Japanese Uruguayans (; , ''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 considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

n country that

Japanese people are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Japanese archipelago. Japanese people constitute 97.4% of the population of the country of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 125 million people are of Japanese descent, making them list of contempora ...

settled was

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. 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 Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

began, there was

anti-Japanese sentiment Anti-Japanese sentiment (also called Japanophobia, Nipponophobia and anti-Japanism) is the fear or dislike of Japan or Japanese culture. Anti-Japanese sentiment can take many forms, from antipathy toward Japan as a country to racist hatr ...

, especially from

German Uruguayans The German Uruguayans 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. Hist ...

and

Italian Uruguayans Italian Uruguayans (; or ''tanos'' in Rioplatense Spanish) are Uruguayan-born citizens who are fully or partially of Italian descent, whose ancestors were Italians who emigrated to Uruguay during the Italian diaspora, or Italian-born people in U ...

Japanese language is the principal language of the Japonic languages, Japonic language family spoken by the Japanese people. It has around 123 million speakers, primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language, and within the Japanese dia ...

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 1955), is a member of the Japanese Imperial Family as the widow of Norihito, Prince Takamado. Background and education Hisako was born on 10 July 1955 in Shirokane, Minato, Tokyo, Minato, Tokyo. She is the eldest daughter of ...

.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 are Japanese immigrants to countries in North America and South America. The term is used mostly by ethnic Japanese. are born in Japan; their children born in the new country are (, "two", plus , "generation"); and their grandchildren are ...

and

nisei is a Japanese language, Japanese-language term used in countries in North America and South America to specify the nikkeijin, ethnically Japanese children born in the new country to Japanese-born immigrants, or . The , or Second generation imm ...

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

Notable Japanese Uruguayans

Bárbara Mori Bárbara Mori Ochoa () (born 2 February 1978) is a Uruguayan-born Mexican actress, model, producer and writer. She is known for playing the main character in the 2004 telenovela '' Rubí,'' one of the most successful telenovelas of all time. Sin ...

– 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 Televisión Azteca, S.A.B. de C.V., commonly known as TV Azteca, is a Mexican multimedia congl ...

– Actress * Kintaró Mori – Singer

References

External links

* * {{Portal bar, Japan, Uruguay * *