How large/small/noticeable is the Japanese population of Seattle? (Tacoma: school, university)

[Tiger Beer]

How large/small/noticeable is the Japanese population of Seattle?

I'm living in Japan with my wife and son.

Whenever I do go back to the U.S., I'd like my son to be able to bring whatever Japanese he learns here to a city in the U.S.

I am curious if the Japanese population is represented enough in Seattle...where he might be able to at least hear Japanese, or use it, or get involved with someone to maintain his Japanese ability in the future.

[act98006]

There are an estimated 20,000 Japanese-speakers living in Washington State. The majority are in the Seattle/Tacoma/Everett/Bellevue area.

There is a Saturday Japanese school that is operated by the Japanese Business Association in Seattle that offers a full curriculum for children as many may be returning to Japan.

There are Japanese language publications here (for example http://www.soysource.net/) an active Japan America Society, sister city organizations and a strong Japanese influence.

Uwajimaya is a large Japanese-American-owned supermarket chain (they are opening their 4th store in July) as well as a Kinokuniya book store. Seattle is the closest U.S. mainland gateway to Asia and don't forget Ichiro plays baseball here.

My oldest son (now 24) was born in the Seattle area and grew up here. He had frequent trips to Japan and is totally fluent. He is working in Japan now. Keeping his Japanese up is as much up to you as it is him.

[Radnor]

When I visited in early June I noticed that the SeaTac tram LCD displays and announcements were repeated in Japanese. Is that usually the case, or was that for some special event? It makes sense since you mention Seattle is the closest gateway to Japan. It was a bit of a shock, coming from Orlando where everything is repeated in Spanish.

[azoria]

There is a very strong asian presence in Seattle.

Don't know how many live here, but there are oodles of Japanese tourists around all the time and Seattle's University of Washington attracts (seemingly) thousands of Japanese foreign students.

[JesseJames34]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

How large/small/noticeable is the Japanese population of Seattle?

I'm living in Japan with my wife and son.

Whenever I do go back to the U.S., I'd like my son to be able to bring whatever Japanese he learns here to a city in the U.S.

I am curious if the Japanese population is represented enough in Seattle...where he might be able to at least hear Japanese, or use it, or get involved with someone to maintain his Japanese ability in the future.

This might help: Washington QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau You can use the city drop down list and choose 'Other places not listed' to search for more specific data. That brings you to the below link where you can search Seattle, Bellevue, etc, and see more precise ethnic percentages.
http://quickfacts.census.gov/cgi-bin/qfd/demolink?53
http://censtats.census.gov/data/WA/1605363000.pdf (only 9k in Seattle claiming to be ethnic Japanese)


There is a noticable (subjective) 'East Asian' presence in Seattle and even in Bellevue, in my opinion.

[jenlion]

My backdoor neighbors are Japanese -- well, the mother is, and they are trying to teach the son Japanese. Two doors south of me, the lady is Japanese. When we moved in, next door north of me, the family was Japanese. It's a rental, though, and he got called back to Japan, so now it's a Filipino family.

And I'm in the burbs!

[Backstrom]

Seattle's Japanese population is, unfortunately, relatively scattered compared to the Korean and Chinese concentrations. We did have a Japantown burgeoning in the 20s and 30s before the internment absolutely upended our Japanese populations.

Originally Posted by Radnor

When I visited in early June I noticed that the SeaTac tram LCD displays and announcements were repeated in Japanese. Is that usually the case, or was that for some special event? It makes sense since you mention Seattle is the closest gateway to Japan. It was a bit of a shock, coming from Orlando where everything is repeated in Spanish.

The trams coming to and from the South Satellite terminal do have Japanese translations and have had for a long time. All international flights from East Asia go through the S-terminal, so a good number of foreign Asians need those translations.

Originally Posted by azoria

There is a very strong asian presence in Seattle.

Don't know how many live here, but there are oodles of Japanese tourists around all the time and Seattle's University of Washington attracts (seemingly) thousands of Japanese foreign students.

UW attracts quite the number of international Asian students. Other than Cal, I believe it may have the highest Asian student population of any major public university.