Meiji Gakuin Course No. 3505/3506 Minority and Marginal Groups of Contemporary Japan

Tom Gill Lecture No. 11

Chinese 在日中国人 Japan’s biggest foreign minority China

Korea

Brazil

Phils

Peru

… and by far the fastest growing one. Chinese in Japan by visa type (start of 2011)

Tech/ TOTAL Apprentice Student Professional 687,156 75,888 78,324 134,483

Family Permanent Spouse 59,567 169,484 53,697 From where in China?

To where in Japan? Start of Taiwan Liaoning Jilin Heilonjiang Shandong Fujian Shanghai Total 2011 台湾 遼寧 吉林 黒竜江 山東 福建 上海

Saitama 48,419 2,915 7,037 4,998 5,630 2,626 5,682 6,198

Chiba 45,427 3,274 7,627 3,857 4,749 3,794 4,635 4,292

Tokyo 164,201 15,208 21,805 12,760 14,707 5,838 23,445 23,380 Kana gawa 56,095 4,356 7,037 3,863 4,645 2,146 11,903 5,789

Aichi 47,454 1,926 8,519 4,634 6,968 4,965 1,503 3,239

Osaka 51,056 3,900 6,688 4,587 9,226 4,669 4,225 4,112

TOTAL 687,156 44,432 108,710 57,628 74,912 61,344 64,344 59,009 Notes These days, Japanese government statistics treat Taiwan as if it were part of China, not an independent state. It was not always so. Taiwan used to be counted separately from China, but nowadays Japan make more effort to please the PRC. (By the way, the total of 687,156 also includes 4,196 from Hong Kong) 75,000

58,000

109,000 61,000 43,000 58,000 65,000 44,000 East China Notes Most of the major sending provinces are in Manchuria (Northeast China): Liaoning, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Shandong. The reasons for that are geographical and historical. 1. This part of China is closest to Japan. 2. This part of China was ruled by Japan, 1937-1945, under the puppet state of Manchuko. The Three Alls Policy 三光作戦, Sankō Sakusen; a Japanese policy adopted in China during World War II, the three "alls" being "kill all, burn all, loot all" General Yasuji Okamura The “Rape of Nanking” 1937

Japanese soldiers using Chinese prisoners for bayonet practice

200,000 dead? The “race to a hundred heads” That is just one part of the long and complicated history between China and Japan. It is still there in the mind of every Chinese person… Japanese people may not have been taught about it at school.

Also on everyone’s mind

… is the fact that China is an enormous country, with the world’s biggest population, armed to the teeth with a huge army and nuclear weapons, and a rapidly growing economy. It has been invaded by Japan within living memory, there are territorial disputes, and relations between the two countries remain poor. That also colours the way Japanese think about Chinese… it is a much bigger threat than Korea [even including North Korea], Brazil or the Philippines. 3rd world country, or superpower?

“Japan has been providing H bomb- producing China with hundreds of billions (of yen) every year from your tax money, calling it official development assistance”

Shintaro Ishihara stump speech, 2002 Overstay stats 2006 2009 2011 South Korea 40,203 24,198 19,271 China 31,074 18,385 10,337 Philippines 30,777 17,287 9,329 China [Taiwan] 6,696 4,950 4,774 TOTAL 193,745 113,072 78,488

Notice anything interesting here?

1. Far fewer overstayers than legal migrants – for Chinese and others. 2. Massive crackdown by Japanese immigration bureau has slashed the number of overstayers by about 60% in six years. 3. China and Taiwan count as one country in legal immigration stats, but as separate entities for illegal immigration stats. Calculating overstay rates PRC legal: 643,000 Taiwan legal: 44,000

PRC overstay: 10,337 Taiwan overstay: 4,774

PRC 1.5%, Taiwan 9.8% Chinatown, Yokohama The oldest and largest Chinese community in Japan. From feared ethnic ghetto it has risen to become Yokohama’s Number 1 tourist attraction.

The others are in Kobe and Nagasaki. Note on illegal immigration stats

In Japan the word “overstay” (オーバース ティー) is often used to describe illegal immigrants. That’s because, Japan being an island nation, with no land borders, it is very difficult to enter Japan illegally. So most immigrants are legal when they arrive – on tourist/student/etc visas. Later they become illegal by overstaying – remaining in Japan after their visa expires. “Jumping ship” But in Fujian （as in the Philippines）there is a long seafaring tradition. All over the world there are ships of different countries with sailors from Fujian. Some of the Fujian communities in Europe and America started from sailors who jumped ship before World War 2. These men never had a visa and so do not appear in “overstay” statistics.

Seafaring 船乗りの仕事；海に生きる. Jump ship〈船員が〉船を去る, 脱船する • Since 1990, 80 percent of illegal entrants into Japan apprehended by Japan’s Coast Guard have been Chinese, and almost all were from Fujian. Since the mid-1990s, the number of apprehended clandestine entrants from China has exceeded 1,000 every year. A fifth of Fujian immigrants sampled in my survey entered without legal status, while no other region reported clandestine entrants (Liu- Farrer 2008).

Apprehended 捕まった 1853-1867 The “Bakumatsu” (幕末) period, meaning “the end of the Shogunate. In 1853 commodore Matthew Perry arrived off the coast of Japan with his “black ships” and forced the shoguns to start opening Japan to foreign trade. 250 years of isolation came to an end, and foreign merchants started arriving. Many settled in Yokohama, which until then had been little more than a fishing village. Assistants to colonialists Merchants flooded into Yokohama from Britain, France, America – the “treaty powers.” China did not sign a treaty with Japan until 1871, but many Chinese arrived as assistants to Euro- Americans, useful because they could read kanji and communicate with the Japanese. (Chinese were viewed by Japanese as second-class foreigners, fellow Asiatics strictly subordinate to the white man. Their settlements were separate from those of the white races, though usually nearby/next door.) Chinese tea shop in Yokohama, 1885 Start of regular shipping between Yokohama and Hong Kong, Shanghai Chinese who had mastered a number of new skills, such as sewing, painting, printing, etc., came to Yokohama. Overseas Chinese merchants involved in exporting Hokkaido abalone, and sea cucumber and other foods used in Chinese cooking to Hong Kong and Shanghai, and in importing Taiwanese sugar into Japan, also arrived. Start of the Meiji era (1868) Now about 1,000 Chinese merchants living in Yokohama: they start to build Chinatown: Kuang Di Miao Temple, China Assembly Hall, theatre etc. Japan-China Treaty of Amity (日清修好条規) signed in 1871, Chinese Consulate opened. Kuang Di Miao Temple today 1894-5 Sino-Japanese War

About one third of the Chinese merchants in Yokohama return to China, bringing hard times upon the town. Japan annexes Taiwan, replaces China as dominant power in Korea. For the first time in over 2,000 years, power in East Asia shifts from China to Japan.

(And Japan has taken the fateful first step on the road that will lead to Pearl Harbour, Hiroshima, Nagasaki.) 1900-1923 After the war, Chinatown regains vitality. Exiled Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat-Sen is among the residents. New laws restrict Chinese to a few professions: barber, tailor, cook. Chinese Chamber of Commerce established. Also associations of Chinese people from the same town or province. Chinatown in 1912 (Meiji 45, last year of Meiji era) 1923: Disaster

The Great Kanto Earthquake devastates Tokyo and Yokohama. Chinatown is especially badly hot because of its streets of densely crowded brick buildings. Brick is more vulnerable than wood to earthquakes, and crowded housing helps fires to spread. Many Thousands of Chinese killed, including some 600 lynched by Japanese mobs as rumors spread that foreigners are looting, raping, poisoning wells etc.

The 1930s 1937: Japan invades China again

By now there were several thousand Chinese merchants in Chinatown, but many left as anti-Chinese sentiment strengthened. Those who remained tried to maintain good relations, for instance by attending funerals for local Japanese soldiers killed in the fighting in China. But many Japanese boycotted Chinese shops. 1945: Bombed to a cinder

On May 29, 1945, Chinatown was totally destroyed in a gigantic air-raid by American B-29s. Luckily Yamashita Park 山下公園 is nearby – a piece of open land where many took refuge from the blazing buildings.

Post-war donuts One enduring memory of the early post- war period: people queuing for hours in Yamashita Park, waiting to get deep-fried Chinese donuts. The US occupation authorities included these donuts in their rations for the local people – and gave Chinatown a helping hand in the same year US bombers had destroyed it. About 1955… booming Korean War Boom From being America’s bitter enemy, Japan became the base from which the US sent its military forces to Korea to fight against North Korea under Kim Il-Sung and his Chinese allies. Bars sprang up to entertain American soldiers and sailors. A few of them are still in business today. Shot bars and hostess clubs mingle with the hundreds of Chinese restaurants. Late 1970s… comfortably wealthy 1972 “China Boom”

Japanese prime minister Kakuei Tanaka 田中角 栄shakes hands with Chinese supremo Mao Tse- Tung (Mao Ze-dong, 毛沢東) and Japan and China re-open diplomatic relations. The result is a huge “China Boom” that turns Chinatown into the gigantic tourist attraction it is today. (A little bit like the vision of America in “Western Land” at Disneyland, it becomes the vision of China that Japanese people can enjoy.) Zenrin-mon, one of 5 great gates New Temple Yokohama Overseas Chinese School 横 浜 中 華 学

院 The Yokohama Chinese School

Located near Ishikawa-cho station. Before WW2, lessons were taught in Cantonese – the main language spoken on the east coast of China. It quickly re-opened after the war, but now the lessons were taught in Mandarin – a foreign language to many of the students – on orders from the ruling Communist Parrty. Later, the school is split in two – between supporters of the Communist mainland government, and the nationalist government in exile in Taiwan. 30% born in Japan 90% speak Japanese 90% bicultural? “War orphans” 残留孤児

• Children of Japanese parents left behind in Manchuria and other parts of China at the end of World War II… ethnically Japanese, culturally and legally Chinese. • About 3.000 were repatriated to Japan over 25 years, 1980-2005. Raises a question: Why no effort to find them by their parents for 40, 50 years? Emotional reunions… 感 動 的 な 再 会 が 多

い … but not everyone finds their relatives…

しかしみんな親戚 と再会ができると いうわけではない … and they often have close ties to Chinese adoptive parents. “The Chinese people are in motion now, and they are changing the face of Japan, the United States and the rest of the world.”

Gordon C. Chang, author of China: The Coming Collapse That is not always true…

“Most migration, including that of Chinese, takes people to places that at first glance, seem curiously unobvious.” Frank N. Pieke, Pal Nyiri, Mette Thuno, Antonella Ceccagno, Transnational Chinese: Fujianese Migrants in Europe (Stanford UP, 2004) p.3

Fujian: A history of migration

Fujian is one of the 27 provinces of China. It has a population of about 33 million – about ¼ (one quarter) of the population of Japan. Comparable to “Kansai.” It is located on the east coast of China, facing Taiwan. To the south is Guangdong province, which touches Hong Kong.

Guangdong – close connections with Hong Kong

Fujian – close connections with Taiwan

Maritime trading tradition 海上貿易伝統 Location made Fujian a natural center for international trade. The port city of Quanzhou was a centre for import and export in the 7th to 16th centuries AD. Later that role was taken by Xiamen, also in Fujian but a little further south. From Fujian, traders went out all over the world in 17th and 18th centuries. So there was a cosmopolitan (世界主義) tradition in Fujian – at least in the coastal zones of eastern Fujian. 1840-42, opium wars

Britain forces China to open five ports to international trade. Two of them are in Fujian: Fuzhou* and Xiamen. One of their biggest exports is: MEN. They are called “coolies.”** When Britain and others develop their colonies in Southeast Asia etc., a lot of the hard work is done by coolies from Fujian. *Fuzhou is now the capital city of Fujian. ** Coolie （軽蔑） クーリー、中国の下層労働者 19th century Coolies in Singapore

Fujian coolie, 1991 So am I saying that migrants from Fujian are continuing a long tradition that stretches back at least 150 years, even longer?

That depends on which part of Fujian we are talking about. Fuqing and Mingxi

When Pieke and his fellow researchers tried to find the main sources of migration from Fujian to Europe, they found two counties with very high levels of migration: Fuqing and Mingxi. Fuqing is a coastal county with centuries of emigration tradition. Mingxi is an inland county with NO tradition of emigration. Fuqing Close to Taiwan. Many snakeheads are based in Taiwan, and people from Fujian go via Taiwan to other countries.

Mingxi Migration only started in the 1970s, after Chinese government changed local development policy. SNAKEHEADS 蛇頭 she tou

This word means a recruiter of migrant workers. The idea is that the route from Fujian to other countries is like a snake… the recruiter is the head of the snake. Sounds nasty… often is nasty. But many Fujianese rely on snakeheads to make their careers in foreign countries. Fujian and Japan

The Los Angeles Times on March 1, 1997 described a "sudden influx" of illegal immigrants from China, Korea, and Pakistan who are smuggled into western Japan aboard fishing boats by Chinese "snakeheads" and Japanese yakuza gangsters. Instead of obtaining the $25,000 fee to be smuggled in advance, many snakeheads charge only $2,000 in advance, with the balance due upon successful entry into Japan. The boat trip from Fujian to Japan normally takes one week. “Fake Vietnamese boat people”

When the government of Japan started relaxing its refugee-recognition rules to make a special exception for “boat people” escaping in boats from Vietnam, it turned out that quite a lot of them were in fact not from Vietnam at all, but from Fujian.

• Top domestic news item in Yomiuri Shinbun -- city of Osaka to revoke welfare payments to 48 new Chinese arriving in Osaka in May/June, and applied for social welfare within a week of arrival. 17 households, all related to 2 sisters, both in 70s and naturalizedChinese. Most of them taken to apply for welfare by the same estate agent. An obvious scam. • Chinese immigration • Pressure on welfare system

July 23, 2011 Fear of deportation forces illegal immigrants to organize their daily life to minimize the danger of encountering the police. Many undocumented immigrants do not ride a bicycle, and scarcely go to see a doctor. Within ethnic networks, services such as introduction to a job usually came with a price. Having a baby in Japan could easily cost an undocumented couple over a million yen after paying the hospital bills, the borrowed insurance card, and the fee for sending the baby back to China. “Today I am here talking to you. Tomorrow I don’t know where I will be.”

From “Back Debt, Networks and Reciprocity: Undocumented Migration from Fujian to Japan” by Gracia Liu-Farrer Why migrate?

Economic motivations, psychological reasons and network effects have all been suggested as causes for undocumented migration out of Fujian. However, in the phenomenon of undocumented migration in Japan, unique patterns of economic causes and network effects are observed: these are debt-driven illicit border entry and network-induced student visa overstaying. Economic factors

There is not sufficient arable land in Fujian for each productive person. Costal people used to fish, but in recent years diesel fuel became increasingly expensive making fishing unprofitable. Many Fujian immigrants reported shouldering the responsibility for bringing money to invest in family businesses as well as the household’s general well being. The New Generation?

Ruth Aschenbach (German Institute of Japanese Studies, Tokyo) sees a new breed of intelligent, highly educated young Chinese arriving to study in Japan. Many are only children, who grew up after 1980 in a drastically changing and increasingly affluent China. The right kind of immigrant

Chinese students and highly skilled workers can easily enter Japan (as they match the criteria of Japan's highly restrictive immigration policy), and Japanese companies seek Chinese workers to establish business connections with China. They plan to work in Japan for up to 5 years after graduation to heighten chances on the job market in China or a more traditional country of immigration.

However, having entered the Japanese labor market after graduating from university, they often show a change in attitude towards living in Japan for longer periods of time. With their excellent Japanese language skills, they often find they can do better by staying in Japan, perhaps working for a Chinese company, or a Japanese company dealing with China. They could be the start of a new kind of Chinese community in Japan.

THE END