Bonin Islanders

Bonin Islanders

欧米系島民
The Gonzalez family, one of the earliest families on the Bonin Islands, sometime in the first half of the 20th century
Regions with significant populations
Japan (Bonin Islands)	200[1]
United States	unknown
Languages
Bonin English, Japanese, American English
Religion
Irreligious, Christianity, Buddhism, Shinto
Related ethnic groups
Austronesians, White Americans, Europeans, Native Hawaiians

The Bonin Islanders, also known as the Ogasawara Islanders or Ōbeikei tōmin (欧米系島民; lit. 'European–American Islanders') in Japanese, are a Euronesian ethnic group native to the Bonin Islands (or Ogasawara Islands).^[2] They are culturally and genetically distinct from other Japanese ethnic groups such as the Yamato, Ainu, and Ryukyuans as they are the modern-day descendants of a multitude of racial and ethnic groups including the Europeans, White Americans, Polynesians, and Kanaks who settled Hahajima and Chichijima in the 19th century.^[3][4][5]

History

The first documented instance of human occupation of the Bonin Islands took place in 1830, when Matteo Mazzaro, a British citizen from Ragusa, Austria-Hungary (now Dubrovnik, Croatia), who would serve as governor, settled the island of Chichijima. He was accompanied by Nathaniel Savory, a White American from Massachusetts, John Millencamp, an American, Henry Webb and Charles Robinson, both Englishmen, Joaquim Gonsales, a Portuguese man, and approximately twenty Native Hawaiians, whose personal names were not recorded. Though Savory was American, his expedition had been commissioned by British forces, making it a British settlement.^[6]

Surnames

• Savory (セボリ / 瀬堀, Sebori)^[7]
• Robinson (ロビンソン, Robinson)
• Washington (ワシントン, Washinton)
• Gilley (ギリー, Girī)^[8][9]
• Gonzalez (ゴンザレス, Gonzaresu)^[10]

See also

• Americans in Japan
• Indigenous peoples of Asia
• Japanese Americans

References

1. ボニンアイランダー（小笠原人）の思いを写真で伝える (in Japanese). Tokyo Prefecture. 1 March 2025. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
2. "Reflections on Ogasawara: Remote Islands with American and Japanese Identities". nippon.com. 2018-06-25. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
3. Hanae Kurihara Kramer (June 1, 2018). "Original Inhabitants but Not 'First Peoples': The Peculiar Case of the Bonin Islanders". The Asian-Pacific Journal. 16 (11).
4. "Not everyone is celebrating the Ogasawara Islands' anniversary". Japan Times. 24 June 2008.
5. David Chapman (June 15, 2009). "Inventing Subjects and Sovereignty: Early History of the First Settlers of the Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands". The Asian-Pacific Journal. 7 (24).
6. "Chichi Navy Brochure". members.tripod.com. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
7. Corporation), NHK (Japan Broadcasting. "The Ogasawara Islands: A Multicultural Heritage | Japanology Plus - TV - NHK WORLD - English". /nhkworld/en/tv/japanologyplus/. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
8. "Ogasawara islanders look back on years of war separation：The Asahi Shimbun". The Asahi Shimbun. Archived from the original on 2019-02-12. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
9. Agency, VII Photo (2017-03-16). "Ogasawara, the Mother Islands: An Uncounted Story of the American-Japanese Community in the…". Medium. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
10. Fackler, Martin (2012-06-09). "Fewer Westerners Remain on Remote Japanese Island". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-02-11.