an important point for the future.

Also, like as a kid, like you need to make sure that everyone is connected.

Like It shouldn't matter like what their roots are.

With the presentation ten days away, Rene pours his focus into the manga.

The day of the presentation arrives.

It will be held at the international school that Sudina attends.

How are you doing?

It's been crazy.

-Were you able to go over the manga?
-It was great.

-I like this. This see-through effect.
-This part here.

I drew from our conversations.

A common factor was how you felt unseen
and disregarded by the people around you.

-So I felt like that was the key point.
-Good call.

Sudina will be presenting it to her peers.

She hopes to express her feelings and start a conversation around it.

Okay, let's start.

Have you ever felt as if you had become transparent?

Even though you're there, nobody can see you.

I was born in Japan to Nepalese parents.

Up until I was four, in nursery school, I lived in Shinjuku.

The manga touches on her time in elementary school following her return to Japan at age nine.

Sudina was just one of three students from an international background.

The rest were Japanese.

We were always together. Sometimes it felt like there was only the three of us.

The truth is that I wanted to be friend with the Japanese kids.

In English class, a Japanese girl came up to me.

Konnichiwa. Arigato.

But even when I spoke Japanese, they spoke back in English.

All I wanted was to talk, but to them, I was nothing more than an English speaker to practice with.

I felt transparent. As if they only wanted the English inside me. Not me.

One time, Sudina accompanied a Nepalese woman to a bank as her interpreter.

The woman had been unable to open bank an account and had asked for Sudina's help.

But there, they received a cold reception.

This and other experiences caused Sudina to shy away from interacting with Japanese people.

But it left us feeling helpless and alone.

Again, it felt like we were transparent.

What encouraged Sudina was her immigrant parents who had successfully forged a path in Japan.

If you have difficulties living as a foreigner, it's important to speak up.

Cooperate with Japanese people to change the world you live in.

Japan's changed a lot, too.

You can open an account and there's more English in the city.

We need to get to know each other.

That's why we organize events where Japanese and Nepalese can come together to talk.

Don't try to do it alone. It's about making friends.

And when someone's got your back, anything is possible.

She ends with her thoughts on how to prevent people from feeling unseen within society.

When I went to Nepal. It was the sight of children living in poverty.

The helpless children in poverty reminded me of the despair of being transparent.

The world we live in isn't perfect.

A lack of communication or attention can make us feel worthless.

But, sometimes, all it takes is a warm hand to pull someone out of that darkness.

You feel transparent when no one cares.

So take a look at the blessing you have and try sharing it with those who need it.

If more people learn to share, the world can become a better place.

Sudina has successfully given voice to her thoughts.

Good job.

So, I think I related a lot to the slide that showed transparent...feeling transparent.

Cause' particularly for me, like, being half-Japanese, half-American,

I have had experiences in Japan where it's felt like I was kinda just seen as a half.

Like, I was valued because I'm half-American.

So, like, for example, I feel kinda hard to make Japanese friends sometimes.

Cuz maybe different culture and stuff.

So, how do you, like, make Japanese friends?

Most friendships that I know of between
Japanese and non-Japanese people

started through sports or some
kind of activity.

It's hard to communicate out of the blue,
so go where people are there to play.

If you can make one friend,
they usually come with five more.

-Good work!
-I was scared and nervous.

I'll keep sharing my country with others.

-And continue your fundraisers.
-Yes.

You'll reach out to people who feel unseen
and pass on your energy.

Yes.

-Good luck.
-Thank you so much.