Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 164-175).

My dissertation "'Bitter Sweet Home': Celebration of Biculturalism in Japanese Language Japanese American Literature, 1936-1952" explores Japanese-language Japanese American literature as a discourse of identity politics among Japanese Americans between 1936 and 1952. Shukaku, the first Japanese American translocal and multi-genre literary journal, published its inaugural issue in November of 1936, and 1952 marked the publication of Ibara aru shiramichi (Thorny path) by Asako Yamamoto, which was one of the earliest sustained literary accounts either in English or Japanese of the wartime experiences of Japanese Americans. One of the major goals of this dissertation is to uncover the muffled voices of Japanese Americans whose primary language was Japanese. I further scrutinize the ways in which Japanese Americans valued the tradition of English-Japanese bilingualism, and how bilingualism played a central role in the formation of Japanese American identity. From the 1930s through the Pacific War when the relationship of Japan and the US was the most hostile, and even after the war when Japan-US relations changed dramatically, Japanese Americans felt acute pressures to suppress Japanese language and culture which had become associated with political sympathizer with Japan, the enemy, and therefore disloyalty to the US. Even under such intense pressure, however, bilingualism remained a critical tool for Japanese Americans to maintain and reconfigure their identity. They carefully guarded the tradition of biculturalism grounded in bilingualism to preserve a distinct identity against the intensified pressures of Americanization with the emphasis on English-only monolingualism. The wartime political environment imposed a racially polarized discourse of American identity that singled out Japanese Americans as disloyal group and gave new impetus to Americanization programs. I argue that Japanese language literature provided writers protected space within which they engaged politically charged discussions on such topics as racialized and gendered politics of loyalty and retaining biculturalism under the increasing pressure of Americanization. After the war, as the issue of disloyalty receded, Japanese language literature acquired a new role as a critical resource for Japanese Americans to commemorate wartime experiences, and to rebuild cultural and psychological ties with Japan and Japanese culture.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of History, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

My diploma thesis is engaged in position of Okinawa within the frame of the postwar Japanese-American relations, in a context of military bases, local and central government and security policy. The thesis is divided into several thematic parts - Japanese-Okinawan relations in modern period, circumstances of the battle of Okinawa, post-war American administration, process of reversion of Okinawa, Okinawa within the Cold War period, and Okinawa from end of bipolar world period in 1989 up to present. Thesis describes the three- way relationship between Okinawa, Japan and United States from economic, cultural and political viewpoint, all with regard to the ever-present military bases. Keywords Okinawa, Japanese-American relations, reversion.

While considerable literature on wartime Japanese American internment exists, the vast majority of studies focus on the West Coast experience. With a high volume of literature devoted to this region, lesser known camps in Arkansas, like Rohwer (Desha County) and Jerome (Chicot and Drew County) have been largely overlooked. This study uses a cultural history approach to elucidate the Arkansas internment experience by way of local and camp press coverage. As one of the most segregated and impoverished states during the 1940s, Arkansas’ two camps were distinctly different from the nine other internment camps used for relocation. Through analysis of local newspapers, Japanese American authored camp newspapers,documentaries, personal accounts and books, this study seeks to expose the seemingly forgotten story of internment in the South. The findings expose a level of freedom within the internment camps, as well local reaction in the context of Arkansas’s economic, social and political climate.

Typescript. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii, 1969. / Bibliography: leaves [90]-97. / 97 l illus

Thesis (Ph.D.)--SUNY, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 221-235) and index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Los Angeles, 1990. / Typescript. Vita. "1416"--Lst prelim. leaf. "Order number 9033950"--2nd prelim. leaf. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-126).

This thesis examines the antecedents of felt ethnicity (i.e. how one feels towards one’s ethnic identity) within a sample of bicultural individuals living in Hawaii, and secondly investigates the relationship between felt ethnicity and purchasing intentions for products in two different categories, which are hedonic (e.g. emphasizing being able to enjoy the usage of a product such as a LouisVuitton handbag) and utilitarian (e.g. emphasizing the functionality of a product such as a pen or a notepad). The investigations consider conceptual and measurement issues surrounding the concept of felt ethnicity, the effects of ethnic-related brand names in priming different aspects of identity, and effects on biculturals’ product evaluation and purchasing intentions. The investigation draws upon theories of social identity and distinctiveness, and examines situational attributes such as whether the intended purchase is for friends or family members. This study consisted of a three-way experimental design experiment from a laboratory setting to examine the relationship among biculturals’ felt ethnicity, language cues and product types on purchasing intentions. A 2 felt ethnicity (Japanese and Japanese-American) x 2 language ethnic primes (Japanese vs. English) x 2 product types (Hedonic vs. Utilitarian) factorial design is featured to explore the role of social situations in the relationship of felt ethnicity and consumption (product preference and purchasing intentions). The sample consisted of 197 Japanese and Japanese-American biculturals; and the findings showed that consumer and product types and language cues are strong influences on product preferences and purchasing intentions. The more specific a bicultural is with his/her felt ethnicity, the clearer is the role of language cues in product preference, product evaluation and purchasing intentions. Social surroundings showed moderating effects between bicultural consumers’ felt ethnicity and purchasing intentions. These findings suggest that the use of language cues from various product types to reinforce their felt ethnicity (self-identity varies in different situations). This study makes a number of important theoretical and managerial contributions. First, this study clarifies the concept of bicultural felt ethnicity in respect of purchasing intentions, and reaffirms the concept of cultural frame switching using language cues as primes. In this way, the thesis presents a new conceptual model and resolves some measurement issues of felt ethnicity and three antecedents: self-acculturated identity, perceived parental identity (how one perceived his/her parents define their ethnic identity), social orientation (degree one socializes with people who of the same or different ethnicity with one’s own ethnic identity). Second, the findings suggest that felt ethnicity can be used as a tool to investigate biculturals in a global market and to facilitate market segmenting and communication. Finally, limitations of the thesis are recognised and direction for future research is proposed.

Throughout the period following Pearl Harbor, as one crisis in Japanese-American relations followed another, the American public opinion was divided. Some newspapers and personalities feared that there would be war over the San Francisco school board crisis, while others believed that talk of war was ridiculous. Partisan politics often affected the course of affairs on the Japanese question.