Growing numbers of overseas Japanese descendants are traveling to Japan to trace family roots. Social media and the weak yen are boosting the trend, with centers in Kobe and Okinawa seeing rising visitors.
Sergio Kohatsu uncovered details of his father's 1929 voyage from Nishihara in Okinawa Prefecture to Brazil using passenger records. His father left that year with relatives spanning three generations to work on a coffee plantation.
The Kobe Center for Overseas Migration and Cultural Interaction, established in 1928, provides manifests and photos from the National Diet Library. Groups visiting rose from 165 in fiscal 2024 to 243 in fiscal 2025.
Since fiscal 2016 the Okinawa Prefectural Library has handled about 250 annual requests from roughly 400,000 overseas Okinawan descendants. The Mio district in Wakayama Prefecture and Tokyo firm Kaju have also expanded services.
Sachiko Kawakami, a professor at Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, said the interest can aid regional revitalization and cultural exchange while calling for better infrastructure to welcome visitors.