Japanese settlement in Kiribati

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Japanese settlement in Kiribati
Total population
17 (2007)
I-Kiribati

Japanese presence in

Japanese rule in the first half of the 20th century, the majority of the Japanese consisted of transient workers and only a few settled in Kiribati. Since Kiribati became independent in 1978, a few Japanese have also taken permanent residence in Kiribati, and assumed important positions within Gilbertese society.[2]

History

The first Japanese to install in the

Okinawa and worked for William Mackenzie, a Scottish trader in Arorae
. He married the daughter of the trader, Melissa Nito. The first Japanese were brought to
Jaluit in the Marshall Islands.[5]

A few Japanese resided with Kanzaki over a temporary basis with Kanzaki during the

Makin, and consisted mainly of army and navy personnel, as well as a few settlers. There was minimal promiscuous contact between the Japanese soldiers and Gilbertese women, as Kanzaki and Gilbertese men helped to facilitate strict regulations to minimise contact between Gilbertese women and Japanese soldiers.[8] After the Japanese Surrender, Japanese nationals living in the islands were quickly repatriated.[9]

Japanese fishermen started fishing for tuna in Kiribati from the late 1970s, and reportedly engage in occasional promiscuous liaisons with local Gilbertese prostitutes in Betio.[10] A few Japanese nationals also settled down in Kiribati and acquired Gilbertese citizenship from the 1980s. Many of these settlers assumed leading positions in Gilbertese society and married Gilbertese wives, notably Kentaro Ono, who served as the President of Kiribati's Chamber of Commerce.[2][11]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Figure only includes Japanese nationals in Kiribati.

References

  1. ^ 第5回　太平洋・島サミット開催！[permanent dead link], Plaza for International Cooperation, Official Development Assistance, Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan, retrieved October 17, 2009
  2. ^ a b Crocombe (2007), p. 54
  3. ^ MacDonald (2002), p. 116-7
  4. ^ McQuarrie (2000), p. 6
  5. ^ a b McQuarrie (2000), p. 7
  6. ^ MacDonald (2002), p. 145
  7. ^ Crocombe (2001), p. 433
  8. ^ McQuarrie (2000), p. 63
  9. ^ Crocombe (2001), p. 51
  10. ^ United Nations ESCAP (2009), p. 58
  11. ^ Kiribati-Japan Relations From a “Nikkei” I-Kiribati Perspective, Kentaro Ono, November 17, 2003, IIST World Forum

Bibliography

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