ABSTRACT
The growing importance of Pan-American Nikkei events is discussed in Chapter 7. For some time, Japanese descendants all over the Americas have been creating and recreating ethnic ties among each other, meeting for sports tournaments, conventions or youth meetings. The popularity of such events, especially among later generations, also illustrates the Nikkei’s self-confidence as middle-class citizens of their respective countries of residence, resulting in a changing relationship with Japan and in new definitions of Nikkei identity on a supranational level. Nevertheless, the community is divided in their enthusiasm for such events. Furthermore, Okinawa Prefecture as well as Okinawan descendants have been engaged in transnational exchanges focusing on an “Okinawan spirit.”
