Japanese Mexican

Infobox Ethnic group
group=Japanese Mexican
"Japonés Mexicano"
"Nikkei Mekushikojin"


caption=Bárbara Mori, Ana Gabriel, Luis Nishizawa
flagicon|Japanflagicon|Mexico
poptime=15,000
popplace=Mexico City, Chiapas, Morelia, San Luis Potosí, Puebla, Guadalajara, Baja California
langs=Mexican Spanish, Japanese
rels=Christianity (Roman Catholicism), Mahayana Buddhism, Shinto
related=Japanese people, Japanese Americans, Japanese Canadians, Japanese Peruvians, Japanese Brazilians

Japanese Mexican (Spanish: "Japonés Mexicano", Japanese: "Nikkei Mekushikojin") is a Mexican-born citizen of Japanese descent.

The first large numbers of Japanese settlers appeard in Mexico on May 10, 1897, to setup a coffee plantation business in Chiapas. Unfortunately, their business were unsuccessful, but regardless of this, many Japanese settlers married local women and built up a community in the country. The next wave of Japanese settlers lived in northern and central Mexico, especially Baja California, between 1901 and 1907, but unlike those who stayed in Chiapas, the Japanese who stayed in the former were dekasegis who migrated to Japan. They found contract work in mines, railroads, and farms through the services of emigration companies there. The plurality of those laborers allowed them to use Mexico to enter the United States, although the entry of Japanese from Mexico was prohibited after March 1907. The following decade led the appearance of stable overseas Japanese communities in the northern states, as well as in Mexico City. When Mexican Revolution began, the United States permitted Mexican immigration and a number of Japanese Mexican emigrants left for the U.S. settling in the farming valleys of California. It's been even speculated that the majority of Japanese Americans from 1907 – 1917 have Mexican and/or Spanish descent. Fact|date=June 2008

When World War II happened (early 1940s), all Mexican citizens of Japanese ancestry living in Baja California were commanded to flee to Mexico City and Guadalajara in early 1942 as they were judged as enemies by the Mexican community, including German Mexicans and Italian Mexicans. Displaced and disoriented, the resettlers were lucky to find housing and jobs with the assistance of the Kyoeikai (Comités de Ayuda Mutua, Committee of Mutual Aid) of Mexico City. While war was still going, Japanese-, including German- and Italian-, language teaching in schools and publishing in Japanese were prohibited and they were told to teach only in Spanish. Soon, more Japanese-Mexicans began to shed their Japanese heritage and falsely assumed out of fear and shame they are "Chinese", "Korean" and "Filipino" instead of Japanese.

After the war, tens of thousands of Japanese refugees were permitted to enter Mexico. In addition to that, major changes happened in the Japanese Mexican community. Most of the Nikkei population remained concentrated in Guadalajara and Mexico City and their occupations shifted from agriculture to small urban businesses. Mexico became their permanent home. The postwar Nikkei community experienced problems of factionalism and some degree of disunity, but after the mid-1950s, the Japanese Mexican Association played a vital role in bringing the community together to build a Nikkei cultural center and later the Mexican Japanese Institute and other lyceums for the descendants under new Nisei leadership that are also attended by others who want to learn their language and even their ways of life. Japanese immigration to Mexico celebrated its 100th anniversary on May 10, 1997. Today, young Japanese Mexicans continue to build upon the legacy of their past while playing a more integral role in Mexico’s multicultural society and Japanese Mexicans in general are proud of their community in Chiapas called Colonia Enomoto and are very important in Mexican culture.

Language and Religion

Most Japanese Mexicans only speak Spanish. Only a selected number can speak Japanese, while those who attained higher education speak English. There are many Japanese Mexican schools that offer English-language teaching to the recent Japanese residents. In religion, the majority are Roman Catholic Christians, while the rest are Buddhists.

External Links

* [http://www.janm.org/projects/inrp/english/time_mexico.htm Historical Timeline of Japanese Mexican]
* [http://www.discovernikkei.org/wiki/index.php/Migration_Historical_Overview_Mexico Migration Historical Overview - Mexico]