Family narratives and transforming identities: three generations of Japanese Brazilians living between Brazil, Japan and beyond

Abstract

The identity formation of Japanese Brazilians migrating to Japan has attracted attention because of the different and dynamic ways these identities articulate representations of Brazilian and Japanese culture. However, one serious limitation in most studies is that they tend to assume a certain duality between Brazil and Japan. Once we consider their family backgrounds and life courses, we will see that Japanese Brazilians can frame their experiences in much more complex ways, positioning themselves not only between Brazil and Japan, but also against an unequal and hierarchical world context. This article focuses on the life stories of a Japanese Brazilian family encompassing three generations, examining how the elder generation develops different narratives which are later reproduced and reinvented by the younger generations. While family members live in Brazil and Japan, their constructed identities often point to a much broader horizon.

Keywords:

• Japanese Brazilians
• identity
• ethnic migration
• narrative frames
• life story
• family history

Acknowledgements

I am deeply grateful to Kazuko, Mauro, Isabel, Jorge and Soraya. Earlier versions of this article were presented at the 81st Annual Meeting of the Japan Sociological Society, Tohoku University, 23–24 November 2008, and the Tokyo Conference of the International Sociological Association, Research Committee 21, International House of Japan, 17–20 December 2008. I greatly benefited from the discussions held during these two events. I also thank Motoji Matsuda and Yasuko Takezawa, as well as the anonymous referees at Social Identities for their insightful comments.

Notes

1. By the end of 2008, 312,582 Brazilian nationals were registered as living in Japan (Japan Immigration Association, 2009). Most of them are either Japanese descendants or spouses of Japanese descendants, but this number does not include people with dual citizenship.

2. Shushin was the name of a discipline in the Japanese school curriculum from 1880 to 1945. It focused on moral education, but at the same time was deeply committed to emperor worship. Shushin ideology played an important role in the indoctrination and subjugation of people in Okinawa, Hokkaido, Korea, and Taiwan under Japanese colonialism (Oguma, 1998).