The book ‘No One Home’ by Linger (2001) is a study that mainly focuses on the fieldwork data collected through interviewing a large number of people on the identity of Nikkei living and working in Japan.
The Nikkei are as a result of the Japanese government allowing the Japanese immigrants a bonafide existence in japan.
In the study, we are introduced to a situation where the Brazilian factory workers were subjected to tough and poor working conditions characterized by hard detrimental physical activities due to their unascertained identity. This humiliation is further extended to various social institutions.
For example, in Japanese schools, the Nikkei’s children are subjected to cultural, educational, and other forms of segregation that render their lives intolerable and demean their value as human beings.
The leaders in various groups would subject the Nikkei to varying kinds of torture whenever they identified them. In this pretext, the Nikkei came back to their Japanese homes only to be faced with total rejection by the very people they once termed as their own.
According to Linger (2001), it was a bit difficult for the Japanese government to recognise the original identity of the Nikkei. Their presence and uniqueness raised questions in the social and corporate sectors.
This then led to a perception that the Nikkei were not of Japanese origin and are seen as imposters. However they are neither eradicated nor deported but they are rather asked to offer subsidy to those willing to return to South America (Linger, 2001).
This led to conduction of a survey with an intention of establishing facts underlying the situation together with the public’s opinion on the government’s initiative. The survey was conducted on various groups of people with the Nikkei’s children included.
Some of the common questioned posed to the respondent were if they aware of the existence of the Nikkei in Japan. Moreover, the respondents were supposed to elaborate how they acquired the knowledge on the existence of the Nikkei.
An analysis of the data collected proved that 53 percent of the respondents knew very little of the Nikkei’s existence. The rest 47 percent of those interviewed claimed they were not aware of their existence.
This failure may be attributed to the fact that most of the Nikkei lived in the unindustrialized parts of the country.
It was also established that the highest registration of persons was achieved in 2007 with nearly four hundred South Americans registering their nationality in Japan (Linger, 2001).
It was publicly assumed all over Japan that the Nikkei were the cause of the rising criminal tendencies. They linked this to the results of the survey which revealed a very small percentage of Japanese that had any interactions with the Nikkei.
It is noted that the National Police Agency was the major institution spearheading this misconception that the criminal activities were conducted by numerous foreigners in Japan.
The data collected from the survey further indicated that a high percentage of the respondents claimed that the Nikkei had to learn the Japanese culture, language, and customs before they came to Japan.
They further advocated for the Nikkei to work and earn for their daily needs and reduce their dependency levels (Linger, 2001).
In an effort to establish the identity of Brazil in Japan, the government came up with certain measures that would enhance assimilation. This included fostering the children to learn the Japanese language and use of interpreters for the Nikkei at the work place.
In a survey conducted in relation to this, a high percentage of the respondents were in favour of the government’s intention. However, their response was highly questioned by the Nikkei who claimed skepticism in their words and actions.
The Nikkei claimed presence of evident signs of probation-like treatment. In one incident one of the Nikkei claimed to have witnessed unwelcoming habits which included the posting of threatening messages in the work place where the gaijin movement had been forewarned of being under constant watch since they are associated with criminal activities (Linger, 2001).
This is a clear indication that even though there were people who had no problem with the government’s project, a vast majority of the people were not pleased with the move.
This is evidenced by the kind of environment they are subjected to both at work and the society together with the messages addressed to them.
The results of the survey conducted in establishing the perception of the citizens about the Nikkei was of great significance to the government, as it was used in determining the steps to take in the Brazil identification project.
The results helped the government unravel the cause of the slowed integration of the Nikkei with the rest of the Japanese society. This is because people often offer lip service but in the end contradict their words with their actions.
The government’s efforts for enhancing the initiative are seen in conducting a non-biased survey which they further posted on public websites in order to obtain public opinion.
Reference
Linger, D. (2001). No one home: Brazilian selves remade in Japan. Web.