is a Japanese diasporic term used in countries, particularly in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, to specify the great-great-grandchildren of

Japanese immigrants The Japanese diaspora and its individual members, known as Nikkei (日系) or as Nikkeijin (日系人), comprise the Japanese emigrants from Japan (and their descendants) residing in a country outside Japan. Emigration from Japan was recorded a ...

(

Issei is a Japanese-language term used by ethnic Japanese in countries in North America and South America to specify the Japanese people who were the first generation to immigrate there. are born in Japan; their children born in the new country are ...

). The children of Issei are

Nisei is a Japanese-language term used in countries in North America and South America to specify the ethnically Japanese children born in the new country to Japanese-born immigrants (who are called ). The are considered the second generation, ...

(the second generation).

Sansei is a Japanese and North American English term used in parts of the world such as South America and North America to specify the children of children born to ethnic Japanese in a new country of residence. The ''nisei'' are considered the second g ...

are the third generation, and their offspring are Yonsei. The children of at least one ''Yonsei'' parent are called ''Gosei''. The character and uniqueness of the ''Gosei'' is recognized in its social history. The ''Gosei'' are the subject of on-going academic research in the United States and Japan.

History

The earliest organized group of Japanese emigrants settled in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in 1897.Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA)
"Japan-Mexico Relations"
retrieved 2011-05-17 Today, the four largest populations of Japanese and descendants of Japanese immigrants live in

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. ''Gosei'' is a term used in these geographic areas outside Japan. ''Gosei'' characterizes the child of at least one ''Yonsei'' (fourth generation) parent. Differences among these national ''Gosei'' developed because of the varying historical processes through which their Japanese emigrant forebears became Nikkei.

''Gosei'' in the US

The lives of Japanese-Americans of earlier generations contrasts with the ''Gosei'' because they have English-speaking grandparents. According to a 2011 columnist in ''The Rafu Shimpo'' of Los Angeles, "Younger Japanese Americans are more culturally American than Japanese" and "other than some vestigial cultural affiliations, a ''Yonsei'' or ''Gosei'' is simply another American."

''Gosei'' in Canada

Japanese-Canadian ''Gosei'' are entirely acculturated, as is typical for any ethnic group.

''Gosei'' in Peru

Japanese-Peruvian (''Nipo-peruano'') ''Gosei'' make up less than 1.0% of the Nikkei population in 2000.

''Gosei'' in Brazil

Japanese-Brazilians (''Nipo-brasileiro'') make up the largest Japanese population in South America, numbering an estimate of less than 242,543 (including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity), more in the 1.8 million in the

. The ''Gosei'' are a small part of the ethnic minority in that

n nation in the last decades of the 20th century. In 1990, 0.8% of the ''Nipo-Brasileiros'' community were ''Gosei.''

Cultural profile

Generations

The term '' Nikkei'' (日系) encompasses all of the world's Japanese immigrants across generations. In North America, the ''Gosei'' are among the heirs of the "activist generation" known as the ''Sansei''.US Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi website
"Japantown Represents More than 100 Years of a Unique Immigrant Experience,"
inserted into the Congressional Record to commemorate the 100th anniversary of San Francisco's Japantown. September 19, 2006; excerpt, "... the emergence of the activist third generation — the Sansei — who are now "baby boomers" and the parents and grandparents of the fourth and fifth generations — the Yonsei and Gosei"; retrieved 2011-05-17

Notes

References

* Masterson, Daniel M. and Sayaka Funada-Classen. (2004), '' The Japanese in Latin America: The Asian American Experience.'' Urbana, Illinois:

University of Illinois Press The University of Illinois Press (UIP) is an American university press and is part of the University of Illinois system. Founded in 1918, the press publishes some 120 new books each year, plus 33 scholarly journals, and several electronic project ...

. ; * Nomura, Gail M. (1998)
"Japanese American Women,"
in ''The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History'' (Mankiller, Barbara Smith, ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
OCLC 43338598

External links

Japanese American National Museum JANM generational teas

in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

Japanese American Citizens League

Japanese Cultural & Community Center
of

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

Japanese American Community and Cultural Center
of

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

Japanese American Historical Society

Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project

Japanese American Museum
of

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

Japanese American Network

Nikkei Federation

Discover Nikkei

''Asociación Peruano Japonesa''

''El Museo de la Inmigración Japonesa al Perú''
{{Japanese diaspora Cultural generations Japanese-American history Japanese diaspora Japanese words and phrases