Japanese settlement in Palau

Japanese settlement in Palau
Mamoru Nakamura[fn 1]
Luke Tman[fn 2]
Total population
300 (2009)[3][fn 3]
Regions with significant populations
Angaur, Koror
Languages
Palauan, English, Japanese[4]
Religion
Roman Catholicism and Protestantism[5] Shintoism and Buddhism
Related ethnic groups
Palauans, Japanese, Okinawans

There is a small Japanese community in the Pacific Island country of Palau, which mainly consists of Japanese expatriates residing in Palau over a long-term basis. A few Japanese expatriates started to reside in Palau after it gained independence in 1994, and established long-term businesses in the country. Japanese settlement in Palau dates back to the early 19th century, although large scale Japanese migration to Palau did not occur until the 1920s, when Palau came under Japanese rule and administered as part of the South Seas Mandate. Japanese settlers took on leading administrative roles in the Japanese colonial government, and developed Palau's economy. After the Japanese surrender in 1945, virtually all of the Japanese population was repatriated back to Japan, although people of mixed Japanese-Palauan descent were allowed to remain behind. People of Japanese-Palauan descent constitute a large minority of Palau's population as a result of substantial intermarriage between the Japanese settlers and Palauans. They generally identify with, conforming to cultural norms and daily lives with the Palauans.[6]

  1. ^ Palau Supreme Court Office of Court Counsel (2001), p. 77
  2. ^ Deimel (2007), p. 225-6
  3. ^ Japanese citizens cast ballots from Palau Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, Pacific Islands Report, Philip N. Haruo, August 24, 2009
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference McAuley90 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Palau, CIA World Factbook, retrieved September 28, 2009
  6. ^ Crocombe (2007), p. 91


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