Subject: "Am I too Japanese to be a Nikkei-jin?"
(Was: Awareness)
I need to figure something out. Am I (a postwar nisei)
a weird Nikkeijin or what?
Am I more Japanese than most Nikkeijin or what?
I'm extremely curious.
> With the issei virtually all gone, American Nikkeijin
> no longer have access to living history which is where
> culture and heritage comes from.
Is this really true? Where I live in the South, it seems like there
are barely any Nikkeijin (maybe I just don't know where they are) and
mostly Japanese nationals who come here on business for a couple of years.
Even though I have learned a lot from Ties Talk, I still don't know
that many Nikkeijin.
What's the deal here? Is it really odd that I go to Japan almost
every year? Is it weird that I speak Japanese without an English
accent even though I'm a Nisei?
Subject: Re: "Am I too Japanese to be a Nikkei-jin?"
> > With the issei virtually all gone, American Nikkeijin
> > no longer have access to living history which is where
> > culture and heritage comes from.
>
> Is this really true? Where I live in the South, it seems
> like there are barely any Nikkeijin (maybe I just don't know
> where they are) and mostly Japanese nationals who come here
> on business for a couple of years. Even though I have learned
> a lot from Ties Talk, I still don't know that many Nikkeijin.
What the person who posted the previous message referred to
are the Nikkei who are the descendants of earlier immigrants --
those families who immigrated before the Second World War.
Those original issei are nearly all gone, and I (a sansei)
hear the average age of the nisei is about 80.
The scattering of these families, from what I can gather, is limited
somewhat to those areas that would accept Nikkei after the camps closed.
I know that this includes some southern states, including Louisiana.
Many Nikkei returned to the West Coast when they were allowed, and
if they ever got enough money to return.
My family resettled in the South, but most of the other interned
families eventually moved back to California, so the older Nikkei
families in the South are few, and most Nikkei are those who came
after the War and their offspring (like yourself). Most of the newer
Nikkei still have close, first degree relatives in Japan,
so they go back regularly for visits. I would say that nearly all of
the newer nisei of my generation speak standard American English, and
know varying amounts of Japanese. So no, you are not weird or alone
at all. History and demographics plays a big role in what is around
you.
There are some individual Nikkei families in the South who are
personal friends of my family. Generally, they ended up there
because of their work or schooling.
Subject: Re: "Am I too Japanese to be a Nikkei-jin?"
> Is it really odd that I go to Japan almost every year?
> Is it weird that I speak Japanese without an English
> accent even though I'm a Nisei?
I (a southern California sansei in his mid-thirties)
think it's good for a Japanese American person to be more Japanese
minded and act more traditional. I think it's good that you are being
more "Japanese" and going to Japan every year and speaking Japanese
like a native speaker. That's cool. You should keep it up and
continue with what you are doing. Don't feel ashamed or pressured to
change.
I think alot of Japanese American people today don't have or act with
much pride about their cultural background. To be honest, I don't
think many of these Japanese American people today may not have as
much pride or maybe even respect for their Japanese background, which
I feel is sad. I feel alot of them maybe becoming so Americanized
that they don't care or follow the Japanese side of their culture.
What do you people think? Do you agree with me?
Subject: Re: "Am I too Japanese to be a Nikkei-jin?"
> I think it's good for a Japanese American person to be more
> Japanese minded and act more traditional. I think it's good
> that you are being more "Japanese" and going to Japan every year
> and speaking Japanese like a native speaker. That's cool.
> You should keep it up and continue with what you are doing.
> Don't feel ashamed or pressured to change.
I am not in a rush to become American like I was when I was younger.
In fact, I'm majoring in Asian studies at college. I mean how
Asian American can you get!? But still I was just wondering what's
the percentage of Nikkei who actually know their Japanese language
and culture?
Also I don't think that acting Japanese minded is acting more traditional.
That, I think, is a huge misunderstanding. I hope I'm not being too picky,
but I just don't how people understand what "being Japanese" means.
Thanks for the replies! I love hearing from everyone. It gives me
a sense of being part of a community or something? I luv this mailing list!
I really do. (Gosh how long have I been on it anyway? haha)...
Subject: Re: "Am I too Japanese to be a Nikkei-jin?"
> I am not in a rush to become American like I was when I was younger.
I am sure you mean "mainstream majority American" (i.e. white).
If you are an American citizen and a resident in the U.S.,
you are "American" (like it or not). :-)
> What's the percentage of Nikkei who actually know their
> Japanese language and culture?
For me, I (a sansei) can understand "some" everyday spoken Japanese,
since I have a first-generation (issei) Japanese mom, but I can't say
that I know the Japanese language. I didn't have much opportunity to
use it where I grew up in the Midwest.
> I think alot of Japanese American people today don't have or act
> with much pride about their cultural background. To be honest,
> I don't think many of these Japanese American people today may
> not have as much pride or maybe even respect for their Japanese
> background, which I feel is sad. I feel alot of them maybe
> becoming so Americanized that they don't care or follow the
> Japanese side of their culture.
I can't really blame the JAs that don't know any Japanese language
or traditions because many never got it from their parents, families,
or surrounding community. But if you grow up with it, it's just a part
of who you are.
As for me, I have met so many different kinds of "Japanese/JA" people,
that it's really hard to say exactly what "being Japanese" means (opinion).
It bothers me a bit when people say Japan is a homogeneous country/people.
There's differences by region, generation, country vs city, etc.
It's kind of hard to hold onto stereotypes, but maybe one can make
a few rough generalizations. What do you think?
> I love hearing from everyone. It gives me a sense of being part
> of a community or something? I luv this mailing list! I really do.
I'm glad you're a "Ties-Talker" too.
Subject: Re: "Am I too Japanese to be a Nikkei-jin?"
> > Am I (a postwar nisei) a weird Nikkeijin or what?
> > Am I more Japanese than most Nikkeijin or what?
> > I am not in a rush to become American like I was when I
> > was younger.
>
> I am sure you mean "mainstream majority American" (i.e. white).
> If you are an American citizen and a resident in the U.S.,
> you are "American" (like it or not). :-)
I agree.
There are a lot of stereotypes, or, should I say, old definitions
being invoked here -- too old for someone as young as you to be using.
A Nikkei-jin isn't always somebody whose family was interned and has
lost touch with Japan. It has been 55 years since the end of the war,
and immigrants have come from Japan for much of that time, granted
in smaller numbers -- but they are also Nikkei. Likewise, the mainstream
concept of what is an "American" does not fit with today's broader reality.
You are American -- don't let anybody tell you otherwise!
Subject: Re: "Am I too Japanese to be a Nikkei-jin?"
> > I think it's good for a Japanese American person to be more
> > Japanese minded and act more traditional.
>
> I don't think that acting Japanese minded is acting more
> traditional. That, I think, is a huge misunderstanding.
> I hope I'm not being too picky, but I just don't how people
> understand what "being Japanese" means.
What do you consider more traditional? What is your definition?
I (a southern California sansei in his mid-thirties) meant
being concerned with Japanese customs, news, current events,
activities, sports, culture. What do you think?
Subject: Re: "Am I too Japanese to be a Nikkei-jin?"
> What do you consider more traditional? What is your definition?
> I meant being concerned with Japanese customs, news, current
> events, activities, sports, culture. What do you think?
I (a sansei) think that this is not so much "traditional"
than becoming connected with modern Japanese culture and society.
When I think "traditional", I think of the old values of the Meiji era
(and before) that my issei grandparents brought to this country and
tried to instill in even my (sansei) generation.
The Japan of today is quite different from the Japan of my ancestors,
and perhaps resembles more the US of today. In fact, Japanese family
friends in Japan of my parents' generation are always lamenting the
loss of Japanese culture and tradition in Japan. Geez -- I saw a
blurb that there's even a version of the "Millionaire" show in Japan!
It hit me during my last trip to Japan that as a 30-something, I felt
"traditional" and "less-Americanized" compared to many of the Japanese
teenagers and 20-somethings I met. That struck me as really strange
given that I AM American, but I figured that some of what I was raised
with under the rubric of "Japanese culture and tradtion" had more to
do with the Japan of my Meiji-raised grandparents. For example, some of
the basic (Japanese-style) table manners I was taught were either not
observed, or commented on as "quaint." There are also Japanese words
our parents taught us that should not be used in modern Japan
(e.g., better to say "otearai" rather than "obenjo"; "chuugokujin"
instead of "shinajin")...on the other hand, maybe I am just getting old.
> What's the percentage of Nikkei who actually know their
> Japanese language and culture?
I remember reading somewhere that among the nisei of the early
(pre-War) immigration, only 5% had useable Japanese language skills
(i.e., a level where they could be useful as interpreters during
the War). I expect that the knowledge of the language among nisei
of the more recent generations could be lower, since post-War immigrants
were often better educated and had better English language training.
My nisei parents and others of their generation were forced to speak
Japanese because their issei parents didn't know any English. Many of
my agemate niseis (post-War) learned little Japanese in the home
because their parents could also speak English. I'm sure you must know
the routine where the parents decide to speak to the kids
in Japanese only to have the children answer in English?
My parents never had that out, they had to respond in Japanese.
> I am not in a rush to become American like I was when I was younger.
> In fact, I'm majoring in Asian studies at college. I mean how
> Asian American can you get!?
I'm curious what you mean by feeling "in a rush to become American."
I think you are nisei, so you are American! Your decision to major
in Asian studies is also especially American, as you say, Asian American.
Subject: Re: "Am I too Japanese to be a Nikkei-jin?"
> The Japan of today is quite different from the Japan
> of my ancestors, and perhaps resembles more the US of today.
> In fact, Japanese family friends in Japan of my parents'
> generation are always lamenting the loss of Japanese culture
> and tradition in Japan.
Here is a posting I found on the National Japanese American Historical
Society "JA Connection" Community Bulletin Board
(http://www.njahs.org/jaconnect.html):
> The Japan that the issei had left a "traditional" culture that
> was not a modernized industrialized nation like today. The issei
> left a poor, impoverished country in order to combat starvation.
> Possessing a traditional Japanese society with values such as
> "giri", the issei brought these values to Hawaii and the US
> mainland with them.
>
> When immigration from Japan became prohibited in 1924, the
> Japanese culture that came to America became stuck in a "time warp".
> There was no contact with Japan. The culture of the issei was
> uninfluenced by the eventual modernization and culture of Japan.
>
> Today, expecially in Hawaii, Japanese Americans observe obon dance,
> float lanterns in honor of the dead, oshogatsu and giri much more
> than their counterparts in Japan because of this "time warp" that
> kept these traditions alive, while in Japan, western influence have
> obscured the importance of these very same traditions.
>
> I once read a book (forgot the title) written for men who are
> interested in meeting Japanese girls. The author suggested that
> if one is interested in a Japanese female with "traditional values",
> one will find better luck in Hawaii then in any part of Japan.
>
> In my personal experience, I once went with a girl from a surburb
> of Tokyo to the Meiji shrine. There it was I who had to show her
> (in what order to clap ones hands together how many times, when to
> bow one's head, when to throw the token coin and how many times to
> clap after that. (I'm sansei from Hawaii).
>
> It was I who had to teach another Japanese girl that when you
> light senko (incense) at Asakusa-jinja in Tokyo, you don't blow
> out the flame, you wave it until it goes out.
> Another experience was when I was in Okinawa at the dinner table
> at a relative's house. Before I took food with my chopsticks from
> the main serving dish, I inverted my chopstick first so as to not
> transmit my "germs" to the main dish. My relatives were so amazed
> since only the elderly did this.
>
> It was I who had to teach my distant cousins in Okinawa the words to
> "Asatoya yunta", because they said, only "old people knew that song".
>
> Lastly, it was I, a GI stationed in Japan, who taught Japanese
> people of my age group (30-something) how to do the "tanko bushi"
> dance at an obon festival held at the Naval Air station at Atsugi.
> They did not know the movements, nor did they know the words.
My experience is similar to this person's. I posted a website
"About Obon" with the original intent of providing information to
Nikkei-jin and non-Japanese, but lately the people sending me questions
about Obon have been young Japanese nationals!
Subject: Re: "Am I too Japanese to be a Nikkei-jin?"
> Is it really odd that I go to Japan almost every year?
> Is it weird that I speak Japanese without an English
> accent even though I'm a Nisei?
There's a bunch of Nikkei like you who go to Japan all the time to buy
the latest J pop album, go shopping in Shibuya, visit the relatives, etc, etc.
Most of those people I know, though, don't really consider themsleves
Japanese Americans. Some don't really consider themsleves Japanese either.
It's sorta a grey area in between.
Some of my friends in LA are like that. We mix in Japanese alot
especially when we're talking trash about the person next to us.
And we're always renting Japanese TV programs at the local J-town
rental store.
Recently, my Japanese/ Nikkei identity was put through a test.
The other day I (a yonsei working in Japan) was walking home from
work with my Japanese boyfriend and I was really, really tired.
He says to me, "Kyou yasunde. Kayowai kara...."
(You should get some rest because you're weak and feeble.)
At first I didn't know what kayowai meant so I looked it up and
got the above translation. I got pretty pissed. He told me that
girls tend to be flattered when they are called "kayowai" because
it shows that the person who is saying it thinks they are cute in
a fragile way. I didn't buy it but later on I asked my Japanese
girlfriends and they all seemed to agree with my boyfriend.
Even one of my friends who lived in the US for several years and
is more feminist than me didn't have a problem with the word.
I think differences like this make me realize I am not Japanese.
Subject: Re: "Am I too Japanese to be a Nikkei-jin?"
> Girls tend to be flattered when they are called "kayowai"
> because it shows that the person who is saying it thinks
> they are cute in a fragile way. I didn't buy it but later on
> I asked my Japanese girlfriends and they all seemed to agree.
> Even one of my friends who lived in the US for several years
> and is more feminist than me didn't have a problem with the
> word. I think differences like this make me realize I am not
> Japanese.
Trips to Japan help Nikkei-jin define the boundaries of identity.
Of course, knowledge of the history that happened in North America
is also necessary to complete the boundaries. How much of a Nikkei-jin's
thinking that they must be "Japanese" is due to internalization of
mainstream society's stereotypes -- that mainstream society doesn't
seem to be a category "looks Asian, but acts/thinks Western"?
