Koreans in Japan facts for kids
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 855,725 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Tokyo (Shin-Ōkubo) · Osaka Prefecture (Ikuno-ku) | |
| Languages | |
| Japanese · Korean (Zainichi Korean) | |
| Religion | |
| Buddhism · Shinto/Korean Shamanism · Christianity · Irreligion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Korean people |
Koreans in Japan are ethnic Koreans who have permanent residency status in Japan or who have become Japanese citizens and whose immigration to Japan originated before 1945 or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a distinct group from South Korean nationals who have emigrated to Japan after the end of World War II and the division of Korea.
The flow of Koreans to Japan started with the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1876 and increased dramatically since 1920. During World War II, a large number of Koreans were also conscripted by Japan. Another wave of migration started after South Korea was devastated by the Korean War in the 1950s.
The majority of Koreans in Japan are Zainichi Koreans who are the permanent ethnic Korean residents of Japan. The term Zainichi Korean refers only to long-term Korean residents of Japan who trace their roots to Korea under Japanese rule, distinguishing them from the later wave of Korean migrants who came mostly in the 1980s, and from pre-modern immigrants dating back to antiquity who may themselves be the ancestors of the Japanese people.
The Japanese word "Zainichi" itself means a foreign citizen "staying in Japan" and means temporary residence. The term "Zainichi Korean" is used to describe settled permanent residents of Japan. They currently form the second largest ethnic minority group in Japan after Chinese immigrants due to many Koreans joining the general Japanese population.
Images for kids
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Restrictions of passage from the Korean Peninsula (April 1919-1922), the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, restrictions of passage from Busan (October 1925), opening of independent travel service by Koreans between Jeju and Osaka (April 1930), Park Choon-Geum was elected for the House of Representatives of Japan (February 1932), removal of restrictions of civil recruit from the Korean Peninsula (September 1939), public recruit from the Korean Peninsula (March 1942), labor conscription from the Korean Peninsula (September 1944), the end of WWII and the beginning of repatriation (1945), the Jeju uprising (April 1948), the Korean War (June 1950), the Home-coming Movement to North Korea (December 1959-1983), the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea (1965), (1977-1983), Japanese ratification of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1982), the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis
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Dates of entrance or birth of Korean residents in Japan as of the end of 1958
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The second Kobe riots in 1950
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Repatriation of Koreans from Japan, January 1960
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Numbers of birth, death, and naturalization of Koreans in Japan
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Marriage of Koreans in Japan
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Classroom at Tokyo Korean High School with photographs of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il
See also
In Spanish: Coreanos en Japón para niños
