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.

Week 8 Blog Post

In “Into the Black Pacific: Testimonies of Vietnamese Afro-­Amerasian Displacements,” Bernard Scott Lucious discusses experiences of three diasporic groups: African-American military men, Asian Women who had relations with the military men, and the Afro-Amerasian children born from the intermixing of these two groups. He uses the testimonies of these groups to show the challenges related to life experience of blackness in cultures of the Vietnamese diaspora in particular. By recording these testimonies, I believe that Bernard Scott Lucious makes adequate work of highlighting the experiences of a mixed race that may not be as well known to the field of diasporic studies. This particular chapter relates to this week’s theme of Displacements because it shows how the displaced black body can adapt and react to the colorism in Vietnam. This chapter also relates to events outside of class because this idea of displacement based on colorism is not only relevant to Afro-Amerasians, but other racial groups as well. It is also not an outdated idea either because many people still feel displaced on the basis of the color of their skin.

Question: What does Bernard Scott Lucious hope to accomplish by sharing the testimonies of Afro-Amerasians with his readers?

http://41.media.tumblr.com/e05d5bd7e99ecd9f9572726e97881cd1/tumblr_njc9miDy8l1qlq9poo4_500.jpg

Bernard Scott Lucious. “Into the Black Pacific: Testimonies of Vietnamese Afro-­Amerasian Displacements.” Displacements and Diasporas: Asians in the Americas.

-Brittany Carlson

Week 7 - William Chan - Louisa Schein, "Diaspora Politics, Homeland Erotics, and the Materializing of Memory"

In Louisa Schein's article, Diaspora Politics, Homeland Erotics, and the Materializing of Memory, Schein brings up multiple ideas and conflicts within the Hmong people. It seems like the idea of displacement or the idea of having no homeland is what causes a lot of these issues that Schein talks about to be created. The idea that the Hmong women are being used and manipulated to be perceived as sexual beings. The idea that Hmong women are 'known' for tourists sexual attractions is problematic within the Hmong people and the article also brought up the idea how Chinese people would use them or marry them as a 'trophy' wife rather then to have a connection through affection and caring. This desensitizes the idea of romance and affection within their people and also brings up different ways women can be exploited and taken advantage of. I just feel like its dehumanizing to the Hmong women as well as the Hmong people to perceive their women to be 'less than' or not of equal value to other's because at the end of the day we're all human. It disrupts the Hmong people's livelihood because people of their own ethnicity view themselves as not worthy, which creates people in teaching the younger generation different about their own culture and ultimately makes their own culture messy because their is conflict among themselves.

What can progress and help the Hmong people to be aware of the exploitation of their women and how can the image of Hmong women be portrayed different?

http://calvcp.blogspot.com/2014/01/changing-cultural-attitudes-on-domestic.html

Louisa Schein. “Diaspora Politics, Homeland Erotics and the Materializing of Memory.”