Diaspora Discord? New Arrivals’ Attitudes Create Strife Among Japan’s Chinese Community

Pretentious Attitudes a Problem

Wang, a Chinese man in his thirties who runs a consulting firm in Tokyo, vents his anger: “The newcomers are always acting as if they are richer and better than us. They insist on being treated like esteemed customers. It’s really irritating.”

Wang (an assumed name, like others used in this article) had a specific person in mind. Chen, also Chinese, had come for a brief stay in Japan, where he hoped to migrate. An acquaintance introduced Chen to Wang as a valuable source of advice on doing business in the country. However, even before Chen had arrived in Japan, Wang became irritated with Chen’s arrogance.

First, Chen demanded to be picked up at Narita Airport. He also chose a lounge at a luxury hotel in Tokyo as the site for their business meeting. When Wang declined to pick Chen up, citing his busy schedule, Chen became upset. He later criticized the décor of the hotel where they met as “old fashioned,” and began to complain about Japan in general.

Wang notes that “this is a typical Chinese rich person attitude. In the Chinese way of doing business, you act better than others, and make it clear that others need to ‘listen to the money.’ Not only did this annoy me, I felt he was making fun of Japan.”

COVID-19 Accelerates the “China Escape” Phenomenon

I have been a longtime observer of Chinese society and the Chinese community in Japan. As I noted in a previous article, many Chinese living in Japan today belong to a generation of migrants that came to Japan after China’s 1978 “opening up” reforms, generally for education or labor opportunities. This period, from the 1980s to the early 2000s, was still a time of great economic disparity between Japan and China, and this generation faced considerable financial difficulties as they struggled to integrate into their new home. Many learned Japanese for study and work and tried their best to live by the rules of Japanese society.

The situation changed as China started to achieve economic parity with Japan and overtook Japan’s gross domestic product in 2010. Around 2015, while bakugai, or “explosive buying” by tourists, was in full swing, a turning point was reached. Chinese people with significant economic resources began migrating to Japan one after another. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this dynamic. Today, the key driver of immigration to Japan from China is not study or labor opportunities, but rather to “escape China.”

Many of these “newcomers” come to Japan with a business visa to conduct commercial activities and even establish their own companies. In June 2024, the number of Chinese who came to Japan on a business visa was approximately 20,000, nearly three times the number in 2015. However, many rely on people who have lived in Japan for more than 10 years and are familiar with Japan and the language to conduct their business activities in Japan.

The longer-term Chinese residents of Japan, though, who are familiar with Japanese society and speak Japanese, are not embracing the newcomers as might be expected. The reason can be found in the attitudes of the newcomers, which often alienate established residents. Wang points out that the newcomers can come across as seriously overbearing, “always pushing the Chinese way” wherever they go. In fact, there is growing tension between the established Chinese residents and the newcomers to Japan.

Insisting on the “Chinese Way”

In June of this year, a Chinese owner of an apartment building in Tokyo made news by suddenly raising the rent by 2.5 times and shutting down the elevator hoping to push out residents. It is unclear whether the owner was a newcomer or not, but Zhang, a Chinese resident of Japan for more than 20 years, raises his eyebrows at the disruptive behavior of his fellow countrymen.

Zhang also notes that many recent Chinese migrants “look down” on Japan given its stagnating economy. He feels that the troubles reported in the media have something in common with the alleged buying up of luxury tower condominiums by newcomers. Previously, buying up high-value real estate for investment purposes rather than for residence was a common practice in China, as people tried to take advantage of continuously rising property prices. This speculative method of building wealth is now being practiced in Japan. Real estate is also being acquired to expand into the highly profitable short-term private lodging business.

Some established Chinese residents of Japan, such as Zhang, also own multiple properties. However, their goal was never to speculatively drive up prices. Zhang says, “We worked diligently, just like Japanese people, and eventually we were able to purchase these assets to give us security.”

However, when the media focuses exclusively on the narrative of “Chinese buying up condominiums,” it may communicate an unbalanced message, as many Japanese are unaware of the varied characteristics of the Chinese community in Japan, including the generational differences. While Zhang emphasizes that not all newcomers behave this way, he still feels uneasy about being identified with them: “As a fellow Chinese, I have mixed feelings.”

Little Intention to Integrate

Some of the problematic newcomers, are however, indifferent to the feelings of the long-time residents and do not think deeply about their connection to Japan. Unlike the older generation, who have an intuitive understanding of Japanese society through their own immersion in Japanese schools and companies, some of these newcomers seem to feel little need to integrate into Japanese society.

Yet another gap between the old and new generations of Chinese migrants is highlighted by the way they raise their children and educate them in Japan. Established residents sent their children to local public schools in the areas where they ended up residing. In turn, they encouraged their children to go on to junior high school, high school, and college after they were acclimated to Japanese society.

The newcomers, on the other hand, before moving to Japan, gather information on the Japanese educational environment through Chinese social media. Based on this, many chose areas such as Bunkyō in Tokyo, where educational quality is considered high, to purchase property. They systematically put their children on the road to elite preparatory schools and famous universities—a practice that can come across as trying to “game the system.”

Huang, a newcomer who has obtained a status of residence to stay in Japan, confides, “I don’t speak much Japanese, and I don’t have a single Japanese acquaintance. I am so busy traveling back and forth between China and Japan for work that I have never thought about truly integrating here.”

Unfortunately, Huang’s words do not convey an intention to become a “member of Japanese society” and make a contribution to Japan. Perhaps this is natural—after all, many newcomers choose to immigrate to Japan for business and security.

Hong Kong also has a large number of mainland Chinese immigrants. There, the wealthy new immigrants are called “New Hong Kongers.” They live in a better environment than the old Hong Kongers and also send their children to prestigious schools. Some of them even look down on the “old” residents, creating tension between the groups.

Of course, this simple comparison does not mean the situation in Hong Kong and Japan are the same, but they are similar in that the newcomers try to insist on the Chinese way of doing things over local practices. Having witnessed the majority of Chinese living in Japan working diligently and steadily established themselves in Japanese society, I have grown somewhat concerned about the effects on Japanese society of the discord that is slowly emerging within the resident Chinese community.

(Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)