NAGOYA PCG HOLDS LECTURE ON CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY AT THE NAGOYA UNIVERSITY
The Philippine Consulate General in Nagoya delivered a lecture to Cultural Anthropology students of Nagoya University on 13 May 2025. The lecture was entitled, “In Search of Riches and Comfort: A Perspective on Philippine Labor Migration in the Concepts of Pangangayaw and Bayani.”
Among others, the lecture aimed to identify the economic benefits to the Philippines of labor migration, identify the reasons and patterns of Philippine labor migration, and locate cultural references as justification or rationale for migration. The lecture provided a historical overview of Philippine migration worldwide, with particular emphasis on Filipino migrants in Japan. Finally, the lecture discussed the culturally-rooted concepts of pangangayaw and bayani, linking them to the predominant views among Filipinos of migration as a means to improve their lives.
The lecture was followed by an open forum, where questions from students also provided the opportunity to discuss related issues, as follows:
- Future directions of labor migration
- Pros and cons of labor migration (i.e., brain drain v. brain gain)
- Policies related to migration (e.g., human trafficking, labor policies of sending and receiving countries, etc.)
- Impact of labor migration in international relations
The lecture is part of Post’s continuing engagement with the academic community to promote understanding of Filipino culture and people.
The Cultural Section distributed handcrafted tokens and travel brochures to the students and encouraged them to travel to and learn more about the Philippines.
