KAMISATO, Saitama Pref. -- Toshio Saito's school for Japanese-Brazilian children in Kamisato, Saitama Prefecture, is equipped with a computer room, wall-size projection screens to aid lecturers and an 80 million yen gym with indoor soccer field and two basketball courts.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='250' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='../images/photos2007/nn20070217f1a.jpg' WIDTH='250' HEIGHT='385'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B>Toshio Saito, founder of Instituto Educacional TS Recreacao, stands inside his 80 million yen school gym in Kamisato, Saitama Prefecture. </B> JUN HONGO PHOTO</FONT></TD> </TR> <TABLE> </PHOTO> <PARAGRAPH>But lacking state accreditation as an educational institution, none of its 150 students can get student discounts for commuter passes, let alone be recognized as having received an elementary and junior high school education upon graduation.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>None of the five ninth-graders at the school was eligible to take public high school entrance exams given this month.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>'I can't tell if we are a –

school or just a private cram school. I don't know what we are," said Saito, a second-generation Japanese-Brazilian.

A change in immigration policy in 1990 enabled second- and third-generation Japanese-Brazilians to obtain long-term resident visas to work in Japan. That led to an influx of Japanese-Brazilian workers and the population of children accompanying their parents and those born in Japan increased accordingly.

But many, like those in Saito's school, face difficulties getting an education, which some claim is the root of the problems of illegal labor and rising crime involving Brazilian children in Japan.

According to a national survey conducted in 2005 by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, the number of Brazilians residing in Japan reached 214,049 and ranked third in foreign national population following 466,637 Korean residents and 346,877 Chinese. Approximately 35,000 Brazilians in Japan were aged between 5 and 19, the survey revealed.