Vietnamese people in Japan
Encyclopedia
formed Japan
's eighth-largest community of foreign residents in 2004, ahead of Indonesians in Japan
and behind Thais
in Japan, according to the statistics of the Ministry of Justice
. The majority of the 26,018 Vietnam
ese legal residents live in the Kantō region
(13,164 people, or 50.6%) and Greater Osaka
(5,289 people, or 20%).
pioneered. By 1908, 200 Vietnamese students had gone to study at Japanese universities. However, the community of Vietnamese people in Japan is dominated by Vietnam War
refugees and their families, who compose about 70% of the total population. Japan began to accept refugees from Vietnam in the late 1970s. The policy of accepting foreign migrants marked a significant break from Japan's post-World War II
orientation towards promoting and maintaining a myth of a racially-homogeneous Japan. Most of these migrants settled in Kanagawa
and Hyōgo
prefectures, the locations of the initial resettlement centres. As they moved out of the resettlement centres, they often gravitated to Zainichi Korean-dominated neighbourhoods; however, they feel little sense of community with Zainichi Koreans, seeing them not as fellow ethnic minorities but as part of the mainstream.
Guest workers began to follow the refugees to Japan in the so-called "third wave" of Vietnamese migration beginning in the 1990s. As contract workers returned home to Vietnam from the countries of the former Eastern Bloc
, which by then had begun their transition away from Communism, they began to look for other foreign destinations in which they could earn good incomes, and Japan proved attractive due to its nearby location and high standard of living. By the end of 1994, the annual number of Vietnamese workers going to Japan totalled 14,305 individuals, mostly under industrial traineeship visas. In contrast to other labour-exporting countries in Southeast Asia
, the vast majority of migrants were men, due to the Vietnamese government's restrictions on migration for work in traditionally female-dominated fields such as domestic work or entertainment.
proficiency as well as the schools' own inability to adjust to the challenges of educating students with different cultural backgrounds. Tensions have also arisen between migrants admitted to Japan as adults, and 1.5 or 2nd-generation
children born or educated in Japan, due to language barriers and differences in culture; the former feel the latter are too reserved and distant, while the latter deride the former for their poor Japanese language skills. Most Vietnamese do not take on Japanese name
s, or prefer to use their Vietnamese name
s even if they have a Japanese name, though they feel a Japanese name may be necessary for job-seeking and they sometimes complain of being teased for having "katakana
names". Catholic churches
quickly came to play an important role in their community.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
's eighth-largest community of foreign residents in 2004, ahead of Indonesians in Japan
Indonesians in Japan
form Japan's largest immigrant group from a Muslim-majority country. , Japanese government figures recorded 25,620 legal residents of Indonesian nationality and estimated further 4,947 more were residing in the country illegally.-Demography and distribution:...
and behind Thais
Thai people
The Thai people, or Siamese, are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries in Southeast Asia as well as southern China. Their language is the Thai language, which is classified as part of the Kradai family of...
in Japan, according to the statistics of the Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Justice (Japan)
The is one of Ministries of the Japanese government.-Meiji Constitution:The Ministry of Justice was established under the Constitution of the Empire of Japan in 1871 as the .-Constitution of Japan:...
. The majority of the 26,018 Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
ese legal residents live in the Kantō region
Kanto region
The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. The region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba, and Kanagawa. Within its boundaries, slightly more than 40 percent of the land area is the Kantō Plain....
(13,164 people, or 50.6%) and Greater Osaka
Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto
is a Japanese metropolitan region encompassing the metropolitan areas of the cities of Osaka in Osaka prefecture, Kobe in Hyōgo Prefecture, and Kyoto in Kyoto prefecture. The entire region has a population of 18,644,000 over an area of 11,170 km²...
(5,289 people, or 20%).
Migration history
Large numbers of Vietnamese students began to choose Japan as a destination in the early 20th century, spurred by the exiled prince Cuong De and the Đông Du Movement (literally, "Travel East movement" or "Eastern Travel movement") he and Phan Boi ChauPhan Boi Chau
Phan Bội Châu was a pioneer of Vietnamese 20th century nationalism. In 1903, he formed a revolutionary organization called the “Reformation Society” ....
pioneered. By 1908, 200 Vietnamese students had gone to study at Japanese universities. However, the community of Vietnamese people in Japan is dominated by Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
refugees and their families, who compose about 70% of the total population. Japan began to accept refugees from Vietnam in the late 1970s. The policy of accepting foreign migrants marked a significant break from Japan's post-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
orientation towards promoting and maintaining a myth of a racially-homogeneous Japan. Most of these migrants settled in Kanagawa
Kanagawa Prefecture
is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period...
and Hyōgo
Hyogo Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region on Honshū island. The capital is Kobe.The prefecture's name was previously alternately spelled as Hiogo.- History :...
prefectures, the locations of the initial resettlement centres. As they moved out of the resettlement centres, they often gravitated to Zainichi Korean-dominated neighbourhoods; however, they feel little sense of community with Zainichi Koreans, seeing them not as fellow ethnic minorities but as part of the mainstream.
Guest workers began to follow the refugees to Japan in the so-called "third wave" of Vietnamese migration beginning in the 1990s. As contract workers returned home to Vietnam from the countries of the former Eastern Bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
, which by then had begun their transition away from Communism, they began to look for other foreign destinations in which they could earn good incomes, and Japan proved attractive due to its nearby location and high standard of living. By the end of 1994, the annual number of Vietnamese workers going to Japan totalled 14,305 individuals, mostly under industrial traineeship visas. In contrast to other labour-exporting countries in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
, the vast majority of migrants were men, due to the Vietnamese government's restrictions on migration for work in traditionally female-dominated fields such as domestic work or entertainment.
Integration
The refugees have suffered various difficulties adjusting to Japanese society, especially in the areas of education and employment; their attendance rate in senior high school is estimated to be only 40%, as compared to 96.6% for Japanese nationals, a fact attributed both to the refugees' lack of Japanese languageJapanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
proficiency as well as the schools' own inability to adjust to the challenges of educating students with different cultural backgrounds. Tensions have also arisen between migrants admitted to Japan as adults, and 1.5 or 2nd-generation
Immigrant generations
The term first-generation [citizen of a country], e.g., "first-generation Ruritanian" may have either of two different meanings:*A citizen of the country who is a naturalized immigrant.or*A citizen whose parents are naturalized immigrants....
children born or educated in Japan, due to language barriers and differences in culture; the former feel the latter are too reserved and distant, while the latter deride the former for their poor Japanese language skills. Most Vietnamese do not take on Japanese name
Japanese name
in modern times usually consist of a family name , followed by a given name. "Middle names" are not generally used.Japanese names are usually written in kanji, which are characters of usually Chinese origin in Japanese pronunciation...
s, or prefer to use their Vietnamese name
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese names generally consist of three parts: a family name, a middle name, and a given name, used in that order. The "family name first" order follows the system of Chinese names and is common throughout the Sinosphere , but is different from Chinese, Korean, and Japanese names in having a...
s even if they have a Japanese name, though they feel a Japanese name may be necessary for job-seeking and they sometimes complain of being teased for having "katakana
Katakana
is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet . The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Each kana represents one mora...
names". Catholic churches
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
quickly came to play an important role in their community.
Notable individuals
- Nguyen Tran Phuoc An (グエン・トラン・フォク・アン), baseball player
- PhongchiPhongchi, also credited as Phongchi, is a Japanese idol of Vietnamese descent. Often dubbed "Idoling No. 8", she is one of original members and has been the most popular member of the Japanese all-girl idol group Idoling...
, female idol - Jun Nguyen-HatsushibaJun Nguyen-HatsushibaJun Nguyen-Hatsushiba was born in Tokyo to a Japanese mother and a Vietnamese father in 1968, the year of the Tet Offensive staged by the Vietcong and North Vietnamese troops. He earned an M.F.A. from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 1994 after receiving his B.F.A. from the School of the...
, artist - Masato SetoMasato Seto-Biography:Seto was born in Udon Thani, Thailand, to a Japanese father and a Vietnamese Thai mother. He moved to Fukushima Prefecture, Japan in 1961, and studied photography at Tōkyō Shashin Senmon Gakkō , graduating in 1973. After further study under Daidō Moriyama, Seto became an assistant to...
, Japanase-Thai photographer (Born to a Japanese father and a Thai mother of Vietnamese descent)