Japanese people in Hong Kong
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| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 27,429 (2015) (0.3% of Hong Kong's population) |
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| Regions with significant populations | |
| Happy Valley, Hung Hom, Sha Tin, Tai Koo Shing, Tai Po | |
| Languages | |
|
Japanese (77.4%), English (17.2%), Cantonese (3.9%), Mandarin (1.0%) (Respondents to 2011 Census who identified as Japanese and stated that the given language was their usual language) |
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| Related ethnic groups | |
| Japanese people in China |
Japanese people in Hong Kong consist primarily of expatriate business people and their families, along with a smaller number of single women. Their numbers are smaller when compared to the sizeable presence of American, British, and Canadian expatriates. As of 2010[update], 21,518 Japanese people had registered as residents of Hong Kong with the Japanese consulate there. Hong Kong also remains a popular destination for Japanese tourists on their way to Mainland China; in 2004, the Japanese consulate reported the arrival of more than one million Japanese tourists.
Japanese migration to Hong Kong was noted as early as the latter years of the Tokugawa Shogunate. With the forced end of the sakoku policy, which prohibited Japanese people from leaving Japan, regular ship services began between Japan, Hong Kong and Shanghai; Japanese merchants and karayuki slowly began to settle overseas. By 1880, 26 men and 60 women of Japanese nationality were recorded as living in Hong Kong; the total population would reach 200 by the end of the Meiji era in 1912. To the displeasure of the Japanese government, which was concerned with protecting its image overseas, many of these early migrants were prostitutes called Karayuki-san. The early ones were often stowaways on coal ships from Nagasaki.
By 1885, Japanese consul Minami Sadatsuke, had obtained some level of informal co-operation from the British colonial authorities in suppressing Japanese participation in prostitution: the number of Japanese women granted prostitution licences would be limited to fifty-two, and others who applied for licences would be referred to his office, whereupon he would arrange for their repatriation to Japan or have them confined to the lock hospital in Wanchai. Later, their geographical origins seemed to have shifted; a 1902 report by Japanese consul Noma Seiichi identified Moji in Kyushu as the most common port of origin for these young women; recruiters often targeted young women coming out of the Mojikō Station near the docks. However, the Japanese consulate had little co-operation from the local Japanese community in their efforts to suppress prostitution; Japanese businesspeople in the hospitality industry depended on custom from prostitutes and their johns for its profits.
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Wikipedia