Mongolians in Japan

There is a small community of Mongolians in Japan, representing a minor portion of emigration from Mongolia. As of December 2024, there were 21,240 registered Mongolian citizens residing in Japan, according to the Immigration Services Agency, up from 2,545 in 2003.^[2]

Mongolians in Japan

Embassy of Mongolia in Japan
Total population
21,240 (2024)[1]
Languages
Japanese, Mongolian

Mongolians in Japan
Japanese name
Kanji	在日モンゴル人
Transcriptions Romanization Zainichi Mongorujin
Mongolian name
Mongolian	Япон дахь Монголчууд Yapon dakhi Mongolchuud 日本ダヒ モンゴルチュード

Students

International students form a large proportion of the registered population of Mongolians in Japan.^[3] The earliest Mongol exchange students, all three of them women, came to Japan in 1906, when Mongolia was still ruled by the Qing Dynasty.^[4] Japan was also a popular destination for students from Mengjiang (in today's Inner Mongolia) in the late 1930s and early 1940s; among them were several who would go on to become famous scholars, such as Chinggeltei.^[5][6] Japan and the Mongolian People's Republic officially agreed to send exchange students to each other in 1974; the first Mongolian student to arrive under the agreement came in 1976. As of May 2006^[update], 1,006 Mongolian students were studying in Japanese institutions of higher education.^[3]

Aside from Mongolian citizens, there were also estimated to be roughly 4,000 members of the Chakhar-speaking Mongol minority of China residing in Japan as of 2005^[update]. Like migrants from Mongolia proper, they also came mostly on student visas, beginning in the 1990s; they were sponsored by professors of Mongolian studies at Japanese universities. They are a close-knit community; they reside mostly in the Nerima and Sugamo areas of Tokyo and in many cases the same apartment has been occupied serially by successive migrants for more than a decade, with each passing the lease on to another migrant before leaving the country or moving on to different accommodation.^[7]

There are also Buryats and Kalmyks that have immigrated to Japan from the former Soviet Union.^{[citation needed]}

Sumo wrestlers

Asashōryū Akinori and Hakuhō Shō glaring at each other

Since the 1990s, Mongolians have become prominent in sumo; as of 2005^[update], Mongolians composed roughly 5% of all ranked sumo wrestlers, making them more than 60% (37 out of 61) of non-Japanese rikishi in Japan.^[8][9] In a 2009 survey conducted by a Japanese statistical agency, of the four sumo wrestlers named as most famous by Japanese people, three were Mongolian.^[10] Sumo bears similarities with Mongolian wrestling—the traditional sport of Mongolia. Additionally, Mongolians are noted for their sturdy frames and large stature, which is part of the reason they often partake in contact sports such as sumo.^{[citation needed]}

Notable people

See also: Category:Mongolian sumo wrestlers

• Asashōryū Akinori, originally Dolgorsuren Dagvadorj, sumo wrestler^[11]
• Hakuhō Shō, originally Mönkhbatyn Davaajargal, sumo wrestler^[12]
• Kyokutenhō Masaru, originally Tsebeknyam Nyamjyab, sumo wrestler^[13]
• Kyokutenzan Takeshi, originally Enkhbat Batmunkh, sumo wrestler^[14][15]
• Harumafuji Kōhei, originally Davaanyamyn Byambadorj, sumo wrestler^[16]

See also

• Japanese language education in Mongolia
• Japan–Mongolia relations
• Mongol invasions of Japan