Japanese Americans

Japanese Americans (Japanese: 日系アメリカ人, Hepburn: Nikkei Amerikajin) are Americans who are fully or partially of Japanese descent, especially those who identify with that ancestry and its cultural characteristics.

Japanese Americans
日系アメリカ人（日系米国人）
Nikkei Amerikajin (Nikkei Beikokujin)

The Japanese American National Museum
Total population
773,714[1] 0.2% of the total U.S. population (2018)
Regions with significant populations
Hawaii, the West Coast and urban areas elsewhere.
Languages
American English, Japanese and Hawaiian Pidgin
Religion
33% Protestantism 32% Unaffiliated 25% Buddhism 4% Catholicism 4% Shinto[2][3]
Related ethnic groups
Japanese people, Ryukyuan Americans

Statistics

Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asian American group at around 773,000, including those of partial ancestry.^[1] According to the 2010 census, the largest Japanese American communities were found in California with 272,528, Hawaii with 185,502, New York with 37,780, Washington with 35,008, Illinois with 17,542, and Ohio with 16,995.^[4] Southern California has the largest Japanese American population in North America. The city of Gardena holds the densest Japanese American population in the 48 contiguous states.^[5]

Internment camps

During World War II, Japanese Americans were forced to leave their homes and move to internment camps.^[6]