Descendants of the first Japanese colony, people who formed a community in La Vigía, Dajabón with the support of then dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, recently celebrated the 69th anniversary of their ancestors’ arrival in the Dominican Republic with the inaugural Dajapón Fest, the first Japanese Cultural and Gastronomical Festival.
The all-day event was held on Saturday, 26 July and Sunday, 27 July 2025 at the “Colonia Japonesa” park in Dajabón, and showcased the enduring presence and vibrant culture of the Japanese community in the region. Japanese art and crafts were exhibited, several original descendants were honored and the stories of the first migrants were told.
Listin Diario interviewed Omar Mukai, president of the Association of Descendants of the First Japanese Colony, who expressed his gratitude for the overwhelming public support. He emphasized that the festival was born from a desire within the community to highlight that a living Japanese community still thrives in Dajabón.
“We are representing Japanese culture here, and with this, we are also promoting this colony that perhaps many are not aware of, but it is the first Japanese colony here in the Dominican Republic,” Mukai stated.
Takeshi Mukai, a businessman who arrived in the Dominican Republic as a child with his Japanese parents, offered a striking perspective on his adopted homeland. Mukai declared the Dominican Republic to be the best country in the world. “There is no better country, not Japan, not the United States; this is the best country,” the businessman asserted.
Takeshi Mukai also provided historical context, explaining that Japanese immigrants arrived in the Dominican Republic in three distinct groups. The first colony settled in La Vigía in 1956. A second group arrived in Constanza in 1957, with the third and final wave, including the Mukai family, reaching Pedernales. Others relocated later to Bonao and Jarabacoa.
The initial wave of Japanese migration to the Dominican Republic was a direct consequence of the devastation wrought by the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II, which prompted many Japanese to leave their country.
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Listin Diario
Diario Libre
28 July 2025