Bookstores and publishing firms operated by and for Chinese residents in Japan are on the rise.

This trend is indicative not only of an influx of wealthy Chinese expats to Japan but also of the evolution of the Chinese community that has grown in the country over time.

The publishing house Yomimichi established an office in Hino, western Tokyo, last year. Zhang Shizhi, 47, created the company to publish books in his native language.

Zhang worked in the publishing industry in Beijing for 20 years, rising to the position of vice president at a state-owned publishing company with annual sales of 700 million yuan (14.1 billion yen, or $99.7 million).

However, seeing his two daughters already engaged in fierce competition with their elementary school peers in China gave Zhang pause. He did not want his children to have to fight the notorious “college entrance exam war” to enter prestigious Chinese universities.

Seeking better educational conditions, Zhang relocated to Japan with his family three years ago.

In China, Zhang did not engage in any political movements. Yet he often felt suffocated when people around him repeated glowingly positive catchphrases about Chinese society in everyday conversations.

For example, one person praised “this embodiment of rapid development,” while another spoke of “strengthening the self-confidence of the people.”

As positive news stories and other publications are the norm in China, Zhang feared that the tendency may cover up real societal problems.

Upon reaching Japan, Zhang was told by people around him that it was impossible to keep a publishing house profitable by targeting Chinese readers in Japan.

However, when Zhang participated in an open lecture at the University of Tokyo last year, he saw hundreds of Chinese turn up to attend the class.

Zhang thought there must be a need for high-quality Chinese titles among readers in Japan.

“No one would have read our books during the time when mainly poor young migrant workers traveled to Japan,” said Zhang.

Over the past six months, Zhang published three books, including one depicting modern history from the author’s unique perspective as well as an essay commemorating a deceased individual.

All those works would have been difficult to publish in China. The views expressed in one of the titles are “slightly different from the official opinions of authorities.”

Another book’s author “participated in a memorial event for the Tiananmen Square crackdown.”

“I’m not trying to just make books about politics,” Zhang said. “All I want as a publisher is freely release publications that can keep their value 30 years from now.”

SHARING IDEAS AND BUILDING A COMMUNITY

In the summer of 2023, a bookstore operator that has eight outlets in areas such as Beijing and Shanghai opened a shop, One Way Street Tokyo, in the Japanese capital’s swanky Ginza district.

While many bookstores and publishing firms are operated by those seeing business opportunities in the Japanese market, some Chinese business owners are motivated to settle here by the increasingly intrusive surveillance in their homeland.

Zhao Guojun, 52, the owner of Outsider Bookstore in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward, moved to Japan two years earlier after he gave up on the intellectuals’ salon he had managed for two decades in Beijing.

Though Zhao initially struggled to find a rental property for his new shop, Outsider Bookstore finally opened last winter. Its main business lies in operating a salon that organizes lectures on classics alongside Japanese politics and economy.

“Both the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong are no longer safe,” said Zhao. “Chinese people desperate for free speech are flocking to Tokyo.”

Zhao argued that the growing number of bookstores is symbolic of this trend. Plans to open similar establishments in Kyoto and Osaka prefectures are reportedly in the works, too.

Wealthier individuals from China have been fleeing to other nations for asset protection, improved educational environments and freedom of speech since the COVID-19 pandemic ended, in a phenomenon known as “run” in Chinese.

The word “run” is used because it is pronounced the same way as the English word “run.”

Shigeto Sonoda, a professor of Chinese society at the University of Tokyo, explained, “The ‘run’ phenomenon has been combined with a well-established community of Chinese residents of Japan characterized by high educational standards and rich cultural backgrounds.”

“The emergence of bookstores represents the growing maturity of the Chinese community in Japan,” he said.

Yujian Shufang is a membership rental book shop that opened in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward in June 2023.

Its owner, Li Yingxu, 34, explained that the shop’s 160 members are primarily students and workers who have transferred to Japan from China. Each pays a monthly membership fee of 2,500 yen.

Li came to Japan 10 years ago as an international student. He then earned a master’s degree in business administration studies.

“Many Chinese residents of Japan currently have high educational backgrounds and stable jobs here,” Li said. “They can afford to enjoy cultural productions.”

Statistics from the Immigration Services Agency of Japan showed that 820,000 Chinese were living in Japan home as of the end of 2023. Taiwanese expats in Japan were not included.

Of this total, 330,000 had permanent resident status. As many as 130,000 were international students and 90,000 were workers in the fields of technology, humanities or international affairs.