#日系人

[hearthfire-heartfire]

a brief history of forced assimilation and language loss in japanese american (nikkei) comumunities

[image description: the words "a brief history of forced assimilation and language loss, reflections from kintsugi 2024" appear over a composited photo of a japanese american man with children all wearing their camp ID tags and children with their hands over their hearts as if reciting the pledge of allegiance. the background is the camp barracks with an american flag flying in front.)

kintsugi 2024 was a conference for nikkei folks to talk about generational trauma and repair. denshō, the organization that archives our history related to the ww2 incarceration, released this series of infographics on their instagram page (shared with permission).

[image description: text reads, "in the early 20th century, a wave of nationalistic, anti-japanese sentiment began to rise in response to growing japanese american communities in hawai'i and the US. news articles and publications inflamed anti-japanese racism and created widespread stereotypes of japanese people as 'treacherous' and 'unassimilable' aliens.

as racism and discrimination toward issei and nisei increased, from legal policies like immigration bans to physical forms of violence, japanese families felt the pressure to assimilate and become american by shedding their culture and their ancestral language."

a news clipping from the seattle daily times april 24, 1900 is included with the headline "the japanese tidal wave." all text appears over a posed group photo of nikkei people from the turn of the 20th century. end ID]

"issei" means first generation, the original immigrants, and "nisei" is the second generation.

[image description: text reads, "as issei established japanese communities in hawai'i and the mainland US, many nisei children began to attend japanese language schools. by 1920, there over 163 japanese language schools in hawai'i alone, educating nearly 20,000 students."

the text is above a photo of an early 20th century class of the seattle japanese language school, elementary school-aged children smiling and holding up hoops and jump ropes. end ID]

[image description: text reads, "however, japanese language schools soon became embroiled in controversy as they became associated with labor movements, issues of loyalty and national allegiance, and growing local and national anti-japanese sentiment.

as a result, bills were passed in both hawai'i and the mainland US to restrict the operation of language schools. eventually, japanese language school teachers and principals would be among the first to be apprehended and incarcerated during world war 2, and the war would officially lead to the closure of all remaining schools."

text is superimposed over a photo of japanese americans of various ages in 1920's western wear as well as traditional japanese garb. end ID]

[image description: text reads, "the loss of culture and language continued through ww2 incarceration, especially among the younger generations. a key site of forced assimilation and cultural erasure included the camps' WRA-run schools.

these schools enforced american customs and practices, such as mandatory recitation of the pledge of allegiance, and students were prohibited from speaking japanese or learning about japanese history and culture. these WRA-run schools thus contributed to the state's 'americanization' efforts to turn japanese americans into loyal citizens who could eventually be reintegrated into society after the war."

the text appears below a photo depicting incarcerated nikkei children in 18th century colonial american costume holding up a recreation of the original 13-star betsy ross flag. end ID]

WRA is the acronym for the war relocation authority which oversaw the forced removal of nikkei people from so-called 'military exclusion zones,' aka anywhere within 300 miles of the western coast of the US.

[image description: text reads, "while the removal and imprisonment of japanese americans offered the state an immediate solution the the 'japanese problem' at the beginning of the war, the incarceration gave the government a unique opportunity to refashion the incarcerees into a 'model minority' via state-engineered assimilation programs.

the WRA and state officials therefore began to develop and push what they called 'resettlement' - an initiative for moving 'loyal' issei and nisei from camps into mainstream american societies."

the text appears to the left of a photo of a four person family. the parents wear smiles and hold a toddler in each of their arms while an american flag flies above them in the background. end ID]

[image description: text reads, "WRA leadership believed that dispersing japanese americans and integrating them into white mainstream society would prevent them from becoming dependent on the government for social and economic welfare.

in order to garner support for their vision of 'resettlement,' the WRA distributed highly staged photos among the camp incarcerees, depicting japanese americans living as happy american citizens outside of camp. although many incarcerees remained skeptical, they would eventually be given no choice but to leave camp and start life anew once again."

the text is superimposed over a photo of two people in white garb shaking hands with someone through a train window. two WRA propoganda photos to the left of the text show a japanese american couple at home, the wife sitting on arm of the husband's easy chair while he reads a newspaper and smokes a pipe, and a japanese american child in the middle of a football huddle with eight other children, all of whom are white. end ID]

many nikkei families were terrified to leave camp following the war knowing that americans saw them as the enemy. the people who were lucky enough to return to the communities they had lived in before the evacuation found anti-japanese signs on their neighbors houses and vandalization of any property that remained to them. my great-grandfather's farmhouse was burned down, confirmed arson. i can't imagine going back there and wondering which of your neighbors did it.

[image description: text reads, "after leaving camp, japanese americans would continue to face immense pressure to assimilate - much of it from WRA leaders and officials, who repeatedly emphasized that they should 'avoid segregation at all costs,' avoid speaking japanese and engaging in japanese cultural activities, and join white churches, clubs, and professional associations whenever possible.

the pressure for japanese americans to become fully american and to leave behind japanese language and culture thus started before the war and continued long after."

the text is superimposed over an image of nikkei people in 1940's western dress boarding a train. end ID]

[image description: text reads, "despite this long hisory of racial discrimination, cultural oppression, and forced assimilation, the past few decades have witnessed a rise of japanese americans seeking to reclaim their culture, language, and history:

-empowering survivors and descendants to tell their stories in oral histories.

-preserving and sharing family history through resources like the denshō digital repository, names registry, denshō encyclopedia, and sites of shame.

-retrieving koseki (family registers), the most important genealogical documents for tracing your ancestry in japan

-community healing and repair led by organizations like tsuru for solidarity and the japanese bilingual bicultural program."

text is superimposed over an image of nikkei protestors in the 1980's campaigning for the redress movement, a national coalition of survivors and descendants of the incarceration camps. end ID]

these are some of the specifics related to nikkei assimilation, but it's important to note that this happens to varying degrees to all ethnicities under the american colonial project.

[himikochan]

Hey yo nikkeijin/nihonjin friends my Japanese is not so good could anyone help me find this version of 俵積み歌 (tawaratsumi uta)? It’s sung by a man and there’s an electric guitar and shamisan

[wideeyedloner]

Anyone else grow up watching this?

[spiritualcuriosities]

Meanwhile in Japan, there's a scene in a drama that is definitely commentary on communication in which they debate how to handle squeezing lemon on a serving platter of chicken. It goes something like:

Person A: wait you shouldn't just squeeze lemon on the chicken! Not everyone likes lemon on chicken

Person B: what? Everyone likes it

Person C: no A is right, not everyone does and you shouldn't assume

Person D: then just ask - does everyone like lemon on chicken?

Person C: no you can't ask, because then it puts ppl on the spot and they might feel like they have to hold back from saying no

Person B: so what the heck am I supposed to do???

*person A and C decide to act out what they think is proper procedure. They don't know each other well and don't use any words to communicate what they think is best, they just go straight to acting it out*

Person A: oh, I see there is lemon

Person C: you're right, there is lemon.

*both turn towards person B, concluding the "demonstration"*

I've been thinking about the "it's not that autistic people don't know how to communicate, it's that we communicate differently" statement. True. Very true. 100% agreed. Absolutely and totally valid. But, hear me out: communication is also highly culture dependent.

In the USA, my being direct, literal, honest, frank, answering what I'm asked, and speaking what I'm thinking, is often considered "rude" and "mean". In Germany, it's neutral, appropriate even. In China, I'm being nice because I'm not actually insulting anyone.

Example: "Does this dress make me look fat" when it actually does.

USA: "Of course not! You look great!"

Germany: "Yes."

China: "It makes your ass look as big as the Yellow River."

Another example: "How are you?"

USA: "I'm very well, thank you!"

Germany: "I have diarrhea."

China: "I need to go shit my brains out for the eighth time, you idiot, go away."

[risaruru]

I have come to celebrate shizun's birthday once again!!

[anshares]

Happy Birthday Shen Qingqiu!!

I like Shen Twins Au so I drew these but I also have another idea for this like game style to know more read under the cut

so basically i was thinking isekai game style if you are familiar with how Persona 3 game the ending of the whole story (and some characters) will be dependent on which character you chose (Male MC or Female MC), in this case you chose your route between Shen Jiu or Shen Yuan cuz tbh the way their storyline worked like persona 3

In persona 3 if you chose FEMC most characters who are supposed to be dead in Male Route (Og route) survived just like with Shen Jiu and Shen Yuan like Shen Jiu Route (Bad end) and Shen Yuan Route (Good end). Also I think itll be fun if like they have a favorability gauge with each characters (LBH, LQJ, YQY etc) and they make gestures like peace sign over the eye or heart hands but then when they hit a certain point instead of the percentage lets say 50 percent itll change to color only ala Villains are Destined Die style (if you all know that webtoon) and each character will have their corresponding color and its meaning the funny part will be how Shen Yuan misinterprets the color meaning of it.

As for the respective character colors for LBH and the other i havent thought that far yet but i'm open to suggestions!

[stardust-falling]

沈清秋生日快乐！

Happy Birthday Shen Qingqiu!

[kukuandkookie]

Ehehe I managed to make it after all!! Happy birthday, Shen Qingqiu! 🥰

[msws-art]

[hatumiku08]

(^_^;)

[leechan1018]

𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚 お誕生日おめでとうMANA-様💙 素晴らしい誕生日と最高の幸せをお祈りします これからの人生と最高の夢が叶う 今年があなたの最高の、最も素晴らしい年の始まりでありますように！ p.s. 今日、タイチの誕生日です  . 𝓗𝓪𝓹𝓹𝔂 𝓑𝓲𝓻𝓽𝓱𝓭𝓪𝔂 𝓽𝓸 𝓭𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓜𝓪𝓷𝓪-𝓢𝓪𝓶𝓪 𝓦𝓲𝓼𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓪 𝓰𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓽 𝓫𝓲𝓻𝓽𝓱𝓭𝓪𝔂 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓲𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓵𝓲𝓯𝓮 𝓪𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓭 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓭𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓶𝓼 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓮 𝓱𝓸𝓹𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓲𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓮𝓰𝓲𝓷𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓸𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓰𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓼𝓽, 𝓶𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝔀𝓸𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻𝓯𝓾𝓵 𝔂𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻! . 𝓕𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓝𝓮𝔀 𝓙𝓪𝓹𝓪𝓷 𝓟𝓻𝓸 𝓦𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓣𝓪𝓲𝓬𝓱𝓲'𝓼 𝓑𝓲𝓻𝓽𝓱𝓭𝓪𝔂  𝓑𝓸𝓽𝓱 𝓑𝓲𝓻𝓽𝓱𝓭𝓪𝔂𝓼 . 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑年𝟎𝟑月𝟏𝟗�� 𝟑 / 𝟏𝟗 / 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 #moidixmois #moidixmoismana #MANA #ManaSama #誕生日 #おめでとう #ギター #v系 #ヴィジュアル系 #ゴシック #いいねした人全員フォローする #フォロー返し100 #フォローバ100 #malicemizer #moimememoitie #Guitarist #Guitarist #happybirthday #omedetou #happybirthdaymana #VisualKei #followalways #l4l #l4f  https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp_4U1BNumj/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[anamon-book]

二人だけの戦争－真珠湾攻撃零戦と日系二世島民の悲劇　牛島秀彦 毎日新聞社 装幀＝長峰八州男

[mknjbhv]

专业课程安排，GPA计算QQ微信634068167做宾夕法尼亚大学毕业证成绩单#美国学历#留信认证#大学offer学生卡#雅思托福*留才

[niteshade925]

Another clown

Basically what this person is doing, is walking up to me holding a bag of shit, slapping and smearing the shit on their own face, and then accusing me of doing it

[risaruru]

luo binghe bought a brand new hairpin for his husband's birthday, how considerate !! (some kissies as well...?)