Japanese Paraguayans

Japanese Paraguayans (Spanish: Japonés Paraguayo; Japanese: 日系パラグアイ人, Nikkei Paraguaijin; Guarani: Hapõ-paraguaigua) are Paraguayans of Japanese ethnicity.

Japanese Paraguayans

Hapõ-paraguaigua Japonés Paraguayo 日系パラグアイ人 Nikkei Paraguaijin
Total population
5,441 Japanese nationals 10,000 Paraguayans of Japanese descent[1]
Regions with significant populations
Asunción, La Colmena, several cities in Itapúa and rural areas of the nation
Languages
Spanish, Guaraní, Japanese
Religion
Roman Catholicism, Buddhism, Shinto
Related ethnic groups
Japanese diaspora, Japanese Americans, Japanese Canadians, Japanese Mexicans, Japanese Peruvians, Japanese Brazilians

Religion

First-generation Japanese Paraguayans were generally followers of Shinto and Buddhism. The first Japanese settlers at La Colmena brought a piece of stone from the Ise Shrine which was gazetted as a monument mark the settlement's founding. Japanese religious festivals were celebrated within the first few decades among the first and second-generation Japanese settlers and in the late 1960s, a majority identified themselves with the Buddhist and Shinto faiths. Conversion to Roman Catholic Christianity increased from the late 1970s onwards.^[2]

Education

In Asunción, there are the Japanese international school: Colegio Japonés en Asunción (アスンシオン日本人学校 Asunshion Nihonjin Gakkō),^[3] and the Paraguayan-Japanese Center, which promotes Japanese culture in Paraguay and develops intercultural activities with the two countries^[4] and the Paraguayan-Japanese financial brokerage company;^[5] in Encarnación, the Japanese Association of Encarnación, Asociación Japonesa de Encarnación;^[6] and in Ciudad del Este, the Japanese Association of the East Asociación Japonesa del Este and the Escuela Japonesa de Ciudad del Este Primary School.^[7][8]

Notable people

• Mitsuhide Tsuchida, footballer^[9]

See also

• Japan–Paraguay relations
• Japanese diaspora
• Immigration to Paraguay