Japanese settlement in the Marshall Islands

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Japanese settlement in the Marshall Islands
Shintoism and Buddhism
Related ethnic groups
Micronesians, Japanese, Okinawan

Japanese settlement in the Marshall Islands was spurred on by Japanese trade in the Pacific region. The first Japanese explorers arrived in the Marshall Islands in the late 19th century, although permanent settlements were not established until the 1920s. As compared to other Micronesian islands in the South Seas Mandate, there were fewer Japanese who settled in the islands. After the Japanese surrender in 1945, the Japanese populace were repatriated to Japan, although people of mixed Japanese–Marshallese heritage remained behind. They form a sizeable minority in the Marshall Islands' populace, and are well represented in the corporate, public and political sectors in the country.[3]

History

Early contact (19th century)

The earliest Japanese contact with the Marshall Islands dates back to 1884, when a group of

Marshallese at Lae Atoll in 1910.[6]

Japanese administration (1914–1944)

A military administration was established when Japan annexed the Marshall Islands from

Jaluit.[7] The civilian administration was established at Jabat Island and replaced the military administration in 1922. A small branch government office was established; and local Japanese settlers opened a small copra plantation on the island.[8]

In the early 1920s, a Japanese trader settled in

Jabat. Jaluit developed into a small town by 1939, and housed a population of several hundred Japanese settlers along with some two thousand Marshallese in the suburban areas.[13]

The Japanese navy developed military bases in the atolls in the early years of World War II.[14] During this time, the military brought in several thousand Japanese, Okinawan and Korean labourers to undertake the construction of military facilities.[15] Some Marshallese and Koreans reported of maltreatment by the Japanese authorities, and there was at least one case of revolt by both groups at Jelbon on Mili Atoll in which a hundred Japanese civilians and soldiers were killed.[16] Some civilians were executed by the Japanese, including Australian missionary Carl Heine and his Marshallese son and daughter-in-law.[17] When American troops attacked the Marshall Islands between January and April 1944, Japanese troops evacuated many Japanese settlers and Korean labourers from the atolls. A few were reportedly killed in the ensuing air raids, while others who remained behind were captured as Prisoners of war[18] after the Americans captured the atolls, together with some Japanese soldiers.[19]

Recent years (1945–present)

After the Japanese surrender, the Japanese population on the islands was repatriated back to Japan.[fn 2] People of mixed Japanese–Marshallese heritage generally stayed behind, although a few were granted an option if they were above 16 years old.[3][21] The Japanese–Marshallese quickly assimilated with the Marshallese in the years after the war. Many of them became politicians and businessmen, and in the 1970s people of mixed Japanese–Marshallese heritage controlled most of the private enterprises in the state.[22] Japanese–Marshallese politicians generally held critical opinions on nuclear weapon tests carried out by the United States in Operation Crossroads. At least one ethnologist, Greg Dvorak suggested that the shared Japanese and Marshallese experience of nuclear warfare shaped critical views held by Japanese–Marshallese politicians.[11] From the 1990s onwards, Japanese–Marshallese politicians including James Matayoshi and Hiroshi Yamamura often led lobbies against the United States for monetary compensation of victims of radioactive fallout.[23]

When Marshall Islands became independent in 1986, second and third-generation Japanese–Marshallese offspring formed the Japanese–Marshallese association (also known as Marshall Nikkeijin Kai in Japanese), and rendered assistance to families of Japanese soldiers who died during the Pacific War. Although the association had limited patronage from the younger generation of Japanese–Marshallese, it played an important role in lobbying the government to forge closer cultural and economic ties with Japan.[24] Japanese firms that were based on the Marshall Islands since the 1960s actively sought joint ventures with local companies from the 1980s onwards, mainly in the fishery sector. Expatriates usually consisted of Okinawan fishermen based at Majuro, where Japanese companies have built smoking and canning facilities to facilitate the processing of tuna catches.[25]

Demographics

Population

The Marshall Islands remained sparsely populated by Japanese settlers, relative to the other mandated Micronesian islands. The first pre-war census of the Marshall Islands counted 490 Japanese among 10,000 Marshallese,[26] and the number of Japanese settlers increased to 680[27] scattered across all 33 atolls in 1940. Within the same year, the mandated islands had a total Japanese population of 77,000.[28] The largest towns in the Marshall Islands, Jaluit and Jabor, had a thousand Japanese each, while in the most isolated atolls, the Japanese populace amounted to no more than a few individuals.[29] Korean labourers were also counted recognised as Japanese in official statistics,[30] and accounted for another 1,200 individuals which were brought into the Marshall Islands during the war.[11] There was a sizeable minority of people of mixed Japanese and Marshallese heritage, which was more common in settlements with a smaller Japanese populace. In official census, people of mixed Japanese–Marshallese heritage are identified by their Marshallese heritage from 1945 onwards.[31] The Marshallese ambassador to the United States, Banny de Brum cited in 2006 that some 6,000 individuals, or about 10% of all Marshall Islanders had some Japanese ancestry.[32][fn 3]

Language

Japanese was extensively used for day-to-day communication during the colonial era by both Japanese and Marshallese, but was replaced by Marshallese after the Japanese surrender. Japanese is still preferred as a second language over English among those of mixed Japanese–Marshallese heritage, and islanders occasionally adopt Japanese loanwords for certain terms in the Marshallese language.[33]

Religion

At least one

Maloelap, several Shinto shrines were built during the 1930s.[34] The State Shinto shrine on Jaluit was reportedly the easternmost shrine in the Japanese Empire.[35] When the Americans invaded the Marshall Islands in 1944, all the existing Shinto shrines were either destroyed in air raids, or were demolished.[36] People of mixed Japanese–Marshallese heritage subsequently adopted Christianity in favour of Buddhism or Shinto after the Japanese surrender.[7]

Interethnic relations in society

As compared to other Micronesian islands, most Marshallese adopted Japanese customs within the first few years of the Japanese administration. An Australian journalist travelling on a

Second World War.[39] Shortly before the end of the war, a few Marshallese led independent and isolated attacks against Japanese military personnel wherever possible.[40]

Notable individuals

Footnotes

  1. ^ Consists of 50 Japanese nationals through the Marshall Islands; figure excludes Marshall Island citizens of mixed Japanese–Marshallese heritage.
  2. ^ There were a two exceptions to such cases. One Japanese remained briefly behind but he was deported to Hawaii within a few years after the Japanese surrender. Another Korean trader died shortly after the Americans returned,[7] and left behind two young children by a Marshallese woman.[20]
  3. ^ See also: 1973 census of Marshall Islands (p. 24). Especially in Majuro, census results reflects a sizeable number (about 3,000) islanders of part-Japanese ancestry.

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. ^ Marshall Islands, CIA World Factbook. Retrieved October 5, 2009.
  3. ^ a b Crocombe (2007), p. 103
  4. ^ Peattie (1988), p. 9
  5. ^ Peattie (1988), p. 10–12
  6. ^ Tobin (2002), p. 121
  7. ^ a b c d Spoehr (1949), p. 37
  8. ^ Peattie (1988), p. 186
  9. ^ Devaney (1987), p. 20
  10. ^ Hezel (2003), p. 190
  11. ^ a b c d Visualizing Japan’s Pacific Past[permanent dead link], Greg Dvorak, The Australian National University: Centre for Cross-Cultural Research, 2 July 2007
  12. ^ Poyer et al. (2008), p. 53
  13. ^ Connell (2002), p. 24
  14. ^ Spoehr (1949), p. 33
  15. ^ Hezel (2003), p. 218–220
  16. ^ Poyer et al. (2008), p. 154–5
  17. ^ Garrett, John (1997). Where Nets Were Cast: Christianity in Oceania Since World War II. Suva, Fiji: Institute of Pacific Studies. pp. 127–128.
  18. ^ Christiansen (1994), p. 27
  19. ^ Peattie (1988), p. 271
  20. ^ Spoehr (1949), p. 61
  21. ^ Komai (2001), p. 32
  22. ^ Porter et al. (1983), p. 144
  23. ^ Pacific Islands Monthly: PIM., Volume 68 (1998), p. 12
  24. ^ 旧南洋群島における混血児のアソシエーションーパラオ ･サクラ会 Archived 2021-08-26 at the Wayback Machine, Iitaka Shingo, University of the Ryukyus Repository. Retrieved October 17, 2009.
  25. ^ Doulman (1987), p. 7
  26. ^ Rottman (2004), p. 12
  27. ^ Poyer et al. (2001), p. 24
  28. ^ Peattie (1988), p. 160
  29. ^ Peattie (1988), p. 186, 188
  30. ^ Peattie (1988), p. 220
  31. ^ Spoehr (1949), p. 60
  32. ^ Pacific Islands President, Bainbridge Lawmakers Find Common Ground Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine (Copy Archived 2010-12-03 at the Wayback Machine), June 10, 2006, Kitsap Sun, Rachel Pritchett. Retrieved October 4, 2009.
  33. ^ McMurray et al. (2001), p. 57
  34. ^ Trumbull (1959), p. 109
  35. ^ Schuster, Donald R. (1982). "State Shinto in Micronesia During Japanese Rule, 1914-1945". Pacific Studies. 5 (2): 22–27.
  36. ^ Trumbull (1959), p. 109
  37. ^ Hiery (1995), p. 138
  38. ^ Petrosian-Husa (2004), p. 12
  39. ^ Poyer et al. (2001), p. 200
  40. ^ Poyer et al. (2001), p. 131–2

Bibliography

Further reading
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