Encyclopedia of Nikkei Migration

Feb. 28, 2014 - May 2, 2014

Did you know that the Nikkei live in more than fifty countries? Read short historical overviews of Japanese migration that highlight the major experiences of the Nikkei in selected countries.

Information in this section is drawn from, and expands upon, the Encyclopedia of Japanese Descendants in the Americas: An Illustrated History of the Nikkei, Akemi Kikumura-Yano, ed. (Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira, 2002). Also available in Japanese as 『アメリカ大陸日系人百科事典―写真と絵で見る日系人の歴史』 (明石書店, 2002).

Stories from this series

Brazil - Migration Historical Overview

March 21, 2014 • Akemi Kikumura Yano

Japanese immigrants first came to Brazil in June 1908. These families worked on coffee plantations under contract to coffee planters in search of cheap labor. After the United States closed its door to Japanese immigration in 1924, the Japanese government facilitated the accelerated immigration of Japanese into Brazil. However, life was so unbearable that most Japanese left the plantations for urban areas, suburbs, or new Japanese farm settlements. São Paulo city and its surrounding areas were the main areas of …

Brazil encyclopedias migration

Bolivia - Migration Historical Overview

March 14, 2014 • Akemi Kikumura Yano

Prior to the 1950s, most Japanese entered Bolivia as common laborers through Peru. In 1899, the Mapiri River region in La Paz witnessed the first entry of ninety-one Japanese laborers to work on rubber plantations. Thereafter, the highland Andes continued to attract a few hundred more Japanese, who found employment in mining and railroad construction. The inland Amazon emerged as the second major destination for the workers, who also came through Peru to work on rubber plantations in northwestern Bolivia. …

Bolivia encyclopedias generations immigrants immigration Issei Japan migration postwar World War II

Argentina - Migration Historical Overview

March 7, 2014 • Akemi Kikumura Yano

Argentine Nikkei history began in 1908-09 with the arrival of immigrants from Okinawa and Kagoshima—the major prefectural origins of Argentine Nikkei. The first Japanese entered the country via Brazil, and succeeding groups of immigrants tended to reach Argentina through the neighboring nations. In the prewar years, Nikkei were concentrated in urban small businesses, especially dry cleaning and cafes in Buenos Aires, while some worked as domestic servants, factory workers, and longshoremen. A minority of Japanese also engaged in horticulture, floriculture, …

Argentina encyclopedias generations immigrants immigration Issei Japan migration

Brief Historical Overview of Japanese Emigration, 1868-1998

Feb. 28, 2014 • Eiichiro Azuma

Background of Japanese Overseas Migration The overseas migration of Japanese started with the opening of the island nation to the rest of the world and its entry into modernity in 1868. Becoming a part of the international network of labor, capital, and transportation, the Japanese suddenly found themselves in the middle of rapid socio-economic change, thereby creating a rural population ready for domestic and international migration. Beginnings of Overseas Migration In 1868, an American businessman sent a group of approximately 148 …

colonization emigrations encyclopedias generations human geography immigrants immigration Issei Japan Japanese diaspora migration

Authors in This Series

Eiichiro Azuma

Eiichiro Azuma is the Alan Charles Kors Term Chair Associate Professor of History and Asian American Studies at University of Pennsylvania. He is author of Between Two Empires: Race, History, and Transnationalism in Japanese America (Oxford University Press, 2005) and co-editor of Yuji Ichioka, Before Internment: Essays in Prewar Japanese American History (Stanford University Press, 2006). Professor Azuma is also currently at work with David Yoo in the editing of the Oxford Handbook of Asian American History. Between 1992 and 2000, he worked as a Curator/Researcher at the Japanese American National Museum and has an MA in Asian American studies and a PhD in history from UCLA.

Updated July 2013

Akemi Kikumura Yano

Akemi Kikumura Yano is a Visiting Scholar at the University of California at Los Angeles, Asian American Studies Center. She holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from UCLA and is an award-winning author, curator, and playwright, best known for her book Through Harsh Winters: The Life of an Immigrant Woman.

Updated February 2012

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