Japanese in Düsseldorf

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The over 6500 Japanese in Düsseldorf form the only Japantown in Germany. Düsseldorf is also an important center of Japanese economic activity in Europe. Although the Japanese are a small minority as the seventh largest foreign population group, they have shaped the cityscape for over 50 years and enriched the city's economic and cultural life. Most of the Japanese living in Düsseldorf were posted to Germany by their employers and are in the city for a few years or short-term assignments. Most of them are well-paid specialists and managers and their family members. In addition, young Japanese regularly study at the music academy or the art academy . In 2008, according to the Japanese Consulate General in Düsseldorf and the neighboring communities, 8187 Japanese were living, 6548 of them within the city limits. In Düsseldorf, this corresponds to a share of 1.1% of the total population.

Temple garden of the EKŌ House of Japanese Culture eV 1993 in Düsseldorf-Niederkassel

Importance of the Japanese for Düsseldorf and the surrounding area

European headquarters of NEC Electronics in Düsseldorf-Rath

In 2003, 228 Japanese companies were active in Düsseldorf, of which 121 had their European or German headquarters in the North Rhine-Westphalian capital. While many banks, trading companies and service providers traditionally have their headquarters in downtown Düsseldorf , the manufacturing industry and sales companies have mainly settled in the municipalities on the left bank of the Rhine. In 2008, 450 Japanese companies were counted in the greater Düsseldorf area, providing 23,000 jobs and generating around 33 billion euros. Sections of the Düsseldorf real estate market, especially the districts of Oberkassel , Niederkassel and Lörick on the left bank of the Rhine , are strongly influenced by the demand from Japanese prospective tenants. Since the companies often take on the housing costs for their employees, the tenants are charged high rental prices, which have raised the price level in the districts on the left bank of the Rhine.

history

prehistory

Not until the end of the seclusion of Japan mid-19th century, the conditions for trade on a large scale between the island nation and Europe were created. On July 1, 1859, the businessman Louis Kniffler (1827–1888) from Düsseldorf founded the first German trading house in Japan in Dejima . Kniffler was appointed Prussian Vice Consul in Nagasaki in 1861 after the Kingdom of Prussia and Japan concluded a friendship and trade treaty on January 24, 1861 as a result of the Prussian East Asia expedition. In 1863 Kniffler became Prussian consul in Japan. In 1865 Kniffler returned to Düsseldorf and opened a branch of his Japanese trading house at Goltsteinstrasse 17, which in 1870 brokered the first Japanese business of Siemens AG , which was documented by sources . The first stay of the Japanese in Düsseldorf is reported for July 17, 1862; On this day, a Japanese delegation led by Yasunori Takeuchi, which consisted of 38 people from the Tokugawa dynasty and to which the scholar Yukichi Fukuzawa also belonged, was said to have refreshed itself with Altbier while passing through the former train station on today's Graf-Adolf-Platz . In 1904 Japan presented itself at the Düsseldorf art and garden exhibition with a Japanese garden and tea house . The Japanese women working there were probably the first Japanese citizens who had stayed in the city for a longer period of time. For the first time, Japanese fireworks were shown in the city on the Rhine. The first Japanese was officially registered in Düsseldorf in 1905. On March 19, 1931, an exhibition of contemporary Japanese painters opened in the courtyard of the City Art Museum in the presence of a large Japanese delegation. The history of the Japanese colony in Düsseldorf did not begin until after the Second World War.

First Japanese companies settle here

In the period before World War II, Japanese activities in Germany were mainly concentrated in Berlin and Hamburg. After 1945, war-torn Japan looked for suppliers of steel and chemical products for its reconstruction, which it found in the Ruhr area, among others. Düsseldorf, located in the center of the heavy industries of the Rhine and Ruhr, offered itself as a location for trading companies. At the end of 1951, the first Japanese businessman settled in the state capital; in February 1952 there were already three. On December 2, 1955, the Düsseldorf Trade Inspectorate was the first Japanese company to register a Keiretsu Mitsubishi branch in Düsseldorf . A meeting point for the Japanese in the early years was the now defunct “Wolfsschlucht” bar in the Grafenberg Forest . Other companies gradually followed, which is also due to the targeted economic development of the state capital and its reputation as the “ desk of the Ruhr area ”.

Japanese population growth

German-Japanese Center on the corner of Immermannstrasse and Charlottenstrasse

In 1962 JETRO opened a branch in Düsseldorf. While the procurement of products from German heavy industry and the transfer of know-how played a role in the first decade, trading companies began to appear in the mid-1960s that wanted to sell Japanese products in Europe. In the course of this decade, the Japanese community in Düsseldorf quadrupled to around 1,000 people. During this time, the first elements of a Japanese infrastructure in the city emerged. The first Japanese restaurant opened in 1963. The Japanese Club was founded in 1964; The Japanese Consulate General followed a year later, and in 1966 the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Düsseldorf. With the opening of the Japanese School in 1971, the Düsseldorf location became even more attractive for Japanese companies. Numerous companies took the opening of the school as an opportunity to relocate their German and / or European branches and headquarters to Düsseldorf. The North Rhine-Westphalian state capital had won the hitherto smoldering competition for the Japanese with Hamburg. In 1974 Europe's first Japanese bookshop opened in Düsseldorf. From 1972 to 1978 the German-Japanese Center was built on Immermannstrasse and Charlottenstrasse. The building, planned by the architecture firm HPP and constructed by the Takenaka Corporation , became the focal point of the Japanese business community in Düsseldorf. In 1975 the news magazine Der Spiegel reported on an “invasion of Japanese business enterprises” in Düsseldorf, “which are boosting European exports and want to cooperate with German companies because of the crisis in their own country.” The Japanese would have it in “their main European base in Düsseldorf, the second largest after New York, made at home. ”The companies brought a large number of Japanese workers to Düsseldorf, also because many companies preferred workers with a Japanese work ethic. By the end of the 1980s, a wide range of Japanese service providers, restaurateurs and retailers had developed in Düsseldorf. It was not until the economic crisis that began in Japan in the early 1990s that the constant growth of the Japanese community temporarily ended. On the occasion of the Japan Weeks in 1993, the Japanese imperial couple Akihito and Michiko visited the state capital. On June 15, 2005 the Mayor of Düsseldorf Joachim Erwin and the Governor of the Chiba Prefecture , Akiko Domoto, signed a partnership agreement with the aim of intensifying an exchange in the fields of sport, youth and culture as well as cooperation in the health sector and biotechnology. Since 2006, the Japanese community has recorded increasing numbers again.

Japanese business district

Japanese supermarket on Immermannstrasse

In Düsseldorf's Stadtmitte district there is an area of ​​around 30 hectares that has a strong Japanese character. The map service Apple Maps calls it Little Tokyo . There are numerous branches of Japanese companies between Berliner Allee , Klosterstrasse, Charlottenstrasse and Graf-Adolf-Strasse. Japanese companies are concentrated along Immermannstrasse, where the "German-Japanese Center" built in 1978 is also located. The center itself has 12,000 m² of office space; The 600-bed Hotel Nikko is the seat of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce, the Consulate General and the European headquarters of the Marubeni Group. Until July 2009 there was also a branch of the Mitsukoshi department store chain . In addition to Japanese trading companies, banks, insurance companies, transport companies and advertising agencies, numerous service providers, restaurateurs and retailers serve the needs of their Japanese clientele. In the Japanese business district there are two Japanese supermarkets, three Japanese bakers, several bookstores, video stores, travel agencies, specialty shops and Japanese doctors. Germany's first Manga Kissa was opened under the name Manga-Hof on Oststrasse . Not only Japanese, but also German business people offer services specially tailored to the Far Eastern clientele. Japanese employees can be found in pharmacies, butchers sell meat that is specially cut and cut to suit sukiyaki and shabu shabu , and mobile phone shops advertise contracts in Japanese. Most of the Japanese living in Düsseldorf do not live in this area, but rather outside, such as in Düsseldorf-Niederkassel , where the Japanese school is also located. However, there are some hotels and boarding houses that are used by the Japanese who are only in Düsseldorf for short-term work assignments.

Japanese facilities and events

Buddhist altar in the EKŌ house

Culture and sport

  • Japanese Club: The Japanese Club is the oldest Japanese institution in Düsseldorf and was founded in 1964. With over 5000 members, it is one of the largest associations in the city. The aim of the club is to support the Japanese in Düsseldorf in various areas of life. An extensive cultural and sports program is offered as well as a Japanese library. In addition, the club has set itself the goal of maintaining contact with the German population. There are z. B. Organized events with other Düsseldorf associations.
  • EKŌ House: The EKŌ House , founded in 1993, is the cultural center of the Japanese community. It is the only Japanese temple of Jōdo-Shinshū , one of the largest Japanese schools of Buddhism, in Europe. It is located in the Niederkassel district. Embedded in Japanese garden architecture, there are exhibition and event rooms in traditional Japanese style next to a Buddhist temple. An extensive religious and cultural program is offered, including Buddhist festivals, tea ceremonies, concerts or courses in traditional Japanese arts. The center also attracts international visitors.
  • Temple garden of the EKŌ House of Japanese Culture ev 1993

  • temple

  • Bell tower

  • The autumn garden

  • Humanet: The non-profit association German-Japanese Kulturforum e. V. calls itself "Humanet" for its current central activity in the used goods trade. He sells the donations in kind in his own shop in Oberbilk and organizes an annual bazaar at the main train station. With the proceeds he supports a Polish orphanage and a school project in Benin.
  • Shōnen Kendō Club: This club was originally founded to bring Kendō closer to children . The part of the name Shōnen also means youth. The Shōnen-Kendō-Club used to work exclusively with the Japanese school in Düsseldorf-Niederkassel and their relatives. Today this dojo belongs to the NWKV , the Kendo Association of North Rhine-Westphalia and therefore also to the DKenB , the German Kendo Association. Thirteen teachers, twelve of whom are Japanese, teach Kendō in the Shōnen Kendō Club, one of which is a 7th Dan bearer .
  • German-Japanese Society on the Lower Rhine: The DJG was also founded in 1964 and emerged from table discussions between German and Japanese business people. The aim of the association is to promote mutual understanding. In addition, lectures, exhibitions, excursions and company tours are organized on a regular basis.
  • Kosaido Golf Club: The 18-hole golf course, opened in 1990, was designed by the Japanese landscape architect Tomizawa Hirochika. The club is popular with numerous members of the Japanese community.
  • Soccer: There are two Japanese amateur soccer clubs in Düsseldorf, the "Reds" and "FC Gatz", both of which take part in the annual "German-Japanese soccer friendship tournament".
  • American Football: Friendlies between the Japanese national team and the German national team have been held irregularly since 2010 as part of the German Japan Bowl .

education

Japanese International School in Düsseldorf
One of four Japanese kindergartens
  • Kindergartens: Düsseldorf has four Japanese kindergartens, two of which are in Niederkassel, one of which is a German-Japanese kindergarten.
  • Japanese School: Japanese International School in Düsseldorf : The children of Japanese people living in Düsseldorf had difficulty adjusting to the local school system when they returned to their mother country . Although there were Japanese supplementary lessons at schools in Düsseldorf as early as the 1960s, this proved to be insufficient, so that the desire for an all-day school based on the Japanese model arose. The Japanese International School Düsseldorf was founded in 1971. In the same year, lessons started with 43 children. Today over 700 children are taught in grades 1–9. The school offers up to 1000 students a Japanese education in elementary and middle school and is now an important location factor for Japanese companies.

Regular festivals and events

The largest regular event and the most noticeable to the public is the Japantag Düsseldorf / NRW , which has been held since 2002 and is one of the largest folk festivals in North Rhine-Westphalia with up to one million visitors. On the occasion of the bilateral celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Germany (Prussia) and Japan in 1861, a Japan Week was to take place in Düsseldorf in May 2011, in which Japan Day 2011 was to be embedded. However, due to the natural disaster in Fukushima, Japan Day was postponed to October 15th. In 2012 Japan Day took place again in summer.

A summer festival, the O-Bon festival and an event on New Year's Eve take place in the EKŌ house every year . The monthly public tea ceremonies there are also well attended . The Japanese Consulate General has been organizing the 'Japan Düsseldorf / NRW Business Day' since 2001, which brings together Japanese and German experts every year under a specific motto. The state capital Düsseldorf also invites every year to a New Year's reception for the Japanese economy. Regular events and receptions also take place in the residence of the Japanese Consul General in Erkrath .

Japanese garden

  • Japanese garden in the north park

  • Düsseldorf, Japanese Garden in the Nordpark-DSC05403 easyHDR-BASIC-2.jpg
  • Düsseldorf, Japanese Garden in the Nordpark-DSC05402 easyHDR-BASIC-2.jpg

In 1975 an association made up of Japanese companies and members of the Japanese community donated the “Japanese Garden on the Rhine” to the people of Düsseldorf. The 5000 square meter garden is located in the north park . It was designed by the Japanese garden architect Iwaki Ishiguro especially for Düsseldorf and is not a copy of a garden in Japan. Every two to three years, Japanese gardeners travel to the site for inspection. In the meantime, the garden is looked after by specially trained employees of the gardening authority.

Intercultural references

The presence of the Japanese in Düsseldorf for more than 50 years and the effort to get to know each other have enriched life in the state capital and North Rhine-Westphalia in many ways. For example, there is a "Modern Japan" course at the University of Düsseldorf . The Cecilien-Gymnasium in Düsseldorf offers Japanese as an Abitur subject, other schools run working groups in Japanese on a voluntary basis. In 2006 around 4,000 people learned Japanese in North Rhine-Westphalia. In 2008, a speech competition for schoolchildren and students of the Japanese language took place in Düsseldorf for the first time. As early as 1985, the Japan Foundation granted the Düsseldorf Adult Education Center as the first institution in Germany the authorization to conduct language exams based on the Japanese Language Proficiency Test . In 2009, 576 participants from all over Europe passed this test in Düsseldorf.

The three Japanese bookstores in downtown Düsseldorf carry the latest mangas from Japan and attract numerous German fans of this genre. Visible signs of this interest are the colorful groups of cosplayers who move across Immermannstrasse, especially on Saturdays. The Puri machines that are installed in some shops and the karaoke boxes in several bars are also an attraction for young Japan lovers . Cosplayers meet regularly in the Japanese Garden in North Park. The city of Düsseldorf appears as a setting in the Japanese manga series “ Monster ” and “Pluto”.

The Rheinbrücke eV association has been translating around ten articles a week from local newspapers into Japanese since 1981 and publishes a magazine that provides Japanese citizens with information about events in Düsseldorf in their native language. This is supplemented by a website.

An album by Klaus Dinger, who died in 2008, and other musicians was released in 2013 under the title Japandorf . The album reflects the experiences that Dinger had made in contact with Japanese artists in Düsseldorf and their culture. A title in it with a Japanese accent is called Immermannstrasse and thus refers to Düsseldorf's Japantown.

The football club Fortuna Düsseldorf maintains intensive public relations work towards its Japanese-speaking fans. The club magazine Fortuna Aktuell has been published in Japanese every quarter since 2008 , as has a special website.

Cooperations and partnerships

A friendship agreement has existed between Düsseldorf and the Japanese prefecture of Chiba since June 2005 . In addition to economic issues, the exchange in the fields of science, sport and culture should also be promoted. Mutual visits by the symphony orchestras and a youth sports exchange take place. The exchange of information between academic staff is also specifically promoted. Chiba Prefecture is also a regular participant in Japan Day.

Well-known Japanese people who are connected to Düsseldorf

Well-known from Düsseldorf of Japanese origin

  • Blumio (* 1985), bourgeois Fumio Kuniyoshi , German rapper , grew up and lives in Düsseldorf

literature

  • Harald Frater: The Düsseldorf Atlas. Düsseldorf - Nippon's capital on the Rhine. Emons, Cologne 2004, ISBN 3-89705-355-1 , p. 74 ff.
  • Günther Glebe: Segregation and the ethnoscape: the Japanese business community in Düsseldorf. In: Goodman, Peach, Takenaka, White (Eds.): Global Japan. The experience of Japan's new immigrant and overseas communities . Routledge , Abingdon Oxford 2003, ISBN 0-415-29741-9 , pp. 98-115.
  • Harold Kerbo, Patrick Ziltener: Japanese Business in Germany. In: Allan Bird (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Japanese Business and Management . Routledge, 2001, ISBN 0-203-99632-1 .
  • Kayko Okamura: Chapter 4: Multicultural Identity in a Global Society: Locality and Nationality of Contemporary Children of the Japanese Diaspora in Germany. In: Nobuko Adachi (Ed.): Japanese and Nikkei at Home and Abroad: Negotiating Identities in a Global World . Cambria Press ( EN ), 2010, ISBN 978-1-62196-897-9 .

Web links

Commons : Japanese community in Düsseldorf  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Japanese in Düsseldorf. ( Memento of the original from December 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Japan Forum. March 2002, pp. 1-2.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.dus.emb-japan.go.jp
  2. ^ Office for Statistics and Elections, State Capital Düsseldorf: Statistisches Jahrbuch. 105th year, p. 67.
  3. ↑ Japanese in Düsseldorf. ( Memento of January 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) on the website of the Consulate General of Japan, April 29, 2010.
  4. ↑ state capital Dusseldorf, press release 08011710_0160 of 21 January of 2008.
  5. ↑ Denisa Richters: How the Japanese were drawn to the Rhine. In: Rheinische Post. March 29, 2008.
  6. ↑ Erich Zielke: Consul Louis Kniffler - The pioneer of the German trade in Japan . In: Zeitschrift für Unternehmensgeschichte / Journal of Business History. Volume 25, Issue 1, 1980, pp. 1-11, Verlag CH Beck, ISSN  0342-2852
  7. ^ Edmund Spohr: First Germans in Japan 1639–1866. In: Düsseldorfer Jahrbuch. Volume 80, Droste, Düsseldorf 2010, ISBN 978-3-7700-3060-6 , p. 341.
  8. ↑ Toru Takenaka: Siemens in Japan . (= Journal for Company History . Supplement 91). Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-515-06462-1 , p. 47.
  9. ↑ Kniffler moved to Ratinger Straße 49 in 1884 and to Goltsteinstraße 15 in 1885 . After the founder's death in 1888, the trading house was relocated to Hamburg , where it still operates under the name C. Illies & Co. today. During this time Hamburg developed into the German center of East Asia trade.
  10. ↑ Takeuchi and Iwakura Mission . In: nippon news. Vol. 5, 2008, in the portal dus.emb-japan.go.jp , accessed on September 8, 2014.
  11. ↑ Denisa Richters: When the Japanese discovered the old. on: rp-online.de , November 30, 2008, accessed on November 16, 2013.
  12. ↑ The full name of the exhibition was International Art Exhibition, Art History Exhibition and Great Horticultural Exhibition . See: Website for the book by Stefanie Schäfers: Vom Werkbund zum Vierjahresplan. The exhibition Schaffendes Volk, Düsseldorf 1937. ( Memento from October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Droste Verlag, Düsseldorf 2001, ISBN 3-7700-3045-1 .
  13. ^ Benedikt Mauer: Düsseldorf – Japan. A relationship story. Ed .: State capital Düsseldorf, city archive. Düsseldorf 2011, p. 7.
  14. ↑ Simone Utler: I dream in Japanese and think in German. In: Spiegel online. January 7, 2011.
  15. ^ Benedikt Mauer: Düsseldorf – Japan A history of relationships. Ed .: State capital Düsseldorf, city archive. Düsseldorf 2011, p. 8.
  16. ^ Benedikt Mauer: Düsseldorf – Japan A history of relationships. Ed .: State capital Düsseldorf, city archive. Düsseldorf 2011, p. 10.
  17. ↑ Japan and North Rhine-Westphalia: A look into the past and present. In: nippon news. Vol. 5, 2008, published by the Japanese Consulate General Düsseldorf, PDF file, accessed on November 16, 2013.
  18. ↑ Marion Seele-Leichert: The triumphant advance of the manga began in Düsseldorf. In: Westdeutsche Zeitung. October 25, 2010, Düsseldorf edition
  19. ↑ Japan trade: Typical plant. In: Spiegel online. February 24, 1975, accessed September 8, 2014.
  20. ^ Benedikt Mauer: Düsseldorf – Japan A history of relationships. Ed .: State capital Düsseldorf, city archive. Düsseldorf 2011, p. 16.
  21. ↑ Map service Apple invents "Little Tokyo". on: rp-online.de , October 30, 2012, accessed on November 1, 2012.
  22. ↑ Holger Lodahl: In this café, mangas make the price. on: rp-online.de , September 4, 2014, accessed on September 8, 2014.
  23. ↑ Description of the history on the association's official website: About us - Humanet
  24. ^ Website of the Shōnen Kendō Club
  25. ^ Website of the Japanese International School Düsseldorf, accessed on August 22, 2008
  26. ↑ Japan Day website, accessed on August 22, 2008
  27. ↑ After the earthquake: Japan Day postponed: "Nobody wants to celebrate". In: Rheinische Post. Online April 6, 2011.
  28. ^ Website of the city of Düsseldorf, gardening department press release, accessed on August 19, 2009.
  29. ^ Website of the Cecilien-Gymnasium queried on August 24, 2008.
  30. ↑ 1st Japan speech competition in NRW 2008. ( Memento from May 15, 2011 in the web archive archive.today ) Website of the Consulate General, accessed on August 24, 2008.
  31. ^ Rheinische Post. December 7, 2009, p. C3.
  32. ↑ Aleksandar Sarovic: Rheinische Post for Japanese. In: Rheinische Post. Düsseldorfer Stadtpost, February 4, 2011, p. C3. (online at: pressreader.com )
  33. ^ Info website of the Rheinbrücke Association
  34. ↑ Japan village on the English Wikipedia.
  35. ↑ Immermannstraße ( YouTube video, 3:45 min) , text and vocals: Masaki Nakao, Yui Miki; Music: Klaus Dinger (guitar and bass), Satoshi Okamoto (keyboard), Kazayuki Onouchi (drums)
  36. ^ Düsseldorf's Japanese Outreach. ( Memento of the original from January 3, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. from: bundesliga.com , December 5, 2013, accessed December 6, 2013.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bundesliga.com
  37. ↑ Falk Janning: Gengo Seta - Fortuna's full-time Japanese. on: rp-online.de , July 30, 2013, accessed on December 6, 2013.
  38. ↑ Volker Geissler: Unique in Germany: Fortuna in Japanese. on: express.de , May 21, 2011, accessed December 6, 2013.
  39. ^ State capital Düsseldorf (ed.): The economic development informs. No. 97, September 2010.
  40. ↑ Profile on the Tonhalle site: Archived copy ( memento of the original dated November 9, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tonhalle.de