Hostname: page-component-6766d58669-tq7bh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-20T20:17:34.804Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Coming-to-Japan Boom: Revisiting Iranian Migration to Japan in the 1990s

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 May 2026

Atsuko Tsubakihara Open the ORCID record for Atsuko Tsubakihara [Opens in a new window]
Atsuko Tsubakihara*
Affiliation:
Sociology, Ryukoku University, Japan
*
Email: tsubaki@soc.ryukoku.ac.jp
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article examines the surge of Iranian migration to Japan in the early 1990s. After Iran and Japan established a mutual visa waiver agreement in 1974, many overstayed, with migration increased notably from 1989. However, stricter rules and the suspension of visa exemptions in 1992 sharply reduced the number of Iranians in Japan by the mid-1990s. The influx represented a unique chapter in the history of the Iranian diaspora—rapid migration, informal social networks, and public gatherings characterized this period. While Japan’s strict immigration policies quickly ended the “coming-to-Japan” boom, Iranian migrants developed a sense of equality and mutual support during their time in Japan.

Keywords

JapanIranian diasporaanthropologymigrationmobility

Information

Type
Article
Information
Iranian Studies , First View , pp. 1 - 23
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Association for Iranian Studies.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Adelkhah, Fariba. The Thousand and One Borders of Iran. Routledge, 2016.Google Scholar
Appadurai, Arjun. “Putting Hierarchy in Its Place.” Cultural Anthropology 3, no. 1 (1988): 36–49.10.1525/can.1988.3.1.02a00040CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Augé, Marc. Non-Places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity. Translated by John Howe. Verso, 1995.Google Scholar
Beeman, William O. Language, status, and power in Iran. Indiana University Press, 1986.10.2979/LanguageStatusandPowCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boochani, Behrouz. Freedom, Only Freedom: The Prison Writings of Behrouz Boochani. Translated and edited by Omid Tofighian and Moones Mansoubi. Bloomsbury Academic, 2023.10.5040/9780755642687CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bozorgmehr, Mehdi, and Sabagh, Georges. “Iranian Exiles and Immigrants in Los Angeles.” In Iranian Refugees and Exiles since Khomeini, edited by Fathi, Asghar. Mazda Publishers, 1991.Google Scholar
Fukuda, Tomoko. “Transunasyonaru na Kigyōkatachi.” In Kokkyo wo Koeru. Seikyusha, 2007.Google Scholar
Gardner, Katy. “The Anthropology of Migration.” In The Handbook of Sociocultural Anthropology, edited by Carrier, James G. and Bloomsbury, Deborah B. Gewertz., 2013.Google Scholar
Graham, Mark, and Khosravi, Shahram. “Home is Where You Make it.” Journal of Refugee Studies 10, no. 2 (1997): 115–133.10.1093/jrs/10.2.115CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hage, Ghassan, Waiting. Melbourne University Publishing, 2009.Google Scholar
Inaba, Nanako, and Naoto, Higuchi. “Iran-jin Rainichi no Haikei to Keii.” Bulletin of the College of Humanities, Ibaraki University 19 (2006): 157–192.Google Scholar
Inaba, Nanako, and Naoto, Higuchi. “Tainichi Iranjin Kikoku no Keii to Kikokugo no Keiken.” Annual report of the Regional Studies Institute, Ibaraki University 41 (2008): 67–79.Google Scholar
Inaba, Nanako, and Naoto, Higuchi. “Tainichi Banguradeshujin no Syokugyō Keireki.” Bulletin of the College of Humanities, Ibaraki University 14 (2003): 89–106.Google Scholar
Inaba, Nanako, and Naoto, Higuchi “Tainichi Banguradeshujin Rōdōsya Dekasegi no Kiketsu.” Annual report of the Regional Studies Institute, Ibaraki University 36 (2003): 43–66.Google Scholar
Inaba, Naoko, Sachi, Takaya, and Naoto, Higuchi. “Gender.” In Imin Seisaku Towa Nanika, edited by Sachi, Takaya. Akashi Shoten, 2019.Google Scholar
Jefroudi, Maral. Iranian Refugees in Transit. Bloomsbury, 2024.10.5040/9780755648122CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kano, Hiromasa. “Toruko-Iran Kokkyō wo Koeru Hitobito.” Quarterly Journal of the Institute of Developing Economies 27, no. 3 (1986): 87–98.Google Scholar
Khosravi, Shahram. ‘Illegal’ Traveller: An Auto-Ethnography of Borders. Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.10.1057/9780230281325CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Komai, Hiroshi. Gaikokujin Rōdōsha wo Miru Me. Akashi Shoten, 1990.Google Scholar
Kondo, Nobuaki. “JAPAN ii. Diplomatic and Commercial Relations with Iran.” Encyclopædia Iranica XIV, no. 5 (2008).Google Scholar
Kura, Shinichi. “Gaikokujin no Imēji.” Bulletin of Miyazaki Municipal University Faculty of Humanities 8, no. 1 (2001): 71–89.Google Scholar
Kura, Shinichi. “Keiki Kōtaika ni Okeru Zainichi Iranjin.” The annual review of sociology: official journal of the Kantoh Sociological Society 8 (1995): 191–202.10.5690/kantoh.1995.191CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacDonald, John S., and MacDonald, Leatrice D.. “Chain Migration Ethnic Neighborhood Formation and Social Networks.” The Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly 42, no. 1 (1964): 82–97.10.2307/3348581CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Machimura, Takashi. “Grōbaruka to Toshi.” In Kōza Syakaigaku 4 Toshi, edited by Michihiro, Okuda. Tōkyō Daigaku Syuppankai, 1999.Google Scholar
Malkki, Lisa. “Refugees and Exile: From ‘Refugee Studies’ to the National Order of Things.” Annual Review of Anthropology 24 (1995): 495–523.10.1146/annurev.an.24.100195.002431CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matsumura, Hiroshi. “Zainichi Iranjin Muke Konsāto ni Omou.” Daisan Bunmei, 1993.Google Scholar
Moazeni, Junko. “Mangekyō wo Nozoite 6: Ikyō ni Kurasu Iranjin.” Chashm 20 (1992): 30–35.Google Scholar
Morita, Toyoko. “JAPAN iv. Iranians in Japan.” Encyclopædia Iranica XIV, no. 5&6 (2008).Google Scholar
Nadi. Furusato-tte Yondemo Iidesuka. Ootsuki Shoten, 2019.Google Scholar
Naficy, Hamid. The Making of Exile Cultures: Iranian Television in Los Angeles. University of Minnesota Press, 1993.Google Scholar
Naghizadeh, Mohammad. “Okuridasu Gawakara Mita Kaigai Rōdōryoku Idō.” Studies in Economics and Trade, Kanagawa University 18 (1992): 25–32.Google Scholar
Nishiyama, Tsuyoshi. Tōkyō no Kababu no Kemuri. Pot Publishing, 1994.Google Scholar
Okada, Emiko. “Nihonde Hataraku Aru Iranjin Seinen no Kiroku.” Griot 9 (1994): 19–41.Google Scholar
Okada, Emiko. Tonari no Iranjin. Heibonsha, 1998.Google Scholar
Park, Sara. “Nyūkoku Kanri Taisei to ‘Gaikokujin’ Gainen.” Soshioroji 62, no. 2 (2017): 3–20.Google Scholar
Schilke, Samuli. Migrant Dreams: Egyptian Workers in the Gulf States. American University in Cairo Press, 2020.10.2307/j.ctv2ks71qcCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shimizu, Noriyuki. “Arā mo Tamageta!? Urayasuno Tokyo Bay N.K Hall ni Zainichi Iranjin 3000nin Shūketu no Kai.” Weekly Playboy, September 8 , 1992.Google Scholar
Shindo, Etsuko. Chadoru no Shitakara Mita Homeini no Kuni. Shincyosya, 1992.Google Scholar
Spellman, Kathryn. Religion and Nation: Iranian Local and Transnational Networks in Britain. Berghahn Books, 2004.10.3167/9781571815767CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Suzuki, Hitoshi. “IJPC Project wo Saikō Suru.” Ajiken World Trend 211 (2013): 32–35.Google Scholar
Takaya, Sachi. “Syutsunyūkoku Zairyū Kanri.” In Imin Seisaku Towa Nanika, edited by Sachi, Takaya. Akashi Shoten, 2019.Google Scholar
Taleb, Mehdi, and Ryuichi, Hara. “Hōkoku Zainichi Iranjin Rōdōsya Iran Gawano Jijyō.” Christianity and Culture Annual 26 (1992): 230–235.Google Scholar
Tanno, Kiyoto. “Sōgō Dekasegi Gyō no Tanjyō.” Journal of Ohara Institute for Social Research 573 (2006): 39–60.Google Scholar
Tanno, Kiyoto. “Tsukuri Dasareru Rōdō Shijyō.” Journal of Ohara Institute for Social Research 478 (1998): 1–14.Google Scholar
Tanno, Kiyoto. “Zainichi Brajiru-jin no Rōdō Shijyō.” Journal of Ohara Institute for Social Research 487 (1999): 21–40.Google Scholar
Takeshita, Shuko, Kazumasa, Hanaoka, and Yoshitaka, Ishikawa. “Heterolocalism Ron no Kenshō.” Bulletin of the Faculty of Letters of Aichi Gakuin University 50 (2021): 65–74.Google Scholar
Tsubakihara, Atsuko Global City wo Ikiru Hitobito. Shumpusha, 2018.Google Scholar
Tsubakihara, Atsuko. “Maigo no Bara no Monogatari.” In Chutō-Islam Sekai heno 30 no Tobira, edited by Tetsuo, Nishio and Yasushi, Tonaga. Minerva Shobō, 2021.Google Scholar
Tsukuba Daigaku Shakaigaku Kenkyūshitsu. Zainichi Iranjin Keiki Koutaika ni Okeru Seikatsu to Shūrō. Tsukuba Daigaku Shakaigaku Kenkyūshitsu, 1994.Google Scholar
Turner, Victor W. “Liminality and communitas.” In A reader in the Anthropology of Religion, edited by Lambek, Michael. Blackwell Publishers, 2002.Google Scholar
Urry, John. Mobilities. Polity Press, 2007.Google Scholar
Yaghmaian, Behzad. Embracing the Infidel: Stories of Muslim Migrants on the Journey West. Delacorte Press, 2005.Google Scholar
Yamagishi, Tomoko. “‘Zainichi Iranjin’ no Meian.” Kokurai Kōryu 63 (1994): 50–57.Google Scholar
Yamagishi, Tomoko, and Toyoko, Morita. The Iranian Experience of Japan Through Narratives. Islamic Area Studies Project, 2002.Google Scholar