The enormous, continuous demographic development of Japan has given a strong impetus to emigration, which, weak in the first years of the opening of the country, has increasingly intensified with the increasing pressure of the population. First to receive the Japanese settlers were the Hawaiian Islands (1868); then came the United States, French New Caledonia, Guadeloupe, Canada, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, Brazil. As of October 1, 1927, the Japanese population residing abroad was 674,522 individuals, of which 279,003 in Asia (mainly in China, Manchuria and the Philippines), 165,601 in North America, 84,689 in Southern America, the rest in the rest. parts of the globe. Most of the emigrants are farmers, the remaining workers, traders, fishermen, laborers and freelancers; some have even acquired the nationality of the country of residence.
According to the statistics of recent years, the Japanese emigration movement is around 10,000 individuals per year, equal to about 1/17 of the annual increase in Japan’s population; from this it is clear how insignificantly the exodus contributes to the decrease in the demographic pressure of the country. In addition, those countries that offered natural and living conditions particularly favorable to the Japanese, and were therefore preferred by him, have now closed their doors or imposed strict limits on his entry. Such is the case in Canada, the United States, Hawaii and Australia, while Peru is saturated with Japanese workers and farmers, and Argentina has no place for poor people looking for work. Central America, Siberia and China are looking for capital, not hand of opera, from Japan. So all that remains is Brazil, which, however, offers the obstacle of a great distance and natural conditions that are too different from those of the motherland. The problem of emigration, of such vital importance for Japan, has therefore gravely attracted the attention of the government, which for some time has been polarizing its efforts towards the intensification of internal emigration, especially in the direction of Yezo and of Sakhalin, while a plan for the future development of the emigration movement in Siberia and northern China is still part of its objectives.
Internal emigration towards the north, moreover, has quite remote origins. In ancient times the region of Ōu, that is, the NE. of Hondo, a mountainous territory far from the capital Kyoto, was occupied by the Ainu and could be considered as a Japanese colony. This explains the existence of numerous Ainu names in the north. During the feudal era, a strong Japanese immigration drove the Ainu to the island of Yezo, which was later occupied and colonized also, partially, by Fakeda Nobuhiro to whose descendant, Matsumae Yoshihiro, was granted, in 1604, by Ieyasu, the lordship of the island. Immigration in this, which began in the feudal era, has been increasing more and more, especially after the Meiji (1868). In Sakhalin, immigration began, it can be said, from annexation of the lower half of the island to Japan in 1905 and has been favored by the government by all means since. The mines, large woodlands and fishing almost entirely absorb the activity of immigrants, since the island’s climate is not very favorable for agriculture. Yezo, on the other hand, in addition to the riches of the soil and its seas, offers wide possibilities of employment of labor in the fields and rural immigration is therefore quite considerable. In general, however, it is only with extreme reluctance that the Japanese settler induces himself to settle in the north. island is not very conducive to agriculture. Yezo, on the other hand, in addition to the riches of the soil and its seas, offers wide possibilities of employment of labor in the fields and rural immigration is therefore quite considerable. In general, however, it is only with extreme reluctance that the Japanese settler induces himself to settle in the north. island is not very conducive to agriculture. Yezo, on the other hand, in addition to the riches of the soil and its seas, offers wide possibilities of employment of labor in the fields and rural immigration is therefore quite considerable. In general, however, it is only with extreme reluctance that the Japanese settler induces himself to settle in the north.
According to homeagerly.com, Korea and Formosa, heavily populated, do not offer outlets for internal emigration.
