Japanese people in Spain

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Japanese people in Spain consist largely of expatriate managers in Japanese corporations, as well as international students.^[4] There are also some people of Japanese ancestry in Spain, including descendants of 17th-century migrants to Spain, as well as migrants from among Nikkei populations in Latin America.^[5] According to Spain's National Statistical Institute, 4,898 Japanese citizens resided in the country as of 2009^[update]; Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave a slightly higher figure of 6,717.^[6][7]

[edit] History

Hasekura in prayer, following his conversion to Christianity in Madrid in 1615.

The first Japanese people to settle in Spain were the members of an embassy led by Hasekura Tsunenaga. Instead of returning to Japan in 1617, six samurai remained in Coria del Río, near Seville. The surname Japón (old Spanish for "Japanese") is conserved among approximately 700 inhabitants of Coria del Río, identifying them as descendants of the members of Hasekura Tsunenaga's delegation.^[8]

Between 1970s and 1980s, Nikkeis—people of Japanese ancestry from various countries of Latin America—settled in Spain, fleeing financial crises or political oppression in their home countries.^{[citation needed]} Since the 1970s, many Japanese have also come to Spain as businesspeople and students.^[9] In 1966, there were only about 280 Japanese nationals in Spain, but this number grew to 2,824 by 1993.^[10]

[edit] Language

Nikkeis in Spain primarily speak Spanish; only a selected number can speak Japanese. In contrast, Japanese expatriates and their children speak Japanese as their primary language.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Notable people

• Kiyoshi Uematsu, Spanish judoka
• Kenji Uematsu, Spanish judoka
• Yuu Shirota, actor and singer

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

[edit] Sources

• Beltrán Antolín, Joaquín; Sáiz López, Amelia (June 2002), Comunidades asiáticas en España, Documentos CIDOB, 3, http://www.cidob.org/es/content/download/2778/24355/file/doc_asia_3.pdf, retrieved 2009-03-16 
• Beltrán Antolín, Joaquín (November 2006), "El nodo español en las diásporas de Asia Oriental", Las diásporas de Asia Oriental en Europa Occidental, Documentos CIDOB, 13, ISSN 1696-9987, http://se1.isn.ch/serviceengine/FileContent?serviceID=ISN&fileid=B52D5761-D6BA-D99A-198B-E50C08DDC915&lng=es, retrieved 2009-03-16 
• Valls Campà, L. (1998), La presencia humana de Japón en España, Papers: revista de sociologia, 54, Autonomous University of Barcelona, pp. 157–167, http://ddd.uab.cat/pub/papers/02102862n54p157.pdf, retrieved 2009-03-16 
• "Población extranjera por sexo, país de nacionalidad y edad (hasta 85 y más).", Avance del Padrón a 1 de enero de 2009. Datos provisionales, Spain: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, 2009, http://www.ine.es/jaxi/tabla.do?path=/t20/e245/p04/provi/l0/&file=00000010.PX&type=pcaxis&L=0, retrieved 2009-06-13 
• "スペイン王国基礎データ", 各国・地域情勢, Japan: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, May 2009, http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/area/spain/data.html, retrieved 2009-10-19