Address: Nishimura Building 601,3-6-18, Kamimeguro Meguro-Ku, Tokyo 153-0051
Tel: +81-3-3760-3471
Fax: +81-3-3760-3474
E-mail: issj@a1.mbn.or.jp

Organizational Profile:

With a network that spans the globe, we focus on the social welfare issues of children, striving to come to the aid of those that are entangled in difficult issues such as social welfare and human rights involving multiple countries. We have provided our services over the years as we continue to maintain close relationships with the Geneva Headquarters, branch offices from 20 countries, and correspondents from over 100 other countries. Also through a contract with the Philippines Department of Social Welfare and Development, we have worked to foster the smooth provision of services between the two countries.

The main services that make up Consultation Support are counseling for international adoption, birth registration for unregistered children, sending children back to their parents’ country of origin to gain nationality as well as various other problems pertaining to the problems of children. We also deal with international marriage and divorce, assistance in re-uniting families, and support for refugees and asylum seekers in acclimating to their new environment.

Since the foundation of ISSJ, we have been providing assistance to International adoption. We provide support for people with concerns about the birthing and post-birth rearing of children. We provide assistance in dealing with the difficult legal procedures involved in adoption as well as psychological support for the adoptive child, adopting parents, and the birth parents.

We are contracted by the UNHCR to provide integration assistance to asylum-seekers as well as refugees in Japan who are being pursued by their home country due to political and spiritual persecution. At ISSJ, we provide needed support for displaced people in such areas as finding employment, housing, access to medical care, Japanese language education, and psychological support.

In recent years, the number of children who have no birth certificates or nationality and are born of unmarried women who have overstayed in Japan has been increasing. We help by assisting the birth registration for these children and sending them to their mother’s country of origin so that they can gain citizenship.

Every year we invite social workers from developing countries to conduct special training at ISSJ, especially from other Asian countries. We try to train them to function internationally by better understanding the state of child welfare in Japan and gaining some proficiency in Japanese. In addition, we manage a day care center in Cambodia as well as train care workers in conducting their jobs. With no major reconstruction taking place since the end of the war, there are many children who cannot go to school. In response to this dilemma, we are conducting education programs on such basic matters as sanitation, literacy, and proper cleaning and disposal of refuse. We are developing programs that will function as regional community centers for the area targeted.

International marriage is increasing and with it numerous problems. Taking the legal codes and procedures of the country involved into account, we provide assistance in such areas as marriage and divorce procedures, parental authority over children, visitation rights, expenses for raising children, problems receiving compensation for damages, and the search for missing family members. In addition, we provide counseling to Japanese residents of foreign nationality, for example, who are married to Japanese nationals.

Charity Movie Festival

Since 1980, we have held a movie festival and bazaar every June and October to help spread the word about exactly what it is we do at ISSJ. We choose movies that will leave a strong impact on the audience in order to portray the activities of ISSJ. We receive countless support from both volunteer individuals and companies, and the fund raised at the event is used to promote the welfare of the children involved with ISSJ.

Public Relations, Publishing,

Three times a year we publish a newsletter detailing the activities of ISSJ and trends in child welfare. We also do research and issue publications on matters such as international adoption, international marriage, refugees, and translations, which could be important in helping solve international social service problems.

History of ISSJ