＝The 58th Convention of Nikkei and Japanese Abroad＝Declaration

The Nikkei Community Proposes New Collaboration with Japan
toward TOKYO 2020
October 25, 2017, Tokyo
We, Japanese descendants, or Nikkei people who participated in the 58thConvention of Nikkei and Japanese Abroad (October 23-25, 2017) from all over theworld, discussed the comprehensive theme of “Working together for TOKYO 2020!”
for three days, and, as the results thereof, declare the resolution consisting of thefollowing 7 resolutions:

1. We hope that further efforts will be made by the Japanese government regarding
the collaboration with the Nikkei community“The Panel of Experts on Collaborating with Communities of Japanese Immigrants
and Descendants (“Nikkei”) in Central and South America” was established under theauspices of Minister for Foreign Affairs in March 2017, and a report was submitted in May.
It was the first time in 17 years that proposals were made concerning the Nikkei community
since December 2000 when the Overseas Emigration Council submitted its final
recommendations. We appreciate that the Japanese government acknowledged thechanges of the Nikkei community and reviewed the relationship between Japan and theNikkei communities abroad. While the report was written in mind the nikkei community inCentral and South America, we totally agree with the idea of reconfirming the importance ofNikkei and their communities which have been interpreted only in relation with emigration,
and with the concept of shifting the focus from “cooperation” to “collaboration”. The
following three basic ideas form a common foundation for closer relationship between
Japan and the Nikkei communities not only in Central and South America but also in North
America, Asia and Europe: 1. Succeed and develop the trust built locally by the Nikkei
community, 2. Enhance the bonds with young Nikkei leaders, and 3. Enhance the bonds
through measures to create Japan that Nikkei can be proud of. It is also imperative to makeefforts in education for Nikkei children living in Japan. We expect broad measures with thekey word of “collaboration” to be taken in the relationship between Japan and Nikkei andtheir communities in the entire world at this very moment.
2. We will be proposing new collaboration initiatives in sport Tokyo Olympic andParalympic GamesThe Olympic and Paralympic Games were held last year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
which has the largest Nikkei community, and the hand over of the flags of Olympic andPalalympic from Rio de Janeiro to Tokyo drew worldwide attention. TOKYO 2020 is a good
opportunity to enhance the collaboration between Japan and the Nikkei community invarious sectors.
The Nikkei communities in Central and South America have traditionally promoted
transmission of the Japanese culture to the next generation through sports to enhance thebonds, and the 23rd “International Nikkei Goodwill Sports Meet”, in which Nikkei in Northand South America actively cultivate cross-sectional friendship, will be held in Chile in 2018.
In the sports sector, Japanese instructors were dispatched to Latin American countries
from early times and had many achievements and success in training Nikkei athletes andin drastically improving the competition level of the countries concerned. Taking suchhistory and achievements into consideration, we propose establishing a new system whichenables Nikkei athletes abroad to participate in major athletic games in Japan such as“National Athletic Meet” and “Inter-High School Competitions”. Secondary effects canalso be expected to promote exchanges between Japanese municipalities and Nikkei
groups in foreign countries such as prefectural associations. The Nikkei community will
also make other new proposals on collaboration toward TOKYO 2020 such as globalizationof agriculture and the promotion of inbound tourism to Japan.
3. The overseas Nikkei community will continue disseminating Japanese culture“Japan House” from where the Japanese government disseminates information tooverseas was opened in Sao Paulo in May 2017. According to the “report” of theforementioned Panel of Experts, there are annually more than 200 major events organizedby the Nikkei community just in Central and South America, attracting more than 2 million
participants in total. Many of the visitors to Japan Festival and other Nikkei events are now
non-Nikkei persons, and many of them are playing active roles in the organizing side as
well. It is possible for the Nikkei community to play a role both in Japanese culture
transmitted and developed from the first generation immigrants and in the latest Japaneseculture disseminated from the current Japan. The Nikkei communities abroad will also
continue disseminating the attractiveness of “Cool Japan” to the world.
4. We hope that full use of Nikkei talent be made in Japanese business strategies
and in international cooperation
Having lived in a multicultural society and acquired the local language and culture,
Nikkei are taking part in all areas including politics, economy, education and so forth in theirrespective country of residence, building a wide range of nikkei network in each area.
Comings and goings of people, newly brought about by the dekasegi phenomenon which
emerged in the 1990’s, made people in those countries more knowledgeable of andinterested in Japan. There are also many cases of Nikkei who started a new businessbased on Japanese culture and successful taking advantage of their rich experiences not
only in Japan or the country of residence but all over the world. We hope that thecomprehensive capacity of excellent human resources of Nikkei will be positively evaluatedand incorporated in international business development by Japanese companies as well asinternational cooperation by the Japanese government. It is expected that the win-win
collaboration between Japan and the Nikkei society will be further promoted by Japanesecompanies’ contribution to the sociery of the countries concerned including local Nikkei
groups as well.
5. Nikkei Youth will build a new network and act as a bridge with Japan toward
TOKYO 2020
We, the Nikkei youth, regard “TOKYO 2020” as a good opportunity to draw
attention to Japan in our countries and to disseminate our identity to the world taking
advantage of our nature as Nikkei. Born as Nikkei, we know what are different and what arecommon between the cultures of our country and Japan, and this enables us to function asa bridge featuring the characteristics of both countries. We believe that what the young
generation should do first of all is to build our own network. Our seniors made efforts insports such as Sumo, Undokai and baseball, which were meant to transmit the Japaneseculture to the next generation. Such efforts were proved successful in the InternationalNikkei Goodwill Sports Meet and the Pan American Nikkei Convention among others.
“TOKYO 2020” to be developed in the Internet society makes it possible to trigger
consciousness as Nikkei and interest in Japan among the young generation who are notaware of being Nkkei, and to involve non-Nkkei as well in the network. The Nikkei youth will
try to build a Nikkei youth network in the world and disseminate our own “TOKYO 2020”
as part of Japan-Nikkei collaboration toward 2020.
6. We request that full consideration be given by the Japanese government togranting new residence status to the fourth generation of Nikkei. We also request
consideration be given to allowing multiple nationality
We welcome the fact that the Japanese government is considering giving the statusof residence to the fourth generation Nikkei with “working holidays” in mind. It issignificant for the young generation to experience the Japanese society directly and for theJapanese society to know more about the existence of Nikkei abroad. At the same time, weunderstand why the Japanese government set the condition of Japanese language ability
for acceptance. It must be avoided to use the labor in simple work just to make up theshortage of labor force in Japan caused by the low birthrate and aging population. The
period of three years is apparently being considered, but we hope to have a system that
contributes to develop human resources who can bridge Japan with the country ofresidence. There is a report that the multiple nationality system adopted by migrantsending countries such as Germany, Italy and Spain is contributing to the younggeneration’s moving to and from the new country of residence and to promote their senseof roots. In order to have a healthy sense of identity, we request the government of Japan
to approve multiple nationality so that we can be officially Japanese while keeping ournationality of the country of birth or residence.
7. Next year (2018), as we commemorate the 150th anniversary of Japaneseemigration to Hawaii, we will reaffirm the legacy of Nikkei communities andtransmit it to future generations.
Next year 2018, we commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Meiji Restoration, andalso of the Japanese first emigration to overseas, in which Hawaii was the destination of
the first collective emigration. In order to commemorate this anniversary, the 59th
Convention of Nikkei and Japanese Abroad will be held in Hawaii. We hope that thisconvention in Hawaii, which has an abundant legacy (historic heritage) of Nikkei, will offer agood opportunity for Nikkei community of each country to recognize their own legacy andtransmit it to the future generation, and to deepen the collaboration between Japan and theNikkei community as well as among Nikkei communities abroad. For that purpose, we hopeto have as many as possible participants, especially of young generation, from Nikkei
communities in the world.