Japanese Community in Hong Kong [????- ]

Submitted by Avian on Tue, 01/16/2024 - 11:34

I wonder if an extensive documentation of the historical Japanese community in Hong Kong is possible. After all, the Japanese community has been one of the more prominent communities in both pre-war and post-war Hong Kong. I know that the Japanese make up the second largest nationality interned in the Hong Kong Cemetery. And that the Hong Kong Japanese Club has done extensive research about the pre-war Japanese community. Was there ever any census/ survey conducted on the Japanese community in Hong Kong either by the colonial government or the Japanese embassy?

Avian

Type
Other
Status
Active

Photos of this organisation:

Comments

You're right that this was a sizable community, that it would be good to know more about. Pre-war, the Japanese were recorded separately in the local census, so you can look at the tables there to get the size of the community, and breakdowns by sex / age / location / etc.

The census notes may also have extra information, e.g. the notes to the Report on Census of 1931 include:

The Japanese resident population totals 1,833 persons, 996 males and 837 females. The presence of Japanese shipping in port on Census night increased the total to 2,205. In 1911 the total was only 958, but it was stated to have increased to 1,585 in 1921.

The Japanese in 1921 totalled 1,585. In 1931, 2,249 have claimed that nationality, 61 of whom were of Chinese race, leaving a balance of 2,188. Japanese shipping accounted for 350 so that the resident population is 1,838.
 

The notes by Yoshimi Yamamoto about Japanese tattooists in Hong Kong suggest there is more detailed information available in the Japanese National Archives's Record and Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, e.g. 

I find four names of old Hongkong Japanese tattooists in Japanese National Archives's Record and Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

In 1907, 46 Japanese tattooists worked in Hong Kong, according to the Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

Good luck with your search, and please add comments here to share what you discover.

Regards, David