Gosei (Japanese diaspora)

For other uses, see Gosei.

Gosei (五世, transl. 'fifth generation') 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.^[1] The children of at least one Yonsei parent are called Gosei.^[2]

The character and uniqueness of the Gosei are recognized in its social history.^[3] The Gosei are the subject of on-going academic research in the United States and Japan.^[4]

History

The great-great-grandchildren of these Japanese-American (Nipon-Americans) immigrants would be called Gosei.

The earliest organized group of Japanese emigrants settled in Mexico in 1897.^[5] 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.^[6]

Gosei in the US

Main article: Japanese Americans

Main article: Japanese American history

The lives of Japanese-Americans of earlier generations contrast with the Gosei because they have English-speaking grandparents.^[7] 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."^[8]

Gosei in Canada

Main article: Japanese Canadians

Japanese-Canadian Gosei are entirely acculturated, as is typical for any ethnic group.^[9]

Gosei in Peru

Main article: Japanese Peruvians

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.^[10]

Gosei in Brazil

Main article: Japanese Brazilians

Japanese-Brazilians (Nipo-brasileiro) make up the largest Japanese population in South America, numbering an estimated less than 242,543 (including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity),^[11] more in the 1.8 million in the United States.^[12] The Gosei are a small part of the ethnic minority in that South American nation in the last decades of the 20th century.^[13] In 1990, 0.8% of the Nipo-Brasileiros community were Gosei.^[14]

Cultural profile

Generations

Main article: Japanese diaspora

The term Nikkei (日系) encompasses all of the world's Japanese immigrants across generations.^[15] In North America, the Gosei are among the heirs of the "activist generation" known as the Sansei.^[16]

Generation	Cohort description
Issei (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.[17]