Japanese Colombians

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Japanese Colombians
colombianos japoneses

日系コロンビア人
Total population
1,323 Japanese nationals (2018); c. 2,000 Colombians of Japanese descent[1][2]
Regions with significant populations
Bogotá, Barranquilla, Santiago de Cali
Languages
Spanish, Japanese
Religion
Buddhism,[3] Roman Catholicism, Shintoism and Tenrikyo
Related ethnic groups
Japanese diaspora, Japanese Americans, Japanese Argentines, Japanese Brazilians, Japanese Mexicans, Japanese Paraguayans, Japanese Peruvians, Japanese Venezuelans

Japanese Colombians are Japanese immigrants and their descendants in Colombia. They have their own culture and organizations. In the early 20th century, Ryôji Noda, secretary consulate in both Peru and Brazil and expert advisor to the Japanese government on immigration to South America, was assigned to survey Colombia. On his return to Japan, he presented a report of his tour of Colombia to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This geographical area of Colombia would be occupied by Japanese farmers twenty years later. In 1920, the Farmers Society of Colombia sent a proposal to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Agriculture and Trade, drawing the government's attention to the lack of agricultural workers. Following this, Colombian President Rafael Reyes offered to travel and make contracts himself.

Colombia broke diplomatic relations with Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Japanese community meetings in Barranquilla were suspended, as it was forbidden for more than three Japanese people to be gathered at a time. Those living in Valle del Cauca lost their right to roam freely and could only be out under police supervision. Colombia allowed the reinstatement of all officials of the Japanese Legation and of other residents throughout the United States. Thirteen Latin American countries, including Colombia, cooperated with the U.S. in the capture and deportation of citizens of Axis countries. Some immigrants from the El Jagual neighborhood and a few others from Barranquilla were arrested and taken to the Sabaneta Hotel in Fusagasugá. The hotel was converted into an internment camp for Japanese, Italian and German citizens until World War II ended in Europe and Asia. Japanese people were the last to leave detention centers, being released on September 6, 1945, four days after General MacArthur accepted Japan's formal declaration of defeat.

For Japanese residents of Colombia, World War II caused the separation of families and economic struggle. Many people refused to shop at Japanese-owned businesses and Japanese Colombians were met in public with offensive language. They became a vulnerable ethnic minority that was seen as strange and undesirable and they were often subject to mistreatment by the government and by the Colombian people.