There is a small Japanese community in the Pacific Island country of Palau, which mainly consists of Japanese expatriates residing in Palau over a long-term basis. A few Japanese expatriates started to reside in Palau after it gained independence in 1994, and established long-term businesses in the country. Japanese settlement in Palau dates back to the early 19th century, although large scale Japanese migration to Palau did not occur until the 1920s, when Palau came under Japanese rule and administered as part of the South Seas Mandate. Japanese settlers took on leading administrative roles in the Japanese colonial government, and developed Palau's economy. After the Japanese surrender in 1945, virtually all of the Japanese population was repatriated back to Japan, although people of mixed Japanese-Palauan descent were allowed to remain behind. People of Japanese-Palauan descent constitute a large minority of Palau's population as a result of substantial intermarriage between the Japanese settlers and Palauans.Crocombe (2007), p. 91

History

Early years (1820–1945)

The first recorded account of Japanese contact in Palau occurred in 1820, when a coastal sailing ship was blown off course and eight surviving men spent five years in Palau until 1825.Crocombe (2007), p. 21 Japanese traders began to establish settlements from the mid-19th century onwards, and by 1890 two Japanese trading stations had been established.Crocombe (2007), p. 45 Many of these traders married the daughters of local chieftains and raised local families. When Japan annexed Palau from Germany in 1914, Japanese settlers and their descendants acted as state liaison officials and interpreters for the Japanese military administration.Peattie (1988), p. 191

Under the South Seas Mandate, a civilian government was established on April 1, 1922, with its headquarters at Koror, replacing the military administration. The civilian government initiated a programme to identify and collectivise unused land between 1923 and 1932 for redevelopment. Much of this land was used to build new industrial estates and expand towns to accommodate immigrants from Japan and Okinawa.Hezer (2003), p. 191-2 In Japan, the government actively encouraged the Japanese and Okinawans to resettle in Micronesia, including Palau, and began establishing farming settlements. The first farming settlement was established at Ngaremlengui in 1926, but the settlers encountered problems with its humid tropical environment and abandoned it by 1930, although later settlements were established more successfully.Hezer (2003), p. 188

As the Great Depression resulted in massive unemployment in the late 1920s and 1930s, more Japanese and Okinawans migrated to Palau. Immigrants brought along their families and sought employment in various professions. The Japanese immigrants held administrative posts, while the Okinawans and a few Koreans worked as labourers in the agricultural, fishery and mining industries.Hezel (2003), p. 193 By 1935, the Japanese constituted at least 60%1930 & 1935 Japanese Census of Micronesia Insular Area Census (section) - pacificweb.org, retrieved November 23, 2009 of Palau's population and were concentrated in urban areas such as Angaur and Koror. Some Japanese settlers took Palauan wives or mistresses, and there was a sizeable minority of mixed Japanese-Palauan children towards the later years of the Japanese administration.Peattie (1988), p. 115

The Japanese navy expanded their military facilities from 1937 onwards. More labourers from Japan and Korea were employed to construct the facilities to complete the facilities within a short period of time. The number of indentured labourers rose to more than 10,000 throughout Micronesia, and placed a heavy strain on the islands' scarce resources. Many Okinawan and Japanese labourers and permanent settlers were repatriated back to their homeland.Hezel (2003), p. 218-9 Japanese men were conscripted into regular services, and Palauans who held administrative posts in the police force were reallocated jobs in the agricultural sector.Hezel (2003), p. 223 The Japanese civilians played an important role in the islands' propaganda activities. As food resources were cut off from Japan, many Japanese encountered greater difficulties in dealing with starvation than their Palauan counterparts, who were more knowledgeable with tropical survival skills.White, Lamont (1989), p. 128-30

Postwar years (1945–present)

Following the Surrender of Japan to the Allied forces, Japanese military personnel and civilians were repatriated to Japan between 1945 and 1946, although some 350 labourers and technicians were permitted to remain behind to carry out repair works to Palau's infrastructure.Polynesian Cultural Center (Laie, Hawaii) (1996), p. 83 However, offspring of Japanese-Palauan intermarriages were allowed to remain, although a few migrated to Japan with their fathers.Leibowitz (1996), p. 76 In the 1950s, Japanese-Palauans formed an organisation, Sakura-kai to assist Japanese-Palauans and Japanese youths who were abandoned by their parents to search for their parents and kinsmen who were forcibly separated as a result of forced repatriation of Japanese settlers back to Japan. The organisation became a cultural organisation from the 1980s onwards, as most Japanese-Palauans had reunited with their Japanese families or voluntarily chose to leave certain family separations as they were.Peattie (1988), p. 349

Palau's interaction with Japan was kept to a minimal level during the post-war years, although Okinawan fishermen occasionally visited Palau for catches from the 1960s onwards. A few Japanese nationals resettled in Palau in the 1970s, and married local Palauans. In the 1980s, Japanese businessmen set up businesses in Palau, and by 1995 there were 218 Japanese nationals residing in Palau. Of these, about half of them expressed a desire for permanent residency in Palau and a few married Palauan or Filipino women.Crocombe (2007), p. 54 However, the majority brought their families from Japan along, and maintained frequent contacts with Japan.Crocombe (2001), p. 57 Some settlers from the 1980s also consisted of former Japanese settlers who were repatriated back to Japan after World War II. Former settlers who returned to Palau usually consisted of individuals over 60 years of age, and often worked as tour guides or restaurateurs in Palau.Moon et al. (2009), p. 179

Many Japanese-Palauans assumed key positions in the public service sector and politics. At least one ethnologist, Mark Peattie, suggested that the strong representation of Japanese-Palauans in leading positions in society could be attributed to the mainstream Japanese education which they had received in their youth. Palau's first president, Kuniwo Nakamura—who was half-Japanese—fostered closer diplomatic ties between Japan and Palau during his presidency. During a state visit to Japan in 1996, Emperor Akihito personally received Nakamura, and the visit was commended by Palauans and Japanese alike. Nakamura's visit prompted Japan to channel monetary aid to Palau to facilitate repair work on the Koror–Babeldaob Bridge and securing special trade agreements with Japan.Nelson et al. (2003), p. 349

Demographics

In the early years of civilian administration, the Japanese population consisted of about a few hundred individuals, and reached a little over 2,000 by 1930.Hezel (2003), p. 175 The Japanese resident population increased at an exponential rate from the mid-1930s onwards, and there were about 15,000 Japanese in Palau by 1938, the vast majority of whom were concentrated in Koror.Peattie (1988), p. 160 The influx of Japanese immigrants fuelled the development of Koror into a city by 1939. The Palauans were quickly outnumbered by the Japanese, and constituted only about 16 percent of the city's population in 1937.McCall et al. (1992), p. 244 The Japanese made up more than half of the islands' population, as well as 27% of Micronesia's Japanese population in a 1938 census. A large minority of the Japanese populace consisted of Okinawan immigrants, as well as a few Koreans.Peattie (1988), p. 158 Palau's Japanese population was repatriated after the Japanese surrender, but people of Japanese-Palauan descent remained behind and constitute a large minority of Palau's population. A study done by the Sasakawa Pacific Island Nations Fund estimated that about 10% of Palauans are born to a Japanese father and Palauan mother, the vast majority of whom were born before 1945.Wave of Pacifika, SPINF (Sasakawa Pacific Islands Nations Fund) Report FY99, retrieved October 22, 2009 Another study done by the Foundation for Advanced Studies in International Development from Japan in 2005 estimates that about 25% of Palau's populace have some Japanese ancestry.Foundation for Advanced Studies in International Development (Japan) , Kimio Fujita, October 7, 2005

The following table shows the increase in the Japanese population in Palau throughout the Japanese colonial era:

Japanese and Palauan populations in Palau (1912–1943)YearJapanesePalauans 1912 73Goto (2003), p. 15 - 1920 592Wurm et al. (1996), p. 382 5,700Yoo et al. (2009), p. 18 1922 206The Statesman's Year-book (1923), p. 1080 5,700 1925 1,054 - 1930 2,078 5,794Appell (1985), p. 68 1931 2,489 - 1932 3,346 - 1933 3,940 - 1934 5,365 1935 6,553Price (1936), p. 172 5,851 1937 11,400Polynesian Cultural Center (Laie, Hawaii) (1996), p. 45 - 1940 23,700 7,000 1943 27,500 -

Language

During the Japanese colonial era, Japanese settlers mainly used Japanese in their daily discourse, and Japanese was the lingua franca used for communication between Japanese and Palauans. English was also recognised as a co-official language along with Japanese, and many Japanese had at least some knowledge of the language as well.Nelson et al. (2003), p. 324 People of mixed Japanese-Palauan heritage were more competent in Japanese than to Palauan, especially those who attended mainstream primary schools. The Japanese also introduced the use of the Katakana script in Palauan, which was also used in informal settings.McAuley (2001), p. 113 After the Japanese surrender, the use of Japanese was discouraged in place of Palauan and English. Most Japanese-Palauans use Palauan in their daily discourse in favour of Japanese or English,Asian Cultural Center (1988), p. 83 although Japanese was used more frequently among Japanese-Palauans than to those that do not have Japanese ancestry.Investigating the sociolinguistic gender paradox in a multilingual community: A case study from the Republic of Palau, 2003, Kazuko Matsumoto, David Britain, Musashino University, University of Essex As the number of Japanese tourists increased during the 1990s, Japanese was introduced as an elective subject to Palauan schools and in elections.Crocombe (2007), p. 402

The state constitution of the island of Angaur mentions English, Palauan, and Japanese as official languages, making Angaur the only place in the world where Japanese is an official language.

Religion