Japanese in the Philippines, or Japanese Filipino, refers to one of the largest branches of Japanese diaspora having historical contact with and having established themselves in what is now the Philippines. This also refers to Filipino citizens of either pure or mixed Japanese descent residing in the country, the latter a result of intermarriages between the Japanese and local populations.The Cultural Influences of India, China, Arabia, and Japan | Philippine Almanac
History Classical period Settlements After the establishment of a single state within Japan, official trade records began between Japan and the Philippine islands in the Heian and Muromachi period (8th to 12th centuries CE). In the case of the proto-Okinawan chiefdoms, this was much earlier, and ties in with shared migration patterns of Okinawans and Austronesian areas like the Philippines stretching back to the Neolithic period. Notable settlements of the period include Bolinao and Agoo along Lingayen Gulf. The Japanese were trading with Philippine kingdoms well before the Spanish period, mainly in pottery and gold. Historical records show that Japanese traders, especially those from Nagasaki, frequently visited the Philippine shores and bartered Japanese goods for such Filipino products as gold and pearls. In the course of time, shipwrecked Japanese sailors, pirate traders, and immigrants settled in the Philippines and intermarried with the early Filipinos. The Wokous who were East Asian pirates mostly consisting of Japanese, even made it into the Philippines before their extermination in the 1600s. Aparri in the Philippines, which is located in Northern Luzon, was established as pirate city-state under the patronage of the Wokou. The area around Aparri was the site of the 1582 Cagayan battles between Japanese pirates and Spanish soldiers.General Archive of the Indies, Philippines, file 29, bunch 3, number 62. Letter from Juan Bautista Román to the Viceroy of México, June 25, 1582General Archive of the Indies, Philippines, file 6, bunch 2, number 60. Letter from the Governor of the Philippines to the Viceroy of México, July 20, 1583General Archive of the Indies, Philippines, file 74, bunch 1, number 24. Letter from Bishop of the Philippines to the King of Spain, January 18, 1583 General Archive of the Indies, Council of the Indies, 339, L.1, F.286V-287R. Order to send men to the Philippines from Mexico, June 14, 1583 When the Spaniards reached the island of Luzon in 1571, they found Japanese colonies and settlements in Manila and in some parts of the Cagayan Valley, the Cordillera region, Lingayen, Bataan, and Catanduanes Island. The relatively light complexion of the natives of Bontoc and Banaue is probably a result of the early contacts between the Japanese and other islanders from south of Japan and the natives of the Cordillera.Worcester, Dean C. (1906). "The Non-Christian Tribes of Northern Luzon". The Philippine Journal of Science. National Science Development Board
Pottery trade
Precolonial Philippines had a rich pottery tradition as verified by the finds at Ayub Cave in South Cotabato and other parts of the archipelago. Japanese texts mention trading expeditions to the island of Rusun (Luzon) for the highly prized Martaban jars. , also known as "Luzon jars", were dark-brown to purple-black tapayan from the island of Luzon that had originally been made in Southern China and had been exported to the Philippines. These were highly sought after by Japanese traders in the 16th century Nanban trade and remain as valuable antique heirlooms in modern Japan. They are primarily used for the Japanese tea ceremony (chanoyu). They were prized for their simplicity and rough, often uneven design, epitomizing the traditional Japanese aesthetics of wabi-sabi ("perfection in imperfection"). The Tokiko calls the Rusun and Namban jars, Ru-sun tsukuru or Lu-sung ch'i (in Chinese), which simply means "made in Luzon." These Rusun jars, which had rokuru (wheel mark), were said to be more precious than gold because of its ability to act as tea canisters and enhance the fermentation. In the 15th century AD, tea-jars were brought by the shōguns to Uji in Kyoto from the Philippines which was used in the Japanese tea ceremony.
The Spanish historian Antonio de Morga in his Sucesos de la Islas Filipinas (1609) described Rusun jars as thus:
Rusun jars were part of what is collectively known as Mishima ("three islands") ware. With the other two islands being indigenous Taiwan and the unidentified "Amakawa".
Many of the important pottery traditions that spread into the Oceania region had their counterparts in the Philippines including the well-known Lapita culture. This quote from American anthropologist Wilhelm Solheim illustrates the matter:
The finds at Ayub Cave in South Cotabato confirmed the great pottery tradition of the Philippines. In the Tokiko it mentions that all Rusun jars had this marking known as the rokuru (wheel mark). Those familiar with Philippine ethnography will know that this spiral is commonly used by many of the Philippine tribes. The following symbols were used to identify which kiln was used to make the jar: identified "Imbe" jars, meant jars coming from Bizen kiln, and mark three times meant a canister from the same oven. A jar with this mark is said to be made of Namban clay. This marking corresponds to the syllable la in Pampanga; Tagbanua for ka ("Chinese Pottery", Field Museum of Natural History-Anth., vol.xii, Jul.1912) Of course, the symbol for la can also be the same as that for lu, and so this might correspond to the symbol said to stand for Lu in Rusun-no kokuji (Luzon national writing). According to the Tokiko, certain types of Rusun jars were distinguished by this character. De Morga mentions that Japanese traders were still coming in large numbers for these jars during his time, and that they were willing to spend great sums for them. Apparently work on these jars continued in the North, possibly among the unconquered Igorots, for De Morga had no knowledge of such current production. Later, the knowledge may have again trickled down to Vigan, where a flourishing industry of Burnay jar manufacture survives to this day. Although the Japanese described very high quality jars coming from the Philippines, not all were of elegant nature. In fact, De Morga had some disdain for some of the jars that the Japanese were buying, so they could have been similar to the well-known balanga and other jars in use today. These jars are generally handed down as heirlooms and are noted for their qualities in enhancing the fermentation process. Possibly one of the Japanese uses for the Rusun jars was fermentation of products like Kombucha and Umeboshi plums. For instance, a Japanese family in rural Japan stated that their family used old Rusun jars for exactly this purpose up to this day. In 2009, Japanese and Filipino archaeologists from the Sumitomo Foundation-funded Boljoon Archaeological Project conducted by the University of San Carlos with the National Museum of the Philippines, discovered ancient Japanese pottery that has been believed to have been in existence since the early 1700s. The ancient Japanese pottery that was discovered there, has proven that there was activity of trading activity between Japan and Cebu Island Philippines going back to the 16th century.
Fishing technologies The Filipinos were skilled in all types of fishing and fisheries. In the south, the basnig, a Viking-like ship, was and is the vessel of choice among the Bisayans for ocean fishing. The salambao is a type of raft that utilizes a large fishing net which is lowered into the water via a type of lever made of two criss-crossed poles. Night fishing was accomplished with the help of candles similar to the copal of Mexico. These candles were made from a particular type of resin. Fish corrals, like the ones still used today, were also employed by the ancient Filipino. However, the area in which the Filipino most astonished Westerners was in their advanced aquaculture:
Many have looked to Japan for an explanation for these advanced methods. The roe was transplanted to safe pens for incubation and to guard the small fry from predators. Only when sufficiently mature to fend for themselves were they released back into the wild. These days this method is practiced by fisheries throughout the world. Before the Spanish came, the Filipinos also only used large mesh nets when fishing in rivers, lakes or in the sea. This ecologically sound practice protected the young ensuring future good catches. However, the competition brought by the Spaniards resulted in the use of such small mesh nets that the Spanish themselves eventually had to regulate the nets to prevent the destruction of the fisheries. Other Pre-Spanish Filipino industries included the manufacture of liquors and vinegars like tuba, basi, etc., the production of hides for export to Japan, export of edible bird's nests from Northern Palawan to China, the raising and trade of civet cats, the manufacture of gunpowder, the making of wax for export to China, and the making of cotton stockings for export.
Spanish era
The Japanese population in the Philippines has since included descendants of Japanese Catholics and other Japanese Christians who fled from the religious persecution imposed by the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period and settled during the colonial period from the 17th century until the 19th century. A statue of daimyō Ukon Takayama, who was exiled to the Philippines in 1614 because he refused to disavow his Christian beliefs, stands a patch of land across the road from the Post Office building in the Paco, Manila. In the 17th century, the Spaniards referred to the Paco Area as the 'Yellow Plaza' because of the more than 3,000 Japanese who resided there. In the 16th and 17th centuries, thousands of Japanese people traders also migrated to the Philippines and assimilated into the local population. pp. 52–3
Many of the Japanese men intermarried with Filipino women. A sizeable population settled in Manila, Davao, the Visayas and in the 1600s in Dilao, Paco, and Ilocos Norte Province. This hybrid group tend to be re-assimilated either into the Filipino or the Japanese communities, and thus no accurate denominations could be established, though their estimates range from 100,000 to 200,000. Many were killed or expelled after World War II because of their alleged collaboration with the Imperial Japanese Army (mostly as translator). Many Japanese mestizos tended to deny their Japanese heritage and changed their family names in order to avoid discrimination.
American period and the Post-WWII era