Understanding the acculturation process for Kaigaishijo

The school secretary asked if I had time to see the mother of one of our fifth-grade Japanese students. When I invited the mother into my office, she immediately apologized for appearing without an appointment and for being casually dressed in jeans and a red sweater. She explained that she was on her way to our school media center for her weekly volunteer time but asked apologetically if I could advise her regarding her son, Matsuo.

"Please tell me what's on your mind," I ventured. "Are things going well for Mat in the classroom?"

Wringing her hands, the mother said she hardly knew how to explain the situation. I scanned her anguished face for some clues. She crossed her arms, averted her gaze, and then looked back at me with eyes brimming with tears. My initial inclination was to reach out to her, but I stifled that urge based upon my knowledge of the Japanese aversion to touching in public. With a few sentences uttered in fractured

English, she nearly encapsulated my research problem:

From Japan's hierarchical culture, in which status and kata (appropriate actions) are of utmost importance in every situation, this mother was acting somewhat impulsively, distressed over her perception of her son's problems. At least twice during the conversation she apologized for her casual attire, claiming that she had not planned this meeting.

In light of the concepts of tatemae and honne, public and private face, I suspect that the mother felt that she had "lost face" after she had revealed her troubling thoughts concerning her son's acculturation. Tatemae or public behavior ensures the maintenance of a respectful distance between conversants. Harmony, a polite demeanor, and self-respect remain intact while honne or inner feelings are protected (Hendry 1995). In this country, people often blurt out personal feelings or share opinions with casual acquaintances as well as with friends and relatives, but Japanese people are socialized within the family environment to express private feelings only within uchi (inside) situations (Hendry 1995; White 1988). Instead of engaging her spouse in a private dialogue, this Japanese mother had felt the need to reveal her innermost concerns to a public school administrator she hardly knew.

This incident illustrates that the Japanese mother was becoming acculturated. Rather than relying on her Japanese sense of reserve, she had rushed into my office and had reacted in a typical "American" fashion. Her description of her son indicated that he, too, had acculturated, or taken on certain aspects of the host culture, at least in terms of peer reactions, academic success, career aspiration, and recognition of ethnic physical characteristics. The symbols of becoming acculturated included the boy's preference for the use of the English language in public, his desire to understand U.S. history, a preference for U.S. commodities, an aspiration for a career as a U.S. Air Force pilot, and distinct disdain for his facial features.

KAIGAISHIJO

Through most of the past decade, several Japanese manufacturing firms located in the immediate suburban mid-Atlantic region have imported their own citizens to serve in certain positions. These persons, generally posted to positions for two to eight years, are administrators, managers, and engineers who prefer to bring their immediate families. Japanese students abroad are referred to as kaigaishijo, a term applied by the Japanese Ministry of Education to those attending school outside Japan. The term should not be confused with kikokushijo, Japanese students who have studied abroad and returned to Japan (Goodman 1990). On temporary assignments, these Japanese families have no intention of assimilating into U.S. culture. However, they live in U.S. neighborhoods, pay U.S. taxes, and send their children to the local public schools. Unlike immigrants, kaigaishijo will return to Japan when their parents' business responsibilities have been fulfilled. Teachers and administrators in the intermediate school of this study have tried variously to cope with and educate a small and transient group of Japanese children who arrive at diverse stages of their education and maturation. Kaigaishijo, upon arrival, have limited ability to communicate in English. These children will experience several years of their education in a distinctly different culture and, upon returning to their native society and educational system, will need to blend back in to be successful.

The educational program for these Japanese sojourner children was ad hoc at best. Teachers of English as a second language (ESL) were hired as temporary employees. None of the seven ESL teachers who had served at the intermediate school had received any instruction in the Japanese language, culture, or customs. Only one classroom teacher at the intermediate school had any understanding of Japanese culture, and her "expertise" came from constructing one college term paper. I began this study to recognize and understand how kaigaishijo adjust to their temporary environment so that their educational needs may be delineated and addressed.