Nepal Nepalese student speaks to Japanese police

Upadhyay Ukesh delivers a speech on October 9 at the Osaka Prefectural Education Center in Osaka's Sumiyoshi Ward. Takuya Asakura When Upadhyay Ukesh came to Japan from Nepal at the age 14 he could not understand Japanese, and he worked without going to school.

Ukesh is a part-time course at the Mikunigaoka High School in Osaka Prefecture-run Mikunigaoka.

Through his words, the young Nepalese hopes to build bridges between foreigners and Japanese.

At a contest held in Tokyo on November 20 for students at part-time or correspondence high schools nationwide to present their speeches, Ukesh represented Osaka Prefecture.

He gave a speech about his experiences in Japan, his dream and the only thing he is unsatisfied with about life in Japan.

Ukesh came to Japan because his father was working at a restaurant in the country.

His age meant that he should have enrolled in junior high school under Japan's education system. He said that his dream did not come true, even though Ukesh longed to take classes while wearing a uniform.

Ukesh helped with his father's work while staying at different relatives homes.

He started working part time at a hotel in Osaka at the age of 16. He was responsible for cleaning guest rooms and making up the beds. He is currently providing guidance to new employees.

Ukesh learned about a junior high school night program from a Nepali colleague and quickly decided to try it. He finished the program in a year and began taking part-time classes at a high school.

Going to school has allowed me to learn many things I previously didn't know, said Ukesh.

The teachers in Japan offer him lessons on subject matter, along with a variety of knowledge essential for living in Japan.

Schools provide 100 percent reliability and safety, though I am unable to explain their merits well in Japanese.

Ukesh is busy with studying, working out, and working out at a gym for fun. He said he has never been discriminated against or bullied because of his race at school or workplace.

His only complaint is the way Japanese police officers question him on the streets despite him having done nothing illegal.

Ukesh was once body-searched by two to three officers, while he had both hands raised above his head on his way to a night class for junior high school after work. This was close to a train station, and many passers-by stared at him.

He had not been accustomed to being questioned by the police at that time, and he did not know what to say. He said the experience shook him.

I can never forget that, Ukesh said. At least, police questioning was more polite on other occasions. Such a nuisance happens to him several times a month. He has been questioned by the police on dozens of occasions.

Ukesh heard from a high school teacher that police and other organizations open investigations based on their prejudices in race and skin color in a practice called racial profiling, which is emerging as a problem in and outside Japan.

63 percent of 2,000 people with foreign roots said they had been questioned by the police in the past five years, according to the findings of a questionnaire released by the Tokyo Bar Association in September.

Ukesh's speech refers to his encounter with police.

He is going to graduate next spring, and Ukesh is developing a documentary about his life in Japan as a foreigner.

He hopes that the film will convey the idea of better communication that may prompt more Japanese who hesitate to socialize with people from outside the nation to realize that they are all human.