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are citizens of the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
residing in Japan. As of June 2022, there were 57,299 American citizens registered as foreign residents of Japan, forming 1.9% of the total population of registered aliens, according to statistics from Japan's
Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Jus ...
. This made Americans the eighth-largest group of foreign residents in Japan, having been surpassed in number by Vietnamese residents, Nepalese residents, and Indonesian residents since 2011. In addition to registered foreign residents, a significant number of American military personnel, civilian workers, and their dependents live in Japan due to the presence of the United States military in Japan under the U.S.–Japan Security Treaty. Approximately 70% of American military personnel in Japan are stationed in
Okinawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...
.


History

The first Americans came to Japan in 1791 aboard two merchant vessels from
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
which landed at Kushimoto, Wakayama, south of
Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...
. Because of the isolationist ''
sakoku was the isolationist foreign policy of the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate under which, for a period of 265 years during the Edo period (from 1603 to 1868), relations and trade between Japan and other countries were severely limited, and nearly a ...
'' policy of the
Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia' ...
, the vessels landed under the pretense that they were taking refuge from a storm. They began negotiations with Japanese authorities about the possibility of opening trade relations, but made no headway, and departed after eleven days. One early American resident of Japan was Ranald MacDonald, who arrived in Japan in 1848 and was the first native speaker to teach the English language in Japan. In 1830,
Nathaniel Savory Nathaniel Savory (1794 - 1874) was one of the first American colonists who is said to have settled on the Ogasawara Islands. He eventually became governor, and played an active role in government before and during the colonization by Japan. Life ...
was among the first settlers to colonize the remote
Bonin Islands The Bonin Islands, also known as the , are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands, some directly south of Tokyo, Japan and northwest of Guam. The name "Bonin Islands" comes from the Japanese word ''bunin'' (an archaic read ...
, an archipelago which was later incorporated by Japan. Larger numbers of Americans began to enter Japan after the 1854
Convention of Kanagawa The Convention of Kanagawa, also known as the Kanagawa Treaty (, ''Kanagawa Jōyaku'') or the Japan–US Treaty of Peace and Amity (, ''Nichibei Washin Jōyaku''), was a treaty signed between the United States and the Tokugawa Shogunate on March ...
, under which Commodore
Matthew C. Perry Matthew Calbraith Perry (April 10, 1794 – March 4, 1858) was a commodore of the United States Navy who commanded ships in several wars, including the War of 1812 and the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). He played a leading role in the ...
pressured Japan to open to international trade. Many Americans served as foreign government advisors in Japan during the Meiji period (1868–1912). Prior to
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 ...
, it was a common practice for first-generation ''
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 a ...
'' Japanese immigrants in the United States to send their ''
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 ...
'' children, who were American citizens, to Japan for education. Known as , they often found themselves the subject of discrimination from their classmates in Japan during their studies; upon their return to the United States, they often faced criticism for being "too Japanese" due to perceived authoritarianism, militarism, or pro-Japanese sympathies. Following Japan's surrender in World War II, hundreds of thousands of American military personnel were stationed in Japan during its occupation. After the occupation ended, a large number of American military bases remained in Japan under the
Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan The , more commonly known as the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty in English and as the or just in Japanese, is a treaty that permits the presence of U.S. military bases on Japanese soil, and commits the two nations to defend each other if one or th ...
, and the United States continued to control the
Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonag ...
until the reversion of Okinawa to Japan in 1972. The postwar period also saw in increase in cultural interaction between the United States in Japan. Americans in Japan were active in sports, such as
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...
,
professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...
, and
sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...
. Meanwhile, academics and scholars who spent significant time in Japan, including Edwin O. Reischauer,
Donald Keene Donald Lawrence Keene (June 18, 1922 – February 24, 2019) was an American-born Japanese scholar, historian, teacher, writer and translator of Japanese literature. Keene was University Professor emeritus and Shincho Professor Emeritus of Japane ...
, Edward Seidensticker,
John Whitney Hall John Whitney Hall (September 13, 1916 – October 21, 1997),"John Whitney Hall papers, 1930–1999", Yale University Library was an American historian of Japan who specialized in premodern Japanese history. His life work was recognized by the Japane ...
, and Donald Richie, became influential cultural critics and contributed to the development of the field of
Japanese studies Japanese studies (Japanese: ) or Japan studies (sometimes Japanology in Europe), is a sub-field of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on Japan. It incorporates fields such as the study of Japa ...
in the 1950s and 1960s. Since 1987 the Japanese government has administered the JET Programme, an initiative that employs thousands of overseas college graduates as Assistant Language Teachers in Japanese public schools, usually for a period of one to three years. Approximately half of these teachers are from the United States.


Notable people

This is a list of American citizens whose notability is related to their past or current residence in Japan. *
Akebono Tarō is an American-born Japanese former professional sumo wrestler and professional wrestler from Waimānalo, Hawaii. Joining sumo in Japan in 1988, he was trained by pioneering Hawaiian wrestler Takamiyama and rose swiftly up the rankings, reac ...
, first foreign-born
sumo wrestler A , or, more colloquially, , is a professional sumo wrestler. follow and live by the centuries-old rules of the sumo profession, with most coming from Japan, the only country where sumo is practiced professionally. Participation in official ...
to reach the rank of ''
yokozuna , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (''rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the on ...
'' * Atsugiri Jason, comedian and television personality * Randy Bass, NPB baseball player and triple crown winner *
Billy Blanks William Wayne Blanks (born September 1, 1955) is an American fitness personality, martial artist, actor, and the creator of the Tae Bo exercise program. Early life and education Blanks was born in Erie, Pennsylvania. He began his study of t ...
, fitness guru and martial artist * Thane Camus, television personality *
Walter Tenney Carleton Walter Tenney Carleton (24 December 1867 – 6 July 1900) was an early international businessman. He was one of the three founding directors of NEC Corporation, the first Japanese joint venture with foreign capital. Youth and education He was ...
, founding director of
NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It provides IT and network solu ...
* Dante Carver, actor *
William S. Clark William Smith Clark (July 31, 1826 – March 9, 1886) was an American professor of chemistry, botany and zoology, a colonel during the American Civil War, and a leader in agricultural education. Raised and schooled in Easthampton, Massach ...
, agricultural advisor in Hokkaido * William Copeland, founder of one of the first beer breweries in Japan * Henry Willard Denison, diplomat and lawyer during the
Meiji era The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization by ...
* Kent Derricott, television personality * Leah Dizon, singer and model *
Ernest Fenollosa Ernest Francisco Fenollosa (February 18, 1853 – September 21, 1908) was an American art historian of Japanese art, professor of philosophy and political economy at Tokyo Imperial University. An important educator during the modernization of Japa ...
, art historian during the Meiji era * Charlotte Kate Fox, lead actress in the television series '' Massan'' * Marty Friedman, guitarist from
Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wi ...
, later television contributor * Patrick Harlan, comedian and television personality *
James Curtis Hepburn James Curtis Hepburn (; March 13, 1815 – September 21, 1911) was an American physician, translator, educator, and lay Christian missionary. He is known for the Hepburn romanization system for transliteration of the Japanese language into th ...
, creator of Hepburn romanization *
Jero Jerome Charles White Jr. (born September 4, 1981), better known by his stage name , is an American enka singer of African-American and Japanese descent who is the first black enka singer in Japanese music history. In 2018, Jero announced that h ...
, ''
enka is a Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern ''enka'', however, is a relatively recent musical form, which adopts a more traditional musical style in its vocalism than '' ryūkōka'' music, ...
'' singer * Carolyn Kawasaki, model and television personality *
Crystal Kay is a Japanese singer, songwriter, actress and radio host. After releasing her first single, "Eternal Memories" (1999), Crystal Kay gained fame for her third studio album, ''Almost Seventeen'' (2002), which debuted at number 2 on the Japanese O ...
, singer *
Konishiki Yasokichi Saleva'a Fuauli Atisano'e (born December 31, 1963), professionally known as is an American former sumo wrestler.Franz LidzMeat Bomb, 05.18.92 - ''Sports Illustrated'' He was the first non-Japanese-born wrestler to reach '' ōzeki'', the second- ...
, first foreign-born sumo wrestler to reach '' ōzeki'' rank *
Tony László Tony László (born 16 October 1960) is an American born to parents of Hungarian and Italian descent. He was raised in the United States and came to Japan in 1985. As a freelance journalist, he has written articles in English and Japanese. He ...
, journalist and activist, basis of a character in ''
My Darling Is a Foreigner is a manga series written by Saori Oguri. The English subtitle of the Japanese editions of the first two entries is "My darling is ambidextrous"; the official English version is called ''My Darling is a Foreigner''. The books are published by ...
'' * Benjamin Smith Lyman, mining engineer during the Meiji era * Luther Whiting Mason, pioneer of music education in Japan *
Edward S. Morse Edward Sylvester Morse (June 18, 1838 – December 20, 1925) was an American zoologist, archaeologist, and orientalist. He is considered the "Father of Japanese archaeology." Early life Morse was born in Portland, Maine to Jonathan Kimba ...
, known as "the father of Japanese archaeology" * Mina Myoi, singer from
Twice Twice (; Japanese: トゥワイス, Hepburn: ''To~uwaisu''; commonly stylized as TWICE) is a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment. The group is composed of nine members: Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, ...
* Tuffy Rhodes, NPB all-time home run leader among foreign-born baseball players *
Bob Sapp Robert Malcolm Sapp (born September 22, 1973) is an American mixed martial artist, kickboxer, professional wrestler, actor, and former American football player. He is currently under contract with Rizin Fighting Federation. Sapp has a combined ...
, fighter and television personality * Shelly, model and television presenter * Dave Spector, television commentator *
Takamiyama Daigorō is a former sumo wrestler, the first foreign-born wrestler to win the top division championship (in 1972). His highest rank was ''sekiwake''. His active career spanned twenty years from 1964 to 1984, and he set a number of longevity records, i ...
, first foreign-born sumo wrestler to win the top division championship *
Hikaru Utada , who is also known by the mononym Utada, is a Japanese-American pop singer, songwriter and producer. By 2010, Utada had become one of the most influential, and best-selling, musical artists in Japan. Born in the United States to Japanese parent ...
, singer *
Bobby Valentine Robert John Valentine (born May 13, 1950), nicknamed "Bobby V", is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He also served as the athletic director at Sacred Heart University. Valentine played for the Los Angeles Dodgers ( ...
, baseball manager for the
Chiba Lotte Marines The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by Lotte Holdings Co., Ltd. History The Marines franchise began in 1950 as the Mainichi Orions, an inaugura ...
* James R. Wasson, first non-Japanese person to receive the
Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight f ...


See also

*
Japan–United States relations International relations between Japan and the United States began in the late 18th and early 19th century with the diplomatic but force-backed missions of U.S. ship captains James Glynn and Matthew C. Perry to the Tokugawa shogunate. Follo ...
*
Embassy of the United States, Tokyo The Embassy of the United States in Tokyo (駐日アメリカ合衆国大使館 ''Chū Ni~Tsu Amerikagasshūkoku taishikan'') represents the United States in Tokyo, Japan. Along with consulates in Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka, and Naha, ...


References


Further reading

* * {{Immigration to Japan American diaspora in Asia + American emigration