Japanese Paraguayans


Japanese Paraguayans are Paraguayans of Japanese ethnicity.

Religion

First-generation Japanese Paraguayans were generally followers of Shinto and Buddhism. The first Japanese settlers at La Colmena brought a piece of stone from the Ise Shrine which was gazetted as a monument mark the settlement's founding. Japanese religious festivals were celebrated within the first few decades among the first and second-generation Japanese settlers and in the late 1960s, a majority identified themselves with the Buddhist and Shinto faiths. Conversion to Roman Catholic Christianity increased from the late 1970s onwards.

Education

In Asunción, there are the Japanese international school: Colegio Japonés en Asunción, and the Paraguayan-Japanese Center, which promotes Japanese culture in Paraguay and develops intercultural activities with the two countries and the Paraguayan-Japanese financial brokerage company; in Encarnación, the Japanese Association of Encarnación, Asociación Japonesa de Encarnación; and in Ciudad del Este, the Japanese Association of the East Asociación Japonesa del Este and the Escuela Japonesa de Ciudad del Este Primary School.

Notable people