Forum - View topicFictional Immigrants to the United States in Anime.
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Snomaster1
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It's been said America's a nation of immigrants and by in large,it's true. People from all over the world,including Japan,have made their way to America to either start new lives or flee political or religious persecution. It's not gone unnoticed in American pop culture as it's created a galaxy of these sort of characters. From the cartoon mice of "An American Tail" to the comics of DC and Marvel with characters like Superman,Katana,Colossus,and Mister Negative.
But,how is this topic treated in media outside America? Well,it's a subject that's rarely dealt with in a lot of foreign popular culture. They may have their own immigration stories to their countries and rarely deal with emigration to the USA. But,that doesn't mean that outsiders don't have their tales on the topic. The Italian film "Golden Door" has an Sicilian family emigrating to America in the late nineteenth century. Also,there's an episode of the 1960's British show "The Saint" that had as it's villain a Greek immigrant to the United States. So,what about anime and manga,that's currently pretty popular over here,what's their take on the topic of immigration to America? Unsurprisingly,it's rare to see those sort of characters. Japan is very different from America. Although it has it's share of foreigners in it's popular culture,you rarely have any of the types of immigration stories that America has done. If you're like me,you'd like to see a shonen manga in which a group of Americans have an immigrant fighter among them or a shojo manga that has among a group of visiting Americans an immigrant among them. Heck,you'd probably wish they would have a team of Americans that have one in a sports manga or having one among a group of chefs in a cooking manga. So,why don't they do that? It's not like we've kept it a secret and Japan gets similar media from America that other countries do,so why are these characters so rare? If you have any knowledge of Japanese culture,you imagine that they tend to keep foreigners at arms length and that view extends to immigration. You rarely see immigrants to Japan in any of their popular culture. So,why would they bother having immigrants to another country in their movies,TV,anime,and manga? Also,judging by how Americans are portrayed in a lot of Japanese popular culture,you imagine an immigrant to America might be depicted in a similar way,just with a different accent. Although immigrants to America are rare in anime,that doesn't mean they don't make an appearance every so often. In "The Prince of Tennis" anime,they have two immigrant tennis players on the American team. They are Arnold Ignashov,an immigrant from the former East Germany and Michael Lee,an immigrant from China. In an episode of the "Excel Saga" anime,Sandora Domingo,the son of Pedro,the Colombian immigrant to Japan,moves to America to become an animator. Another surprising character is Monica Adenauer,a German-born baker who's on the American team in the show "Yakitate!! Japan." She first appears in the Monaco arc,but also appears in later arcs. The main character of "Appleseed,"Briareos Hecatonchires,is an immigrant to America who originally came from the Mediterranean area. His homeland is unknown. He was trained to be a terrorist as a kid,but ended up killing his KGB handler. He fled to America and eventually joined the U.S. Army. What's surprising about the "Case Closed/Detective Conan" series is that they have a few of these characters. Two examples of them are James Black and the Japanese descended Shuichi Akai. Both originally came from Britain and joined the FBI. I don't know why either of them didn't join Scotland Yard,but I'm not the creator of this show. One of the earliest anime to have an immigrant to America is Ippei Mine,a rodeo star from the 1977 series "Voltes V." While it never made it's way stateside then,it ended up in the Philippines where it was extraordinarily popular. That may be just as well. What I found out about him would make most Americans do a double take. While he and his parents came to America from Japan and had their difficulties adjusting to American life,what happened to them is just so unbelievable,I don't know if I could write it down,because it would leave most knowledgeable Americans scratching their heads. At the time the series was made,there were Japanese communities in America just as there are today. Many of them were in cities like New York and Chicago but,they were most prevalent in Hawaii and West Coast states like California,Oregon,and Washington. Not only that,but there were also government agencies and other private organizations that would have helped Ippei and his parents get settled here then as now. I don't know why the people who made "Voltes V" were so ignorant of these things. I guess they wanted to create a dramatic backstory for one of their characters,but it would strike most Americans as just silly and out there. But it leaves us with questions. Are there any other past anime that have these sort of characters? And,will we see more of them in the future due to the medium's popularity here? To both questions,I say I don't know. As we learn more about past anime,and get more of it in the future,we may see a little more of these characters appear. All we can do is keep watching because they might appear when we least expect them to. Last edited by Snomaster1 on Mon Aug 19, 2024 3:57 am; edited 4 times in total |
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Liek1958
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Is this a reflection of traditional views of foreigners in Japan? Or is it simply because they are unfamiliar with immigration stories that the US and some other countries often exploit?
merge fruit Last edited by Liek1958 on Thu Aug 22, 2024 11:51 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Snomaster1
Subscriber Posts: 2913 |
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Those are good questions,Liek1958. My answer to the first one is possibly. It's well-known that the Japanese have some mistrust for foreigners and are surprised that any would want to really live in their country. I've heard some news stories about Japan cracking down on tourists simply due to the bad behavior of some of them. I'm not surprised they'd do that. Their view of foreigners is not always a good one and there are those among the Japanese to kinda return to a more isolationist view of the world.
It could also dovetail to your second question. It's that traditional view of foreigners among a lot of Japanese makes any sort of immigration story pretty rare. In fact,one of the few anime that I know of that even has immigrant characters to Japan is "Tokyo Godfathers,"in which one of the main characters talk to an immigrant from Latin America. As I said before,it's going to be pretty rare if they have any immigrants to Japan in their popular culture,it's also going to be even more rare if they have immigrants to another country in an anime or manga. |
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Alan45
Village Elder Posts: 10022 Location: Virginia |
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Snomaster1 I was aware of this thread but I didn't previously comment since I didn't want to rain on your parade. However, since you asked me, here is my response.
I have not read a manga or light novel, nor have I watched an anime that featured a Japanese immigrant to the U.S. While not impossible, I don't think it likely that I will do so in the future. There are a couple of reasons for this. To begin with it takes a lot of misery at home or incentive abroad to get people to leave their home country. Most people are not that willing to change. The bulk of Japanese emigration to the U.S. and other countries happened in the half century prior to WWII. At that time Japan was in the process of changing into the first world country it became. When a country undergoes such dramatic change not everyone benefits immediately. In addition a lot of U.S. companies were actively recruiting workers to come to our country. As usual recruiters lie a lot about the benefits of moving. Now adays, most of the people leaving Japan to come to the U.S. are company people transferred here to work in the U.S. branch of a company or technical types like scientists or IT workers. Most of those intend to return to Japan and do not see them selves as immigrants though a few inevitably stay. Secondly, people mostly write what they know and experience. People who emigrate from Japan are out of sight and mostly out of mind to all but their immediate relatives and therefore not part of the Japanese experience. In addition the experiences of those who immigrate to the U.S. stay with them here, if written up would more likely be published here. Just as a side note, most of the Americans (and UK types) that I met living abroad did not think of themselves as immigrants but rather as Ex pats just trying to make a buck before returning home. I suspect most of the Japanese living in the U.S. are the same. (I always wondered how many didn't make it out before the fall of Saigon.) For the record, back in the day, Viz ran a manga about a Japanese American becoming U.S. President. I think the title was American Eagle. However, he could not have been an immigrant as you have to be born here to become President. I didn't read it. |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 24154 |
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Hey Snomaster1, I got your invite, too. It's not a subject that interests me which is why I didn't cmment before nor do I have anything to say now. But I didn't want you to think I had any hard feelings over past threads so I'm popping in just to say hi. I assure you I'll always respond to a thread if it interest me.
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Snomaster1
Subscriber Posts: 2913 |
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Well,Alan45,Blood-,I guess that's where the three of us disagree. I'd probably be interested in a manga,light novel,or anime that had this sort of character. I've long had an interest in the subject,it wasn't until I discovered a Wikipedia category called "Fictional Immigrants to the United States" which inspired this post. Most of these sort of characters were created by Americans. It's no surprise that few foreign media would even have them.
To me,seeing the phenomenon of seeing immigration to America through the eyes of an outsider,and that includes the Japanese is a worthy one. While the characters created by Americans are interesting,the question has to be asked. How would a foreigner see it? It's fascinating to see the context of a phenomenon like that through a different lens,and that includes a Japanese one. That's because historically,Japan has had little immigration to it,while the United States has had plenty of it. So,how would they see something like that? How would it be different from how an American would treat the same subject? Would he or she be seen as a hero,villain or something else entirely? For me,that's the whole point of this post. To try to find that out. While I didn't read "Eagle" either,just hearing about it is interesting nonetheless. It's interesting to hear about a Japanese-American being the main character of a manga. You two may think I'm foolish doing this type of post,but even if I get some more characters from others or not,it's still worthwhile to do it all the same. We might get some more characters of this type and I think it would help highlight them. There may not be many of them,Alan45,Blood-,but to find out about more about these sort of characters makes all worth it to get that outside perspective. That's how I feel about it. It may not matter to you,but it's interesting for me and if others get interested in it or other portrayals of this type come out,then it'll be worth it all the same. That's how I feel about it. But,thanks again for your contributions. They may not have been much,but are still appreciated all the same. Last edited by Snomaster1 on Wed Jul 17, 2024 1:31 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Alan45
Village Elder Posts: 10022 Location: Virginia |
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Snomaster1, I think you misunderstand me. I have nothing against reading about an outsiders view of the U.S. I do find them fascinating. I just think that for structural issues mentioned above you are very unlikely to find a Japanese manga or anime covering the issue.
I'd like to refer you to From Sea to Sea by Rudyard Kipling. Kipling made his first success as an author in India. In 1889 he decided to return to England to try his luck there. He traveled East instead of the usual path to England. He financed the trip partially by writing his impressions of the places he visited for publication in the newspaper he had worked for. This included a visit to Japan which was in the process of rapid westernization. He eventually landed in San Francisco and traveled across the country eventually arriving on the East coast. This included a visit with Mark Twain. The essays that he wrote make fascinating reading. However, you must keep in mind that he was young at the time. He later married an American and settled for a few years in New England. You might also like From Scotland to Silverado by Robert Louis Stevenson. This is the true life story of his voyage from Scotland to the US in steerage and a trip across the country in an immigrant train to southern California. This was in 1879. If I run into any memoirs by Japanese immigrants to the US I'll let you know. However they are more likely to be in English than Japanese. |
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Snomaster1
Subscriber Posts: 2913 |
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Well,thanks for the stuff by Kipling and Stevenson. Not exactly what I'm looking for,but I appreciate it all the same.
Last edited by Snomaster1 on Mon Oct 07, 2024 1:54 am; edited 1 time in total |
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FishLion
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In response to your message, I don't have a ton to add because @Alan45 covered the bases pretty well, but I thought I would drop by and give my thoughts since you asked. One reason you may have characters in anime that are immigrants but don't have realistic experiences is that immigrant stories and the idea of being a melting pot are so important to America's national identity that people might want to incorporate that into their character while not having a ton of experience with people who are immigrants to America or their stories. I have not seen many stories about immigrating to Japan either, a lot of time when I see people who aren't Japanese in anime they are in Japan due to marriage or for business. Although I am sure sure there are stories about immigrating to Japan there is certainly not as much of a cultural fascination with those stories and it's something I haven't seen show up regularly in popular anime or manga, especially if you compare it to how much US media cares about those sorts of stories. Since I have barely heard anything about the topic of immigrating to Japan from anime, I would not be surprised if there are very few cases of characters immigrating to America
As for if we will see more of these characters, I think it's very possible. There are plenty of anime stories about finding home or a found family where you belong and like you pointed out there have been a number of these characters already. Anime has a lot of the right tropes and vibes to tell a very compelling story of immigrating to the US, someone just needs to dig into the experience and make it a manga so it could be adapted. For the reasons @Alan45 mentioned that is a bit of a longshot, but with how varied the subject matter of anime and manga is, I don't think it's impossible. I know you asked about anime specifically, but American comic books has a ton of interesting immigrant stories. When I was in college our library had a huge collections and the comic book market has a ton of autobiographical stories. American Born Chinese was one I really like. It's an interesting comic with multiples narratives that tie into identity and is about a child of immigrants, it is not about the immigration process proper but it has a lot to say about to adapting to how people treat you in your home after your parents have immigrated and the baggage that comes a long with assumptions people make. |
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Snomaster1
Subscriber Posts: 2913 |
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Thank you,FishLion for your comment. It reminds me of a quote I once heard from a 1970's World War II drama called "Baa Baa Black Sheep." I don't remember the name of the episode but it does illustrate the differences between Japan and America when it comes to this topic. It goes "You can live for years in America and be considered American. You can live for years in Japan and never be considered Japanese."
I've often heard about foreigners who've had difficulties living in Japan,even when they get Japanese citizenship. They're excluded from certain restaurants and clubs and things like that simply because they weren't born there. From what I know of Japanese society,it's not surprising. Even people from places like China,Korea,and Thailand have had those types of things happen to them. It even extends to their popular culture. Japan doesn't really have that melting pot ethic like America does so you don't really have stories like "American Born Chinese" appearing in manga or anime. With the popularity of manga and anime increasing here in this country,we might see more of these types of characters. It'll interesting to see how they'd handle it. I could easily see them portrayed as either heroes,villains,or just neutral. America's long had these sort of immigration stories. We might get a different view of it from the Japanese side. It's certainly possible that could happen. Last edited by Snomaster1 on Fri Jul 19, 2024 2:05 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Andy26
 Posts: 68 Location: Flippin Arkansas |
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So there really isn't much I can add to this topic, it's a difficult one without a lot of source material specific to what you are looking for.
One series though that maybe has some common themes along the fringes might be Full Metal Alchemist - Brotherhood. I mention this because when I watched it I seen the clear parallels to early 20th century Germany. The organizational structure of the state military, the racism, and even genocide of the Ishval people is more than coincidence. Of course Fuhrer King Bradley and the role he plays throughout can not be denied as having been modeled on the only other Fuhrer we have known. The movies play this theme out even further and in totality it seems like just about every main character in this universe is an immigrant, a stranger in a strange land, even if they've lived in that land their whole life. |
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FishLion
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Especially with how much manga is opening up to new authors worldwide, people will add their own experiences (personal and cultural stories they learned) and there's already seemingly a big appetite for historical fiction about Europe (judging from how many stories I see published about that subject matter). I can totally see a world where An American Tale type stories become well received in manga, it just needs someone to connect the dots to manga's already rich tradition of biography and historical fiction. |
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Snomaster1
Subscriber Posts: 2913 |
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It's nice to hear from you two,Andy26,FishLion. First off,Andy26. It's not impossible to see the parallels between the world of "Full Metal Alchemist" and early 20th Century Germany. I've never really seen either series or the movies to say for sure. If what you say is true about some of the movies having people feeling like immigrants in different areas,that's not too far from how a lot of migrants to Europe have felt.
From what I've heard,they've been largely treated like outsiders and that extends to their children and grandchildren. They're not fully seen as part of places like France or Sweden. America's different. Our national motto,"E Pluribus Unum" or "Out of many,one" could easily apply to either the states of the Union or how immigrants here are treated. While it hasn't always been the case,legal immigrants to America and their descendants are treated little differently from their native-born counterparts. They could be a doctor,lawyer,carpenter,or after they become a citizen,a member of Congress,a state governor,etc. In a way,that's one of the good parts of America. You can be seen as an American,whether you come from places like Canada,Brazil,Japan,or Uganda. It's a shame that it's currently more fashionable to trash this country for what it's done wrong rather than celebrate it for what's it's done right. As for you,FishLion,it could be possible that we could see "An American Tail"-type story in manga or anime one of these days. As I've said before,anime and manga have become pretty popular here in recent years. So,it's certainly possible that we could see more characters like these appearing. It'll be interesting to see how they'd be portrayed. |
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shosakukan
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Henry Kiyama Yoshitaka, a Japanese artist who himself was an immigrant to the States, wrote and illustrated The Four Immigrants Manga, a manga about four Japanese immigrants to the U.S.A., and he published it in 1931. Later, famous writer on manga Frederik L. Schodt translated it, and American publishing firm Stone Bridge Press published it in 1998. In the manga, the four Japanese principal characters, who immigrated into the USA, adopted English given names such as Henry, Fred, Frank, and Charlie. In the latter half of the manga, whilst Henry and Frank are going to return to Japan, Fred got married, brings up a family, and runs a farm in the States, and Charlie got married, rears a family, and runs a greengrocer's shop in the States. The Wikipedia article on Kiyama says that Japanese immigrants to the U.S.A. like Fred and Charlie would be later forced to relocate to concentration camps, however. In the 1980s, Manga-ka Hasegawa Hōsei wrote and illustrated the 8-volume Gangaragan manga, which is about Japanese immigrants to the USA. The middle part of the manga depicts the incarceration of people of Japanese ancestry. Hasegawa won a Shogakukan Manga Award with his Hakatakko Junjō manga and Gangaragan manga. Manga-ka Mochizuki Mikiya wrote and illustrated the Story of Nisei Units manga, which are about US Army units that were composed almost entirely of Japanese Americans such as the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the 100th Infantry Battalion. In the 1990s, Takajō Masahiko wrote and Hashimoto Kozō illustrated Buddha Head, a manga about the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. In Mochizuki Mikiya's Mad Dog manga, private detective George Maki is a Japanese who has lived in the States for a long time. |
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Snomaster1
Subscriber Posts: 2913 |
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As usual,shosakukan,you've done a marvelous job. While I have heard of "The Four Immigrants" manga,I also heard about a manga about Japanese-Americans serving in World War II in an old column here called "House of a 1000 Manga." It said that that manga was made in the late 1960's,but I don't know if it's the one you mentioned. Heck,I don't know if "Gangaragan,""Story of Nisei Units,""Buddha Head,"or "Mad Dog" ever made their way here. If anyone does know,feel free to tell me. I like to know because I think those manga would make for some interesting reading.
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