Bangladeshi Diaspora Entrepreneurs in Japan

Abstract

In recent decades, the emergence of migrant businesses has been a part of the urban landscape in some relatively developed countries in East and Southeast Asia. While the outcomes of international migration have affected many aspects of the lives of immigrants and their receiving societies, one of the visible but often neglected outcomes of international migration in Asia is the development of immigrant-run businesses. Among the East and Southeast Asian countries, Japan is a case in point. A diverse immigrant population, with significant numbers of migrants from South, Southeast and East Asia, has evolved in Japan since the late 1970s (Tsuda, 2006; Goodman et al., 2003; Komai, 2000). In the early 1980s South Asian migrants, mainly Bangladeshis, entered Japan as tourists and overstayed their visas. According to Mahmood (1994), 33,573 Bangladeshi entered Japan between 1985 and 1990. Other sources report that the cumulative number of overstaying Bangladeshis between 1990 and 2000 was 73,016 (Watanabe, 1998: 246). Therefore, it is likely that the number of Bangladeshi migrants in the 1980s and 1990s was more than 100,000. These migrant workers encountered considerable problems settling in Japan. Halal food, ethnic goods and services were almost unavailable. Realising the demand for halal food and other ethnic goods and services, some Bangladeshi migrants started businesses in Japan to serve mainly the South Asian migrant population including Muslim migrants and many subsequently expanded into trading in Japanese products internationally.