Japanese Paraguayans (; , ''Nikkei Paraguaijin''; Guarani: ''Hapõ-paraguaigua'') are

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

ans 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 ...

ethnicity.

Religion

First-generation Japanese Paraguayans were generally followers of Shinto and Buddhism. The first Japanese settlers at La Colmena brought a piece of stone from the

Ise Shrine The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the solar goddess Amaterasu Ōmikami and the grain goddess Toyouke-hime (Toyouke Omikami). Also known simply as , Ise Shrine is a shrine complex composed of many Shi ...

which was gazetted as a monument mark the settlement's founding. Japanese religious festivals were celebrated within the first few decades among the first and second-generation Japanese settlers and in the late 1960s, a majority identified themselves with the Buddhist and Shinto faiths. Conversion to

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Christianity increased from the late 1970s onwards.

Education

Asunción Asunción (, ) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción in the north ...

, there are the

Japanese international school ''Zaigai kyōiku shisetsu'' ( 在外教育施設 'Overseas educational institution'), or in English, Japanese international school or overseas Japanese school, may refer to one of three types of institutions officially classified by the Ministry ...

: ''Colegio Japonés en Asunción'' (アスンシオン日本人学校 ''Asunshion Nihonjin Gakkō''), and the Paraguayan-Japanese Center, which promotes

Japanese culture Japanese culture has changed greatly over the millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jōmon period, to its contemporary modern culture, which absorbs influences from Asia and other regions of the world. Since the Jomon period, ancestral ...

in Paraguay and develops intercultural activities with the two countries and the Paraguayan-Japanese financial brokerage company, in Encarnación, the Japanese Association of Encarnación, ''Asociación Japonesa de Encarnación'' and in

Ciudad del Este Ciudad del Este (, Spanish for Eastern City; often shortened as CDE) is the second-largest city in Paraguay and capital of the Alto Paraná Department, situated on the Paraná River. It is located 327 km east of Asunción, the capital, and i ...

, the Japanese Association of the East ''Asociación Japonesa del Este'' and the ''Escuela Japonesa de Ciudad del Este'' Primary School.

Notable people

* Mitsuhide Tsuchida, footballer

References

Bibliography

* Masterson, Daniel M. and Sayaka Funada-Classen. (2004), '' The Japanese in Latin America: The Asian American Experience.'' Urbana, Illinois:

University of Illinois Press The University of Illinois Press (UIP) is an American university press and is part of the University of Illinois System. Founded in 1918, the press publishes some 120 new books each year, thirty-three scholarly journals, and several electroni ...

. ;

External links

Migration Historical Overview - Paraguay
{{Portal bar, Japan, Paraguay Asian diaspora in Paraguay *