한국국제교류재단

High-rise apartments are what awaits people who leave exit 4 of Ichon Station on the Seoul Metro Subway Line 4. The neighborhood might look not so different from other quiet towns, but from time to time signboards in Japanese appear along Ichon-dong streets from. Such signs have markedly declined in number over the years, but the street where Koreans and Japanese eat together still has noodle and sashimi restaurants, stores selling Japanese ingredients, and Japanese-style bakeries.

As the neighborhood of many Japanese residents in Seoul since long ago, Dongbuichon-dong has earned the nickname “Little Tokyo”. After Japan’s relations with Korea were officially normalized in 1965, Japanese people who crossed the Korea Strait began to settle in the area. In 1970, riverside apartments were built in the Ichon neighborhood for foreign residents, and Japanese people, who accounted for 17 percent of Seoul’s foreign population at the time, came in great numbers. The early settlers were mostly staff from the Japanese Embassy and employees of trading companies, but the residents today have more diverse backgrounds with the majority in their 30s to 50s and many among them being families with children. Recently, however, more Japanese residents have moved closer to the Japanese School in Seoul, namely into the Sangam neighborhood, for their children. Thus this trend could lead to a second “Little Tokyo” in and around Sangam-dong and Mapo Station.

By Oh In-sook
Illustrated by EEWHA

Ichon StationDongbuichon-dongLittle Tokyo