Japanese Americans have some handy labels with which to identify ourselves. Nikkei, referring to emigrants from Japan and their descendants, works rather nicely. Yes, it does lump us in with people of other nationalities, and sure, it has probably confused its share of stockbrokers, but these minor details haven’t diminished its omnipresence in our lives.
We also like to categorize each other by generation, starting from the first to arrive in the United States, those pioneer Issei, and heading on down the family tree with Nisei, Sansei, Yonsei and Gosei. We get even more specific by throwing in the modifier for “new” to designate those arriving after World War II: Shin Issei, Shin Nisei and so forth.
Given our penchant for labels, then, shouldn’t we have one for the fastest-growing segment of our community? Well actually, there are quite a few options for describing multiracial Japanese Americans — but none share the same simple effectiveness of the terms above.
Read the full article on Nichibeitimes.com.
Tags: hapa, macdonald, nichi bei times, press
