Blog 8 – Japanese-Brazilians in Japan?

By Eric Yu

As noted by the previous blog post, I have been intrigued about the lifestyles that Japanese-Brazilians lead in comparison to Brazilians. In this chapter, I found Tsuda’s research (2007) interesting because it goes into more depth about this particular ethnic group not only in Brazil, but also in Japan. He goes into great detail on how certain stereotypes have developed about Japanese in Brazil, but some of them have been quite positive and allow for the Japanese to actively assert them (Tsuda, 2007). This is very much unlike how the model minority myth exists, with one possible reason for being so is because of how Japanese is a whole ethnic group, compared to how there are other ethnic groups within the United States. Additionally, Tsuda (2007) makes special note of how Japanese-Brazilians while in Japan seek to assert their Brazilian aspects more. Despite how such people may look similar to those who have lived in Japan for their whole lives, these people do not act in the same way that Japanese people do and are considered to be Brazilians. This particular rejection thus creates the belief of not belonging anywhere, which has been seen elsewhere, such as with Indian-Americans recreating their own lifestyles (Maira, 2005). In other cases, it seems that these people enjoy both Japanese and Brazilian culture, such as by cheering on both Japanese and Brazilian football teams during the 2014 World Cup (Kestler-‘DAmours, 2014). Ultimately, the Japanese-Brazilian experience provides a significant perspective into how those researching worldwide movements should consider.

Original Citation: “Japanese Brazilians say they plan on rooting for both Brazil and Japan during this year's World Cup [AP]”

Retrieved from: Kestler-‘DAmours, J. (2014, Jun. 17). Japanese Brazilians celebrate mixed heritage. Al Jazeera. Retrieved from http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/06/japanese-brazilians-celebrate-mixed-heritage-201461795341638309.html

Question: How has cultural recreation occurred in your life and how have you participated in such moments?

References

Maira, S. (2005). Mixed Desires: Second-Generation Indian Americans and the Politics of Youth Culture. In W. W. Anderson & R. G. Lee (Eds.), Displacements and Diasporas (pp. 227-247). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Kestler-‘DAmours, J. (2014, Jun. 17). Japanese Brazilians celebrate mixed heritage. Al Jazeera. Retrieved from http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/06/japanese-brazilians-celebrate-mixed-heritage-201461795341638309.html

Tsuda, T. G. (2007). When Minorities Migrate. In R. S. Parreñas & L. C.D. Siu (Eds.), asian diasporas: NEW FORMATIONS, NEW CONCEPTIONS (pp. 225-251). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.