Japanese American Identity & Self-Image | Asian American Poll

JAPANESE AMERICAN IDENTITY & SELF-IMAGE
(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:14:04 PM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

In relating with other Asian American groups, Japanese Americans most exhibit which of the following attitudes?
More Americanized than thou | 51%
More rooted in ancestral heritage | 0%
More anxious to be low key | 49%
More embracing of other AA | 0%

Which of the following has the most impact on the Japanese American identity?
Smallest percentage of recent immigrants | 36%
World War II internment | 51%
Japan's economic success | 6%
Smaller population than other AA groups | 7%

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WHAT YOU SAY

[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]

Decon,
I totally agree with what you said. I'm sick of us Americans criticizing other countries for their atrocities without looking at the atrocities of America and European countries. I think this attitude affects the self-image of Asian Americans because I see some of my fellow Asian Americans criticizing Asian countries as if they are inferior.

Asian American female Wednesday, April 10, 2002 at 05:48:08 (PDT)

I can't put my fingers on it but JAs seem to be very removed from their Asianesque, it's just a feeling that I pick up. Maybe it's their pride and what they have accomlished in the past that make them want to seperate themselves from everybody else. Sort of like taking a hold of the majority (whites) by the throat and saying look here, we're an accomplished group of people and have pay our dues so you better accept us and regard us as a distinctive group of people. Come to think of it, the same can be say about Chinese and Korean Americans. I guess I would say the same thing when this topic is switched to Chinese or Korean American. But I would say the removeness of JAs are more pronounced.
Tay Trai Tuesday, April 09, 2002 at 17:04:59 (PDT)

To you people are fools,

A lot of these posts are from people who have no idea why this forum exists. This forum is referring to JAs and not Japanese.

Please note that the majority of Japanese-Americans immigrated in the early to mid 1900s. Thus, a great percentage of the population now are either 3rd, 4th and even 5th generation mostly on the west coast and Hawaii. The majority of the other large Asian populations such as Koreans, Chinese/Taiwanese, and Vietnamese are recent immigrants or 2nd generation. It's easy to see how a person can lose some of their cultural identity over generations.

I'm a 4th generation (yonsei) JA as are most of my friends. We barely know Japanese although I attended Japanese school for a bit. Both of my parents are not really fluent in Japanese either. As a result, it's hard to identify with other Japanese from Japan or the culture. We are not trying to be whitewashed, but we become more and more Americanized over the course of time. Because of WWII, JAs had to prove even more that they are Americans especially because the US government did not want JAs to have any ties to the motherland.

So in essence, more JAs are much more assimilated into the American culture than the other Asian populations. Whitewashed is the wrong word. We have become more assimilated. I will never forget that my grandfather served in the 442 during WWII along with other JAs who were not allowed to serve in the white regiments. I will never forget the hardships my great grandfather endured when he first immigrated to Hawaii. I am more assimilated, but not whitewashed. I don't understand why more people cannot understand this. This is why JAs identities are questioned more so than other Asian groups. There are stubborn Japanese who come from Japan and look down upon people such as myself because I am not very Japanese.

For the people who post saying that the Japanese are more white wannabes, please understand that they are not the JAs this forum is talking about. The Japanese girls running around with white guys in Hawaii or on Sunset Blvd. are not Japanese-Americans. They are Japanese from Japan who are students or visitors here on vacation. The Japanese men from Japan that work for Japanese companies are here on assignment and will go back eventually. Hence, they are not JAs this forum is referring to. JAs have a long history in the US which includes both highs and lows. True, our ties to our motherland is not a strong as some Koreans or Chinese, but it doesn't mean we want to be white.

Growing up in the LA area, I played basketball and baseball in the JA leagues along with other sanseis, yonseis and goseis (3rd, 4th, 5th generation). These leagues were created in the early 1900s because our grandparents could not participate in sports with other white kids. Can anyone still tell me we are white-wannabes?

To the people who read my post, I hope this clarifies why the issue of JAs identities are in question. These same issues will surface for the other Asian groups in the US further in the future.
LA yonsei Tuesday, April 09, 2002 at 12:30:11 (PDT)

TO T.H. Lien,

I think you hit it right on the head with the distinction between Taisho-era and post-WWII immigrants. Given Japan's economic successes over the last 50 years, there just hasn't been the same kind of immigration to the U.S. that other Asian countries have seen. My family is from the post WWII phase, butI know very, very few other recent Japanese immigrants (as opposed to grad students or executives sent here for a few years).

Most Japanese Americans my age (late 20s) are 4th or 5th generation, I think I have only met 3 or 4 other Japanese Americans under age 30 my whole life who are 2d generation/nisei like myself. I really don't find myself relating with the Japanese American community that much. My experiences are vastly different from the 4th and 5th generation JAs, and definitely more similar to 2nd generation CAs and KAs. But I'll bet you a quarter that 4th and 5th gen CAs and KAs will be a lost like most JAs today.

Man of Lha-sa(mancha) Tuesday, April 09, 2002 at 11:41:54 (PDT)

T.H. Lien,

You may disagree but I don�t think you can compare the loyalty of Japanese military personnel with Iraqi�s. Iraqi military personnel gave themselves up by tens of thousands �voluntarily� when the situation became intolerable for them. The Japanese military personnel typically fought to the end. The Japanese military personnel typically refused to give up even when certain death was at hand. Furthermore, Iraqi military personnel were threatened with death to himself and his family if he AWOL�ed. Japanese military personnel were inspired to give their lives for the nation of Japan. These examples are generally speaking, of course. The important fact is that those JPOWs decided to corporate with US after deciding life and realizing their only life was with the enemy (US).

I agree that Sansei and beyond typically have no ties to Japan, as expected and as you pointed out. However, if you even look at the typical Nisei and even Issei�s, they do not exhibit ties to other JA�s to the SAME DEGREE of other �typical� Asian immigrants. Again, malleability of Japanese and culture that fosters it has been credited for such behavior.

Different nations and cultures exhibit different degree of cultural and social malleability. The Meiji error seems to be what started Japanese malleability (or at least triggered the evidence for it), beyond that of other Asian nations at that time. All the capital and government power could not have resulted in the modernization of Japan, if it was not for the Japanese malleability.

The point I make is that to Asians with less malleability (or strong sense of heritage, if you prefer), the JA�s must seem very unappreciative of their heritage. However, they are actually being more Japanese than people realize (JA�s themselves as well). I simply do not think this social trait of JA�s are good or bad. I�m just a tad irritated when others accuse JA�s of being simply white or American wannabes.

I�ve lived it, I�ve been surrounded by it, and I�ve studied a little about it, Tien.

WT Tuesday, April 09, 2002 at 11:13:32 (PDT)

The identity of Japanese Americans are no worse off than any other Asian ethnic group in this country.

In any case, I don�t like it when Chinese or Koreans make comments that the Japanese American community are white wannabes. Who are you people to judge? I know tons of immigrant Chinese women in my community who have Caucasian boyfriends.

You people are fools Monday, April 08, 2002 at 22:20:35 (PDT)

WT:
"The Japanese soldiers of WWII were known to be �fearless� loyal fighters. However, it was different for Japanese POWs. These POWs felt they have lost their �Japanese-ness� since they have disgraced themselves by not killing themselves before being caught or fight until death. Once they realize their new and only home would be in the U.S., they volunteered information to the U.S. military, which is very uncharacteristic of loyal fighters."
Soldiers coming from dictatorships tend to fall under two extremes when captured. Either fanatically loyal (the suicide bomber type) or rather disloyal. This is usually attributed to living conditions at home, threat of violence against family members used by dictatorial regimes to keep their soldiers under control, etc., and all sorts of other factors contributing to really poor morale. So the Japanese behavior in this situation was no more surprising than, say, 12 Iraqi soldiers surrendering to an Italian journalist armed with a television camera back in the Gulf War. Japan modernized quickly in the Meiji Era because a strong central government realised if they didn't get their act together they would turn into a European colony. They also had a decent amount of excess capital to fund their modernization, courtesy of the hollowing out of the nobility and the ascent to wealth merchants who were held at the bottom of the social structure.

But it really has nothing to do with Japanese-Americans, who fall into two big groups: Taisho-era immigrants, who are mostly assimilated and no longer have any ties to Japan, and post-WWII immigrants, who, like any other immigrant group, still maintain ties to the homeland.
T.H. Lien Monday, April 08, 2002 at 20:22:09 (PDT)

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