Japanese Uruguayans ( es, nipón-uruguayos; ja, 日系ウルグアイ人, ''Nikkei Uruguaijin'') are Uruguayan citizens of

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 ...

descent. Japanese immigration to Uruguay began in the early 20th century. It was characterized to be small in number and mainly indirect, that is, Japanese immigrant previously had been established in another South American country but later moving to Uruguay, although some came directly from Japan. The immigration wave happened in two periods, the first since the early 20th century until before World War II and the latter since the mid-1950s to 1960s.

History

The first

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

n country that

Japanese people The are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Japanese archipelago."人類学上は，旧石器時代あるいは縄文時代以来，現在の北海道〜沖縄諸島（南西諸島）に住んだ集団を祖先にもつ人々。" () Jap ...

settled was

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. But when Brazil decided to halt Japanese Brazil immigration in 1930s, Uruguay became one of the countries to welcome the Japanese settlers to populate the unpopulated areas. Most of them remained in the capital, Montevideo. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

began, there was

anti-Japanese sentiment Anti-Japanese sentiment (also called Japanophobia, Nipponophobia and anti-Japanism) involves the hatred or fear of anything which is Japanese, be it its culture or its people. Its opposite is Japanophilia. Overview Anti-Japanese senti ...

, especially from

German Uruguayans The German community in Uruguay numbers ca. 10,000 German expatriates and 40,000 people of German descent. Most of them live in the Montevideo area, although there are German minorities in Paysandú, Río Negro, San José and Canelones. Histo ...

and

Italian Uruguayans Italian Uruguayans (Spanish: ''ítalo-uruguayos''; Italian: ''italo-uruguaiani'') are Uruguayan-born citizens who are fully or partially of Italian descent or Italian-born people in Uruguay. It is estimated that more than one third of Uruguayans a ...

Japanese language is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ...

teaching in schools and newspaper and book publishing in Japanese were prohibited. After the end of the war, hundreds of Japanese refugees were still permitted by Uruguayan government to settle. In recent decades, many Japanese settlers arrived especially as businessmen to profit in the country. In 2001, Princess Sayako inaugurated the Japanese Garden of Montevideo. In 2008, a ceremony of the 100th anniversary of the Japanese emigration in Uruguay was held, with the presence of

Princess Takamado (born ; 10 July 1953), is a member of the Japanese Imperial Family as the widow of Norihito, Prince Takamado. Background and education Hisako was born on 10 July 1953 in Shirokane, Tokyo. She is the eldest daughter of Japanese industrialist ...

.Princess Takamado in Uruguay
The 2011 Uruguayan census revealed 186 people who declared Japan as their country of birth.

Religion

The majority of Japanese Uruguayans are Roman Catholic Christians, while the rest are Buddhists.

Institutions

As Genta Dorado said in his book, the Japanese cultural activities of most of Japanese community and its descendants (generally

issei is a Japanese-language term used by ethnic Japanese in countries in North America and South America to specify the Japanese people who were the first generation to immigrate there. are born in Japan; their children born in the new country are ...

and

nisei is a Japanese-language term used in countries in North America and South America to specify the ethnically Japanese children born in the new country to Japanese-born immigrants (who are called ). The are considered the second generation, ...

) takes place at ''Asociación Japonesa en el Uruguay'' (Japanese Association in Uruguay).

Notable Japanese Uruguayans

* Bárbara Mori – Actress *

Kenya Mori Kenya Mori (born Kenya Mori Ochoa on January 15, 1976, in Montevideo, Uruguay) is an Uruguayan-born Mexican actress. Mori studied acting in TV Azteca TV Azteca, S.A.B. de C.V. is a Mexican multimedia conglomerate owned by Grupo Salinas. It is ...

– Actress * Kintaró Mori – Singer

References

External links

* * {{Japanese diaspora Asian Uruguayan

Uruguayans Uruguayans ( es, uruguayos) are people identified with the country of Uruguay, through citizenship or descent. Uruguay is home to people of different ethnic origins. As a result, many Uruguayans do not equate their nationality with ethnicity, b ...

Japanese Latin American Ethnic groups in Uruguay Immigration to Uruguay Japanese immigration to Uruguay