is a Japanese diasporic term used in countries, particularly in North America and South America, to specify the great-great-grandchildren of Japanese immigrants (Issei). The children of Issei are Nisei (the second generation). Sansei are the third generation, and their offspring are Yonsei.In Japanese counting, "one, two, three, four, five" is "ichi, ni, san, yon, go". Future generations would be called rokusei (6th), 7th: nanasei (7th), etc. -- see Japanese numerals The children of at least one Yonsei parent are called Gosei.Nomura, Gail M. (1998). "Japanese American Women," in ; Masterson, Daniel et al. (2004).

The character and uniqueness of the Gosei are recognized in its social history.Numrich, Paul David. (2008). North American Buddhists in Social Context, p. 110. The Gosei are the subject of ongoing academic research in the United States and Japan.国立大学法人 東京学芸大学 (Tokyo Gakugei University), "Socioeconomic Status, Acculturation, Discrimination, and Health of Japanese Americans: Generational Differences" by Takashi Asakura et al., 2004; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Grant# 12490011; retrieved 2012-12-24.

History

The earliest organized group of Japanese emigrants settled in Mexico 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 the United States, Canada, Brazil and Peru. 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.Ichioka, Yuji et al. (2006).

Gosei in the US

The lives of Japanese-Americans of earlier generations contrast with the Gosei generation and beyond, who often lack a single surviving grandparent with firsthand memory of the culture.Ogawa, Dennis M. (1978). 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."Johnson, George Toshio. "Into the Next Stage: Japanese American Newspapers: Over and Out?" Rafu Shimpo (US). February 17, 2011; retrieved 2011-05-17

American descendants of Wakamatsu colonist Masumizu Kuninosuke are in the generation through his marriage to a mixed African-Native American woman in 1877, some who only discovered the ancestry of their 1/64th ancestor through a DNA test.

Gosei in Canada

Japanese-Canadian Gosei are entirely acculturated, as is typical for any ethnic group.Fisher, Nancy L. (1996).

Gosei in Peru

Japanese-Peruvian (Nipo-peruano) Gosei made up less than 1.0% of the Nikkei population in 2000. They are represented by the Asociación Peruano Japonesa.Adachi, Nobuko. (2006).

Gosei in Brazil

Japanese-Brazilians (Nipo-brasileiro) make up the largest Japanese population in South America (and indeed anywhere outside of Japan), numbering an estimated less than 242,543 (including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity),MOFA, "Japan-Brazil Relations"; retrieved 2011-05-17 more than the 1.8 million in the United States.US Census, US "Selected Population Profile in the United States; Japanese alone or in any combination," 2005 ' retrieved 2011-05-17 The Gosei are a small part of the ethnic minority in that South American nation in the last decades of the 20th century.Doi, Elza Takeo. "Japonês," Enciclopédia das Línguas no Brasil; retrieved 2011-05-17 In 1990, 0.8% of the Nipo-Brasileiros community were Gosei.De Carvalho, Daniela. (2002). citing Centro de Estudo Nipo-Brazileiros statistics

Cultural profile

Generations

The term Nikkei (日系) encompasses all of the world's Japanese immigrants across generations.Japanese American National Museum (JANM), "What is Nikkei?" retrieved 2011-05-17 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

GenerationCohort descriptionIssei (一世) The generation of people born in Japan who later immigrated to another country.Nisei (二世) The generation of people born in any country outside Japan to at least one Issei parent.Sansei (三世) The generation of people born to at least one Nisei parent.Yonsei (四世) The generation of people born to at least one Sansei parent. Gosei (五世) The generation of people born to at least one Yonsei parent.Ikezoe-Halevi, Jean. "Voices of Chicago: Day of Remembrance 2006," Discover Nikkei (US). October 31, 2006.

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. ;

Further reading Björklund, Krister. (2007). "Migration in the Interests of the Nation," Siitrtolaisuusinstituuti, Web Reports No. 25. Nabão, Rosangela Martins. "O estudo de nomes próprios de Nipo-Brasileiros: geração issei e geração nissei" ("The study of names of Nipo-Brazilians: Issei generation and Nissei generation"), Revista Trama (Brasil). Vol. 3, No. 5. 1º Semestre de 2007, pp. 181–192.

External links Japanese American National Museum; JANM generational teas Embassy of Japan in Washington, DC Japanese American Citizens League Japanese Cultural & Community Center of Northern California Japanese American Community and Cultural Center of Southern California Japanese American Historical Society Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project Japanese American Museum of San Jose, California Japanese American Network Nikkei Federation Discover Nikkei Asociación Peruano Japonesa, El Museo de la Inmigración Japonesa al Perú