Poles in Japan

Poles in Japan
Polish Institute in Tokyo
Total population
1,510 (2023)
Regions with significant populations
Tokyo, Kantō region, Kansai region

Poles in Japan form a small population of 1,510 (as of 2023),[1] yet the largest Polish diaspora in East Asia.

Most Poles in Japan are either from mixed Polish-Japanese marriages, educated professionals working in Japan, students, or Catholic clergy.[1]

History[edit]

The first non-clergymen Poles to arrive in Japan were the famous adventurer Maurycy Beniowski and his close companion Antoni Straszewski, who arrived in 1771 after a daring escape from Russian exile in Kamchatka.[2] It was also the first Polish ship to arrive in Japan, as they sailed under the Polish flag aboard a seized Russian galiot.[2] Beniowski's expedition was warmly received by the Japanese, an exchange of gifts took place, and sailing southward, Beniowski stopped at several Japanese islands.[2]

The most sizeable Polish community of early 20th-century Japan lived in the Karafuto Prefecture, which further grew since 1925, as many Poles fled Soviet Russian persecution in northern Sakhalin.[3][4][5] Poles in Karafuto engaged in unrestricted social, cultural and economic activities, and a Polish library was established in Toyohara.[6] In 1924, Karafuto was visited by Polish ambassador to Japan Stanisław Patek, and many local Poles were granted Polish citizenship and passports.[4] Some 300 Poles lived in Japan, according to estimates from 1929.[7] In 1930, two Catholic churches were built in Toyohara and Odomari, co-funded by Poles from Poland and Karafuto.[8] Only a handful of Poles lived in other parts of Japan.[9]

In 1920–1922, 769 Polish orphans rescued from Siberia, were admitted by the Japanese in Tokyo and Osaka, before their return to Poland.

Culture[edit]

There are Polish associations in Tokyo and Osaka, and a Polish school in Tokyo.[1]

Notable people[edit]

Main category: Japanese people of Polish descent

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Wyszyński, Robert; Leszczyński, Karol (2023). Atlas Polaków na świecie (in Polish). Warszawa: Instytut Pokolenia. p. 42. ISBN 978-83-968580-3-0.
  2. ^ a b c Grochowski 1928, pp. 146–147.
  3. ^ Grochowski 1928, p. 142.
  4. ^ a b Fiedorczuk, Siergiej (1997). "Polacy na Południowym Sachalinie". Studia Polonijne (in Polish). 18. Lublin: 88. ISSN 0137-5210.
  5. ^ Winiarz, Adam (1994). "Książka polska w koloniach polskich na Dalekim Wschodzie (1897–1949)". Czasopismo Zakładu Narodowego im. Ossolińskich (in Polish). Vol. 5. Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich. p. 66.
  6. ^ Winiarz, p. 67
  7. ^ Żukow-Karczewski, Marek (1989). "Polonia zagraniczna w czasach II Rzeczypospolitej". Życie Literackie (in Polish). No. 33 (1952). p. 10.
  8. ^ Fiedorczuk, pp. 95–96
  9. ^ Grochowski 1928, p. 149.

Bibliography[edit]

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