2021 年 33 巻 Special_issue 号 p. 249-258
The bivalence of Japanese Brazilians (Nikkei) as a source of stress and support for Japanese people living in Brazil was investigated to obtain ideas for developing positive relationships between them. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 19 Japanese people on how they engage with Nikkei. A modified-grounded theory approach (M-GTA) was used to identify whether the relationship with Nikkei was a stress or support source. The results indicated that Nikkei were recognized as having both Brazilian and Japanese cultural traits. Japanese people unfamiliar with Brazilian life welcomed the Nikkei’s intermediary cultural support and were comforted by their Japanese traits. However, their image as being old-fashioned Japanese people was problematic. Moreover, Japanese people were fond of Brazilian cultural characteristics, although they were concerned about specific differences. Furthermore, Japanese people were stressed when they sensed difficulties due to biculturalism, and when they could not choose relationships or maintain their distance from Nikkei. It is suggested that biculturalism should be appropriately studied, and intercultural social skills developed for building positive relationships.