TOYOTA, Aichi Pref. -- When the bell signals the end of the day at Homi Junior High School here, students run out of the building to play on the grounds.

In what is otherwise a typical scene at any Japanese public school, something striking catches the eye. Many of the faces in the uniformed crowd do not appear to be Japanese. Many of them are Brazilians of Japanese descent.

Totaling 222,217 -- or 14.7 percent of the registered aliens in Japan -- as of the end of 1998, Brazilians of Japanese ancestry made up the third-largest group of foreign nationals in Japan, according to the Justice Ministry. This is largely because they have visa priority.