Japanese settle quietly into multi-racial London

Press, 28 September 1988, Page 50

Japanese settle quietly into multi-racial London

NZPA-Reuter London In multi-racial London, scarred several years ago by inner-city riots, a littlenoticed ethnic group lives quietly in the capital’s elegant northern suburbs. Europe’s largest Japanese expatriate community is one of London’s smaller racial groups, but unlike many of the city’s other ethnic minorities, the Japanese are well-paid and well-housed. A Japanese Embassy spokeswoman put the number of Japanese nationals living in Britain at around 25,000, most of them' company representatives and their dependants. Some 16,000 of them live in London, making the largest gathering of Japanese in Europe, according to the spokeswoman. Living abroad has become a standard by-pro-duct of the “economic miracle” for the Japanese, whose export-based industries, thriving since the 19605, spread across the world to cut production costs and find market inroads. Current figures estimate the number of Japanese

living abroad is more than 400,000. The average posting in London is about two years, and employees can expect to receive substantial cash benefits during this time. But some residents say the long stay does not guarantee deep involvement in the host culture. “We bring exactly the same life-style over from Japan,” says Shinobu Hasegawa, the European representative of a Japanese airline, in London on his second posting. Japanese began coming to London to work and study at the end of the 19th century, when Japan established trading links with Europe. As early as the 19205, they began meeting in societies and dining clubs. Now there are numerous groups, one of the latest being a women’s golf society. In the 1980 s, more Japanese companies are being attracted here because of a world-wide boom in financial-, services, for which LcfeSpn is a key European centre. This has coincided with

a burst of interest among Britons in Asia to produce a sudden proliferation of Japanese restaurants and shops selling oriental goods. Making a home from home for the Japanese has also become a flourishing business, with a variety of enterprises such as accommodation agencies, food shops, and hostess bars with Japanese staff springing up to cater for them. “Ten years ago, it was different,” says Hasegawa. “You couldn’t even get fresh Japanese food in the shops.” The Japanese live in affluent north London suburbs and many appear reluctant to venture south to poorer areas such as Brixton, home for many of the city’s black families. The suburb is still associated by some with the violent clashes between police and youths which erupted on its streets in 1981. The wife of a trading company executive said her husband warned her against straying southwards and told her to

avoid using the underground train system because it was “dirty and dangerous.” However, London appears to be a favourite destination for many Japanese workers faced with a move abroad. Many say they feel safer here than in the United States, and less isolated than in other parts of Europe where they would have to learn a new language from scratch. One woman, whose husband works in the Japanese foreign service, said Japanese were happy to settle in London because most of them had studied English at school, and many housewives regularly took English lessons. But she said the majority did not make the most of their chances to make new friends and contacts. “The men are only interested in their work,” she said with a smile, "The women are rather shy.” Those who did make an effort often found it difficult to meet Britons willing! to help them understand the new culture, and ended up spending

time with fellow Japanese, she said. ■ She said one AngloJapanese cultural exchange group for women, which pairs off the two nationalities, had trouble finding enough interested Britons. “It can be a very lonely life after the children have gone to school,” she said. Most Japanese companies provide generous rent allowances and subsidies for employees to send their children to Japanese schools, says Hasegawa. The Japanese School in London moved to new premises last year to accommodate the growth in student rolls since it was founded in 1976. But in spite of the new services, some Japanese feel facilities are still not entirely adequate. One businessman lamented the absence of capsule hotels, which back in Japan provide sleeping compartments for revellers who missed the last train home. But, he says, it just be a matter of time before one is built.