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Japanese Americans have grown up in the United States, have gone
or are going through our school system and are thoroughly
Americanized and exceedingly well assimilated,
The few thousand Kibei who have been sent to Japan for a
part of their education because of their parents' desire to see
them acquire a better appreciation of Japan are likely, if their
period of Japanese education was long, to be considerably less
American in their thinking and behavior than are other Japanese
Americans. It must be remembered, however, that one of the
reasons for the educational pilgrimage of some second generation
Japanese to Japan has been the lack of Japanese schools--except
for the short session language schools--in this country. Many
other second generation groups have been privileged to attend
special "nationality" schools in the United States. These have
usually been parochial schools, but they have quite frequently
served single nationality groups. In Burlington, Vermont, for
example, there are separate elementary schools for Irish and for
French-Canadian children, in addition to the public elementary
schools. In the school for French-Canadians, the first two hours
are devoted either to the study of French, or to subjects taught
in French (E. L. Anderson, We Americans, 1938, p.114). Thus the
tendency of some Japanese parents to seek a partly Japanese edu-
cation for their children is closely paralleled by the similar
efforts of other immigrant parents to utilize the schools as a
means of imparting some of the old country's values to their chil-
dren, and need not indicate that the Japanese and their children
are any less willing to adopt American ways than are many other
immigrant groups. Rather, it is evidence of the similar reactions
of the Japanese and other groups to similar situations.
Assimilation may most easily be defined as the acquisition
of the culture traits of a particular society by people of foreign
origin or parentage. That Japanese Americans have gone far in
their acquisition of American traits is obvious to all who have
made comparative studies on the subject, but because the false
impression that they are not well assimilated is SO widely en-
countered, a brief review of some of the more important evidences
of assimilation is given here.
II. Evidences of Assimilation
A. Material Culture and Manners
The Nisei dress in American clothes, eat American foods,
buy American furniture, use American cooking and eating utensils,
have permanent waves, live in American-style houses, and in
every life activity utilize as a matter of custom and habit the
appropriate American gadget rather than its Japanese type counter-
part. Of course, the Nisei are likely to know more about the use
of chopsticks or the proper method of wrapping a kimono sash than
C-0367-P2-BU-COS-WP
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"ocrText": "- 2 -\nJapanese Americans have grown up in the United States, have gone\nor are going through our school system and are thoroughly\nAmericanized and exceedingly well assimilated,\nThe few thousand Kibei who have been sent to Japan for a\npart of their education because of their parents' desire to see\nthem acquire a better appreciation of Japan are likely, if their\nperiod of Japanese education was long, to be considerably less\nAmerican in their thinking and behavior than are other Japanese\nAmericans. It must be remembered, however, that one of the\nreasons for the educational pilgrimage of some second generation\nJapanese to Japan has been the lack of Japanese schools--except\nfor the short session language schools--in this country. Many\nother second generation groups have been privileged to attend\nspecial \"nationality\" schools in the United States. These have\nusually been parochial schools, but they have quite frequently\nserved single nationality groups. In Burlington, Vermont, for\nexample, there are separate elementary schools for Irish and for\nFrench-Canadian children, in addition to the public elementary\nschools. In the school for French-Canadians, the first two hours\nare devoted either to the study of French, or to subjects taught\nin French (E. L. Anderson, We Americans, 1938, p.114). Thus the\ntendency of some Japanese parents to seek a partly Japanese edu-\ncation for their children is closely paralleled by the similar\nefforts of other immigrant parents to utilize the schools as a\nmeans of imparting some of the old country's values to their chil-\ndren, and need not indicate that the Japanese and their children\nare any less willing to adopt American ways than are many other\nimmigrant groups. Rather, it is evidence of the similar reactions\nof the Japanese and other groups to similar situations.\nAssimilation may most easily be defined as the acquisition\nof the culture traits of a particular society by people of foreign\norigin or parentage. That Japanese Americans have gone far in\ntheir acquisition of American traits is obvious to all who have\nmade comparative studies on the subject, but because the false\nimpression that they are not well assimilated is SO widely en-\ncountered, a brief review of some of the more important evidences\nof assimilation is given here.\nII. Evidences of Assimilation\nA. Material Culture and Manners\nThe Nisei dress in American clothes, eat American foods,\nbuy American furniture, use American cooking and eating utensils,\nhave permanent waves, live in American-style houses, and in\nevery life activity utilize as a matter of custom and habit the\nappropriate American gadget rather than its Japanese type counter-\npart. Of course, the Nisei are likely to know more about the use\nof chopsticks or the proper method of wrapping a kimono sash than\nC-0367-P2-BU-COS-WP"
}