Japanese expatriates in Singapore
Encyclopedia
There is a large community of Japanese expatriates in Singapore, consisting mostly of corporate employees and their families. The first Japanese person to settle in Singapore was Yamamoto Otokichi
, who arrived in 1862. Larger-scale migration from Japan
to Singapore
is believed to have begun in the early 1870s, shortly after the Meiji Restoration
.
, from Mihama, Aichi
. In 1832, he was working as a crewman on a Japanese boat which was caught in a storm and drifted across the Pacific Ocean
; after a failed attempt to return home, he began to work for the British government as an interpreter. After earning British citizenship
, he settled in Singapore in 1862. He died five years later and was buried there.
However, most early Japanese residents of Singapore consisted largely of prostitutes, who would later become known by the collective name of "karayuki-san". The earliest Japanese prostitutes are believed to have arrived 1870 or 1871; by 1889, there were 134 of them. From 1895 to 1918, Japanese authorities turned a blind eye to the emigration of Japanese women to work in brothels in Southeast Asia. According to the Japanese consul in Singapore, almost all of the 450 to 600 Japanese residents of Singapore in 1895 were prostitutes and their pimps, or concubines; fewer than 20 were engaged in "respectable trades". In 1895, there were no Japanese schools or public organisations, and the Japanese consulate maintained only minimal influence over their nationals; brothel owners were the dominating force in the community. Along with victory in the Sino-Japanese War
, the Japanese state's increasing assertiveness brought changes to the official status of Japanese nationals overseas; they attained formal legal equality with Europeans. That year, the Japanese community was also given official permission by the government to create their own cemetery
, on twelve acres of land in Serangoon
outside of the urbanised area; in reality, the site had already been used as a burial ground for Japanese as early as 1888.
However, even with these changes in their official status, the community itself remained prostitution-based. Prostitutes were the vanguard of what one pair of scholars describes as the "karayuki-led economic advance into Southeast Asia
". It was specifically seen by the authorities as a way to develop a Japanese economic base in the region; profits extracted from the prostitution trade were used to accumulate capital and diversify Japanese economic interests. The prostitutes served as both creditors and customers to other Japanese: they loaned out their earnings to other Japanese residents trying to start businesses, and patronised Japanese tailors, doctors, and grocery stores. By the time of the Russo-Japanese War
, the number of Japanese prostitutes in Singapore may have been as large as 700. They were concentrated around Malay Street (now Middle Road
). However, with Southeast Asia cut off from European imports due to World War I
, Japanese products began making inroads as replacements, triggering the shift towards retailing and trade as the economic basis of the Japanese community.
Singapore abolished licensed Japanese prostitution in 1921. This was part of a larger governmental plan to entirely end legalised prostitution throughout the Malay Peninsula. In spite of the ban, many
attempted to continue their profession clandestinely; however, both the Singaporean and Japanese governments made efforts to clamp down on the trade. By 1927, there remained roughly 126 independent Japanese prostitutes. Most eventually left Singapore or moved on to other trades. Their departure coincided with a significant shift in the composition of the Japanese population there: the businesses they patronised, such as tailors and hairdresses, run largely by Japanese men, also shut their doors, and their proprietors left as well, to be replaced by salaried employees working in Japanese trading firms. Only 14 Japanese men worked in such professions in 1914, but by 1921 there were 1,478. The shift would continue in the following decade: in 1919, 38.5% of Japanese in Singapore were commodity merchants and 28.0% company and bank employees, but by 1927, these proportions had shifted sharply, to 9.7% merchants and 62.9% employees.
The Japanese population would peak in 1929 and then decline until 1933, as a result of the world-wide Great Depression
. However, it would recover somewhat after that, aided by devaluation
of the yen and the consequent increase in competitiveness of Japanese products in Southeast Asian markets. Even as other Japanese businesses suffered declines, the number of fishermen grew, from a small base of about 200 individuals in 1920 to a peak of 1,752 in 1936, accounting for between one-quarter and one-third of the resident Japanese population throughout the 1930s.
(cram schools) to prepare them for university entrance exams. The schools are situated near Japanese neighbourhoods, and all of the student body and staff are Japanese nationals. Only a small minority of Japanese families send their children to non-Japanese international school
s.
church was established by Japanese expatriates in Singapore in 1922. Their social volunteer work, especially with the handicapped, has been credited with helping to restore Japanese people's reputation in the eyes of Chinese Singaporeans, badly damaged by atrocities during the Japanese occupation of Singapore
. However, Tenrikyo remains largely a religion of Japanese expatriates, not of average Singaporeans. Its association with Shinto
has proven a disadvantage in attempts to spread it beyond the Japanese community.
Tenrikyo's main "rival" in Singapore is the Buddhist
organisation Sōka Gakkai. Originally, its following was also restricted to the Japanese expatriate community. However, it has had more success in outreach to local people, especially the ethnic Chinese community.
, Malaysia in search of cheaper green fees.
Other popular leisure pursuits include tennis, swimming, Mandarin and English language training, and cooking classes.
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Otokichi
was a Japanese castaway originally from the area of Onoura near Mihama, on the west coast of the Chita Peninsula in Aichi Prefecture.- Biography :...
, who arrived in 1862. Larger-scale migration from Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
to Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
is believed to have begun in the early 1870s, shortly after the Meiji Restoration
Meiji Restoration
The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...
.
Colonial era
Singapore's first resident of Japanese origin is believed to be Yamamoto OtokichiOtokichi
was a Japanese castaway originally from the area of Onoura near Mihama, on the west coast of the Chita Peninsula in Aichi Prefecture.- Biography :...
, from Mihama, Aichi
Mihama, Aichi
is a town located in Chita District, Aichi, Japan.-People:Mihama was the hometown of 19th-century Japanese castaway Otokichi. Mihama was also the hometown of Hana Haruna, an AV idol.-Places:...
. In 1832, he was working as a crewman on a Japanese boat which was caught in a storm and drifted across the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
; after a failed attempt to return home, he began to work for the British government as an interpreter. After earning British citizenship
British nationality law
British nationality law is the law of the United Kingdom that concerns citizenship and other categories of British nationality. The law is complex because of the United Kingdom's former status as an imperial power.-History:...
, he settled in Singapore in 1862. He died five years later and was buried there.
However, most early Japanese residents of Singapore consisted largely of prostitutes, who would later become known by the collective name of "karayuki-san". The earliest Japanese prostitutes are believed to have arrived 1870 or 1871; by 1889, there were 134 of them. From 1895 to 1918, Japanese authorities turned a blind eye to the emigration of Japanese women to work in brothels in Southeast Asia. According to the Japanese consul in Singapore, almost all of the 450 to 600 Japanese residents of Singapore in 1895 were prostitutes and their pimps, or concubines; fewer than 20 were engaged in "respectable trades". In 1895, there were no Japanese schools or public organisations, and the Japanese consulate maintained only minimal influence over their nationals; brothel owners were the dominating force in the community. Along with victory in the Sino-Japanese War
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea...
, the Japanese state's increasing assertiveness brought changes to the official status of Japanese nationals overseas; they attained formal legal equality with Europeans. That year, the Japanese community was also given official permission by the government to create their own cemetery
Japanese Cemetery Park
The Japanese Cemetery Park is a cemetery and park in Hougang, Singapore. It is the largest Japanese cemetery in South East Asia at 29,359 square metres, consisting of 910 tombstones that contain the remains of members of the Japanese community in Singapore, including young Japanese prostitutes,...
, on twelve acres of land in Serangoon
Serangoon
Serangoon is town situated in the central part of the city-state of Singapore, within the North-East Region. The Housing and Development Board housing estate of Serangoon New Town in Serangoon is one of the smaller new towns. Its town centre is known as Serangoon Central, and is the target of...
outside of the urbanised area; in reality, the site had already been used as a burial ground for Japanese as early as 1888.
However, even with these changes in their official status, the community itself remained prostitution-based. Prostitutes were the vanguard of what one pair of scholars describes as the "karayuki-led economic advance into Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
". It was specifically seen by the authorities as a way to develop a Japanese economic base in the region; profits extracted from the prostitution trade were used to accumulate capital and diversify Japanese economic interests. The prostitutes served as both creditors and customers to other Japanese: they loaned out their earnings to other Japanese residents trying to start businesses, and patronised Japanese tailors, doctors, and grocery stores. By the time of the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
, the number of Japanese prostitutes in Singapore may have been as large as 700. They were concentrated around Malay Street (now Middle Road
Middle Road, Singapore
Middle Road is a road located in the Downtown Core and Rochor within the Central Area of Singapore. It starts from its junction with Selegie Road and ends at Beach Road. Middle Road was already in existence in early Singapore, appearing in George Drumgoole Coleman's Map of Singapore in 1836...
). However, with Southeast Asia cut off from European imports due to World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Japanese products began making inroads as replacements, triggering the shift towards retailing and trade as the economic basis of the Japanese community.
Singapore abolished licensed Japanese prostitution in 1921. This was part of a larger governmental plan to entirely end legalised prostitution throughout the Malay Peninsula. In spite of the ban, many
attempted to continue their profession clandestinely; however, both the Singaporean and Japanese governments made efforts to clamp down on the trade. By 1927, there remained roughly 126 independent Japanese prostitutes. Most eventually left Singapore or moved on to other trades. Their departure coincided with a significant shift in the composition of the Japanese population there: the businesses they patronised, such as tailors and hairdresses, run largely by Japanese men, also shut their doors, and their proprietors left as well, to be replaced by salaried employees working in Japanese trading firms. Only 14 Japanese men worked in such professions in 1914, but by 1921 there were 1,478. The shift would continue in the following decade: in 1919, 38.5% of Japanese in Singapore were commodity merchants and 28.0% company and bank employees, but by 1927, these proportions had shifted sharply, to 9.7% merchants and 62.9% employees.
The Japanese population would peak in 1929 and then decline until 1933, as a result of the world-wide Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. However, it would recover somewhat after that, aided by devaluation
Devaluation
Devaluation is a reduction in the value of a currency with respect to those goods, services or other monetary units with which that currency can be exchanged....
of the yen and the consequent increase in competitiveness of Japanese products in Southeast Asian markets. Even as other Japanese businesses suffered declines, the number of fishermen grew, from a small base of about 200 individuals in 1920 to a peak of 1,752 in 1936, accounting for between one-quarter and one-third of the resident Japanese population throughout the 1930s.
World War II and aftermath
All Japanese, whether civilian or military, were repatriated to Japan in 1947. Without anyone to maintain it, the Japanese cemetery fell into disrepair. Graves were damaged due to the tropical climate as well as mistreatment by squatters and vandals. Japanese people returned to Singapore only slowly after the war. A few Japanese were issued landing permits in 1948 and 1949, but until 1953, the only Japanese permitted to reside in the country were diplomats and their families. Other Japanese could only be issued landing permits of a maximum validity of two months. However, in the latter half of the 1950s, the restrictions on the entry of Japanese nationals were relaxed, and Japanese trading firms again set up offices in Singapore. The first post-war Japanese residents association, the Japanese Club, was founded in 1957 specifically with the aim of restoring the Japanese cemetery.Independence era
The Japanese community began to show significant growth again in the early 1970s, as Japanese businesses shifted manufacturing activities out of Japan into Southeast Asia. Since the mid-1980s, the vast majority of Japanese expatriates come to Singapore as families, with the father employed as a manager or engineer, while the wife stays at home with the children. A few men come without their families (a practise referred to in Japanese as tanshin funin). Within the Japanese community, single women tend to be "doubly marginised": both at the office by Japanese businessmen's restrictive views of the role of women in the workplace, and in social life by the wives of those same businessmen. Single Japanese women generally try to minimise their contacts with married Japanese women, even when the two live in the same neighbourhoods.Education
The Japanese community of Singapore are served by a number of Japanese-medium educational institutions, including a 400-student kindergarten, a 1,900-student primary school, a 700-student junior high school, and a 500-student senior high school, as well as twelve jukuJuku
Gakushū juku are special private schools that offer lessons conducted after regular school hours and on the weekends....
(cram schools) to prepare them for university entrance exams. The schools are situated near Japanese neighbourhoods, and all of the student body and staff are Japanese nationals. Only a small minority of Japanese families send their children to non-Japanese international school
International school
An International school is loosely defined as a school that promotes international education, in an international environment, either by adopting an international curriculum such as that of the International Baccalaureate or Cambridge International Examinations, or by following a national...
s.
Religion
A TenrikyoTenrikyo
Tenrikyo is a monotheistic religion originating in revelations to a 19th-century Japanese woman named Nakayama Miki, known as Oyasama by followers...
church was established by Japanese expatriates in Singapore in 1922. Their social volunteer work, especially with the handicapped, has been credited with helping to restore Japanese people's reputation in the eyes of Chinese Singaporeans, badly damaged by atrocities during the Japanese occupation of Singapore
Japanese Occupation of Singapore
The Japanese occupation of Singapore in World War II occurred between about 1942 and 1945 after the fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942. Military forces of the Empire of Japan occupied Singapore after defeating the combined Australian, British, Indian and Malayan garrison in the Battle of Singapore...
. However, Tenrikyo remains largely a religion of Japanese expatriates, not of average Singaporeans. Its association with Shinto
Shinto
or Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...
has proven a disadvantage in attempts to spread it beyond the Japanese community.
Tenrikyo's main "rival" in Singapore is the Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
organisation Sōka Gakkai. Originally, its following was also restricted to the Japanese expatriate community. However, it has had more success in outreach to local people, especially the ethnic Chinese community.
Leisure
As with Japanese in other countries, golf is a popular leisure activity among Japanese businesspeople in Singapore. As the Japanese community in Singapore grew in the 1970s, they applied political pressure to promote upgrading of existing golf courses and development of new ones. Other expatriates, as well as members of the local upper-middle class, also spoke out in support of the improvement of golfing facilities in Singapore, generally the Japanese were described as making the most forceful demands. Japanese membership in golf associations grew so quickly that many established quotas on the number of foreign members with the express purpose of preventing their "inundation" with Japanese expatriates and tourists, and also established a two-track pricing system, with higher prices for foreigners than locals. Due to the expense of playing golf in Singapore, lower-level Japanese personnel tend to head across the border into Johor BahruJohor Bahru
Johor Bahru is the capital city of Johor in southern Malaysia. Johor Bahru is the southernmost city of the Eurasian mainland...
, Malaysia in search of cheaper green fees.
Other popular leisure pursuits include tennis, swimming, Mandarin and English language training, and cooking classes.
Notable people
- Mohammed Noh bin Hussein, footballer and ex-husband of Rahimah RahimRahimah RahimRahimah binte Rahim is a Singaporean student and singer. She became widely known after her appearance on Singapore Idol, a TV singing competition modelled after the TV shows Pop Idol and American Idol...
Sources
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}. Chapters cited:
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}|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs|publication-place=Japan|month=May|year=2009|accessdate=2009-10-19|url=http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/area/singapore/data.html|ref=CITEREFMOFA2009}}