Kurds in Japan (

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: 在日クルド人, ''Zainichi Kurudo-jin'',

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

: ''Kurdên Japonyayê'') refers to

Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ir ...

residing in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Legal status

Most

are from shepherding villages in Southeast Turkey and reside in the Warabi and Kawaguchi areas of

Saitama Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 km2 (1,466 sq mi). Saitama Prefecture borders Tochigi Prefecture ...

, north of Tokyo. Warabi, especially, has been nicknamed "Warabistan" by those who are interested in Kurdish people, culture and issues. Some Kurdish people arrived in Japan in order to request

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

status; citing human rights abuses in Turkey and Iraq. Nonetheless, so far none have been successful in their application due to Japan's asylum system. While many obtain visas through marriage with a Japanese citizen, most have obtained "Special Permission to Stay" ( 在留特別許可 ''Zairyū Tokubetsu Kyoka'') visas, which must be renewed every three months while their refugee application or appeal is being reviewed. A documentary directed by Masaru Nomoto (野本大) entitled ''Backdrop Kurdistan'' (バックドロップ・クルディスタン) documented the legal struggles of one Kurdish family (Kazankıran family:

: カザンキラン, ''Kazankiran'') from

Kahramanmaraş Province Kahramanmaraş Province kurdish( tr, Kahramanmaraş ili ) is a province of Turkey. Its provincial capital is the city of Kahramanmaraş, the traffic code is 46. Geography Kahramanmaraş is traversed by the northeasterly line of equal latitude and ...

. In 2015, a clash took place outside the Turkish embassy in Tokyo between Kurds and

Turks in Japan Turks in Japan ( ja, 在日トルコ人（ざいにちトルコじん）; tr, ) are Turks living in Japan. Historically, the term has included Turkic (particularly Volga Tatar) émigrés and immigrants from former Russian Empire, most of who ...

during early voting for the

Turkish general election Elections in Turkey are held for six functions of government: presidential elections (national), parliamentary elections (national), municipality mayors (local), district mayors (local), provincial or municipal council members (local) and ...

. Japanese and Kurdish sources claimed the clash began when the Turks assaulted the Kurds after a Kurdish party flag was shown at the embassy.

References

External links

Newroz New Year celebration in Japan
{{Kurdish diaspora Ethnic groups in Japan Kurdish diaspora