Abstract
A large number of Japanese members of Manmo Reclamation Group died in Fangzheng County of Harbin municipality in Northeast China at the end of World War II. As a result many Japanese orphans and widows of soldiers remained there as refugees. Since the resumption of diplomatic ties between Japan and China in 1972, Japanese orphans and women in Fangzheng County returned to Japan, and then invited their relatives and friends over. As a result, Fangzheng County became a rare emigration place in Northern China. Based on fieldwork and documentary research, this research aims to clarify trace the development process of how Fangzheng County became a major sending place of new Chinese migrants in Japan. After the Sino-Japan diplomatic normalization in 1972, with technical guidance by Japanese experts, rice cultivation was improved significantly in villages, yielding high quality rice with nationally known brand. Following the returned orphans and women, a great number of their relatives or people from the same community came to Japan as relatives, workers, marriage partners, students, etc., and most of them became long-term residents. The increasing population from Fangzheng remitted money back to Fangzheng, and some of them invested in Fangzheng. Local government promoted development
plans that aimed at making full use of the resources from overseas. Many Japan-related shops and facilities were set up in the city center.
