Dekasegi
I am interested in the process people go through in changing from
Nihonjin to Japanese American, or to American. And the reverse process from
Japanese Brazilians to Brazilian Japanese.
Usually the second generation's self-identification is with
the place they live, to the education and socialization they get.
Nikkei Brazilian children are now living in Japan and educated
in Japanese public school for more than 6 years. Are they becoming
Brazilian Japanese, instead of Nikkei Burajiru-jin?
Another question. Do you think the Japanese favor Japanese Americans
over Japanese Brazilians, maybe because of National image and Dekasegi
image, and because of the language status (English vs Portuguese)?
Re: Dekasegi
> Nikkei Brazilian children are now living in Japan
> and educated in Japanese public school for more
> than 6 years. Are they becoming Brazilian Japanese,
> instead of Nikkei Burajiru-jin?
In Japan, Brasilian Japanese do not exist ...
American Japanese also do not exist ... only Japanese Japanese exist.
Homogeneity is the accepted social rule in Japan
and it does not allow for variations on a theme.
When people are granted Japanese citizenship,
I think they are required to take on a Japanese name.
They lose their former identity and therefore become
(Japanese) Japanese.
You are right... Nikkei Brasilian kids in Japan are
growing up Japanese and they themselves probably think
they are Japanese. But I am sure they are always reminded
by Japanese (friends, friends' parents and complete strangers)
that they are different and therefore not really Japanese.
That "incomplete acceptance" is hard enough to take as an adult,
but when you are a kid, it can leave an indelible mark on your psyche.
Knowing that you are Nikkei Brasilian and knowing that
there are others like you raises your self-esteem and
shrinks that mark on your psyche.
I think it is the same for everybody. Some of us require more definition
of self, though... Whatever works. It is a whole lot healthier than denial.
> Do you think the Japanese favor Japanese Americans over
> Japanese Brazilians, maybe because of National image
> and Dekasegi image, and because of the language status
> (English vs Portuguese)?
Do Japanese really refer to Nikkei Brasilians as "Dekasegi"?
I consider it a very rude term.
If it is true, then the Japanese have created this situation and
should be ashamed of themselves. So, in answer to your query:
If the Japanese refer to Nikkei Brasilians as "Dekasegi",
then by all means JAs are treated favourably (by default!).
My Nikkei Brasilian friends are hardworking and respectful of Japan (both country
and culture). I think it would really hurt them to learn that Japanese think of them as
Dekasegi. Nikkei Brasilians are much closer and much more in tune to Japan than
JAs are. And so, perhaps they do know and they just gaman and work harder to
persevere. We, JAs just tend to monku and/or ignore.
Re: Dekasegi
> Nikkei Brazilian children are now living in Japan
> and educated in Japanese public school for more
> than 6 years. Are they becoming Brazilian Japanese,
> instead of Nikkei Burajiru-jin?
I think it is difficult, if not impossible, to change how one was
brought up. I feel a bit sorry for those children of Nikkeijin
from Brazil being educated in the Japanese public school system
to become Japanese. Some one, somewhere will always be there to
remind them that they are not Japanese.
> Do you think the Japanese favor Japanese Americans
> over Japanese Brazilians, maybe because of National image
> and Dekasegi image, and because of the language status
> (English vs Portuguese)?
I feel sorry for any and all Japanese who hold this image of
Nikkeijin from Brazil.
Re: Dekasegi
> Do Japanese really refer to Nikkei Brasilians as "Dekasegi'?
> I consider it a very rude term.
Yes, they are called "Dekasegi Nikkei Burajirujin".
They themselves have been using the term in Portuguese
("dekasegui") to explain the purpose of their stay in Japan.
Well, the image of dekasegi is not so good, a kind of
low socioeconomic status.
So, they are double minorities shouldered the image of dekasegi
and the image of Brazil, a developing country image.
But there is another fact that Japanese Brazilian mixed
people are favored very much in the Japanese advertising
or media industry, treated as well as Caucasian people.
I do know one Nikkei Brasilian (Nisei) preserving very much the ethics
of gaman and hard work. But generaly speaking, we cannot expect it in their
younger generation Sansei, Yonsei, just like in younger generation of Japanese.
Majime, shojiki, gaman, ganbari is not the Japanese style anymore.
I was surprised to know that in a 1994 comparative study of the attitudes
of high-school students, the instant pleasure-loving/hedonistic style
is the most dominant among Japanese high school students,
(second -- US students, third -- Taiwanese students).
Re: Dekasegi
> Well, the image of dekasegi is not so good, a kind of
> low socioeconomic status.
The employment situation of Brazilian and other Latin American Nikkeijin
in Japan is worsening due to the Japanese economic recession.
In the newspapers, stories are becoming increasingly
frequent of Latin American Nikkeijin involved in crime of
one sort or another. This week, a Nikkei sansei from Peru
was charged and arrested for illegal remitting of funds to
Columbia, Peru and other South American countries.
Re: Dekasegi
> Japanese Brazilian mixed people are favored very much
> in the Japanese advertising or media industry, treated
> as well as Caucasian people.
What is the role of Nikkei Brazilians in advertising?
Why are they favored?
I am imagining that Nikkei Brazilians look Japanese,
so they might not appear as "exotic" as Hakujin. I am curious.
Re: Dekasegi
> What is the role of Nikkei Brazilians in advertising?
> Why are they favored?I am imagining that Nikkei Brazilians
> look Japanese, so they might not appear as "exotic" as Hakujin.
In Brazil, the out-marriage rate of Nikkei is increasing generation
by generation, just like JA. Among Nisei 6%, Sansei 42% and Yonsei
62% (according to the Folha de S. Paulo 1995). If this out-marriage
trend continues, the face of the upcoming generations of JB won't be
a Japanese face anymore.
Mixed(-half-, or should I say -double-) Japanese Brazilians,
are favored as a idol talent or model, because their face is
not so exotic, but cute enough with some Japanese flavor.
A glamorous Hakujin with blond hair and blue eyes is a bit unrealistic
to a Japanese audience. And mixed Japanese Brazilians know full well
that they are good looking and some dream of becoming a TV star.
