Immigration State JAPAN
According to population estimates from the Meiji period, Japan’s population in 1873 (Meiji 6) was 33.4 million. In 1967 (Showa 42), 100 years after the Meiji Restoration (1868) that ended the Edo period, Japan’s population finally exceeded 100 million. Japan’s population has tripled in 100 years. At the same time, there was a high enthusiasm for emigrating overseas, including to Hokkaido. 2 million in Hokkaido, 750,000 overseas, and 1.55 million in former Manchuria. More than 3 million Japanese have crossed the sea in history.
The beginning of Japanese immigration dates back to 1868, when a mass migration to Hawaii began. In 1886 (Meiji 19), the Japan-Hawaii Travel Treaty (“Hawaii Travel Treaty” signed by the Government of Hawaii) was concluded, and Hawaiian immigration began in earnest. Immigration based on the treaty took place a total of 26 times, with about 30,000 people traveling. Even today, the population of Japanese in Hawaii is 300,000, accounting for one-quarter of the total.
In 1869, when the Hokkaido Development Commission was established, Hokkaido became a new frontier, and people began to migrate to the area by village. Approximately 2 million people migrated from the Meiji to Taisho periods. At first, many of the immigrants were samurai who had lost their lords, such as the Date clan, which was part of the Oshu Reppan Alliance. The Tondenhei system was established to protect the north, and immigrants from Christian and other religious groups and corporate organizations also increased.
There have been cases of immigrants to the United States, such as in June 1887 (Meiji 20), when Inoue Kakugoro, a disciple of Fukuzawa Yukichi, purchased land in the Sierra Nevada and settled there with over 30 people from Hiroshima Prefecture, and in 1889 (Meiji 22), when Arai Tatsuji settled in Washington State with 50 people from Kumamoto Prefecture, but both attempts failed. Wages were significantly higher in America, and from 1887 (Meiji 20), the number of Japanese migrant workers traveling there increased dramatically. In 1890 (Meiji 23), the number of Japanese residents exceeded 2,000, in 1895 (Meiji 28), and by 1899 (Meiji 32), the number had reached 6,000.
In February 1893 (Meiji 26), after resigning from his position as foreign minister, Enomoto Takeaki established the Colonization Association to realize his ideals, and planned to build a colony in Mexico (the so-called Enomoto Colony). He established the Japan-Mexico Colonization Company, purchased land in annual installments, and in March 1897, 34 people traveled there. However, this plan was thwarted due to a lack of funds.
The first group of 781 people arrived at the port of Santos on the Kasato Maru in June 1908, and migrants to Brazil continued to arrive on land, with the number reaching approximately 190,000 by 1941. The total number of Japanese immigrants from the Meiji period until the interruption of the Second World War exceeded 770,000, excluding those to Manchuria at that time. By region, there were about 370,000 in North America (including Hawaii), about 240,000 in Central and South America, and about 160,000 in Southeast Asia and other regions.
At the time of Japan’s defeat in the war, there were said to be about 1.55 million Japanese in the former Manchuria. Of these, 250,000 were pioneer immigrants. After the war, the Japanese Emigration Agency was established as an external organization of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and immigration enthusiasm picked up again. Emigration was mainly to South America, including Brazil, with about 250,000 people traveling there. There was also a time when young people were sent to California for short periods as trainees. Incidentally, the Japanese Emigration Agency is the predecessor of the current Japan International Cooperation Agency.