Japanese British
Encyclopedia
Japanese in the United Kingdom are citizens or full time residents of the United Kingdom
whose origins lie in Japan
.
As tensions escalated between Japan and the UK throughout the course of World War II
, some Japanese left their home country to come to the United Kingdom. Another wave of immigration began in the 1960s, mainly for business and economic purposes. In recent decades this number has been growing; including immigrants, students, and businessmen. Parts of the United Kingdom, in particular London, have significant Japanese populations; such as Golders Green
and East Finchley
North London
. There are currently just over one hundred thousand British Japanese, mostly in London
; but unlike other Nikkei
communities elsewhere in the world, these Britons do not conventionally parse their communities in generational terms as Issei
, Nisei
, or Sansei
.
arrived in the nineteenth century, sent to study at University College London
by the Chōshū and Satsuma
domains, then the Bakufu (Shogunate). Later many studied at Cambridge University
and a smaller number at Oxford University until the end of the Meiji era. The reason for sending them was to catch up with the West by modernizing Japan. Since the 1980s, Japanese students in the United Kingdom have become common thanks to cheaper air travel
.
According to the 2001 UK Census, 37,535 Japanese born people were residing in the UK, whilst the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimates that 50,864 Japanese nationals were calling the UK home in 2002. The Office for National Statistics
estimates that, in 2009, 34,000 people born in Japan were resident in the UK.
Japanese
is the primary language of Japan, and one website Ethnologue.com estimates that 12,000 people in the UK have Japanese as their primary language.
British born people of Japanese descent
Japanese immigrants to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
whose origins lie in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Background
History and settlement
Settlement first began in the late 19th Century with the arrival of Japanese professionals, students and their servants. 264 citizens of Japan resided in Britain in 1884, the majority of whom identified themselves as officials and students. Employment diversified in the early 1900s with the growth of the Japanese community, which exceeded five hundred people by the close of the first decade of the 20th Century.As tensions escalated between Japan and the UK throughout the course of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, some Japanese left their home country to come to the United Kingdom. Another wave of immigration began in the 1960s, mainly for business and economic purposes. In recent decades this number has been growing; including immigrants, students, and businessmen. Parts of the United Kingdom, in particular London, have significant Japanese populations; such as Golders Green
Golders Green
Golders Green is an area in the London Borough of Barnet in London, England. Although having some earlier history, it is essentially a 19th century suburban development situated about 5.3 miles north west of Charing Cross and centred on the crossroads of Golders Green Road and Finchley Road.In the...
and East Finchley
East Finchley
East Finchley is a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet, in north London, and situated north-west of Charing Cross. Geographically it is somewhat separate from the rest of Finchley, with North Finchley and West Finchley to the north, and Finchley Central to the west.- History :The land on which...
North London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
. There are currently just over one hundred thousand British Japanese, mostly in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
; but unlike other Nikkei
Japanese diaspora
The Japanese diaspora, and its individual members known as , are Japanese emigrants from Japan and their descendants that reside in a foreign country...
communities elsewhere in the world, these Britons do not conventionally parse their communities in generational terms as Issei
Issei
Issei is a Japanese language term used in countries in North America, South America and Australia to specify the Japanese people first to immigrate. Their children born in the new country are referred to as Nisei , and their grandchildren are Sansei...
, Nisei
Nisei
During the early years of World War II, Japanese Americans were forcibly relocated from their homes in the Pacific coast states because military leaders and public opinion combined to fan unproven fears of sabotage...
, or Sansei
Sansei
Sansei is a Japanese language term used in countries in South America, North America and Australia to specify the children of children born to Japanese people in the new country. The Nisei are considered the second generation, grandchildren of the Japanese-born immigrants are called Sansei and...
.
Students
The first Japanese students in the United KingdomJapanese students in the United Kingdom
The first Japanese students in the United Kingdom arrived in the nineteenth century, sent to study at University College London by the Chōshū and Satsuma domains, then the Bakufu . Later many studied at Cambridge University and a smaller number at Oxford University until the end of the Meiji era....
arrived in the nineteenth century, sent to study at University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
by the Chōshū and Satsuma
Satsuma han
The Satsuma domain was one of the most powerful feudal domains in Tokugawa Japan, and played a major role in the Meiji Restoration and in the government of the Meiji period which followed...
domains, then the Bakufu (Shogunate). Later many studied at Cambridge University
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
and a smaller number at Oxford University until the end of the Meiji era. The reason for sending them was to catch up with the West by modernizing Japan. Since the 1980s, Japanese students in the United Kingdom have become common thanks to cheaper air travel
Air travel
Air travel is a form of travel in vehicles such as airplanes, helicopters, hot air balloons, blimps, gliders, hang gliding, parachuting or anything else that can sustain flight.-Domestic and international flights:...
.
Demographics
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Overview :...
estimates that, in 2009, 34,000 people born in Japan were resident in the UK.
Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
is the primary language of Japan, and one website Ethnologue.com estimates that 12,000 people in the UK have Japanese as their primary language.
Notable individuals
Below is a list of notable British people of Japanese origin, temporary individuals and expatriates are not included and can be found at Category:Japanese expatriates in the United Kingdom.British born people of Japanese descent
- Iain Duncan SmithIain Duncan SmithGeorge Iain Duncan Smith is a British Conservative politician. He is currently the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was previously leader of the Conservative Party from September 2001 to October 2003...
- politician, current Secretary of State for Work and PensionsSecretary of State for Work and PensionsThe Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is a post in the British Cabinet, responsible for the Department for Work and Pensions. It was created on 8 June 2001 by the merger of the Employment part of the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Social Security.The Ministry...
, former leader of the Conservative PartyConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
; maternal great-grandmother was Japanese - Miki BerenyiMiki BerenyiMiki Berenyi is an English musician, singer, songwriter and guitarist.- Music :At the age of 14, Berenyi met her friend and future bandmate, Emma Anderson. They became interested in music and together wrote the music fanzine Alphabet Soup...
- Singer of Japanese and Hungarian heritage - China ChowChina ChowChina Chow is a British actress and model.-Personal life:Chow was born in London, England to restaurateur Michael Chow and late model/designer Tina Chow. She is of Chinese, Japanese, German, and Scottish ancestry. Chow has a brother who is three years younger. Her aunt is actress and one-time Bond...
- Actress of mixed Asian-European ethnicity - Jun TanakaJun Tanaka (chef)Jun Tanaka is an American-born British Japanese UK TV chef, best known for presenting Channel 4's Cooking It as well as appearing in Saturday Kitchen on BBC One....
- TV chef of Channel 4's Cooking It - Kaela KimuraKaela Kimura, born , is a Japanese pop rock singer, songwriter, model, and TV presenter.- Career :Born in Adachi, Tokyo, Japan to a British father and Japanese mother, Kaela started working as a model in 2002 for the Japanese magazine Seventeen...
- Japanese singer. British father and Japanese mother. - MiChiMichiis the twenty-third single of Japanese pop band Exile. It was released on February 14, 2007 and was limited to 100,000 copies. The song has been certified as being downloaded more than 1,000,000 times as a ringtone by the RIAJ, and more than 250,000 times as a full-length download to cellphones.-...
(Real name Michiko Sellars) - Popular Japanese Dance-PopDance-popDance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable or merely dancey...
singer - Becky (television personality) - Popular television personality, model, and aspiring singer. Father is Welsh, mother is Japanese.
Japanese immigrants to the United Kingdom
- Taka HiroseTaka HiroseTakashi "Taka" Hirose is a Japanese musician who is the current bass guitarist for the rock band, Feeder.-Biography:...
- Bassist of the band Feeder who has lived in the UK since the early 1990s - Kazuo IshiguroKazuo IshiguroKazuo Ishiguro OBE or ; born 8 November 1954) is a Japanese–English novelist. He was born in Nagasaki, Japan, and his family moved to England in 1960. Ishiguro obtained his Bachelor's degree from University of Kent in 1978 and his Master's from the University of East Anglia's creative writing...
- Novelist born in Japan in 1954 and moved to the UK in 1960 - Hokuto "Hok" Konishi - Member of the American Breakdancing group Quest CrewQuest CrewQuest Crew is an American hip-hop dance crew from Los Angeles, California who were declared winners of the third season of America's Best Dance Crew...
(Born in Japan, raised in England). - Haruka KurodaHaruka KurodaHaruka Kuroda is a London based Japanese actress who is widely known for performing the voice of Noodle, the Japanese guitarist in Gorillaz, the cartoon band created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. She was born in Kyoto, Japan....
- The London actress is most noted for being the voice of Noodle (GorillazGorillazGorillaz is an English musical project created in 1998 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. This project consists of Gorillaz music itself and an extensive fictional universe depicting a "virtual band" of cartoon characters...
) - Kaoru MfaumeKaoru MfaumeKaoru Mfaume is an entertainment producer who has worked extensively in the anime industry. He oversaw Manga Entertainment's worldwide operations as managing director until 2007, and has served as executive producer on a number of high profile anime projects including Dead Leaves, Blood The Last...
- Entertainment producer who was raised and educated in the UK - Naoko MoriNaoko Moriis a British-Japanese actress known for roles as Sarah, Saffron's "odd" friend in Absolutely Fabulous, Mie Nishikawa in Casualty, and Toshiko Sato in Doctor Who and Torchwood.-Early life:...
- Actress who has spent the majority of her adult life living and working in the UK - Diana YukawaDiana Yukawais an Anglo-Japanese solo violinist. She has had two solo albums with BMG Japan, one of which opened to #1.-Early life:Diana Yukawa was born in Tokyo, Japan to English ballet dancer Susanne Bayly and Japanese banker Akihisa Yukawa one month after her father died in the 1985 Japan Airlines Flight...
- Violinist born in Japan although has lived in the UK since the age of two
See also
- Japanese diasporaJapanese diasporaThe Japanese diaspora, and its individual members known as , are Japanese emigrants from Japan and their descendants that reside in a foreign country...
- Japan – United Kingdom relations
- Japan Society of London
- Japanese students in the United KingdomJapanese students in the United KingdomThe first Japanese students in the United Kingdom arrived in the nineteenth century, sent to study at University College London by the Chōshū and Satsuma domains, then the Bakufu . Later many studied at Cambridge University and a smaller number at Oxford University until the end of the Meiji era....
- Japan-British Exhibition (1910)Japan-British Exhibition (1910)The took place at White City, London in Great Britain from 14 May 1910 to 29 October 1910. It was the largest international exposition that the Empire of Japan had participated in to date, and was driven by a desire of Japan to develop a more favorable public image in Great Britain following the...
External links
- The Japan Foundation
- UK Japanese forum
- Reassessing what we collect website - Japanese London History of Japanese London with objects and images