Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to determine the extent to which representatives of Japanese corporations residing temporarily in Sao Paulo share ethnic identity with second and third generation Japanese Brazilians. The former are asked whether they consider the latter as Japanese and to give reasons for their opinion. The reasons are analyzed in terms of Wagatsuma and Yoneyama's six conditions of “Japaneseness” - “unique physical features, ” “fluency in the Japanese language, ” “Japanese citizenship, ” “Japanese national character, ” “Japanese blood, ” and “born in Japan.” The results of the analysis is summarized in the following hypothesis : Given the conceptual distinction between “race” and “ethnicity, ” the representatives of Japanese corporations in Sao Paulo do not consider the Japanese Brazilians as Japanese. The contact patterns of the two groups are examined and a simplified social distance scale is applied to test this hypothesis. The findings, while not conclusive, clearly indicate that representatives of Japanese corporations in Sao Paulo are disinclined to share ethnic identity with Japanese Brazilians. The latter, in turn, through their contact with the former, strenghten their awareness of being not Japanese but Japanese Brazilian.
