Part of a series on: Kurdish history and Kurdish culture
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Kurds in Japan (Japanese: 在日クルド人, Zainichi Kurudo-jin, Kurdish: Kurdên Japonyayê) refers to Kurds residing in Japan.　

Legal status

Most Kurds in Japan are from shepherding villages in Southeast Turkey and reside in the Warabi and Kawaguchi areas of Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo. Warabi, especially, has been nicknamed "Warabistan"^[2][3] by those who are interested in Kurdish people, culture and issues.

Some Kurdish people arrived in Japan in order to request refugee status; citing human rights abuses in Turkey and Iraq. Nonetheless, so far none have been successful in their application due to failing to meet refugee status requirements.^[4][5] While many obtain visas through marriage with a Japanese citizen, most have obtained "Special Permission to Stay" (在留特別許可 Zairyū Tokubetsu Kyoka) visas, which must be renewed every three months while their refugee application or appeal is being reviewed. A documentary directed by Masaru Nomoto (野本 大) entitled Backdrop Kurdistan (バックドロップ・クルディスタン) documented the legal struggles of one Kurdish family (Kazankıran family: Japanese: カザンキラン, Kazankiran)^[6] from Kahramanmaraş Province.

In 2015, a clash took place outside the Turkish embassy in Tokyo between Kurds and Turks in Japan during early voting for the Turkish general election. Japanese and Kurdish sources claimed the clash began when the Turks assaulted the Kurds after a Kurdish party flag was shown at the embassy.^[7][8]

Famous Kurds in Japan

• Vakkas Çolak
  • Owner of Mesopotamia, a Kurdish restaurant located in Tokyo.
  • Serves as the President and Secretary of the Kurdish Friendship Association of Japan.
  • Holds the position of Secretary General at the Japan Kurdish Culture Association.
  • Also works as a lecturer of Kurdish language at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.
  • He is married to a non-Japanese woman with permanent resident status.
  • On November 29, 2023, both he and the Japan Kurdish Culture Association had their assets in Turkey frozen by the Turkish government due to their association with the terrorist organization PKK/KCK^[9]

• Mehmet Çolak
  • Vakkas’s brother who had been detained in an immigration facility.
  • Featured in the documentary film “Tokyo Kurds.”

• Ramazan Dursun
  • Former provisional releasee, currently on a special permission to stay in Japan with his brother as of 2023.^[10]
  • Appeared alongside his uncle Mehmet in the documentary film “Tokyo Kurds.”
  • In 2023, he testified before the House of Councillors Legal Affairs Committee regarding the revision of the Immigration Control Act.^[11]

• Ozan Uçar
  • Also featured in “Tokyo Kurds.”
  • Arrived in Japan at the age of 6 with his father Yusuf, a supporter of the Kurdish armed forces.^[12]
  • Has lived as an illegal immigrant since then.

• Mehmet Yücel
  • President of Rojava Corporation, a demolition company in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture.
  • Represents the Japan Kurdish Cultural Association, whose assets in Turkey were frozen by the Turkish government on November 29, 2023, due to his affiliation with a terrorist organization.

• Deniz Yengin
  • Former long-term detainee.

Japanese/Japan resident supporters

• Hidenobu Matsuzawa (松澤秀延)
  • Former Executive Director of the “Knowing Kurds Society,” which was established in Japan in 2003 to learn about and promote Kurdish culture and history.
  • Previously served as a Japan Self Defense Force officer and worked as a landscape gardener.

• Tatsuo Nukui (温井立央)
  • Currently the President of the voluntary organization “Together with Kurds in Japan (HEVAL).” This organization operates independently from the Kurdish People’s Association and focuses on local activities.

• Akinobu Kinoshita (木下顕伸)
  • Holds the position of Representative Director at the Japan Kurdish Friendship Association.

• Mitsuhiro Kimura (木村三浩)
  • Serves as an Advisor for the Japan Kurdish Exchange Liaison Association.
  • Also known as a representative of Issui-kai, a right-wing Pan-Asianism group.

• Gen Nakatani　(中谷元)
  • Currently the Chairman of the Japan-Kurdish Parliamentary Friendship Association.
  • A member of the House of Representatives of the Liberal Democratic Party.
  • Former Japan Self-Defense Forces officer.
  • Additionally, he advises the Prime Minister on international human rights issues and chairs the Japan-Israel Parliamentary Friendship League.

• Masamune Wada (和田政宗)
  • Holds the position of Secretary General within the Japan-Kurdish Parliamentary Friendship Association.
  • A member of the House of Councilors of the Liberal Democratic Party.

• Yoshitaka Shindo (新藤義孝)
  • Vice President of the Japan-Kurdish Parliamentary Friendship Association.
  • Represents the House of Representatives from Saitama’s 2nd election district (Kawaguchi city).
  • Currently serves as the minister in charge of economic revival as of 2024.

• Sangmun (Naofumi) Fukushima (福島尚文)
  • Co-chairman of the “Kurdish Refugee Association with Deniz-san.”
  • Also a board member of the Cultural Center Arirang.
  • Former reporter for Kyodo News.
  • Represents the demonstration “Stop Constitutional Revision and War March” organized by the Revolutionary Communist League, National Committee, which is designated as "ultra-left vandalism group" by Japanese police.^[13]

• Kaori Shu (周香織)
  • Secretary of the "Association to Support Kurdish Refugee M-san."

• Il-sung Nakamura (中村一成)
  • Former reporter for the Mainichi Shimbun and freelance journalist.

• Tsuyoshi Ohashi (大橋毅)
  • Secretary General of Kurdish Refugee Lawyers Association.
  • Attorney at Law.

• Taiga Ishikawa (石川大我)
  • Member of the House of Councilors of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

• Mizuho Fukushima (福島瑞穂)
  • Representative of the Social Democratic Party.