Korean minority in Japan

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Number of Korean People in Japan from 1910 to Present

The Korean minority in Japan ( Japanese 在 日 , zainichi or 在 日 コ リ ア ン , zainichi korian and for South Koreans 在 日韓 国人 , zainichi kankokujin and for North Koreans 在 日 朝鮮 人 , zainichi chōsenjin ) consists of Korean immigrants and their descendants Either live permanently in Japan with a special status ("Special Permanent Resident") or have taken Japanese citizenship.

Today they are the second largest ethnic minority in Japan after the Chinese immigrants . It is estimated that there are between 600,000 and 700,000 Korean people. They or their ancestors came to Japan voluntarily at the beginning of the colonial era in the hope of better job opportunities; later many were brought to Japan as forced laborers. The majority of them were farmers from the three provinces of North Gyeongsang , South Gyeongsang and South Jeolla in southern Korea .

history

With the annexation of Korea in 1910, the country was incorporated into the Japanese Empire as Chōsen Province , whereupon a lively peoples' movement from the Korean Peninsula to Japan began. This was partly voluntary because there were better job opportunities on the Japanese islands. On the other hand, especially during World War II , hundreds of thousands of Koreans were forced to move to work in the war-torn industry. At the end of World War II, there were an estimated 2.4 million Chosen people in the Japanese islands.

After the Great Kanto earthquake in 1923, there were massacres based on unproven rumors that Koreans would start fires and poison wells. Other minorities were also affected, but the Korean minority suffered the greatest losses with almost 6,000 deaths.

After the capitulation of Japan in August 1945 and the withdrawal of the Japanese sovereignty over Chosen by the Allies , most Koreans returned to their homeland. Due to the uncertain situation in Korea, however, around 650,000 Koreans remained in Japan in 1946.

Although Japan still held de jure state sovereignty over the now de facto former province until the Treaty of San Francisco in 1951 (which came into force in 1952), voting rights were withdrawn from the Korean population in December 1945. In 1947, this part of the population was also revoked their Japanese citizenship, which they had acquired because of Korea's former colony status. In contrast to the usual procedure, after territorial changes, to allow those affected in the areas to choose their nationality, they were defined as "Koreans", although this state no longer existed. This is also due to the different treatment of the occupying power, which the Koreans saw as liberated individuals on the one hand, but also as Japanese citizens and thus as enemies on the other. Due to the relationship of some Koreans with the Japanese Communist Party, minority associations and the Korean schools they support have been suppressed by both the Japanese government and the occupying forces.

With the outbreak of the Korean War (1950–1953), Koreans living in Japan were in principle stateless; neither North nor South Korea were recognized by the Japanese government as sovereign states, as they still regarded the Korean peninsula as Japanese state territory due to its de jure claim. In addition to the legal uncertainty, there was now an ideological separation of the Korean minority in Japan.

In 1965, the Japanese government entered into negotiations with the South Korean government and made it possible for the people of Korean descent and their descendants to acquire South Korean citizenship . Since North Korea is still not recognized by Japan, loyal Koreans were not granted permanent residence rights until 1981, after Japan ratified the United Nations Convention on Refugees and the Convention on Human Rights, and were thus able to travel to their country of origin (and back to Japan). Since 1965 and 1981, respectively, the economic situation has improved for both parts of the Korean minority because they were able to benefit from the Japanese economic miracle .

The Korean minority was also exposed to discrimination after the war and was legally and economically disadvantaged compared to the Japanese population; To this day, a large number of Japanese pseudonyms have been used to avoid discrimination. Since the 1980s and 1990s, state discrimination against non-naturalized Koreans has been gradually reduced: They have been given protection from deportation and full access to the social, health and education system, but not the right to vote. Social discrimination, for example on the labor and housing market, persisted.

Since the post-war period, many Koreans in Japan have been organized in the minority organizations Chongryon (close to North Korea) and Mindan (close to South Korea).

The Korean minority and the atomic bombing

It is estimated that one in ten victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were Korean forced laborers . This corresponds to about 40,000 Korean people. The Korean victims are not remembered at the annual ceremonies to commemorate the dropping. A memorial was only erected for them in 1970 in Hiroshima. The Korean atomic bomb victims have always had free medical care, and Koreans living abroad have had this since 1980.

The two Korean states behave differently in this regard, both to each other and to Japan. In North Korea, repatriated atomic bomb victims are stylized as heroes in the course of state propaganda and thus experience a certain degree of social respect. In South Korea, atomic bomb victims receive no government or social support.

Todays situation

Many Koreans do not apply for Japanese citizenship, even though they are now the fourth generation to live in Japan and often do not even speak Korean anymore. The acceptance of the Japanese citizenship (and the related abandonment of the Korean) is seen by parts of the Korean minority as an assimilation and loss of their identity.

However, from the third and fourth generation onwards, Koreans living in Japan identify more with Japan than with North or South Korea, as they grew up in and with Japan. This rapprochement between the Korean minority and the Japanese collective society improves the situation for the Korean population.

Known Citizens of Korean Descent in Japan

Culture

politics

Sports

economy

literature

Movies

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Statistics Office, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication : 国籍 ・ 地域 別 在 留 資格 （在 留 目的） 別 在 留 外国人 (Foreigners by nationality and visa status) . December 2016.
  2. ^ A b George Hicks: Japan's hidden apartheid: The Korean minority and the Japanese . 2nd Edition. Ashgate, Aldershot 1998.
  3. ^ John Lie: Zainichi (Koreans in Japan): Diasporic Nationalism and Postcolonial Identity . University of California Press, Berkeley 2008.
  4. ↑ a b c Ryang, Sonia: "Koreans in Japan: Critical Voices from the Margin", year of issue: 2000, publisher: Routledge (United Kingdom)
  5. ^ Sonia Ryang: Introduction: Between the Nations . In: Sonia Ryang, John Lie (eds.): Diaspora without Homeland: Being Korean in Japan . University of California Press, Berkeley 2009.
  6. ↑ Ludgera Lewerich: zainichi-Korian - The Korean minority in Japan . Japanese-German Center Berlin.
  7. ↑ Deny yourself, deceive yourself . In: Der Spiegel . No. 38 , 1981 ( online - 14 September 1981 ).
  8. ↑ Berlinale: Dear Pyongyang - Yang Yong-hi, Japan 2005 (PDF; 133 kB)
  9. ↑ Berlinale: Our Homeland - Yang Yong-hi, Japan 2012 (PDF; 92 kB)

Web links

Commons : Korean Minority in Japan  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files