Japanese people in Belgium explained

Population:4,931 (2017)
Related-C:Overseas Japanese

are Belgian citizens of Japanese ancestry.

History

The Japanese started to arrive in considerable numbers in Brussels in the 1950s. At this time the Belgian-Japanese economic partnerships had started. By 1992, the Brussels Japanese community was already one of the largest in Europe.[1]

In Hasselt there is a Japanese garden, donated to the Flemish city by the city of Itami, Japan.[2] [3] It is the largest Japanese garden in Western Europe, extending for 2.5 hectares.[4] There are other Japanese gardens in Belgium, such as the one in the city of Ostend.[5] [6] There is a good relationship between the city of Ostend and the Japanese company Daikin, located in the industrial area of Ostend, and whose company buildings can be seen along the Ostend-Brussels highway.[7] In Laeken, Brussels, there is a Japanese tower, built between 1900 and 1904 by order of King Leopold II.[8] [9] Also in Brussels there is a Japanese international school, the Japanese School of Brussels, founded in 1979[10] over a Japanese Saturday school opened in 1974.[11] In Auderghem, near the Japanese School, there is a street named ("Nipponic Avenue"—Nippon means "Japan" in Japanese),[12] opened and named thus in 1986, due to its proximity to the school.[12] There are Japanese magazines published for Japanese Belgians.[13]

Demographics

As of 2021 there were about 6,000 Japanese living in Belgium.[14] In 2016 there were 2,754 Japanese in Brussels alone.[1] In 2016, most (71%) of the Brussels Japanese lived in the southeastof the Brussels Region, more precisely in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Auderghem and Watermael-Boitsfort.[1] 62% of the Japanese community in Belgium lives in Brussels.[1]

The Japanese community of Belgium was by 1992 one of the largest in Europe.[1] The number of Japanese in Belgium is currently stagnating compared to the rising numbers of other Asian nationalities such as the Chinese and Indians.[1]

Notable people

See also

Notes and References

  1. Casier . Charlotte . Chinezen, Indiërs en Japanners in het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest . FOCUS . November 2017 . 21 . 1–9 . Brussels instituut voor Statistiek en analyse.
  2. Web site: A Japanese garden in Belgium . www.cruisetotravel.com.
  3. Web site: Japanese Garden of Hasselt . www.smarksthespots.com.
  4. Web site: The Japanese Garden, the perfect spot for a peaceful and cultured meeting . www.visithasselt.be.
  5. Web site: Japanese Garden Shin Kai Tei - Nature . www.oostende.org.
  6. Web site: Japanese Garden . www.visitoostende.be.
  7. Web site: Takashi Sawano ‘s Shin Kai Tei . www.royalpalaces.be . nl.
  8. Web site: The Japanese Tower at the Royal Domain in Laeken: A remarkable application of Japanese lacquer techniques in Belgium . www.iiconservation.org . 16 March 2023.
  9. Web site: A ing's Dream: The Chinese Paviliion and the Japanese Tower in Laeken (Brussels) . www.theartssociety.org . 7 February 2023.
  10. "沿革史." (Archive) The Japanese School of Brussels. Retrieved on 9 January 2014. Table: 西暦: 1979, 元号: 4, 月, 4: "全日制日本人学校開校 文部省派遣 脇坂譲校長着任(3代)(本目英世氏は全日制教頭とする)この年より全日制校長が補習校の校長を兼務する"
  11. Conte-Helm, Marie. (Bloomsbury Academic Collections). A&C Black, 17 December 2013., 9781780939803. p. 104.
  12. Web site: L'avenue Nippone - 1160 Auderghem . EBRU.
  13. Web site: Aoitori het medium voor de Japanse gemeenschap . www.aoitori.be.
  14. Web site: Number of residents from Japan living in Belgium from 2013 to 2021 . Statista.
  15. News: Satenstein. Liana. Meet 7 New Faces of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Vogue. 1 December 2014. 25 March 2023.