No.28 Japanese Emigration, Nikkei Communities, and Forced Migration: A Study from the Perspective of Human Security and International Cooperation

Using a human security perspective, this article examines support provided by Japan to Japanese emigrants and their descendants, particularly in Latin America, since the late 19th century, and scrutinizes Japan’s international cooperation efforts to address forced migration since the 1970s. Japanese emigrants and their descendants have formed Nikkei communities and have contributed to their destination countries, despite various hardships. As the sending country, Japan and its agencies, such as the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and one of its predecessors, the Japan Emigration Service (JEMIS), have supported Japanese emigrants and Nikkei communities in strengthening protection and empowerment. Regarding forced migration, the Japanese government established a comprehensive humanitarian assistance implementation system in the 1970s. This system is comprised of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Self-Defense Forces, JICA, and NGOs to support the people, including displaced persons, in crises such as armed conflicts or natural disasters. Furthermore, the scope of international cooperation has expanded to promote empowerment in addition to providing protection. Although the periods and contexts of support for Japanese emigrants and Nikkei communities, and Japan’s international cooperation to address forced migration differ significantly, JICA has been consistently involved in these efforts. JEMIS, originally established in 1963 to promote Japanese emigration, was later merged into JICA, which expanded its role to include addressing the challenges of forced migration. In a world where migration is a significant concern, this article attempts to link those separate activities under the framework of human security, which is one of the missions of JICA, and provide a preliminary discussion of the findings that can be drawn from each experience. This article identifies several practices considered human security approaches: protection and empowerment with people-centered, context-specific, and comprehensive principles. The trust-based relationships between Japan and destination countries for emigrants and displaced persons make such practices possible.

Keywords: Human security, Japanese emigration, forced migration, context-specific, comprehensive