In 1898, the Dutch East Indies colonial government statistics showed 614 Japanese in the Dutch East Indies (166 men, 448 women). During the American colonial era in the Philippines, the Japanese population of Davao, most of whom first started out as laborers working in abaca plantations in Davao, were recorded in statistics as only numbering 30 in 1903, then 5,533 by 1920, then 12,469 by 1930, then later increased to 20,000 by 1941. The number of Japanese laborers working in plantations rose so high that in the early 20th century, Davao City soon became dubbed as "Davaokuo" (in Philippine and American media) or (in ) with a Japanese school, a Shinto shrine, and a diplomatic mission from Japan. The place that used to be ""Little Tokyo"" in Davao was Mintal. There is even a popular restaurant called "The Japanese Tunnel", which includes an actual tunnel made by the Japanese in time of the war.