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Japanese language is the important aspect to keep identity (Spanish)

(Spanish) The third generation I would say, after my grandfather, is that [generation] which returns [or seeks earlier generations]. My mother knows a little Japanese, because she lived there for a year. I speak to her in Japanese as a way to practice, but she responds in Spanish. I feel that there is a necessity of knowing, of understanding the other [culture, which is] much more present in me or in the younger generation than in my mother. It is not that she isn’t interested in learning more Japanese; [it’s just that] I believe her feelings of being Argentine run deeper. What’s more, she did not oblige me to study Japanese; I did it on my own initiative.


generations languages Sansei

Date: July 12, 2006

Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Interviewer: Takeshi Nishimura, Ricardo Hokama

Contributed by: Centro Nikkei Argentino

Interviewee Bio

Paula Hoyos Hattori is a sansei born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is a student of letters and dance. Her father is a descendant of Argentine Indians, while her mother is a Nisei, a daughter of Japanese parents. Paula’s particular profile (half Argentine, half Japanese) provides a distinctive vision because of the fusion of these two cultures. (July 12, 2006)

James Hirabayashi
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James Hirabayashi

Little interaction with parents

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

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Jane Aiko Yamano
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Jane Aiko Yamano

Lack of language skills

(b.1964) California-born business woman in Japan. A successor of her late grandmother, who started a beauty business in Japan.

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Jane Aiko Yamano
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Jane Aiko Yamano

Acculturation

(b.1964) California-born business woman in Japan. A successor of her late grandmother, who started a beauty business in Japan.

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Jane Aiko Yamano
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Jane Aiko Yamano

Japanese are more accustomed to foreigners

(b.1964) California-born business woman in Japan. A successor of her late grandmother, who started a beauty business in Japan.

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Roy H. Matsumoto
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Roy H. Matsumoto

Difficulties understanding different Japanese dialects

(b.1913) Kibei from California who served in the MIS with Merrill’s Marauders during WWII.

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Seiichi Tanaka
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Seiichi Tanaka

Understanding Sansei taiko (Japanese)

(b.1943) Shin-issei grand master of taiko; founded San Francisco Taiko Dojo in 1968.

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Seiichi Tanaka
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Seiichi Tanaka

Soukou Bayashi: Dedicated to the Issei (Japanese)

(b.1943) Shin-issei grand master of taiko; founded San Francisco Taiko Dojo in 1968.

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Richard Kosaki
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Richard Kosaki

Teaching at the military language school during World War II

(b. 1924) Political scientist, educator, and administrator from Hawai`i

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Art Shibayama
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Art Shibayama

Learning English upon discovering that family could not return to Peru

(1930-2018) Nisei born in Peru. Taken to the United States during WWII.

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Art Shibayama
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Art Shibayama

Playing baseball along with American Nisei and Kibei

(1930-2018) Nisei born in Peru. Taken to the United States during WWII.

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Kimi Wakabayashi
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Kimi Wakabayashi

Her early life in Canada

(b.1912) Japanese Canadian Issei. Immigrated with husband to Canada in 1931

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Mitsuo Ito
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Mitsuo Ito

Japanese school

(b.1924) Japanese Canadian Nisei. Interpreter for British Army in Japan after WWII. Active in Japanese Canadian community

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Mas Kodani
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Mas Kodani

The performing arts not for Nisei

Senshin Buddhist Temple minister and co-founder of Kinnara Taiko.

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PJ Hirabayashi
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PJ Hirabayashi

Sense of lineage between Sansei and Issei through Taiko

Co-founder and creative director of San Jose Taiko

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Roy Hirabayashi
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Roy Hirabayashi

Learning Japanese at school and at home with family

(b.1951) Co-founder and managing director of San Jose Taiko.

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