page_title: Asian Mexicans
section_title: After Independence
hierarchical_section_title: Asian Mexicans / History / After Independence
caption_attribution_description: Español: Monumento a la inmigracíon coreana en Yucatán.
context_page_description: Asian Mexicans are Mexicans of Asian descent. Although they make up less than 1% of the total population of Mexico, they are a notable minority. Asians are considered the cuarta raíz of Mexico in conjunction with the three other roots: Native, European and African.
  Due to the historical and contemporary perception in Mexican society of what constitutes Asian culture, this article focuses on Mexicans of South, East and Southeast Asian descent.
context_section_description: Japanese immigration began in earnest in 1888 after the signing of a treaty to allow citizens of both countries the ability to travel to the other and establishing consulates.  Mexico was the first Latin American country to receive organized Japanese immigration in 1897, with the first thirty five arriving to Chiapas under the auspices of Viscount Enomoto Takeaki, with the permission of president Porfirio Díaz. The very first settlement was based on coffee production but failed for various reasons including the fact that not all of the colonists were farmers and many became sick with tropical diseases. Many from this colony dispersed but there remains a small Japanese community in Acacoyagua, Chiapas.
  Modern Korean immigration to Mexico began in 1905. The first 1,033 Korean migrants settled in Yucatán as workers in henequen plantations.
  Asians, predominantly Chinese, became Mexico’s fastest-growing immigrant group from the 1880s to the 1920s, exploding from about 1,500 in 1895 to more than 20,000 in 1910. It was common among male Asian immigrants to quickly marry local women in order to facilitate assimilation. To do so, they were baptized into the Catholic faith, adopting a Christian name in the process. By doing this, they achieved a stronger bond with the land and a stronger sense of social belonging. They also received greater economic, moral and labor support from their new extended Mexican families.
  At the same time, an anti-Chinese movement emerged during the Mexican Revolution and peaked during the Great Depression. This was in part due to resentment over the success of Chinese merchants and also fear of competition from Chinese workers willing to work for less pay. The most severe act of violence occurred in 1911. A massacre of over 300 Chinese in Torreón, Coahuila, which was carried out by a faction of Pancho Villa’s army. It culminated in mass deportations in the 1930s, when nearly 70% of the country's Chinese and Chinese-Mexican population was deported or otherwise expelled from the country.
  Before World War II, the highest concentrations of Japanese and Japanese descent were in Baja California, followed by Mexico City and Sonora. Up until the war, the treatment of Japanese in the country and their descendants had been favorable, very different from the treatment of Chinese in the country. However, Japanese immigration was halted by WWII to near zero, and those who were in the country were faced with restrictions and relocation after Mexico broke diplomatic ties with Japan in 1941. Most Japanese citizens (especially the ones living in the Northwest) were forced to move to three interior cities: Celaya, Guadalajara and Mexico City. This was done so that they could not be used as a “fifth column" by the Japanese government. This treatment of ethnic Japanese is not in most accounts of Mexican history and is seldom taught in schools.
  While in China, the Chinese-Mexicans that had been deported campaigned to be allowed to return to Mexico, from the 1930s to the 1960s. There was some success with two repatriations; one in the late 1930s and another in 1960.
  After the end of the war, Japanese immigration to Mexico began again. From 1951 to 1978, this immigration was associated with Japan’s economic growth, giving it money to invest abroad. A new smaller wave of Korean migrants also began to arrive in Mexico in the 1970s.
  Larger numbers of Koreans began arriving in the 1990s: according to South Korean 
  ment statistics, the size of the community reached its peak in 1997 with around 19,500 individuals before falling to 14,571 by 2005.
caption: Monument in Merida, Yucatan commemorating 100 years of Korean immigration (1905-2005)
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