ABSTRACT
Feelings of Japaneseness were described by most study participants as having an understanding of and experience with Meiji Era Japanese culture, as interpreted by family members. The meaning attached to Japanese American culture for Nisei and Sansei in California may be significantly different from the interpretation of Wisconsin Nisei and Sansei. Japanese culture in terms of “high culture” was a source of fond memories for some Nisei. The view of race and ethnicity as one joint category can be interpreted from a purely genetic perspective classifying Japanese and Americans within an Asian or mongoloid race and placing emphasis on inheritance through bloodlines. Sansei Mimi used the term Asian American interchangeably with Japanese American when she described her work at an Asian American Clinic in California. The depth of knowing about their Japanese ethnic identity depends a lot to what they have experienced in their homes with their parents, at their schools, and in their community where they were brought up.”
