There is a Japanese community in the Columbus, Ohio area.
The presence of Honda Motor Company and related suppliers attracted a population of Japanese expatriates to the Columbus area. In 2011 Bill Daley of the Chicago Tribune stated that "the international pull of Ohio State University" adds to the "real discernible Japanese flavor to" Columbus. [1]
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Honda first established operations in Marysville in 1979. Japanese people began living in Dublin and other suburbs instead of Marysville because Dublin established a support system for Japanese residents and the suburbs offered Saturday schools for Japanese residents. Therefore, as of 2013, few Japanese lived in Marysville. [2]
In 2012 Columbus received twenty cherry trees from the Japanese government and they were scheduled to be planted at the Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens on April 27 of that year. [3]
Of all regions of Ohio, central Ohio has the largest Japanese national population. [4] According to the "2013 Japanese Direct Investment Survey" by the Consulate-General of Japan in Detroit, Dublin had 2,002 Japanese nationals and Columbus had 705 Japanese nationals, [5] giving those cities in the highest such populations in the state. [4]
As of the 2010 U.S. Census, 1,071 Japanese people live in Dublin, making up 2.6% of the city's population. As of that year, 122 Japanese live in Union County, making up 0.2% of the county's population. Holly Zachariah of The Columbus Dispatch stated that "It has been that way historically." [2]
Honda Motor Company operates the Marysville Auto Plant in Marysville and the East Liberty Auto Plant in East Liberty. There are also Honda operations outside of Columbus, including an engine plant near Anna and a transmissions operation in Russells Point. In addition, there are suppliers serving Honda in the Columbus area. [6] As of 2011, a total of 83 Japanese companies have operations in Greater Columbus. [7]
A RE/MAX real estate agent named Akiko Miyamoto (宮本亜希子 Miyamoto Akiko) stated in Car Talk that the services provided for Japanese speakers by the Dublin City School District attract Japanese expatriates to Dublin. [6]
The Columbus Japanese Language School, a weekend supplementary Japanese school, serves the area. [8]
Each year the city holds the Asian Festival. Over 100,000 people come to the festival annually. In addition, the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at Ohio State University has the largest collection of manga that is not in Japan. [1]
In 2011 Daley wrote that "The number of Japanese restaurants in and around Columbus ranges from 19 to at least 40, depending on who's counting, and there are dozens more if you tally restaurants under a generic "Asian" theme." [1] Daley stated that Kihachi (㐂八 [9] or 喜八; [10] "㐂" means "喜" or "happy"), a restaurant in Northwest, Columbus, was "so highly regarded" to the point that it was featured in an episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations . [1] In that episode, Anthony Bourdain and Michael Ruhlman visited Kihachi. [1] The restaurant closed in 2018 as the owner decided to retire. [11]
The Columbus Japanese Women’s Chorus (はなみずきの会 [12] Hanamizuki no Kai "dogwood group") includes members of the Japanese community. [13] It was founded in 1995. The group name is a reference to the dogwood trees given to Japan by the United States. [14]
Columbus is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, and the third-most populous U.S. state capital. Columbus is the county seat of Franklin County; it also extends into Delaware and Fairfield counties. It is the core city of the Columbus metropolitan area, which encompasses ten counties in central Ohio. It had a population of 2.139 million in 2020, making it the largest metropolitan area entirely in Ohio and 32nd-largest metro area in the U.S.
Union County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 62,784. Its county seat is Marysville. Its name is reflective of its origins, being the union of portions of Franklin, Delaware, Madison, and Logan counties. Union County is part of the Columbus, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Mount Sterling is a village in Madison County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,945 at the 2020 census. It is a part of the Columbus, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Marysville is a city in and the county seat of Union County, Ohio, United States, approximately 27 miles (43 km) northwest of Columbus. The population was 25,571 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Columbus metropolitan area.
Dublin is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. A suburb of Columbus, it falls within the jurisdictions of Franklin, Delaware, and Union counties. The population was 49,328 at the 2020 census. Dublin has the highest concentration of Asians of any Ohio city. The Dublin Irish Festival advertises itself as the largest three-day Irish festival in the world.
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Kihachi Okamoto was a Japanese film director who worked in several different genres.
The Dublin City School District, also known as Dublin City Schools, is a public school district in Ohio. It encompasses 47 square miles (120 km2), and serves most of the city of Dublin, Ohio, as well as part of the city of Columbus, and unincorporated parts of Delaware and Union Counties.
Columbus State Community College (CSCC) is a public community college in Columbus, Ohio. Founded as Columbus Area Technician's School in 1963, it was renamed Columbus Technical Institute in 1965 and was renamed again to its current name in 1987. The college has grown from an initial enrollment of 67 students in 1963, to its current enrollment of over 27,000 students over two campuses, nine regional learning centers, and online courses.
Berlin is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in central Berlin Township, Holmes County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 1,447. Located in Ohio's Amish Country, the village is part of a large regional tourism industry.
Honda Marysville Auto Plant (MAP) is a Honda manufacturing facility located approximately six miles northwest of Marysville, Ohio, and 42 miles northwest of Columbus, Ohio, near the intersection of US 33 and State Route 739. It is one of the most integrated and flexible auto plants in North America. Operations include stamping, plastics injection molding, welding, painting, sub-assembly and assembly. The assembly plant opened in 1982.
The Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area is a metropolitan area in Central Ohio surrounding the state capital of Columbus. As defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, it includes the counties of Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Hocking, Licking, Madison, Morrow, Perry, Pickaway, and Union. At the 2020 census, the MSA had a population of 2,138,926, making it 32nd-most populous in the United States and the second largest in Ohio, behind the Cincinnati metropolitan area. The metro area, also known as Central Ohio or Greater Columbus, is one of the largest and fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the Midwestern United States.
The Marysville Motorcycle Plant was a Honda manufacturing facility located eight miles northwest of Marysville, Ohio. The assembly plant opened in 1979 as American Honda Motor Company's first production facility in the United States. It was on the original U.S. Route 33, renamed Honda Parkway when the Route was moved, at the site of an abandoned Pure Oil gas station and a long since razed "lubritorium," and the former rail crossing of the abandoned Erie Lackawanna Marion-Springfield spur.
Old North Columbus is a neighborhood located just north of the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. It was founded in 1847 where, at the time, it was a stand-alone city out of the confines of Columbus until it was incorporated into the City of Columbus in 1871. In its early years the city was a popular stagecoach stop with people traveling from Worthington to Columbus. Today Old North Columbus is popular for its local music and its unique "untouched architecture", which is reminiscent of its old roots.
Thomas Morgan Herbert was a Republican lawyer from Ohio who was elected twice to the Ohio Supreme Court, succeeding his father in the seat.
The 2015 Columbus mayoral election took place on November 3, 2015, to elect the Mayor of Columbus, Ohio. The election was officially nonpartisan, with the top two candidates from the May 5 primary advancing to the general election, regardless of party.
U.S. Route 33 (US 33) is a United States Numbered Highway running from near Elkhart, Indiana, to Richmond, Virginia. Within the state of Ohio, it is a predominantly southeast–northwest highway running from west of Willshire before crossing over into West Virginia via the Ravenswood Bridge over the Ohio River. The route runs through largely rural territory throughout most of the state's west-central, central, and southeastern regions, although it also passes through large portions of downtown Columbus.
The COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The pandemic affected the city of Columbus, Ohio, as Ohio's stay-at-home order shuttered all nonessential businesses, and caused event cancellations into 2021. The shutdown led to protests at the Ohio Statehouse, the state capitol building.
Franklin Park is a public park in Columbus, Ohio, United States. It gave its name to the Columbus neighborhood in which it is contained, Franklin Park.
Columbus Japanese Language School is a weekend supplementary Japanese school, based in the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area.
