Comments by "Yo2" (@yo2trader539) on "What's it like being Japanese-Brazilian in Japan? 【Part2】🇯🇵🇧🇷" video.

  1.  @julianasilva6946  The experience may be different based on factors like region, profession, education-level, etc. If you're 1/8 Japanese...I highly doubt you'll experience any racism in Brazil. I don't think people would even notice your Japanese ancestry. But if you're 100% Japanese by blood from both sides of your family, the experience may be different. Now, the reverse may be also true when in Japan. If you're 1/8 Japanese, I don't think people in Japan can notice the Japanese ancestry. Even for people with 1/4 Japanese ancestry, it's sometimes difficult to tell if the remaining 3/4 mixture is non-Asian. Because Brazil is racially diverse, the appearance really depends on who they mixed with.
    2
  2. There is no correct answer in identity, ethnicity, or nationality. And each person and society is different. Since Japanese society was traditionally organized around paternal lineage, we inherit the family name, tombs, registry (KOSEKI), customs, and religious sect, etc from father's side. (This practice of paternal lineage dates back to ancient clan structure such as 氏 or ウジ.) In modern times, Japanese society only viewed children of Japanese fathers to be Japanese. Until legal revisions in 1984, Japan only issued natural-born citizenship to children of Japanese fathers (except for single-mothers), and dual-citizenship was allowed. Thus, children of Japanese immigrants--like President Fujimori of Peru--or children of international marriages with Japanese fathers were allowed to have dual citizenship. Dual-citizenship was banned from 1985, and Japanese immigrants can no longer receive natural-born citizenship. To date, we still can identify NIKKEI-JIN with a Japanese family name.
    2
  3.  @gabrielemariotti5780  I've met people from Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, Mongolia, New Zealand, and Brazil who work in Japanese companies in Japan. They've graduated from Japanese universities and have near-native fluency in language/culture. International students almost automatically receive work visas after they graduate. I've worked with Russians and Brits who graduated from Japan Studies programs in their home countries, and they have amazing fluency in Japanese and have very good jobs in Tokyo. Thus, I highly doubt it has anything to do with being foreigner or not. It has a lot to do with having the right degree, background, and skill-set.
    2
  4. Portuguese is an Indo-European. Obviously, it's not that difficult.
    1
  5.  @aiquesono  She most likely returned to Brazil because she cannot get into Japanese university. Nikkei-Brazilians often speak Brazilian-Portuguese at home because their parents don't speak Japanese. And there are a few private Brazilian schools in Japan, which is useful for those who eventually plan to return to Brazil and continue their education. However, the schools are useless for those who wish to build a life in Japan.
    1
  6. Your grandparents were Japanese nationals, meaning there will be government records in our KOSEKI (戸籍) system of their parents, siblings, uncles/aunts, etc. Sadly, many of the Japanese immigrants didn't have the time, money, or energy to visit the Japanese Embassy/Consulate to legally register their children who were born outside of Japan. They were living far away or too busy trying to stay alive. Had they done so, their children born in Brazil would've been Japanese nationals who were born outside of Japan...like President Fujimori of Peru. I remember the previous Governor of Hawaii Ige-san found relatives in Japan that he never knew he had, mostly second and third-cousins. He was able to pay respect to his ancestors with his extended family, which is the essence of Japanese culture/religion. If your grandmother had siblings, it's very likely some of her relatives may still be in Hokkaido. As for Nikkei-Brazilians in Japan, my biggest concern is that they are arriving in Japan without knowledge of basic language. I don't know the history behind Japanese education in Brazil, but had they been able to study Japanese at a young age in Brazil, they would've been able to transfer their knowledge and professional experience in Japan. The Nikkei-Brazilians with limited language skills also seem to have difficulty adapting culturally and integrating socially. Ironic as it is, the non-Japanese foreign nationals who've studied in Japanese language programs, technical schools, and universities seem to have a easier time with adaptation and integration.
    1
  7. For people working in IT, Consulting, Finance, Law, Medicine, or Architecture...I doubt there is such a concept as overtime. Working over 100 hours per week is not that uncommon among young professionals whether in NY, London, Singapore, or Tokyo. It's a competitive world, you do everything you can to survive. It's either UP or OUT.
    1
  8. Japan used to allow natural-born dual-citizenship until 1985, as long as the father is a Japanese citizen. So people like President Fujimori was/is legally a natural-born Japanese citizen. Under Jus Sanguinis, he was a Japanese national born outside of Japan. As the number of international marriages increased, and the number of natural-born dual-citizenship increased, Japanese Citizenship Law was revised in 1984 to ban dual-citizens. The law was also revised so that children of Japanese women who married foreigners were also able to inherit Japanese citizenship. (Many of them were perceived as "War Brides" after WWII, so Japanese society didn't want their children to have Japanese citizenship prior to the change.) I have no idea whether citizenship rules have anything to do with discrimination. From our perspective, if you desire to be a Japanese citizen, go through the naturalization process and become a Japanese national. We have had naturalized Members of Parliament who were formerly Uzbek, Uyghur, Finn, or Korean. FYI, we have zero desire to make the same mistakes as Europe when it comes to multi-culturalism. But we already have ethnic centers like China-town, Korea-town, or Burmese in Takada-no-baba.
    1
  9. Both English and Portuguese is an Indo-European language, and English vocab is half Latin/French. And most Japanese people don't need English for work or for their daily lives.
    1
  10.  @Kawayoporu  You're correct there is no formal registry for Japanese Descendants. There is also no legal definition on how many generations or what percentage of blood qualify as Japanese Descendants. So it is a guessing game. Japan's Foreign Ministry (MOFA) guesstimates total 3.6 million NIKKEI-JIN world-wide, of which 2.1 million are living in Central and South America. Breakdown of estimate: Brazil 1.9 million; US 1.33 million; Peru 100,000; Canada 88,000; Argentina 65,000; Australia 57,000; Mexico 20,000; Bolivia 14,000; Paraguay 10,000; Chile 3,000; Colombia; 2,000; Cuba 1,200; Venezuela 820; DR 800; Uruguay 460. As for who should be counted as a Nikkei-Jin is a difficult question. 3rd Gen (SANSEI) can be minimum 1/4 Japanese by blood, but 4th Gen (YONSEI) can be minimum 1/8. 5th Generation can be minimum 1/16, so where to draw the line is not clear. What often happened in Hawaii was that some Japanese Descendants inter-married with Hawaiians, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, and White settlers in the past few decades...so they now can identify as any of their ancestors.
    1
  11. We've been doing that for the past 30 years. In hindsight, it did more harm than good. While there are successful Nikkei-Brazilians raised and educated in Japan who have become public teachers, lawyers, doctors, there were also many Nikkei-Brazilians who failed to learn Japanese and cannot survive outside of their ethnic ghetto. It's usually the Brazilian husband of Japanese Descendants who commit the most violent crimes, and they've created a really bad image of Brazilians among Japanese people.
    1