Linfield College

DigitalCommons@Linfield Fulbright Grantee Projects

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1-1-2012

Japoñolés: The Use of Japanese, Spanish, and English in the Peruvian Japanese Community Lily Niland

Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/fulbright Part of the Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, East Asian Languages and Societies Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, International and Intercultural Communication Commons, and the Latin American Languages and Societies Commons Recommended Citation Niland, Lily, "Japoñolés: The Use of Japanese, Spanish, and English in the Peruvian Japanese Community" (2012). Fulbright Grantee Projects. Presentation. Submission 2. http://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/fulbright/2

This Presentation is brought to you for free via open access, courtesy of DigitalCommons@Linfield. For more information, please contact [email protected].

Japoñolés

The use of Japanese, Spanish, and English

in the Peruvian Japanese community

Lily Niland

How did this project come about?

• Baseball

• Spanish

• Japanese

• Linfield!

Historical Context

• Pre-war period

→ Migration from Japan to Peru

→ Influence from Okinawa

• World War II

→ Discrimination

→ Assimilation

• Early post-war period

→ Loss of Japanese language

• Dekasegi Phenomenon

→ Migration from Peru to Japan

• Return of the dekasegi

→ Migration from Japan to Peru

“Al que hablaba japonés le deportaban. Ya nadie quería usarlo. Dicen que en tiempos de guerra, todos éramos chinos.”

- Mi mamá nikkei, Keiko Ireijo de Iju

Methodology

• Participant observation

• Written sources

• Public speeches

• Recorded conversations

• Surveys

General Observations

•  Emphasis on Japanese traditions and values

•  Emphasis on Peruvian Japanese fusion

•  General statistics

Contexts in which Japanese is used

•  Written sources: Kaikan, Peru Shimpo

•  Nikkei schools: Hideo Noguchi, Santa Beatriz, La Victoria, La Unión

•  Academies: la AELU, la APJ, Ichigokai

•  Activities: Donguri, Shaberankai, Benrontaikai, choral festivals, karaoke competitions, folklore celebrations.

Contexts: English, Spanish, Japanese

Contextos: todos los participantes

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] 0

20

40 Español

60 Japonés

80 Inglés

100

120

Mini version of results:  Level of Japanese

Nivel de japonés según edad Oral

Escrito

5 4.5 4 3.5 3

Nivel de japonés (grupos especiales) Oral

2.5

Escrito

2 1.5

7

1 0.5

6

0 9 a 17

5

18-29

30-49

50-69

70+

4

Nivel de japonés según edad (sin dekasegi/nihongaeri)

3

Oral

2

Escrito

5

1

4.5

0

3.5

4

Dekasegi

Nihongaeri

Directivo

Sensei

3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 9 a 17

18-29

30-49

50-69

70+

Level of English vs. Japanese

Niveles de japonés e inglés (todos los participantes)

Nivel de japonés e inglés (sin nihongaeri, dekasegi)

Inglés Oral

Inglés Escrito

Inglés Oral

Inglés Escrito

Japonés Oral

Japonés Escrito

Japonés Oral

Japonés Escrito

6

6

5

5

4

4

3

3

2

2

1

1

0 9 a 17

18-29

30-49

50-69

70+

0 9 a 17

18-29

30-49

50-69

70+

Results: Public Speeches



•  Almost always in Spanish; Japanese comes with Spanish version.

•  Many more loan words from Japanese than from English (950 to 38), with loans that form part of names representing 45% of the Japanese loans used.

% de # total de préstamos

Partes de la oración de préstamos japoneses 100

S+Adj+I

P+V+Adv

80 60 40 20 0 Conversaciones grabadas

Discurso Público

Fuentes Escritas

Préstamos diferentes por minuto

Results: daily conversation

2.5 1.875

# de préstamos japoneses diferentes por minuto hablado en español según edad

1.25 0.625 0 70+ 50-69 30-49 16-29 0-15

Results: Japanese in Japan versus Japanese in Perú

•  Changes in pronunciation reflected in spelling in written sources

•  English influence on Japanese in Japan not reflected in Japanese in Perú (except nihongaeri)

•  Loss of long vowel sounds and consonant sounds in Peruvian Japanese (except by issei and nihongaeri)

How do Peruvian nikkei  describe the current situation?

•  General loss of Japanese language

•  Use of scattered Japanese loan words in Spanish conversation

•  English competing with Japanese (and winning)

•  Low level in ancestors language compared to other immigrant communities

•  Recent increase in use of Japanese because of the return of the dekasegi and nihongaeri

Pero bueno, es como algo lógico, no es como que en tu casa siempre te sirven chaufa y tú vas a comer a la calle chaufa, mentira, tú vas a comer otra cosa. O como que tú trabajas en una cafeteria y tú quieres ir a tomar café después. Todo el día ves café, no quieres café. Y eso ha pasado un poco con los chicos, ¿no?

- Luis Gerardo Hirota Takeuche (generación 3.5; 34)

What linguistic changes would Peruvian nikkei like to see in their community?

•  Do they want to learn more Japanese?

–  Most said yes, but it is not a priority.

–  Reasons to learn: because of heritage, because it is good in general to learn languages, just to know it , for academic/economic opportunities, to use it in Japan

–  Reasons it is not a priority: lack of time/money, because it is not necessary/useful, because it is better to learn English, because it is hard/boring

What linguistic changes would Peruvian nikkei like to see in their community?

•  Do they want to learn more English?

–  Most said yes, and it is a priority.

–  Reasons to learn: to use it at work/school in Perú, to use it in an English-speaking country, because it is the universal/global/basic language, to understand TV/music, because it s required

–  Reasons not to learn: age ( too late for me ), already know enough, lack of time, I don t like it , would rather learn Japanese

Descripciones de la situación lingüística ideal

How do Peruvian nikkei describe the ideal language situation?

50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

s n al é és e r l i n b o ne ng i á e t aj p g s an n ís e d e ás en M A as r p om A i Id

n to ol as e l x ñ e o c te id pa N n ez s n e m co ce o l i l o n N de só er e n d d o se n e M U ep D sé

What suggestions do Peruvian nikkei have as to how to move towards that ideal situation?

¿Qué se puede hacer?

J. en casa J. en academia Cambiar metodología J. en colegio Incentivar en comunidad Conversar en j. Incentivar con becas Intercambios No se puede Depende de chicos ¿Saben? Usen. I. en casa Clarificar mezcla

Conclusions and suggestions

1)  Recognize that Japanese is no longer native language

2)  Emphasize importance of having qualified professors

1)  Recognize that Japanese is no longer the 3)  Raise expectations in Japanese classes

native

4)  Recognize the importance of written Japanese

5)  Improve the marketing

6)  Focus on youth

7)  Help adults to learn and stay involved as well

8)  Take responsibility for one s choices

9)  Diversify contexts to use Japanese outside of class

10)  Use and cultivate the abilities of the nihongaeri

Thank you!

•  To everyone who listened, read, revised, inspired, supported, participated, and kept me on track throughout the long process of completing this three-year project!