Chinese people in Japan

Chinese people in Japan

Kanteibyou Temple in Yokohama Chinatown
Total population
655,377 (as of 2008) 0.51% of the Japanese population
Regions with significant populations
Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, and other major cities
Languages
Japanese, English, Mandarin, Cantonese, others
Related ethnic groups
Overseas Chinese

Japanese name
Kanji 華僑 Rōmaji Kakyō
Literally "Chinese sojourners"
Alternate Japanese name
Kanji 在日中国人 Rōmaji Zainichi Chūgokujin
Literally "Chinese people resident in Japan"
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese 日本華僑 Simplified Chinese 日本华侨 Hanyu Pinyin Rìběn huáqiáo

Chinese people in Japan refers to migrants who moved to Japan from China and their descendants, mainly due to political, social, and economic issues. It had been a long history since 219 BC.

Population and distribution

Most Chinese who are living in Japan resides in major cities such as Osaka, Yokohama, and Tokyo. Chinatowns were developed in the cities of Osaka and Yokohama. There are Chinese schools that teach the Chinese language. A study that was conducted in 1995 estimated that the Chinese population in Japan was ~150,000, among whom between 50,000 to 100,000 can speak spoken Chinese. In 2000, the Japanese governmental statistics revealed that there were 335,575 Chinese residents in Japan.

History

Pre-modern era

A Chinese legend of uncertain provenance states that Xu Fu, a Qin Dynasty court sorcerer, was sent by Qin Shi Huang to Penglai Mountain (Mount Fuji) in 219 BC to retrieve an elixir of life. Xu could not find any elixir of life and was reluctant to return to China because he knew he would be sentenced to death, Xu instead stayed in Japan.

However, Japan's first verifiable Chinese visitor was the Buddhist missionary Hui Shen, whose 499 AD visit to an island east of China known as Fusang, typically identified with modern-day Japan, was described in the 7th-century Liang Shu. Chinese people are also known to have settled in Okinawa during the Sanzan period; the people of the village of Kumemura, for example, are alleged to all be descended from Chinese immigrants.

Modern era

In 1906, more than six thousand Chinese students lived in Japan. Most of them resided in the district of Kanda in Tokyo.

Post-WWII

The term shin-kakyō refers to people of Chinese descent who immigrated to Japan from Taiwan and Mainland China.

Groups

Foreign students

Sun Yat-sen (far right) with Japanese friends in Tokyo, 1900.

Many famous Chinese intellectuals have studied in Japan, among them Sun Yat-sen, Lu Xun, and Zhou Enlai.

Workers

The Industrial 'training scheme' used to bring Chinese workers to Japan has been criticized by lawyers as exploitation, after several deaths.

Others

Many Japanese war orphans left behind in China after World War II have migrated to Japan with the assistance of the Japanese government, bringing along their Chinese spouses and children.

Culture

Cuisine

Main article: Japanese Chinese cuisine

Chinese restaurants in Japan serve a fairly distinct style of Chinese cuisine. Though in the past Chinese cuisine would have been primarily available in Chinatowns such as those in port cities of Kobe, Nagasaki, or Yokohama, Japanese-style Chinese cuisine is now commonly available all over Japan. As Japanese restaurants are often specialized to offer only one sort of dish, cuisine is focused primarily on dishes found within three distinct types of restaurants: ramen restaurants, dim sum houses, and standard Chinese-style restaurants.

Issues

Ethnic relations

Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara has publicly used controversial terms such as sangokujin to refer to Chinese staying illegally in Japan, and implied that they might engage in rioting and looting in the aftermath of a disaster.

Perception

There is a public perception in Japan that many Chinese immigrants come to Japan to engage in criminal activities. Some Chinese workers have entered Japan under false pretenses on cultural visas. As Japanese immigration law does not provide mechanisms for the entry of unskilled workers, and admission under a student visa requires the approval of a recognised university, prospective workers instead apply to study in language schools, which are more lightly regulated. Business owners with a need for low-cost labour have been known to open language schools as fronts for the importation of Chinese workers.

Notable individuals

This is a list of Chinese expatriates in Japan and Japanese citizens of Chinese descent.

Chiang Kai-shek, a politician and general

Early 20th

• Chen Kenmin, chef regarded as the "father of Sichuan cuisine" in Japan and father of Chen Kenichi
• Go Seigen, professional Go player
• Sun Yat-sen, politician
• Lu Xun, writer
• Qiu Jin, feminist
• Shosei Go, professional baseball player
• Chiang Kai-shek, politician and general
• Song Jiaoren, revolutionary and political figure, founder of Tongmenghui
• Jiang Baili, general
• Guo Moruo, poet and political figure
• He Yingqin, general
• Wang Jingwei, revolutionary and political figure
• Tai Chi-tao, political figure
• Chen Duxiu, co-founder of Chinese Communist Party
• Li Dazhao, co-founder of Chinese Communist Party
• Zhou Zuoren, writer
• Huang Fu, general and politician
• Chen Qimei, revolutionary

Late 20th

• Momofuku Ando, founder of Nissin Foods
• Chen Kenichi, longest-serving participant on Japanese cooking show Iron Chef
• Agnes Chan, pop singer, professor, and writer
• Rissei Ō, professional Go player
• O Meien, professional Go player
• Sadaharu Oh, professional baseball player
• Rin Kaiho, professional Go player
• Cho U, professional Go player
• Chin Shunshin, novelist

21st

• Mo Bangfu, author
• Tsuyoshi Abe, actor (3/4 Chinese, 1/4 Japanese)
• Emi Suzuki, female model (immigrant)
• Wei Son, female model (immigrant)
• Leena, female model (immigrant)
• Qian Lin & Li Chun, singers
• Rola Chen, gravure idol
• Renhō, politician

See also

• Anti-Japanese sentiment in China
• Anti-Chinese sentiment in Japan
• Chinatown
• Chinatowns in Asia
  • Yokohama Chinatown
  • Kobe Chinatown
  • Nagasaki Chinatown
  • Ikebukuro Chinatown
• Koreans in Japan
• Kumemura
• Japanese orphans in China
• Japanese people in China
• Ainu people
• Ryukyuans
• Yamato people

External links

• Yokohama Overseas Chinese School
• Chinese Immigrants Chase the Japanese Dream (TIME Magazine)