On the morning of March 3, Janine, a 43-year-old home care worker from the Philippines, enters the home of an 86-year-old woman in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward and asks brightly, "Are you alright? Not too cold are you? What did you eat yesterday?"

"I had 'yakiniku' barbecue," replies the octogenarian. "Well in that case, I'll make you some mapo eggplant for lunch," suggests Janine. The care worker then sets about preparing lunch and dinner for the elderly lady, in addition to cleaning inside her home, all in the space of one hour. Janine remains smiley throughout the entire hour, and then leaves for her next appointment explaining, "I have to visit eight homes today. See you soon."

Born and raised in the Philippines, Janine moved to Hong Kong at the age of 19, where she found work as a maid. She subsequently relocated to Japan at the age of 20, and started working in the Italian Embassy in Tokyo's Minato Ward as an in-house maid, which was made possible through the diplomat husband of an acquaintance she knew in Hong Kong. Five years later, the Italian diplomat was assigned to another country, but Janine decided to stay in Japan together with her Japanese partner.

After marrying her partner, Janine's name changed to Janine Yamamoto. Before long, she gave birth to a baby girl. Around that time, she struggled to understand what the doctors and nurses were trying to say to her. Fortunately though, Janine received helpful support from fellow mothers living nearby. They helped her grasp the basics of Japanese through reading books together, and sometimes up to 10 mothers would gather at these sessions. Janine is very grateful for that support. "They are all good people. Without their help, I don't think I would have reached my current level of Japanese," she says.

When Janine first arrived in Japan, she was issued with a "designated activities visa," which is renewed on an annual basis. Later, after marrying a Japanese citizen, she acquired a "spouse of a Japanese national" visa, which is valid for three years. She then upgraded from a spouse visa to an unlimited permanent resident visa -- which can be acquired after holding a spouse visa for three years, and which cannot be rescinded even if the visa holder and the Japanese spouse split up.

After working at the Italian Embassy, Janine did various jobs at places such as fast food restaurants and also gave birth once again at the age of 35, this time to a boy. She did some work at a hotel as well, where she was responsible for supervising student workers from overseas, such as Vietnam and Nepal, but it was the prospect of working in the care industry that really began to take her fancy.

She studied about care at a special school, while continuing to work in a hotel. At the age of 42, she passed an examination on beginner level care, and started working as a home care worker in May 2016. She still does some work at the hotel, but the home care work has become the main focus in her working life. "I have finally found a job that I like. Hearing the word 'thank you' from satisfied people makes me happy," she explains.

Janine has now lived in Japan longer than she has lived in the Philippines. She occasionally returns to her home country, about once every three years, but she quickly becomes restless and keen to return to Japan after a week or so there. Since giving birth to her second child, she has become more attached to Japan and wants to stay in the country permanently. Life in Japan is not plain sailing -- she still finds kanji difficult -- but she is at ease in the country. "I feel comfortable living here. If you leave your bag somewhere, you will usually have it back. That doesn't happen anymore in the Philippines," Janine says.

(This is part one of a three-part series)