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Thomas · 06-24-2007, 06:47 PM

Some Nisei friends from Salamanca de Monterrico (Lima, Peru) spent several years in Japan. One came to speak Japanese quite well and often acted as an interpreter between the Japanese managers and the Peruvian laborers at his factory. I believe Kenji is living in Miami now. Richard took little interest in the language, but he remained for several years in Japan. Their father spent a year or two in Japan too, eventually returning. Richard and his dad have been back in Lima for several years. I've also met Niseis from Brazil who have worked in Japan. Not surprisingly, they were from the state of Sao Paulo.

Why were Niseis recruited? Why not Hispanics? The general belief is that the Niseis were recruited so that they would be as "invisible" as possible in a culture not well known to be open to other races and nationalities. "If they look like us, nobody will notice that they are here." Does it sound like Japanese racism to you? It does to me. Did it work? Only to a point. A Nisei from Latin America is Latin first and Japanese second. He wants to dance pagode and axe, salsa and merengue. And he's going to be decibel tolerant, cranking up the CD player a little louder than the Japanese neighbors like.

If you have talked with Japanese about foreigners in Japan, you will hear the usual racist remarks that make most of us cringe. Foreigners are dirty. Foreigners aren't quite as good as we Japanese are. And they speak funny Japanese too.

Being the children of former Japanese citizens did not cut them any slack.
The work done by the Niseis in Japan was/is mostly the work that the Japanese did not want to do. I was told that six day weeks with very long hours at boring, back breaking jobs was the norm. Japan was/is no paradise for Niseis.

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Since your post is so old, I did not make any corrections. I hope the article was well received.

This is a bit off the subject, but if you read Portuguese, try to get a copy of "Coracoes Sujos", a book about Japanese immigrants in Brazil from the late 1930s to the mid-1950s. Very interesting. I do not know if it was translated into other languages.

Good luck!

06-24-2007, 06:47 PM	#2
Thomas Contributing User Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Santo Domingo de Heredia, Costa Rica Age: 65 Posts: 102 Rep Power: 256	Some Nisei friends from Salamanca de Monterrico (Lima, Peru) spent several years in Japan. One came to speak Japanese quite well and often acted as an interpreter between the Japanese managers and the Peruvian laborers at his factory. I believe Kenji is living in Miami now. Richard took little interest in the language, but he remained for several years in Japan. Their father spent a year or two in Japan too, eventually returning. Richard and his dad have been back in Lima for several years. I've also met Niseis from Brazil who have worked in Japan. Not surprisingly, they were from the state of Sao Paulo. Why were Niseis recruited? Why not Hispanics? The general belief is that the Niseis were recruited so that they would be as "invisible" as possible in a culture not well known to be open to other races and nationalities. "If they look like us, nobody will notice that they are here." Does it sound like Japanese racism to you? It does to me. Did it work? Only to a point. A Nisei from Latin America is Latin first and Japanese second. He wants to dance pagode and axe, salsa and merengue. And he's going to be decibel tolerant, cranking up the CD player a little louder than the Japanese neighbors like. If you have talked with Japanese about foreigners in Japan, you will hear the usual racist remarks that make most of us cringe. Foreigners are dirty. Foreigners aren't quite as good as we Japanese are. And they speak funny Japanese too. Being the children of former Japanese citizens did not cut them any slack. The work done by the Niseis in Japan was/is mostly the work that the Japanese did not want to do. I was told that six day weeks with very long hours at boring, back breaking jobs was the norm. Japan was/is no paradise for Niseis. ---- Since your post is so old, I did not make any corrections. I hope the article was well received. This is a bit off the subject, but if you read Portuguese, try to get a copy of "Coracoes Sujos", a book about Japanese immigrants in Brazil from the late 1930s to the mid-1950s. Very interesting. I do not know if it was translated into other languages. Good luck!