Generations Of Japanese Americans Research Articles

The racial replenishment of ethnicity: Asian immigration and the limits of Japanese American assimilation

ABSTRACT A growing literature on racialized assimilation notes the likelihood of simultaneous upward mobility and persistent racial marginalization within immigrant-origin communities of color. Thus far, this literature has focused on the ‘new second generation’ and not fully explored how race, class, and immigration lay the structural foundations for persistent racial and ethnic identity and community formations even into later generations. Leveraging 93 in-depth interviews with third and fourth generation Japanese Americans in suburban Southern California, this paper explores the persistent impact of race and ethnicity on long-time, ostensibly assimilated Americans. Japanese American ethnic persistence is directly influenced by the arrival of similarly racialized, high-skill Asian immigrants who inhabit the same middle-class spaces. As Japanese Americans are racially lumped with these newcomers, they assert their ethnic distinctness as they simultaneously build Asian American communities in recognition of common racialized experiences. Given contemporary US immigration’s non-white majority, this study illustrates the need for further exploration of the complex role of immigration and assimilation in shaping and replenishing middle-class minority understandings of race and ethnicity.

11 Sociodemographic, Cultural, and Linguistic Considerations for Clinical Neuropsychological Assessment with Japanese and Japanese American Patients in the United States

Objective:Japanese-Americans are the sixth largest Asian ethnicity in the United States. They represent a highly heterogeneous population due to their history of immigration dating back to the late 19th century. In comparison to the total Japanese-American population, there are very few neuropsychologists of Japanese descent who are familiar with the culture. The Asian Neuropsychological Association lists 16 licensed members of Japanese descent, and only 7 practice outside of Hawaii or California. These numbers suggest that unless non-Japanese neuropsychologists are knowledgeable of the culture, test translations, and appropriate norms, it would be challenging for many Japanese-Americans to receive culturally and linguistically competent neuropsychological services. The aim of the present study is to provide guidance for conducting neuropsychological assessments with Japanese-Americans with the goal of facilitating competent culturally-informed services to this population.Participants and Methods:Pertinent facets of Japanese culture as identified in the ECLECTIC framework and demographics of the U.S. Japanese-American population, and the available literature on neuropsychological tests that are translated into Japanese and normed with Japanese samples, was reviewed by authors with knowledge of Japanese language and culture. Literature published in both English and Japanese were included for review.Results:Psychological testing is a Western technology fraught with the behavioral expectations and values of the culture in which it was developed. Thus, these tests may be biased against persons coming from cultures that differ from the West. Recommendations for providing neuropsychological services to Japanese-Americans are presented with an aim of maximizing test fairness by addressing the following issues: comfort with the testing situation, test biases, accessibility, and validity. Given the emphasis on education, Japanese-Americans should be familiar and comfortable with cognitive testing, although they may experience undue pressure to perform well to avoid shame. Japanese-Americans may experience discomfort disclosing personal information during the interview, particularly if the evaluation is perceived to be psychiatric in nature, as there is a strong stigma associated with mental illness that could bring shame to the family. Japanese communication styles are indirect in nature, where the message is implied and what is “not said” is just as important as what is directly conveyed. Accessibility issues will primarily impact first generation Japanese-Americans who are native Japanese speakers. Another characteristic that may impact responding is hesitancy for guessing when unsure. Recommendations for providing culturally competent neuropsychological assessment given these considerations will be presented and expanded upon in detail. Finally, an online database of translated and normed neuropsychological tests by cognitive domain has been created and will be presented.Conclusions:Providing neuropsychological services to Japanese-Americans can be challenging as Japanese culture is significantly different from western culture. In addition, Japanese-Americans are heterogenous with salient issues of English proficiency and acculturation. Information to individualize a conceptual understanding of Japanese-Americans, translated and normed tests, and recommendations to maximize fairness in testing are presented to assist clinical neuropsychologists provide competent services to Japanese-Americans.

“I Don’t Feel Very Asian American”: Why Aren’t Japanese Americans More Panethnic?

Because Japanese Americans are among the oldest Asian American groups, they would be expected to have a high level of panethnicity since they apparently have much in common with other U.S.‐born Asian Americans. However, most Japanese Americans interviewed for this paper did not identify panethnically with their Asian co‐ethnics, but felt separate and distinct as Japanese Americans. Research on panethnicity has not sufficiently examined why some Asian Americans are not panethnic. Although Japanese Americans are homogeneously racialized as “Asians,” they also resist their panethnic racialization by insisting on their distinct identity as Japanese descendants. They also continue to experience cultural and generational differences with other Asian Americans. In addition, even third and fourth generation Japanese Americans are not immune to the interethnic prejudices, hostilities, and homeland tensions that continue to simmer among different groups of Asian Americans. Finally, my interviewees were not interested in panethnic activism because they apparently no longer had compelling experiences of racial injustice and socioeconomic marginalization. Nonetheless, national‐origins ethnicity and panethnicity should not be regarded as mutually exclusive opposites.

The 99th Battalion

5 w o r k s i n p r o g r e s s The 99th Battalion Kyle Ward and Odd S. Lovoll Our forthcoming book, Viking Battalion: The Norwegian-­ American’s War against Hitler, looks at the 99th Infantry Battalion (Separate), which was a unit made up specifically of Norwegian Americans and Norwegians in exile. While this unique unit would serve in Europe and be connected to some of the most famous battles and events in that theater of war, it quickly disappeared from the history books after the war ended. The 99th was originally formed by the U.S. War Department in the summer of 1942. It was not the only “ethnic” unit the U.S. military tried to create during the war; others included the 100th (Japanese American), the 101st (Austrian American ), and the 122nd (Greek American) Infantry Battalions. While the 101st and 122nd never really came to complete fruition, the 100th, along with its counterpart , the 442nd (made up of second-­ generation Japanese Americans), went on to receive a great deal of recognition for their service. For their part, the 99ers were originally organized at Camp Ripley, Minnesota , and then sent down to Fort Snelling, Minnesota, for the first few months of 6 works in progress their existence. Then the army sent this group to Camp Hale, Colorado, to begin an extremely rigorous training regime in the high altitudes of the Rocky Mountains, where they were trained in mountain climbing, skiing, and winter survival. During their training in Colorado, the 99th was reviewed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the commander-­ in-­ chief. A small part of our book will investigate this brief but highly publicized encounter. We believe that this small unit was highlighted by the president, and given a great deal of publicity, in order to send a message to Germany that the United States was preparing to invade Norway. If the Figure 1. Men of the 99th during their training at Fort Snelling, Minnesota in the fall of 1942. After organizing at Camp Ripley, Minnesota, the 99th briefly trained at Fort Snelling before moving on to finish their training in Colorado. Author Kyle Ward’s personal collection. 7 the 99th battalion message was received and believed by Germany, Hitler would be forced to keep his 350,000 soldiers, plus their supporting planes, tanks, and ships, in Norway, rather than deploying them to other likely continental invasion sites, such as the Normandy region in France. After training at Camp Hale, the 99th was sent to England and then, rather than going to Norway, actually landed on the Normandy beaches about two weeks after the initial invasion. From there, this relatively unknown group of highly-­ trained soldiers was sent across Europe, and participated in some of the most important and significant events in the European theater. A quick scan of their service record shows that they were at Cherbourg, held off SS attacks at the Battle of the Bulge, saved some of the survivors of the Malmedy massacre, guarded the gold and artwork found at Merkers Mine (depicted in the book and movie Monuments Men), and helped liberate the Buchenwald concentration camp. Figure 2. Two soldiers standing by a sign at Camp Hale, Colorado. The 99th would train at Camp Hale from December 1942 to August 1943, where they were put through some of the most strenuous training the U.S. Army had to offer. Author Kyle Ward’s personal collection. 8 works in progress After the final surrender of Germany in May of 1945, the 99th was finally sent to Norway, where they were given the honor of serving as King Haakon VII’s honor guard upon his return from exile. While the men were excited simply to finally get to Norway, some official duties remained, such as helping to remove the remaining German forces and working with Norwegian police and military to get them reestablished. On a more personal note, they also played a lot of soccer against Norwegian teams, spent time reconnecting with immediate or distant family , and for a few dozen, meeting their future wives. Figure 3. Men of the 99th with medical training were part of the original group...

Ethnic and Racial Identity in Multiracial Sansei: Intergenerational Effects of the World War II Mass Incarceration of Japanese Americans1

This paper reflects on ways in which intergenerational familial experience of the Japanese American World War II mass incarceration may have differentially affected the ethnic and racial identity development of multiracial Sansei (third generation Japanese Americans). I begin with a brief review of the literature related to the effects of the camps on Nisei, integrating psychological understandings of racial and ethnic identity development, contextual history, and research on the psychological effects; I focus here on effects for Nisei that have been connected to their intergenerational interactions: distancing from Japanese American heritage and identity, silence about the camp experience, and the negotiation of racism and discrimination. I turn then to the primary focus of the paper: Using a combination of autoethnographical reflection, examples from qualitative interviews, and literature review, I engage in reflective exploration of two ways in which intergenerational effects of the camp experience influenced Sansei racial and ethnic identities that vary among monoracial and multiracial Sansei: familial transmission of Japanese American culture by Nisei to Sansei, and the intergenerational effects and transmission of racial discrimination and racial acceptance. I conclude with reflections on intergenerational healing within Japanese American families and communities, and reflections on the relation of these dynamics to current issues of racial justice more generally.

Race, Place and Historic Moment Black and Japanese American World War II Veterans: The G.I. Bill of Rights and the Model Minority Myth

The most commonly touted social change in the United States following the end of World War II is the expansion of the American middle class. The more frequently invoked narrative holds that the G.I. Bill, by providing veterans previously unavailable educational opportunities, elevated the socioeconomic status of a substantial segment of the American population as they entered their most productive working years. Black and Japanese American soldiers who fought abroad in racially segregated units to “make the world safe for democracy,” returned to fight, with others, for full citizenship rights at home in the civil rights movements of the mid twentieth century. During this period second generation Japanese Americans (Nisei), but not blacks, achieved near economic parity with whites causing some to characterize them as a “model minority.” Historian Roger Daniels, writing that “the transformation [of Japanese Americans] from ‘pariah to paragon’ [was not] merely a mechanical adjustment of market forces,” urged historians to more closely examine the factors contributing to the relative post-war economic success of Japanese Americans. This chapter takes on an aspect of Daniels’ challenge. It asks whether the advantages allegedly conferred on WWII veterans who received G.I. Bill benefits explains the current socio-economic status of Japanese Americans, or whether other factors better explain their relative postwar success.

Generational Differences in Japanese Americans' Preferred Senior Service Environments

Japanese American social service agencies and senior centers were created during the 1970s based on the needs of the first (Japanese-speaking) and second (bilingual) generations of Japanese Americans. In 2011, the oldest baby boomers turned 65. Acculturated, English-speaking Japanese American baby boomers may have different preferences about types of services and activities. This study compared the preferences of 230 Japanese American baby boomers and 183 seniors regarding ethnic-specific and nonethnic-specific social service and senior center environments. Despite acculturation, the baby boomers preferred the mixed service environment that included both Japanese-specific and nonethnic-specific activities, suggesting the importance of maintaining Japanese culture.

Urban space, ethnic community, and national belonging: the political landscape of memory in Little Tokyo

The “Little Tokyo” neighborhood of Los Angeles was the center of pre-internment community life for Japanese immigrants and their children and is still considered the symbolic home of later generations of Japanese Americans in Southern California. Drawing on three years of ethnographic research in Little Tokyo, I explore in this article how contemporary Japanese Americans have used and transformed this ancestral landscape in order to express, contest, and formalize collective memories of the Japanese American experience, particularly with regard to their place in the national body politic. Historical narratives inscribed at many places in Little Tokyo, both informal and institutional, project a narrative of sacrifice, suffering, and redemption in the context of internment and military service, articulating neatly with mainstream American tropes of overcoming hardship as a process of ‘earning’ citizenship and its benefits. However, such narratives are also contested by alternative interpretations and representations of these spaces that describe a special role for Japanese Americans in making demands of their government, rather than just sacrifices to it. The resulting debates, disagreements, and even occasional consensus around constructions of nation, identity, community, and belonging are rooted in the ‘sacred ground’ of Little Tokyo, gathering meaning and persuasive power through their connection to a symbolically dense site of shared memory. The multiple memory projects of this landscape reveal how Japanese Americans have envisioned their relationship to the concept of America, to each other, and to other communities with shared experiences in a diverse metropolis.

From Heart Mountain to Iraq: Lieutenant Watada and a Long Line of Resistance

A historic day. Two generations of Japanese Americans. Key players in political struggles, separated by sixty years, meeting virtually.First Lieutenant Ehren Watada is a third-generation Japanese American who refused military orders to deploy to Iraq. He talks by video conference2 with second generation Japanese Americans Frank Emi and Yosh Kuromiya, leaders of the World War II Japanese American internee draft resistance. Watada is traversing their path of solitary protest.

Shifting Plates: Okazuyain Hawai'i

Okazuya(Japanese American delicatessens) are part of a dying breed of eateries in Hawai'i, originated and sustained by first and second generation Japanese Americans and now in the hands of third and fourth generation descendants. This essay examines issues around ethnic identities, practices, and foodways of okazuya as they are framed and affected by the contemporary social and economic conditions of globalization in Hawai'i.

Influence of the extent of westernization of lifestyle on the progression of preclinical atherosclerosis in Japanese subjects.

To clarify the influence of a westernized lifestyle on the risk factors for atherosclerosis and preclinical atherosclerosis in Japanese subjects, we surveyed a Japanese population and Japanese immigrants in the United States. Based on the extent of westernization of their lifestyle, the subjects were classified as Japanese (J), first generation Japanese-Americans (JA-I), and second or later generation Japanese-Americans (JA-II). The consumption of animal fat and simple carbohydrates increased in the order of J, JA-I, and JA-II, while the subjects with strenuous physical activity decreased in the same order. The waist-hip ratio, fasting insulin level, serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and prevalence of hypertension increased in the same order as the dietary changes. The carotid intima-media wall thickness and the plaque size, which are indices of preclinical atherosclerosis, also increased in the order of J, JA-I, and JA-II. These data indicate that a westernized lifestyle aggravates the risk factors for atherosclerosis and influences the progression of preclinical atherosclerosis, in correspondence with the extent of westernization.

Variation in Attitudes and Values Among Japanese Americans and Japanese Brazilians Across Generations

This paper discusses the acculturation of Japanese descents through the approach of exploratory data analysis. When considering acculturation, it may be common sense to consider that Sansei are more assimilated with the culture of the immigrated country than are Nisei. While observing the survey results, the question “Is this really true?” occurred to me. The point of the study is to examine, by extensive sample surveys, the hypothesis that acculturation among generations of immigrants is of two types, namely: ‘natural acculturation’ and ‘a tendency of turning toward the Japanese way of thinking.’ This is considered to be an important point when the acculturation of a race is considered. The author deals with the degree of acculturation among generations of Japanese Americans and Japanese Brazilians, based on international comparative survey results among the host society, ethnic society and different immigrant groups consisting of several generations. The results supported the hypothesis that acculturation among generations of immigrants is of two types. Possible factors related to socio-education may also exert effects on their attitudes and values.

VALUE STRUCTURES AND PRIORITIES OF THREE GENERATIONS OF JAPANESE AMERICANS

This article tests a powerful value theory delineating dimensions of value systems on three generations of Japanese Americans. Value variation across these generations also is examined. With increasing assimilation, later generations of Japanese Americans were hypothesized to value individualistic and change - oriented values more than earlier generations . Earlier generations were expected to rate traditional and conformity values as more important than later generations. Data were obtained from a mail survey of a western U.S. city with a large Japanese American population , using Schwartz's Value Survey. The sample includes 1,271 Japanese Americans from the second, third, and fourth generations. The results show that the theory of value structure is fully supported in samples of third - and fourth - generation Japanese Americans , but not for the older second generation. In addition, value priorities did vary in systematic ways across these generations, but not to the extent expected. Implications of these findings for this theory of value structure and the nature of value variation are discussed.

The incidence of gastric carcinoma in Asian migrants to the United States and their descendants.

We examined the incidence of gastric carcinoma in Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino residents of the United States to obtain additional information about the etiology of this disease. The age, race, and birthplace of residents of Hawaii, San Francisco/Oakland, and northwestern Washington who were diagnosed with gastric carcinoma during the period 1973-1986 were obtained from population-based registries, and a special tabulation from the 1980 Census was used to estimate the number of person-years at risk for each category of resident. The incidence of gastric carcinoma in Japanese-Americans was three to six times higher than that of US-born whites, with the highest rates occurring in those persons born in Japan. The rate in US-born Chinese and Chinese men who immigrated to the US was similar to that of whites, whereas the rate in Chinese female migrants was twice that of white American women. Filipino men, regardless of birthplace, were only at 60% the risk of US-born white men, while their female counterparts had a rate very similar to that of US-born white women. The high incidence observed among Japanese-Americans and Chinese female immigrants was largely restricted to sites other than the gastric cardia. Our findings suggest that dietary and other lifestyle differences between the different generations of Japanese-Americans, and between Japanese residents of the US and Japan may provide clues regarding the etiologies of stomach cancers that arise beyond the gastric cardia.

Transformations of Tradition: Three Generations of Japanese American Music Making

This article focuses on the performance and creation of music by three consecutive generations of Japanese Americans and studies the shifts in music making from one generation to the next. Two streams of music making, Japanese and Western styles, flow through all three generations. A look at the music making of the third generation, however, reveals not only a broader spectrum of music but increased efforts to synthesize elements of traditional Japanese music with Westem contemporary music genres as an expression of their ethnic identity. Among certain members of this generation, music serves as a vehicle for their social and political views as well. The generational classifications used by sociologists in discussions of the acculturation of Japanese Americans derive from the Japanese American community itself. Specific terms for each generation exist in describing character types and behavior. Issei refers to the first generation to come to the United States before 1924,1 nisei refers to the second generation, born in the United States to issei parents, and sansei to the third generation, born in the United States to nisei parents.2 Such a generational study is possible because of the homogeneity that historically characterizes this community, especially in California, due to the social, political, and economic alienation that many of them faced for five decades. The greater concentration of Japanese Americans in this state also supports a more fertile environment for the study of musical activities.3

A historical comparison of parental involvement of three generations of Japanese Americans (Isseis, Niseis, Sanseis) in the education of their children

A study was done that compared the parental involvement of three generations of Japanese Americans in their children's education, particularly their involvement in academic work and extracurricular activities and perceived barriers to involvement. First generation Japanese American immigrants are called Isseis in Japanese; second generation, first American-born, Japanese Americans are called Niseis; and the third generation Japanese Americans are called The project used a case study oral history approach on 69 Japanese Americans in Hawaii who ranged in age from 29 to 81 years. There were 10 Isseis, 49 Niseis, and 10 Sanseis. Other sources of data included historical documents such as high school yearbooks, school newspapers, and student handbooks. The data were analyzed using a multiple comparative analysis. The results show that ensuing generations of Japanese Americans became more active and directly involved in the education of their children. This evolutional development was highly related to language communication and familiarity with the dominant culture. The Americanization of Japanese immigrants along with succeeding generations who were educated in American schools reflect the role that American parents play in the education of their children. For the immigrant generation, several social, economical, and cultural difficulties acted as barriers to parental participation. with the exception of time and economics, succeeding generations were not hampered by the same barriers as was the immigrant generation. Included are 11 references. (JB) An Historical Comparison of Parental involvement of Three Generations of Japanese Americans (issels, Nisei% and Sense is) In the Education of their Children Alan R. Shoho University of Portland PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THiS MATER I. HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL. RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER fERIC) U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATiON Office ot ECucriSrorve ReSearch anc Improvement E nucATioNAI SOURC ES INF OR MA 1 'ON CENTE R ifRiet Tt,s timetI has been reproth,c a$ 4*.< eevpij from the pe,snrt orpanuaton 0.,grnE0,417 P Molo, crninge5 have boef, rnatie,, ,mv,ove 'ePrOPpollon cluetav 6 PO,r 5 Pt v,ev,5 cr, IPIOns5Inter!,, menf rni r,eCe5..5.0f revreser.T otf,t,a, F RI posrt,cn or prthcy. RUNNING HEAD: Parental Involvement of Japanese Amelicans Shoho, A.R. (1992, April). An Historical Comparison of Parental Involvement of Three Generatkms of nese Americans (Weis, Msels, Sansels) In the Education of their Children. Paper presented at 1992 annual meeting of the American Educationalli eatvh Association, San Francisco.

Cultural change and adaptation: A critique of four articles

These four articles represent a unique set of empirical work on Asian American children and their parents. Their focus is on the cultural context of the family and how it interfaces with socialization processes in our larger society. Specifically, the articles examine how family values and practices are congruent or in variance with socialization activities commonly found in American schools. Shared among the articles is the thesis that immigrant families, as they become socialized into American society, make adjustments in their ways of doing things regarding the education of their children. Each of the articles identifies different forms of “adjustments” that are having positive impacts on the lives of the children, juxtaposed with traditional family values that are more resistant to change. And then of course, there are those adjustments in the socialization process that have detrimental effects on children’s lives. Shoho’s article, “A Historical Comparison of Parental Involvement of Three Generations of Japanese Americans in the Education of Their Children,” examines differences in parent involvement in schools across three generations of Japanese Americans in Hawaii. Using parent oral histories and historical documents, he found that third-generation Japanese American families (i.e., Sansei), although more economically stable, are less involved in their children’s schools than second-generation (i.e., Niseis) families were. The consequences of decreased Sansei parent involvement in the education of Yonsei (fourth-generation) children is resulting in more social misbehavior and educational underachievement than previously experienced by Japanese American families. By stressing educational excellence, the strong belief systems of Asians and Asian Americans encourage East Asian students to persist through difficulties and remain committed to school. “Educational Socialization in Korean American Children: A Longitudinal Study,” by Y. Elsie Choi, Janine Bempechat and Herbert P. Ginsburg, looks at the relationship between beliefs in one’s academic abilities and personal effort. The

A transformation of ritual: The nisei 60th birthday

Rituals are enactments of shared meanings, norms, and values. The kanreki, a traditional Japanese rite of passage to old age at 60, is now being celebrated by Nisei (second generation Japanese Americans). This paper examines the transformation of the Japanese rite of passage to a collective response among the Nisei to the dilemmas of growing older in urban America.

Children of inmates: The effects of the redress movement among third generation Japanese Americans

Children of inmates: The effects of the redress movement among third generation Japanese Americans

Asian Americans in Higher Education and at Work.

What drives Asian American youth to pursue excellence in higher education so relentlessly? This volume investigates the motivations, abilities, and achievements of the so called educational model from native born, fourth generation Japanese Americans to newly arrived Southeast Asian refugees. The educational performance of Asian Americans is one of today's fastest growing minority groups enrolled in higher education programs. This unique resource integrates empirical data from national testing programs, longitudinal studies and academic and extracurricular records along with the higher educational and career aspirations reported by Asian American students. It is the definitive guide for social scientists and educators by informing them of the reliability and validity of standard admissions tests for assessing the potential of Asian Americans students and their subgroups for success in higher education and careers.