Total population
560,741 (as of 2006)
Regions with significant populations
Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, and other major cities
Language(s)
Chinese, Japanese
Religion(s)
Buddhism, Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Han Chinese
Chinese people in Japan, also referred to as Kaky? (??, literally Chinese sojourners) or Zainichi ch?gokujin (?????, literally Chinese people resident in Japan) in Japanese and as Rìb?n huáqiáo (????) in Chinese, have a history going back for centuries or even millennia.
Kanteibyou Temple in Yokohama’s Chinatown
Most Chinese residents in Japan live in major urban areas, such as Tokyo, Yokohama, and Osaka, each of which has a recognised Chinatown as well as schools which use Chinese as the medium of instruction. One 1995 study estimated the Chinese population in Japan to be 150,000, among whom 50,000 to 100,000 spoke Chinese[1]; five years later, Japanese governmental statistics showed 335,575 Chinese residents
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 (possibly Japan’s Mount Fuji) in 219 BC to retrieve an elixir of life. Unwilling to return without the elixir, the myth asserts that Xu instead chose to settle in Japan.[3]
However, Japan’s first verifiable Chinese visitor was the Buddhist missionary Hui Sheng, 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.[4]
Modern era
It was estimated that in 1906, more than six thousand Chinese students lived in Japan; many of them resided in Tokyo’s Kanda district.[5]
Post-WWII
Post-World War II Chinese immigrants to Japan, typically referred to as shin-kaky?, have come to Japan from both Taiwan and mainland China.
Foreign studentsMany famous Chinese intellectuals have studied in Japan, among then Sun Yat-sen and Lu Xun.
Workers
Long-term residents and their descendants
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.
Cuisine
Chinese restaurants in Japan serve a fairly distinct style of Chinese cuisine. Though formerly 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 derogatory language such as sangokujin to refer to Chinese in Japan, and implied that they might engage in rioting and looting in the aftermath of a disaster.[6]
Perception
There is a public perception in Japan that many Chinese immigrants come to Japan to engage in criminal activities.[citation needed] Many Chinese workers enter 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.[7]
Prominent Chinese in Japan
Agnes Chan, pop singer, professor, and writer
Chen Kenichi, longest-serving participant on Japanese cooking show Iron Chef
Go Seigen, professional Go player
Takeshi Kaneshiro, actor
Mo Bangfu, author
Sadaharu Oh, baseball player