A Question of Numbers

This is more of a question than a post. But last night in my drunken stupor I was told that there are around 60,000 Japanese people living in New York City? Is there any truth to this? I believe so.

To start the population of New York City is around 8 million people, so statistically speaking, any group of that size would easily get lost in the mix of peoples that make up NYC. Second of all, has anyone noticed how taken Americans are these days with Japanese culture? Midtown is filled with Japanese restaurants, bookstores, supermarkets, etc. Not to mention Dish in Bay Ridge (small joke, very small). Japanese movies are starting to be shown in limited release here. Japanimation is more popular than ever and you don’t have to go to Chinatown to buy bootleg videos anymore. A waiter last night even told me that St. Mark’s Place in the East Village is like Japanese Harlem. You need plenty of people to staff these places who speak Japanese for all the tourists and fellow Japanese residents who would come there.

Finally, I feel this is accurate because of the large number of Japanese I met in Osaka who thought that NYC was the greatest place in the world and couldn’t wait to go. They came here in droves and sometimes had trouble leaving. I think they want a little adventure, or like the freedom and opportunity (especially women) provided by American culture.

Anyone care to rebuff?


Wisdom of the Day: A sitcom is worth 33,120,000 words.