Japanese people in Spain consist largely of expatriate managers in Japanese corporations, as well as international students. There are also some people of Japanese ancestry in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, including descendants of 17th-century migrants to Spain, as well as migrants from among Nikkei populations in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

. According to Spain's National Statistical Institute, 4,898

Japanese citizens Japanese nationality law details the conditions by which a person holds nationality of Japan. The primary law governing nationality regulations is the 1950 Nationality Act. Children born to at least one Japanese parent are generally automaticall ...

resided in the country ; Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave a higher figure of 8,080 .

History

The first Japanese people to settle in Spain were the members of an embassy led by

Hasekura Tsunenaga was a kirishitan Japanese samurai and retainer of Date Masamune, the daimyō of Sendai. He was of Japanese imperial descent with ancestral ties to Emperor Kanmu. Other names include Philip Francis Faxicura, Felipe Francisco Faxicura, and Phi ...

. Instead of returning to Japan in 1617, six samurai remained in

Coria del Río Coria del Río is a small town near Seville, on the shores of Guadalquivir river. History Early in the 17th Century, ''daimyō'' Date Masamune of Sendai sent a delegation led by Hasekura Tsunenaga (1571–1622) to Europe. In 1613, Hasekura and th ...

, near

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

. The surname ''Japón'' (Spanish for "Japan") is conserved among approximately 700 inhabitants of Coria del Río, identifying them as descendants of the members of Hasekura Tsunenaga's delegation. The first Japanese business established in Spain was SANYO España.S.A. in 1969. Since then Catalonia became the main point of Japanese business operations in Spain. Between the 1970s and 1980s, Nikkeis—people of Japanese ancestry from various countries of

—settled in Spain, fleeing financial crises or political oppression in their home countries. Since the 1970s, many Japanese have also come to Spain as businesspeople and students. In 1966, there were only about 280 Japanese nationals in Spain, but this number grew to 2,824 by 1993.

Demographics

As of 2001 5,167 Japanese citizens resided in Spain, with 1,189 of them in Barcelona and 87 of them in the remainder of Catalonia. Most residing in Catalonia are employees of Japanese companies. There are an estimated 2,000 people of Japanese descent in the Madrid area, most of them working for Japanese firms. The peak number of the Japanese population in

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in the auto ...

registered with the Japanese consulate there was 365 people in 1977.Ávila Tàpies and Josefina Domínguez Mujica, p. 527. "El despliegue de estas actividades económicas fue dando lugar a una colonia de residentes japoneses concentrada en la ciudad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, que era atendida por el consulado de Japón, el colegio japonés, la casa de Japón, la asociación de japoneses en Las Palmas e, incluso, por enfermeras niponas enviadas ''ex profeso''. Según el registro consular⁴, esta colonia llegó a alcanzar un máximo de 365 residentes en 1977, aunque el número de transeúntes no registrados superaría ampliamente esta cifra."

Institutions

The ''Barcelona Suiyokai'' is an association of Japanese companies that operates in Barcelona.Fukuda,
Supervivència de la colònia japonesa a Catalunya: l’organització interna i la seva implicació en l’ecosistema lingüístic català
" "Els treballadors destinats a Catalunya solen pertànyer a la Barcelona Suiyokai, que és l’associació d’empresaris japonesos a Catalunya. L’any 2004 en formaven part cinquanta-set empreses." and "Un altre punt de trobada de la colònia japonesa a Catalunya és una biblioteca que es troba en un pis de l’Eixample. Va ser creada l’any 1992 per uns voluntaris japonesos que vivien a Barcelona, amb la finalitat de fomentar l’intercanvi cultural entre Espanya i el Japó. La biblioteca està oberta també a la població local, però la majoria dels usuaris són japonesos, sobretot els estudiants, les famílies dels treballadors i els jubilats, tant de les zones pròximes a Barcelona com de la ciutat." and "També cal esmentar l’Associació de Professors de Llengua Japonesa de Barcelona." and "A més de les associacions esmentades, també hi ha l’Associació de Famílies Hispano-Japoneses, l’Associació d’Estudi de Gaudí, el Club d’Haiku, el Club de Golf, la Societat d’Antics Alumnes de l’Escola Complementària, etc." It operates a Japanese new year festival. In 2004 57 companies were a part of the association. In Barcelona there is also a Go club, a Haiku club, an association of Japanese language teachers, an association of the alumni of the Japanese complementary school, a golf club, and a Hispano-Japanese association. In addition to the Japanese consulate, in Las Palmas there was the and a Japanese association. The ''Casa'' opened in 1967 in Monte Lentiscal and its annex opened in October 1973. The main building closed in June 1981 and the annex closed in December 1985.Ávila Tàpies and Josefina Domínguez Mujica, p. 528 (PDF 4/38). "El colegio japonés «rasuparumasu nihonjin gakko-» en Tafira Baja, abierto en el año 1973 (octubre) como el tercer colegio japonés más antiguo de Europa y el primero de España, se cerró definitivamente en el 2000 (marzo). Lo mismo sucedió con la casa de Japón en el Monte Lentiscal, que se inauguró en 1967 (abril) con el nombre oficial de «rasuparumasu nihon sen’in hoken fukushi kaikan», como una organización dependiente del consulado (club japonés de asistencia y bienestar de los marineros en Las Palmas). En 1973 (octubre) se ampliaron sus instalaciones con un «anexo», en los alrededores. El edificio principal se cerró en 1981 (junio), y el anexo en 1985 (diciembre). El envío de enfermeras niponas a los hospitales Queen Victoria y Santa Catalina, para la asistencia médica de los marineros japoneses, se produjo entre 1971 y 1981."

Health care

From 1971 to 1981 there were Japanese nurses sent to the Queen Victoria and Santa Catalina hospitals in Las Palmas to assist Japanese sailors.

Education

Spain has three Japanese international schools: the Japanese School in Barcelona, Colegio Japonés de Las Palmas and the Colegio Japonés de Madrid. The two cities, Barcelona and Madrid, also have weekend Japanese education programmes. The previously existed. Located in Tafira Baja, it opened in October 1973, making it the first Japanese school in Spain and the third-oldest in Europe. It closed in March 2001. There is a Japanese library in

Eixample The Eixample (; ) is a district of Barcelona between the old city ( Ciutat Vella) and what were once surrounding small towns ( Sants, Gràcia, Sant Andreu, etc.), constructed in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its population was 262,000 ...

, Barcelona that opened in 1992. Most of the patrons are Japanese, though locals may also use the facilities. The library is located inside a flat.

Notable people

* Kiyoshi Uematsu, Spanish judoka * Kenji Uematsu, Spanish judoka * Yuu Shirota, actor and singer (Originally from

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

) *

David Silva David Josué Jiménez Silva (born 8 January 1986) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for La Liga club Real Sociedad. Silva plays mainly as a central or an attacking midfielder but can also play as a winger or second striker. He is ...

, professional footballer *

Pedro Shimose Pedro Shimose Kawamura (born 30 March 1940) is a poet, journalist, professor and essayist from Bolivia. He has been based in Madrid, Spain since 1971. Shimose is considered one of Bolivia's most notable poets. Biography Shimose was born in 1 ...

, poet, professor and essayist; his working and living in Madrid. *

Rayito Antonio Rayo (born July 16, 1982), best known as Rayito, is a Spanish musician of Gitano and Japanese heritage. His father, a flamenco guitarist, taught him to play the instrument at a young age, and at the age of four years he was already givin ...

, musician and producer

References

Notes

Sources

* () * *
Archive
* * Ávila Tàpies, Rosalía (

University of Kyoto , mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture , established = , type = Public (National) , endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 billion USD) , faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff) , administrative_staff = 3,978 (Total Staff) , students = 22 ...

) and Josefina Domínguez Mujica ( Universidad de Las Palmas).
The Canary Islands in the Japanese Imaginary: The Analysis of Three Contemporary Narratives
( es, Canarias en el imaginario japonés: el análisis de tres narrativas contemporáneas
Page archivePDF archive
. '' Anuario de Estudios Atlánticos'' ISSN 0570-4065, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (2011), no. 57, pp. 525–56. Received 26 May 2010. Accepted 30 June 2010. ''English abstract available''. * *
Archive
''English abstract available''

External links

*
Asociación de empresas Japonesas Shacho Kai

*
Eikyô, influencias japonesas
{{Portal bar, Japan, Spain Ethnic groups in Spain

Asian diaspora in Spain