Japanese settlement in the Philippines

Infobox Ethnic group
group = Japanese people in the Philippines


caption = Romnick Sarmenta
population = 120,000 [cite paper|publisher=Japan Times|location=Japan|title=A glimmer of hope for castoffs NGO finding jobs for young, desperate Japanese-Filipinos
date=October2006|url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20061011f1.html]
regions = Metro Manila, Davao, the Visayas, Ilocos Norte, La Union
languages = Filipino language • Japonic Languages • English
religions = Buddhism • Roman Catholic
related = Japanese people

Japanese settlement in the Philippines refers to the branch of the Japanese diaspora having historical contact with and having established themselves in what is now the Philippines. This also refers to Filipino citizens of either pure or mixed Japanese descent currntly residing in the country, the latter a result of intermarriages between the Japanese and local populations.

History

Pre-colonial

Contact with the Philippine islands began when Japanese traders/merchants first settled in the archipelago during the 12th century AD when the Philippines was under the Luzon Empire and the Majapahit Kingdom. Notable settlements of the period include the ones along Lingayen Gulf.

Spanish era

The Japanese population in the Philippines has since included descendants of Japanese Catholics and other Japanese Christians who fled from the religious persecution imposed by the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period and settled during the colonial period from the 1600s until the 1800s. A statue of daimyo Ukon Takayama, who was exiled to the Philippines in 1614 because he refused to disvow his Christian beliefs, stands a patch of land across the road from the Post Office building in the Paco area of Manila. In the 1600s, the Spaniards referred to the Paco Area as the 'Yellow Plaza' because of the more than 3,000 Japanese who resided there. [cite paper|publisher=Google map of Paco distrist of Manila, Philippines|location=Philippines|title=Japanese Christian|url=http://ph.pagenation.com/mnl/Paco_120.9997_14.5808.map]

Many of the Japanese men intermarried with Filipino women (including those of mixed or unmixed Spanish and Chinese descent), thus forming the new Japanese mestizo community. A sizeable population settled in Manila, Davao, the Visayas and in the 1600s in Dilao, Paco and Ilocos Norte Province. This hybrid group tend to be re-assimilated either into the Filipino or the Japanese communities, and thus no accurate denominations could be established, though their estimates range from 100,000 to 200,000. Many were killed or expelled after World War II. Many Japanese mestizos tended to deny their Japanese heritage and changed their family names in order to avoid discrimination.cn|date=June 2008

American period and the Post-WWII era

During the American colonial era, the number of Japanese laborers working in plantations rose so high that in the 1900s, Davao soon became dubbed as a "Ko Nippon Koku" ("Little Japan" in Japanese) with a Japanese school, a Shinto shrine and a diplomatic mission from Japan. There is even a popular restaurant called "The Japanese Tunnel", which includes an actual tunnel built by the Japanese during World War II. [cite paper|publisher=Pacific Citizen|location=Philippines|title=A Little Tokyo Rooted in the Philippines|date=April2007|url=http://www.pacificcitizen.org/content/2007/national/apr20-lin-davaokuo.htm]

For fear of discrimination, some fled to the mountains after World War II while many others changed their names in the attempts to assimilate. Many were also killed ("c." 10,000 Japanese Mestizos and Japanese) while others were deported as an act of retaliation. Their Japanese identity may take on extremes, some have completely lost their Japanese identity while others have "returned" to Japan, the homeland of their forebears. There is also a number of contemporary Japanese-mestizos, not associated with the history of the earlier established ones, born either in the Philippines or Japan. These latter are the resultant of unions between Filipinos and recent Japanese immigrants to the Philippines or Japanese and immigrant Filipino workers in Japan. Most Japanese mestizos speak tribal languages and Tagalog. They may also be known as "Japinos", although this term is considered derogatory by many. There are believed to be between 100,000 and 200,000 Japanese-mestizos in the country, but no accurate figure is currently available. Thousands of war-displaced ethnic Japanese still live in the country and are denied of recognition as Japanese nationals in order to return to Japan.

Modern times

The recent Japanese Filipinos are descendants of 1980s and 1990s Japanese settlers usually businesspeople, most of whom are men, and (mostly female) locals. Many are children of thousands of overseas Filipino workers, commonly "Japayuki", who went to Japan mostly as entertainers, helpers, and maids. They are in the Philippines also to learn English as it is the third largest English-speaking country. As the Japayuki Filipina mothers return to the Philippines, most take their children along with them. [cite paper|publisher=Japan Times|location=Japan|title=Japanese-Filipino kids await fate, Top court to rule on nationality law tied to paternal recognition|date=June42008|url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20080604f1.html] A significant number in the US today are the product of Filipino- and Japanese American intermarriages, mostly in California, Hawaii and other US territories in the Pacific, while others are Filipinos of Japanese ancestry who have migrated to the United States.

Several foundations today such as the "Federation of Nikkeijin Kai Philippines" exist throughout the country through the efforts of prosperous Japanese descendants and expatriates to assist Filipinos of Japanese ancestry to travel in Japan to trace their roots and visit relatives, and also charity purposes such as offering working visas and educational scholarships of impoverished Japanese Filipino children. Similar organizations exist in the Visayas to commemorate and signify the historical settlement of Japanese Filipinos in the region. The Philippines also has the highest number of Japanese in the country than any other Southeast Asian country.

Japanese citizenship

The Supreme Court of Japan on June 4, 2008, ruled against a law that denied citizenship to children born out of wedlock to Japanese fathers and foreign mothers. It upheld the 2003 and 2005 separate suits (of 10 Japanese-Filipino children for Japanese citizenship), filed by Filipino mothers who proved the fathers of their children were Japanese. It affirmed the Tokyo District Court judgment that "the marital status of the parents had no bearing on nationality, and that denying the children citizenship violated constitutional guarantees of equality for all." [ [http://www.gmanews.tv/story/99158/Japan-high-court-rules-in-favor-of-Japino-children GMA NEWS.TV, Japan high court rules in favor of 'Japino' children] ] Mel Nuqui, executive director of the Development Action for Women Network (DAWN), stated that "the 30-year migration of Filipino entertainers to Japan produced 100,000 Japanese-Filipino or "Japino" children, but very few children were legally acknowledged by their Japanese fathers. DAWN assists Filipino entertainers and Japinos, by helping Japinos locate their fathers in Japan. In 2007, it called for registration of Japinos, and 1,313 Japinos in the Philippines registered (August to October in 2007). However, only 60 of the 1,313 children had been registered in Japan, and of 2,800 children (born out of wedlock from foreign mothers who reside in Japan), 2,000 had Japanese fathers. [ [http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=120625 abs-cbnnews.com, Thousands of 'Japinos' seen to benefit from Japan high court ruling] ]

Prominent Japanese Filipinos

For a list of prominent or noteworthy Japanese Filipinos, see .

ee also

*Red seal ships

References