Nipponica

Palau is appealing to Japan for help monitoring Chinese maritime activity within its exclusive economic zone. Analysts say Tokyo has assisted other nations with similar challenges in the past and may be willing to do so again to counter Beijing’s growing influence in the region.

The Pacific island nation’s national security coordinator, Jennifer Anson, described the “challenges” it has faced in recent years in an interview with Japanese national broadcaster NHK on Monday. Chinese research vessels have repeatedly been spotted operating not only within Palau’s EEZ, but also “hovering” dangerously close to the crucial underwater fibre optic cables that connect the remote territory to the rest of the world, she said.

It aims to build a system that distributes information via the Michibiki satellites about natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunami that is issued by the countries’ governments to local residents.

The Japanese government expects that people in the island nations will utilize the information for evacuation from tsunami and other prevention measures, as local people can get accurate information even if ground-based telecommunications systems are cut off.

As of Oct. 1, 2023, there were an estimated 5 million Nikkei around the world, according to the Foreign Ministry. About 3 million of that number lived in South America. By country, Brazil was home to the most, at about 2.7 million Nikkei, followed by 1.5 million in the United States, 200,000 in Peru, 120,000 in Canada and 100,000 in Australia. The Nikkei population in Paraguay, where Kishida visited in May, stood at about 10,000.

Needless to say, each Nikkei person has a personal history that can never be completely told and that has led them to where they are today. When we think about bilateral relations with foreign countries that have accepted immigrants from Japan, we should not forget the role Nikkei have played in fostering those relationships.

A short introduction to the Japanese communities of nikkei that exist around the world, including specifically Brazil and Paraguay in this article. They seem largely forgotten by the residents of their mother country but play an important part in fostering Japanese culture outside the Home Islands.