Dekasegi

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Dekasegi (also spelt as Dekasegui or Dekassegui) is a term used in Latin American cultures to refer to ethnic Japanese people who have migrated to Japan, having taken advantage of Japanese citizenship and immigration laws to escape from economic instability in South America. The vast majority are Brazilians, but there is also a large population of Peruvians and smaller populations of Argentines and other Latin Americans.

The original Japanese word dekasegi (出稼ぎ) roughly translates as "working away from home". This can cause annoyance to those of Japanese descent, who have come to regard Japan as their permanent home, and object to being regarded by Japanese (in Japan) as gaijin or foreigners.

There are approximately 270,000 such people in Japan from Brazil alone. Most are bilingual in Japanese and Portuguese, Spanish, or English.

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