Japanese Dominican

Infobox Ethnic group
group = Japanese Dominicanflagicon|Japanflagicon|Dominican Republic
"Japonés Dominicano"
poptime=3,000
popplace=Santo Domingo, Punta Cana
langs=Dominican Spanish, Japanese
rels=Christianity, Mahayana Buddhism, Shinto
related=Japanese people, Japanese Americans

Japanese Dominican (Spanish: "Japonés Dominicano") is a group of Dominican people of Japanese ancestry.

History

When dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo ruled between 1930 and 1961, life in the nation was controlled by him and he made a plan of “whitening” the national racial composition by welcoming the European settlers like Spanish, Lebanese, and Jewish refugees. From that time on, aside from he permitted Europeans, he allowed Japanese settlers to enter, although they are not white since Japanese are light-skinned and he wanted them to expand their lucks. At the end of World War II, many Japanese refugees were warmly welcomed by Trujillo and they settled freely and happily. When Dominican and Japanese governments formally signed agreement in 1956, Trujillo extended the time of offer of refuge for Japanese immigrants seeking to improve their fortunes by taking up residence in Trujillo's vaunted "Paradise of the Caribbean." But in the end, the condition of sites were undesirable for colonization, lack of infrastructure, failure of the Japanese government to speak to the complaints of the colonists, and political instability within the Dominican Republic resulted to the abandonment of 5 of the 8 colonies. By 1962, only 276 of the 1,319 original colonists remained; the rest had either. But from 1980s to 1990s, thousands of Japanese businessmen settled the nation to invest in the national economy. Among them remained as Japanese population in Dominican Republic grew to 3,000 and although their numbers are small, they are still important in Dominican culture. Many of these are mixed race, Eurasians of mostly or with black race.

Language and Religion

Most Japanese Dominicans speak only Spanish. Only a selected number can speak Japanese, while the highly educated speak English. In religion, most are Christians, while a few are Buddhists.

Prominent Japanese Dominicans