Green Tea, Pancakes and Spam Sushi: Transnational Culture and Boundaries in Toronto's Japanese Canadian Community.

TORONTO (Ont.); ONTARIO; CANADA

This paper shows that cultural elements such as 'cultural capital' and 'cultural repertoires', both within the host country and from abroad, are important factors in the ethnic identity and national integration of people who participate in Japanese Canadian organizations. This is a diverse group which often includes people who are not of Japanese descent. In one cultural centre over 50% of its members are non-Japanese. Using in-depth interviews with Japanese migrants, Japanese Canadians and non-Japanese who participate in Japanese Canadian organizations, I found that the permeability of ethnic boundaries vary for these different groups. Japanese immigrants have a very exclusive sense of both Japanese and Canadian membership, so much so that they exclude themselves from both categories. Japanese Canadians, on the other hand, have a more flexible conception of ethnic and national group membership where people with appropriate cultural characteristics can be included in the group, regardless of ancestral or national background. Participants who are not of Japanese descent have very porous personal and group boundaries where group membership becomes something they can acquire along with the culture, although this strategy was found to be more successful in Canada than in Japan. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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