Japan's Uyghur Diaspora

The harsh living conditions faced by East Turkestan Turks and the Chinese government’s political pressures occasionally emerge in diplomatic relations between Japan and China. Global concern over the issue of East Turkestan has increased as Chinese pressure intensified since the early 20th century. Furthermore, this issue has started to receive greater attention in Japanese public opinion due to Japan's negative relations with China. The short-lived East Turkestan Republics, emerging in 1933 and 1944, could not maintain their existence against the Chinese government's resistance and interference. After the period of problematic political turmoil, an era of political exile emerged; particularly with highly educated Uyghur Turks leaving their homelands, the spread of diaspora culture in foreign countries began. Japan is the leading Far Eastern country confronted with the wave of migration from East Turkestan. "Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region", meaning "New Frontier" in Chinese, which is under Chinese occupation today, has not given up its struggle for independence, and the struggle for independence of both the Uyghur Turks continuing their lives in their homeland and the diaspora who had to flee to foreign countries, continued in various ways. The People's Republic of China, established in 1949 as a result of the dominance over the region that the Chinese Communist Party provided, intensified its oppressive regime over Uyghur Turks and the other Turkic peoples. Some intellectuals and even religious leaders and politicians fleeing from the increased pressure and seeking to struggle for independence through more concrete means had to migrate from their homelands. This study examines the first Uyghur Turks who traveled to Tokyo in pursuit of their struggle for freedom in 1939 and the Uyghur diaspora who migrated to Japan after the 1980s. The research scope extends from leaders such as Muḥammad Amīn Bughra and Maḥmūd Muḥītī, who established the first diplomatic contacts with Japan in the 1930s, to the activities of Uyghur Turks who went to Japan for education post-1980s and formed a community there due to their inability to return. This study seeks to provide a holistic perspective on the historical and contemporary status of the East Turkestan diaspora in Japan. As the relevant literature predominantly focuses on the Uyghur diaspora in Europe and America, Japan's role in this process has generally remained underrepresented. This study employs qualitative research methods, drawing on primary and secondary sources, including archival records, tombstones, and biographical works related to East Turkestan.