Poles in Japan

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Poles in Japan
Total population
1,510 (2023)
Regions with significant populations
Tokyo, Kantō region, Kansai region

Poles in Japan form a small population of 1,510 (as of 2023),[1] yet the largest Polish diaspora in East Asia.

Most Poles in Japan are either from mixed Polish-Japanese marriages, educated professionals working in Japan, students, or Catholic clergy.[1]

History

The first non-clergymen Poles to arrive in Japan were the famous adventurer

Kamchatka.[2] It was also the first Polish ship to arrive in Japan, as they sailed under the Polish flag aboard a seized Russian galiot.[2] Beniowski's expedition was warmly received by the Japanese, an exchange of gifts took place, and sailing southward, Beniowski stopped at several Japanese islands.[2]

The most sizeable Polish community of early 20th-century Japan lived in the

Toyohara.[6] In 1924, Karafuto was visited by Polish ambassador to Japan Stanisław Patek, and many local Poles were granted Polish citizenship and passports.[4] Some 300 Poles lived in Japan, according to estimates from 1929.[7] In 1930, two Catholic churches were built in Toyohara and Odomari, co-funded by Poles from Poland and Karafuto.[8] Only a handful of Poles lived in other parts of Japan.[9]

In 1920–1922, 769 Polish orphans rescued from Siberia, were admitted by the Japanese in Tokyo and Osaka, before their return to Poland.

Culture

There are Polish associations in Tokyo and Osaka, and a Polish school in Tokyo.[1]

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ^ .
  2. ^ a b c Grochowski 1928, pp. 146–147.
  3. ^ Grochowski 1928, p. 142.
  4. ^
    ISSN 0137-5210
    .
  5. Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich
    . p. 66.
  6. ^ Winiarz, p. 67
  7. ^ Żukow-Karczewski, Marek (1989). "Polonia zagraniczna w czasach II Rzeczypospolitej". Życie Literackie (in Polish). No. 33 (1952). p. 10.
  8. ^ Fiedorczuk, pp. 95–96
  9. ^ Grochowski 1928, p. 149.

Bibliography