Japanese American Identity & Self-Image | Asian American Poll

JAPANESE AMERICAN IDENTITY & SELF-IMAGE
(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:14:03 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

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eikaiwa shark:
"From what I can tell, immigrant Chinese and Koreans (as well as the children of these two immigrant groups) have this need to continuously “punish” anyone Japanese, including Japanese Americans for the sins of WWII Japan."
Huh? Then why are so many non-Japanese Asians and Asian-Americans taking Japanese language classes in American universities and find such interest in Japanese pop culture? My frosh year in a section of 15 people, there were 2 JAs, 3 overseas-educated HKers, one Thai, one Korean-American, one Vietnamese-American, one Filipina-American, me and another ABC. My ABC roommate last year listened to Utada Hikaru and Hamasaki Ayumi incessantly. Last president of the anime club at my school was an ABC who couldn't even speak Chinese. Japan's cultural exports are serving as a point of unification for many different Asians in the US. Pointing out the troubles of the JA community has nothing to do with badmouthing, it has to do with two factors used to judge degree of assimilation: language proficiency and communal interaction.

"but I do identify with them racially."
Which means what, exactly ... "Hi, I don't speak your language, we have completely different ways of thinking and behaving, but I'll call you a brother cuz your nose is kinda shaped like mine and we both have extended long intestines?"
T.H. Lien Friday, April 12, 2002 at 00:32:33 (PDT)

To P:

"Im JA and would like to tell you about something that happened to me at work a few weeks ago. I was in a conference call with two white coworkers on my end. A person with a heavy chinese accent was dominating the entire conference call. Everytime I wanted to ask or say something this guy would butt in with a long heavily accented monolgue. After the call I mentioned to my coworkers, "that Chinese guy was very annoying". Later I thought they also must have been thinking the same thing but would never say anything for fear of appearing racist. Was I wrong to say anything or to even be annoyed?"

you have the right to be annoyed by someone's behavior but no need to relate his ethnicity to the matter. We all shouldn't use language racism. Don't bring in the ethnicity or race when it doesn't matter. Language racism is what provokes ethnic or racial tensions in many cases.

No language racism please! Thursday, April 11, 2002 at 20:21:50 (PDT)

Eikaiwa Shark,

I want to say I agree with some of the things you wrote. Are you from the South Bay area of LA? If you are, you'll know that there are a lot of Japanese nationals and Korean-Americans in the area as well. Having grown up here, I feel somewhat insulated since there is a very large mature Japanese-American community. However, I have felt racism from a number of ethnic groups and have been called a number of choice racist names.

It's true that Japanese-Americans whose ancestors migrated to the US in the late 1800s and early 1900s still will be considered Japanese by most people. Note that I stated the majority of Japanese-Americans are of the 3rd, 4th, 5th generation and I never said all of us are weak in speaking Japanese. I do know of a few who can speak some Keigo farely well. You said you relate to Japanese on a racial level. I never said I don't want to feel some tie to our ancestral motherland. Just because I said I have a hard time relating to Japanese culture or the people from Japan does not mean I am turning my back on them or the culture. That's quite the contrary. As part of playing in the Tiger basketball league, we were lucky enough to go to Japan to learn more about our roots and also to play in a baskteball tournament there as the US Nikkei contingent. All of us were very excited since it was the first time for many of us to visit Japan. Living in the South Bay, I encounter Japanese nationals all the time whether it be at the Mitsuwa market or the various Japanese restaurants and karaoke places. When the situation calls for it, I try to speak in Japanese when I can tell their English is not good. Some of the waitresses appreciate it when I try even though it might not be good. I've also been a regular volunteer for the Nisei Week festivities ever since I can remember. And I root for Ichiro just like a lot of the other Asian-Americans do. This type of behavior does not constitute me turning my back on Japanese people or culture. And it is not a "problem" that I or my friends need to deal with.

I don't think you are understanding the reason why I posted on this forum. I have a number of Korean-American friends that I grew up with in Gardena. They seem farely well in tune with the Korean culture because they were born in Korea and their parents are very very Korean. It's so obvious that they will feel more connected to their motherland than to the JAs such as myself whose ancestors immigrated in the early 1900s. If you have a problem with me and the Japanese-American professors at UCLA such as Professor Don Nakanishi using the words "more assimilated" to describe the majority of the Japanese-American community, then please tell me what is a more appropriate term. More assimilated does not = whitewashed. Like I said, other Asian-American groups will encounter the same situations when their lineage has been in the US for as long as JAs. You should know that there are a number of Korean-Americans in the South Bay that are of the 3rd and 4th generation. They can relate better to someone such as myself than someone from Korea. And just because other AA ethnic groups believe JAs are more assimilated does not mean they are taking vengeance for what Imperial Japan did. I believe your thinking is extreme in that respect. They are simply stating a fact that the JA community is a mature community in the US spanning more than a century. It's common sense that a yonsei (4th generation JA) is going to be more assimilated to the American culture than someone who is from Korea, Taiwan or Japan.

Hopefully, I made my position clear.

To nikel, I'm glad you liked my post. You can check out the following to learn more about the JA experience. It's the url to the Japanese-American National Museum in LA's Little Tokyo.
http://www.janm.org/

LA yonsei Thursday, April 11, 2002 at 12:04:07 (PDT)

T.H. Lien,

I commend on your impressive insights to Japanese historical and sociological information. At this point, however, I fail to see where your contention is concerning “seemingly” less importance to heritage and ties for isseis and nisseis living in the US, as compared to other Asians immigrants with strong sense of heritage. I did not want to use the word "integration" since I believe integration and heritage are not mutually exclusive.

As for loyalty of Japanese soldiers during WWII, I did say it was “generally speaking”. Again, what’s important in this discussion is the fact that the same loyal soldier’s “uncharacteristic” turnaround in allegiance once they were POW’ed.

WT Thursday, April 11, 2002 at 10:54:05 (PDT)

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