Asia-Pacific Week 2006 Japanese Studies Graduate Summer School ABSTRACT

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"Nikkeijin" in Japan generally refers to people of Japanese descent from Latin America: in particular, the Brazilians of Japanese ancestry who have "return migrated" over the past 15 years or so. In addition to the estimated population of over 300,000 Latin American "Nikkeijin", Americans (U.S.) of Japanese ancestry (AJAs) have also come to reside in Japan. While the Brazilian "Nikkei" have come to Japan primarily as factory workers, their American counterparts are predominantly college exchange students, Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program participants, English teachers, businesspeople and language students. Aside from being of Japanese descent, the differences between these groups are more salient than the similarities: native English v. native Portuguese and U.S. passports v. Brazilian ones are among the factors which contribute to their different experiences in Japan. This paper examines the experiences of Americans of Japanese ancestry in Japan in contrast to those of Brazilians of Japanese ancestry in Japan. Based on interviews conducted over the past year with AJAs living in Japan, I discuss how while the commonality of Japanese ancestry leads to some similarities, differences in citizenship, language and history contribute to very different experiences in Japan.

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