Support for a single mother living and working in Japan.

First off, apologies if this is not the appropriate subreddit and if that is the case please direct me to where that would be.

I am typing this on behalf of a friend who lives and works in Japan (she doesn’t use reddit, so please consider this a post of a resident as she will be reading and responding to the comments)

She holds a Pilipino passport. She has lived and worked in Japan for almost 10 years.

She described that the most recent VISA that she was issued is only valid for 1 year, and she was extremely disappointed by this as she was hoping that it would be a three-year VISA.

She is the mother of a three year old son who at present is being cared for in her home country by her parents. Her son was born in the Philippines.

The father is from a different country altogether and not involved in the care of her son.

What are the immigration hurdles in transiting her son to be with her in Japan? What VISA would he be issued?

She lives alone in a major city (25 minutes by train from main city station) without any local support (only has work friends/colleagues, but nobody that she would feel comfortable asking for help looking after her son).

What social services are available in Japan to support a single mother and would she be eligible for them as a foreign citizen?

Her current working hours are from midday to approximately 9pm. Are there childcares/out of school hours care type services that her son could attend after pre-school until she could collect him? And are any of these services supported or subsidized by the government?

I would have thought that working in Japan for 10 years would make her eligible for residency or equivalent? Is this the case?

Any further advice or directions to services that may be able to assist?

Thank you for taking the time to help us.

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