Cultural Competence and Empathy for Japanese in America

Abstract

"Much attention today focuses on the journey of immigrants to America, but less popular is acculturation and adaption that marks immigrant's new lives here. This paper focuses particularly on the story of Japanese immigrants in America. They face barriers such as language acquisition, resource awareness, and Socio- cultural difference native- born Americans have never experienced. Drawing on the history of political interaction between Japan and America, English language acquisition, and intercultural communication styles, I look at struggles and supports for them in the US. I finish by asking what we can do as individuals to be supportive to Japanese in our community."