The story of the Nikkeijins of Davao 

Did you know that there used to be a Japanese Migrant Community in Davao? 

During our history classes in grade school and high school, we were often taught that the Chinese, Indian, Malaysian, and other Southeast Asian countries settled in the country years and years ago. Many of them settled in the Philippines and still have descendants up to this day. But did you know that another group of foreigners settled in the Philippines? The Japanese migrants, or Nikkeijins as they are called, are a group of Japanese migrant workers who settled and lived in the Philippines during the turn of the century. 

During the said pre-WW2 years, Japanese migrant workers or Nikkeijins, the Japanese equivalent of Overseas Filipino Workers, moved to Davao City to be involved with the farming of Abaca. Davao City is also home to the largest Japanese community in South East Asia, with over 20,000 Nikkeijins with records tracing up to 1903. 

The Philippine-Japan Historical Museum was built in 1994 by the Tokyo Musashino Lions Club to commemorate the 30th founding anniversary of their association. Then in 2019, the museum was renovated. It is also where we met Carmen Apigo, a PNJK board member. She also gave us a tour of the small museum yet perfectly preserved this part of Dabawnon history. She narrated the story of where it all began and what happened to the community. 

The story itself is quite interesting, right? So why don’t you include the IMIN Philippine-Japan Historical museum on your Davao itinerary? You can add it while you’re on your way to Malagos Farm. Before learning the story further, here are some FAQs that you might have. 

How to get there? 

Fly to Davao

For our travelers residing in Manila, you can travel to Davao City via Air Asia! The airline offers Manila to Davao flights 3x a day every day! Meanwhile, for travelers coming from Cebu, Air Asia flies to Davao from the Queen City of the South 4x a week! So plan your trip now and book the best seat deals on the Air Asia Website or the Air Asia Super App

Upon your arrival in Davao City, you have three options to choose from to reach the museum: 

Taxi 

From your hotel accomodation in Davao City, you may opt to ride a taxi that will take you to the museum. The average cost of this is around Php500-600 one way. 

Jeepney

From Roxas…