Last February they were revealed Several graphics They found two things. What Japan is living a boom of “foreigners” arrivals As it is not remembered, and that this volume of travelers has triggered a flag above others: China. Then it was known that Japanese art schools had become In “Passport” For young Chinese, and who began to give them neighborhoods with Chinese than Japanese.
Now the run-ri has landed.
The birth of a phenomenon. I explained it a few days ago The Financial Times. The massive arrival of the Chinese middle class to Tokyo has resulted in an unexpected and deep phenomenon. What began as individual decisions, motivated by the search for stability, personal freedom and a safer life for their children, has become a migratory wave baptized as run-riterm that combines the idea of prosperity and flight with the word Japan.
Unlike previous migratory waves from China, these families arrive With considerable assetsa marked obsession with education and the firm conviction that Tokyo offers a more fair, rational and balanced environment than contemporary China. The 2020 pandemic and Shanghai’s confinement in 2022 acted as Psychological inflection point: Many discovered that the State could ignore the middle class, and decided to escape towards a perceived country as stable, safe and without extreme nationalisms.
Tokyo as a refuge. Japan, despite his economic stagnation From decades, it offers social peace, reliable medical services, safe streets and an open education system in a context of Birth in collapse. That has facilitated the integration of thousands of Chinese children In public schools in Tokyoalthough he has also created an environment of fierce competition academic among newcomers.
The epicenter of this transformation It’s bunkyodistrict that has become an educational and residential pole of this new diaspora. However, this concentration also generates tensions. The Times told Cases of some immigrants, such as CAO, an executive who sought to move again to escape the same rivalries and community dynamics that fled in China.
Economic impact and effects. Chinese capital flow has caused a remarkable rise In real estate prices From Tokyo, especially in exclusive neighborhoods such as Azabu, Aoyama or Toyosu Bay. Real estate in luxury towers are sold up to 20% to buyers with Chinese names, and the Toyota Alphard It has become a status aspirational symbol among newcomers.
For some, Tokyo is investment and second residencefor others, a definitive retreat. At the same time, a network of clandestine banks facilitates capital exit From China to Japanwith backpacks full of yen changed discreetly in improvised offices. This money circuit, in which families of High Chinese officialsunderlines the magnitude and complexity of the phenomenon.
The cultural dimension. Plus: Run-ri is not limited to the economic. Together with high -level businessmen and professionals, a growing number of intellectuals and dissidents It is installed in Tokyo. Libraries Like Nowhere Party or One Way Street They have become spaces of freedom where prohibited books circulate in China and critical debates with Beijing are organized.
Some, like him dissident jiathey find in the Japanese capital a shelter to live without fear, although they also feel the weight of having abandoned the political struggle in their country. The convergence of Chinese wealth and intellectual capital in Tokyo is configuring A unique community that mixes economic ambitions with cultural and political drives, to the point that analysts warn that Beijing could increase its surveillance on these networks.
Japan, between opportunity and suspicion. For an aged country and in demographic declinethe arrival of these immigrants could become a revulsive, providing entrepreneurial energy and new innovation networks. Some economists even speak of the birth of Japan as a “migratory superpower”capable of integrating foreign talent without formally opening its doors.
Of course, not everything is optimism: nationalist parties already They have warned of the risk of a real estate bubble caused by Chinese buyers, and sectors of the Japanese population perceive as humiliating that richer citizens of the neighboring country challenge the historical status of Japan as the most prosperous nation of Asia.
Uncertain future. In short, the Run-ri phenomenonalthough incipient, its magnitude grows at a dizzying pace: it is estimated that in 2025 the Chinese in Japan They will reach the million. If the nation manages to manage this flow without becoming a cultural and economic shock, Tokyo could be consolidated as the largest integration laboratory of the new Chinese elite abroad.
On the contrary, if it does not, the rise of social and political tensions could tarnish what for thousands of families has become the “Bolthole of the rising sun ”: a shelter to rebuild their lives away from a Beijing that they no longer feel like a home.
Image | Pexels, Shankar s.
In Xataka | The Chinese are traveling in mass to Japan and not just for tourism. Many of them arrive so as not to return
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