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| Japanese Bolivian Japonés Boliviano   |
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| Total population |
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7,986 |
| Regions with significant populations |
| La Paz, Sucre |
| Languages |
| Bolivian Spanish, Japanese |
| Religion |
| Christianity, Mahayana Buddhism, Shinto |
| Related ethnic groups |
| Japanese people, Japanese Americans, Japanese Canadians, Japanese Peruvians, Japanese Paraguayans, Koreans |
Japanese Bolivian (Spanish: Japonés Boliviano) is a Bolivian-born person of Japanese ancestry.
History
Since Bolivia has no coast, the first Japanese settlers came from neighboring Peru where their contracts ended prior to the 1950s. Most Japanese settlers had origins from Okinawa, while the rest from Gifu-ken, Hiroshima-ken, Kanagawa-ken, and Osaka. In 1899, Mapiri River Region in La Paz experienced the first entrance of 91 Japanese workers assigned for rubber plantations. Since then, Andes Mountains continued to attract few more hundreds of Japanese laborers, who luckily caught work in mining and railroad construction. The inland Amazon River region appeared as the second main destination for the workers, who also came through Peru to work on rubber plantations in northwestern Bolivia. The end of World War I and Great Depression shifted Japanese workers in the rubber and mining industries respectively. The only places in Bolivia that survived changes were the town of Riberalta and La Paz, which served as the Japanese commercial activities. In 1930s, most Japanese remained as settlers and many brought wives from their home country while most married local women; these made difference that divided the community.
When World War II began, only 29 Japanese Bolivians were deported to United States. But because more than that, the war had not much effect on the lives of residents of Japanese descent in Bolivia, since the local government did not make anti-Japanese measures. Since the end of the war, the government warmly permitted Japanese refugees. Treaties after 1954 guided in a new chapter of Japanese Bolivian history and the massive influx of agricultural settlers from U.S.-controlled Okinawa and mainland Japan. The need of relocating surplus populations from war-torn Japan met the Bolivian government's wish to develop the eastern lower lands in Santa Cruz Department. With the financial help of the Japanese government, the Colonia Okinawa and Colonia San Juan de Yapacaní were established; the two settlements formed the distinctive communities with separate identities—one Okinawan and the other mainland Japanese—that are also currently in transition from the immigrant to the Bolivian-born generation.
Language and Religion
Most Japanese Bolivians only speak Spanish, while only a selected number can speak Japanese. Those who attained higher education speak English. In religion, the majority are Roman Catholic Christians, while the rest are Buddhists and Shintos.
Prominent Japanese Bolivians
- Pedro Shimose – essayist, professor, and poet
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