Japanese settlement in the Federated States of Micronesia
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 114 (2007) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Pohnpei (Kolonia and Palikir), Chuuk (Dublon and Tol) | |
| Languages | |
| Micronesian languages (including Chuukese, Pohnpeian, Yapese, Kosraean), English, Japanese | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholicism and Protestantism;Shintoism, Mahayana Buddhism, Animism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Micronesians, Japanese, Okinawan |
Japanese settlement in what now constitutes modern-day Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) dates back to the end of the 19th century, when Japanese traders and explorers settled on the central and eastern Carolines, although earlier contacts can not be completely excluded. After the islands were occupied by Japan in 1914, a large-scale Japanese immigration to them took place in the 1920s and 1930s. The Japanese government encouraged immigration to the islands belonging to the South Pacific Mandate to offset demographic and economic problems facing Japan at that time.
The earliest immigrants worked as traders, although most of the later settlers worked as fishermen, farmers or conscript labourers. The majority of immigrants settled in Pohnpei and Chuuk, while other islands were home for only a few Japanese. The total Japanese population reached about 100,000 by 1945. The Japanese immigrants in the central and eastern Carolines were Japanese, Okinawans, and a few Koreans. The settlers brought Shinto and Buddhism religions to the islands, although they were not popular with indigenous people. By 1945 the Japanese language replaced Micronesian languages in day-to-day communications.
Ethnic relations between the Japanese settlers and civil officers with the Micronesians were initially coordial and intermarriage was encouraged between the Japanese and Micronesians, although relations soured as the Japanese administration implemented policies that favoured the Japanese populace and were insensitive to Micronesian cultural norms. After the Japanese surrender in 1945, virtually all Japanese were repatriated back to Japan. People of mixed Japanese and Micronesian descent were allowed to remain, which most of them chose to do. Many of them assumed leading roles in the political, public and business sectors after World War II, and constitute a large minority within FSM itself. Micronesia began to engage with Japan again in the business and cultural spheres from the 1970s, and established formal diplomatic ties in 1988, two years after Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) became an independent country.
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