Faron Samford

Japanese Immigrants as a Model Minority

            Japanese and other Asian immigrants are often referred to as a model minority. I was curious about the reasons this is the case as we have explored many cultures in our class and I have always been interested in Japanese culture without having done any extended research.  Researching into the experience of the Japanese immigrants to the Americas has shown me some of the similar difficulties faced by other immigrant groups, but their willingness to assimilate and adapt to the dominant culture has helped them become a model minority.

            Traditional Japanese family values with regard to gender and family relationships do not differ greatly from conservative American values, which helps with the ability to assimilate. “Fathers often assume responsibility to provide the financial resources for their families, whereas mothers are expected to maintain domestic chores in their role as a housewife” (Seto 168).  This similarity between family values of Japanese culture and the dominant American culture help ease Japanese immigrants into a similar structural norm. In the Japanese culture, “men’s identity and status were greatly weighted on their career achievement,” thus fitting in quaintly with the American dream of improving yourself and station in life through working your way up through a corporation to be able to better provide for your family (Seto 169).  Having similar assessments of one’s place in the culture helps to make the transition less of a culture shock to immigrants hoping to make a start in America.

            The willingness of Japanese immigrants to assimilate to American culture so as to better fit in and improve their chances of realizing the American dream is evidenced by the example that “the popular observance of Christmas has come to be a Japanese commonplace” (Plath 309). Accepting the traditional holidays and cultural practices of the American dominant culture enable them to assimilate more smoothly into life in America. Whereas other cultures reject the practices of American culture, the willingness of the Japanese immigrant to accept these traditions and partake of them is a way to accept the dominant culture as their own and become part of it idealistically, if not ever completely equal due to discrimination.  The acceptance and celebration of the traditional popular Christmas celebration in Japan gives immigrants a feeling of a connection with their home, while sharing the tradition with a new culture, in a new land.

            Traditional Japanese roles of gender have been assimilating to a changing dominant culture as well since they have become part of it. The effects of the gender movement of the twentieth century has also impacted the emergence of the female Japanese immigrants. “The Japanese-American woman writer…is abandoning the traditional silence of her muted culture in order to become part of the larger culture” (Rayson, 44). The autobiographical writings of Japanese-American immigrant women have shown the tendencies of women to acculturate. The experiences of the internment camps during World War II are more often related literarily by Japanese immigrant women than men. The theory is that “the war and internment allowed Japanese-American women to move away from the traditional family system which demanded specific behavior, obligation, duty, loyalty, and respect with observance of rank order between husband and wife” (Rayson, 46). The acculturation to the modernizing gender roles taking place in America at this time enabled the immigrant women to step out of their traditional roles and contribute their experiences to the literary world with their new freedom.

            Japanese-American women writers have continued to enjoy success in this opened gender role, such as Joy Kogawa, whose works “proclaim that various culture groups, once silent, will be heard and their stories transcribed and translated into the dominant language” (St. Andrews, 56). Not only has the assimilation to the American culture enabled them to escape gender roles of the past, but has also infused them with the desire to include their stories as part of the melting pot that makes up American culture. They are taking their part in the dominant American culture by including their stories and the effects they have had on shaping modern culture.

            Researching into the Japanese experience and emergence as a contributing factor to the dominant culture has given me more insight as to why they would be referred to as a model minority. Their willingness to assimilate to the dominant culture through similar ideals, as well as their joining in the movements and traditions to enhance and become a contributing factor in it going forward is part of the core ideal of the American dream.

Works Cited

            Plath, David, W. "The Japanese Popular Christmas: Coping with Modernity." Journal of American Folklore 76.302 (1963): 309-317. Web. 07 Dec 2009. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/537927>.

Rayson, Ann. "Beneath the Mask: Autobiographies of Japanese-American Women." MELUS 14.1 (1987): 43-57. Web. 08 Dec 2009. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/467472>.

Seto, Atsuko, and Mark S. Woodford "Helping a Japanese Immigrant Family Cope With Acculturation Issues: A Case Study." Family Journal 15.2 (2007): 167-173. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 08 Dec. 2009.

St. Andrews, B.A. "Co-Wanderers Kogawa and Mukherjee: New Immigrant Writers." World Literature Today 66.1 (1992): 56-58. Web. 09 Dec 2009. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/40147857>.