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dissertation entitled

A SMALL TOWN'S REACTIONS
TO THE ARRIVAL OF
A JAPANESE MANUFACTURING COMPANY
AND ITS JAPANESE EMPLOYEES
presented by

Marcia SoIler Venus

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A SMALL TOWN'S REACTIONS
TO THE ARRIVAL OF
A JAPANESE MANUFACTURING COMPANY
AND ITS JAPANESE EMPLOYEES

BY

Marcia Soller Venus

A DISSERTATION
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Educational Administration

1991

ABSTRACT
A SMALL TOWN'S REACTIONS
TO THE ARRIVAL OF

A JAPANESE MANUFACTURING COMPANY
AND ITS JAPANESE EMPLOYEES

BY

Marcia Soller Venus

Late in 1987 a Japanese auto supplier selected
Pleasantville, a small, primarily white town of 7,500 people
located in a Great Lakes state, as the site for a $100
million manufacturing plant. In the year that followed,
over 100 Japanese workers arrived to establish the plant,
staying from six months to one year. Since early 1989, 15
Japanese executives and their families have made
Pleasantville home, purchasing houses for three to five year
assignments.

This study chronicles the reactions of the people in
Pleasantville to the arrival of the Japanese families from
early 1989 through 1990. Drawing on interviews of 52
residents of the community, the study addresses the recent
phenomenon of Japanese companies locating in American small

towns. The question What has been going on in

 

Pleasantville since the Japanese arrived and how do people

feel about it? is the focus of this study.

 

The results coalesced into seven major conclusions: (1) The
predominant attitude reported by those interviewed is one of
acceptance of the Japanese. (2) There is an overall
acceptance of the Japanese manufacturing plant as a result
of its economic impact, its role in the community, and the
attitude and activities of its president. (3) Some
activities and events in the development stages of of the
plant caused misunderstandings on the part of those
interviewed. (4) Cultural differences caused confusion and
concerns between Japanese and Americans in Pleasantville.
(5) Where there are concerns about the Japanese presence in
Pleasantville, economic concerns override World War II, or
"historic enemy", issues and basic racial issues as the
predominant concern. (6) Communication, primarily language
and the fear of misunderstanding, is such a pervasive
problem that even after two years, it prevents most Japanese
and Americans in Pleasantville from interacting except in
the most minor way, despite the fact that many want to and
try to relate. (7) While some aspects of the community have
changed, for most people "Pleasantville is still
Pleasantville," although there is a feeling that significant

community change will be more obvious in time.

Copyright By
MARCIA SOLLER VENUS
1991

Dedicated to my mother,
Dorothy Graham,
who would have been so proud.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The growing awareness that not only could I do
fieldwork research, but that I would love it, came to me
during a year-long course with Dr. Douglas Campbell. I
thank him for developing my skills, for his friendship, and
for his dedicated efforts to direct this dissertation. Dr.
Rhonda Egidio not only co-directed this work, but inspired
me regularly in my early doctoral classes in a wonderful
three-course series on adult development, where I grew while
learning about how others did. I have appreciated the
support of other members of my committee, Dr. Richard
Gardner, Dr. James Snoddy and particularly Dr. Howard
Hickey, who counseled me to begin doctoral work.

I owe a great deal to the support and encouragement of
my husband, Richard Venus, and son, Eric Soller, who have
put up with me and loved me anyway for the past five years;
Eric wasn't sure he wanted a mother he had to call "Dr. Mom"
and Richard has already begun to call me "Dr. Sweetie."

My father, Robert Graham, developed my appreciation for
Japan and for abstraction. My brother, Mark Graham, has
kept our relationship strong in recent years. I am indebted

to them both.

vi

And to the other people who have supported me, I thank
them: Judy Dennis, who cared so much and did such wonderful
work typing all the stages of this dissertation; Laura
VanSickle, whose help carried me through all the early
papers and reports and the proposal; Janet McDowell and
Peggy Snead, whose friendship I value; and the staff of the
Intermediate School District where I work, who have
encouraged me, made exceptions, and helped me reach this

moment .

vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTENTS PAGE

CHAPTER 1 JAPAN COMES TO PLEASANTVILLE

Introduction...............................................l
Japan Comes to Town and So Do I............................2
Japanese Companies Locate in Many Small Towns..............7
What We Can Learn in Pleasantville........................12

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE LEADS AND SUPPORTS

Introduction............................... ...... .........17
The Evolution of Appropriate Literature...................18
An Overview of the Japanese Literature....................23
The Concept of Community..................................26
Community Defined....................................26
Community Change Theory..............................30
Community Attitude toward Newcomers..................33
From Ethnocentricity to Multiculturalism..................37
Monoculturalism, Ethnocentrism,
Prejudice and Discrimination......................38
Toward Multiculturalism...................................41
Cross-Cultural Communication..............................44
Summary...................................................SO

CHAPTER 3 SEARCH FOR VERBAL PHOTOGRAPHS
CREATES THE DESIGN

Introduction..............................................52
Ethnography and the Design Development....................54
Guiding Research Questions................................62
The Interviewing Process and the Questions................65
Summary...................................................69

CHAPTER 4 THE PLACE AND THE PEOPLE

The Place 0 O O I O O O O O O O I O I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 71
The People 0 I O O O O O O I O O O O O O O O O O O O I O O O O I O O O I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 74
sumarYe O O O O O O O O O O O O O O C O O I I O O I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O I O I 80

viii

CHAPTER 5 ATTITUDES TOWARD THE JAPANESE
PEOPLE AND THE JAPANESE PLANT

Introduction................ ................ . ......... ...81
Most Pleasantville Residents Report
POSitive Attitudes. O O O I O O O O O O ........ O O C O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 83

World War II and Economics Play a Role
in People's Feelings..................................100
Japanese Plant Is Welcome and Well Received..............108

smary. . O I O C C O O O C C O O O O O O O O O O O C O O O O O O O O C O C OOOOOOOOOOOO O O O 118
CHAPTER 6 WHAT HAPPENED IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS
Introduction. O 0 C O O O O O O C C ........ C O O O O O O O O O C O O O O O ....... C O 122

Communication Is a Major Problem.........................124
Some People Relate Despite Communication.................142
Cultural Differences Affect Communication................147
Children Play Role in the Cross-Cultural Process.........156
Most Neighbors Wish for More Contact With Japanese.......l63
Summary.......................................... ........ 169

CHAPTER 7 WHAT HAPPENED IN THE COMMUNITY

Introduction.............................................173
Pleasantville Is Still Pleasantville.....................175
Businesses and Services Adapt to Japanese................184
Welcome Signs.......................................184
Grocery Stores......................................185
Library.............................................187
Banking.............................................190
Other Stores and Services...........................191
Health Services.....................................l93
Housing.............................................l94
Recreation..........................................201
Schools.............................................205
Summary..................................................206

CHAPTER 8 CONCLUSIONS

Introduction.............................................211
Conclusion 1: Attitudes toward Japanese........ ........ .213
Conclusion 2: Attitudes toward Japanese Plant...........216
Conclusion 3: Causes of Early Misunderstandings.........219
Conclusion 4: Cultural Differences......................222
Conclusion 5: Economic, Historic and Racial Issues......225
Conclusion 6: Pervasive Problem of Communication........228
Conclusion 7: Impact of Japanese on Community Change....232
Future Research..........................................237
Personal Reflections.....................................240

ix

CHAPTER 1

JAPAN COMES TO PLEASANTVILLE

INTRODUCTION

"Welcome to Pleasantville," the highway sign says. The
sign doesn't tell you that this is a small town where
something is happening, something that is new for
Pleasantville and is happening in other small and mid-size
cities and towns across the heartland of America.

Pleasantville has just one main street. Highway 98
enters and exits from the east and the west. As it passes
through the heart of this small town, it becomes
Pleasantville Avenue. This picturesque street consists of
three long blocks making up the downtown area and twice that
many blocks of beautiful turn-of-the century homes which
have been carefully restored and painted appropriate
Victorian colors. Careful attention to the authentic in
these restoration projects has made this state-designated
historic district popular for tours during the spring
season. Moving to the west, the historic homes are replaced
by small shopping malls, grocery stores, gas stations, a
variety of restaurants and bars, banks, and other service
providers.

As Highway 98 enters Pleasantville from the east, there
is a new structure which has provided the impetus for the I
activity in the community which is being documented here. A
large, white, imposing factory graces the eastern entrance

of the community. As one drives by this impressive

I

2
structure, the name "Pleasantville Manufacturing" on the
front of the building announces this new industry. Nothing
visible about this manufacturing facility would inform the
casual traveler passing through Pleasantville of the nature
of this plant, an industry which in three short years has
caused a wide variety of reaction from this small, basically
white, middle-and-upper-middle class community. The
passer—by would not be able to tell that Pleasantville

Manufacturing is Japanese owned and operated.

JAPAN COMES TO TOWN AND SO DO I

Nothing about the blocks of historic homes and nothing
about the strip malls and service areas give any impression
that Pleasantville has become one of the many
now-international communities in the United States where
Japanese residents make their lives as part of middle
America. The only evidence that would have greeted the
traveler in the first year of the plant's existence was in
the three-block downtown area where occasional stores and
restaurants placed home-made signs in front windows with
large Japanese characters spelling out the word "welcome."
After three years, those signs have disappeared, leaving no
physical evidence of the Japanese presence in the community.

Hundreds of Japanese companies are currently located in
the United States. Although most of them employ primarily .
United States citizens, a significant majority are managed
and operated by Japanese, assigned to the United States for

anywhere from six months to five years. These Japanese

3
frequently are accompanied by wives and children, many
school-age, and their presence has an impact on the
communities in which they reside. Many of these Japanese
companies are located in small communities, a deliberate
attempt on the part of the Japanese industrial planners to
locate plants where a certain "quality of life" is available
to Japanese and American employees (Scwartz, Gordon, and
Veverka, 1988).

"A record number of Japanese are moving to the
industrial middle west, turning weed-filled lots into
automobile plants, and bringing sushi and shabu shabu to
small town America" (Wilkerson, 1988, 14). For example,
Pleasantville is a community of 7,500. This small, rural
community is surrounded on all sides by farmland. It has no
slums, no crime problem, and offers a quiet, rural
life-style. One high school, one middle school, and six
elementary schools provide for the educational needs of the
community. There is no movie theatre, one bowling alley,
and a few small restaurants and bars. There are a number of
industries in the community, several of which are large and
profitable, resulting in a higher-than-average per capita
income and quality of life. These aspects of the community
appealed to a Japanese manufacturer to such an extent that
late in 1987 the community was selected as the site for the
company's first American venture. .

Within months, Japanese executives arrived in
Pleasantville to begin supervising construction of the $100

million plant. In the months that followed, other Japanese

4
arrived to put into place all the complex details necessary
to operate a 350-person manufacturing facility. In total,
130 Japanese arrived in the months that followed, some for
as short a time as six months, others for five or more years.

Community planners greeted this development with great
enthusiasm. A manufacturing company had left Pleasantville
several years before and 350 jobs were welcome. This was
the first major foreign firm to choose Pleasantville, and
its economic impact was seen as very desirable. All the
major members of the Pleasantville business and industrial
community voiced their support and encouragement. Several
events were held to welcome the new Japanese executives.
Some workshops on Japanese culture and language, primarily
for the business community, were presented during 1988. The
construction was completed; hiring began; many area
residents found employment and a number were selected to
travel to Japan for several weeks of introduction to
Japanese manufacturing processes. Slowly more Japanese
arrived, including wives and children. Homes were purchased
and Japanese families set up new lives.

It was in early 1989 that I began to study
Pleasantville and the changes it would undergo as a very
different culture began to find its home in this small
American town.

I have always been fascinated with Japan. My birth
announcement appeared in the newspaper on the same day as
the announcement of Pearl Harbor. Maybe it all began then.

All I know is that I have always been moved by things

5

Japanese. I was the only American I knew who cried on the
first viewing of a Kabuki play in Japanese, somehow sensing,
despite not really understanding what was happening, the
great drama and tragedy involved. I am sure I inherited
much of this interest and affection for Japan from my
father, whose Japanese travels over many years have caused
him to choose Japan as the final resting place for his
ashes. Recently he was able to make arrangements, in
Japanese, for his ashes to be interred, when that time
arrives, at Ryoanji, a beautiful Japanese Buddhist temple in
the historic city of Kyoto. Through the years he has
presented me with beautiful pieces of Japanese art. As a
result of my experiences with him, I have learned to
appreciate Japanese art, food, culture, and particularly
Japanese people. While attending the University of Hawaii
for several years, I had the good fortune to live in a home
with many Japanese characteristics, and I had a Japanese
boss, a Japanese secretary, and numerous Japanese friends.

Following my time in Hawaii, and after fifteen years of
life in the upper Midwest, I had no expectation that I would
have an opportunity to experience Japanese life again. It
was with great delight that I heard about the arrival of the
Japanese plant in Pleasantville, a community near my home.
Assignments in my professional life allowed me to have
dealings with the Japanese executives who arrived to make
preparations for the plant development. I spent many months

formulating and implementing training programs for the plant

6
employees, from welding and metrics to Japanese language for
the Americans and English—as-a-Second—Language for the
Japanese. It was exciting to experience this somewhat
mysterious and fascinating culture here in my own rural
community.

Because of my background and knowledge of Japanese
culture, I found myself assuming more professional
assignments related to this new facility and was more and
more involved with the arrival of the Japanese, both
personally and professionally. With my admiration and
fascination for Japanese customs and Japanese people, and
with my appreciation of white, middle-class Pleasantville, I
became very curious to find out how these two worlds would
meet. In some ways it seems that I was almost fated to be
here, near Pleasantville, as the Japanese arrived, in a.
position not only to participate in this history-changing
event but with the opportunity to record it.

In a rare coincidence, during the over two-year period
of the study reported in this dissertation, my
step-daughter, an English teacher in Japan, married a
Japanese man and settled in Shizuoka Prefecture. My husband
and I traveled to Japan for the wedding and became part of
our new extended Japanese family. This timely trip made
what I heard and understood during the remaining phase of

the study even more real and personal.

7
JAPANESE COMPANIES LOCATE IN MANY SMALL TOWNS

The Midwest and upper South were where the

Japanese auto makers wanted to be. Our national

newspapers and news magazines might consider the

so-called heartland "flyover country," might say

that nothing of significance happened in America

unless it started on the East or West coast, might

still see the auto industry through the lenses of

their Detroit bureaus--but the Japanese saw

homogeneous people, interstate highways, and all

that empty land. (Gelsanliter, 1990, 76)

Pleasantville is but one of many similar small
communities now home to a Japanese company and its Japanese
employees. Hundreds of Americans now have Japanese
executive families for neighbors; American children go to
school with non-English-speaking Japanese children; stores
and restaurants and other services attempt to accommodate
themselves to Japanese wives and families with different
tastes and customs. Many authors, from the media to major
publications, have written about the Japanese and their
attitudes toward and reactions to their new home. Little
has been done to document the attitudes and reactions of the
residents of the communities who interact with this new and
different culture. Pleasantville has offered an excellent
opportunity to study a small rural community during the two
and one-half years after the arrival of the first Japanese
families.

Recent news articles regarding Japanese investment in
the United States, particularly in reference to the

development of manufacturing facilities in this country,

report an increasing number of Japanese-owned or

8
Japanese-American joint ventures, particularly in industry.
These companies employ more than 300,000 Americans, many in
areas where high unemployment previously existed. "The
state of Kentucky alone has 39 Japanese-owned or Japanese
joint venture manufacturing plants representing an
investment of $1.9 billion and employing nearly 11,000
workers. Thirty-two of these plants were opened in the last
four years" (Packard, 1988, A2). In addition to
manufacturing facilities, there are hundreds of other
Japanese endeavors in this country, including numerous other
types of business, many only one and two person offices.

In a feature article in the Detroit Free Press on

 

Sunday, March 25, 1990, on the topic of the transplantation
of former GM workers to the new Saturn plant in Spring Hill,
Tennessee, the author discussed "the new geography of
America industry," the fact that major industry is moving to
what he described as "greenfield" sites, small communities
in the mid-west, communities where a certain quality of life
is available. In relation to that move, the article
reported, "Recently Japanese manufacturers have fueled the
movement. Since 1980, Japanese-owned firms or joint
ventures have opened eight light assembly plants, 270 auto
parts suppliers, 66 steel mills and processing plants, and
17 rubber plants, mostly in the lower mid-west" (Lippert,
1990a, 6H). One of those 270 auto parts suppliers is the
$100 million plant in Pleasantville.

There are numerous political, financial, and social

ramifications from this increasing infusion of Japanese

9
owned and managed industry into the American scene. Any one
of these areas is worthy of study. To date many books and
articles have been written regarding the dynamics in the
work force where Japanese homogenous and conformist
management philosophy collides with American independence
and individuality (Gelsanliter, 1990; Halberstam, 1986;
Zimmerman, 1985).

An equal number of magazine and news articles have
discussed the implications on the America economy of the
"buying of America," not only by the Japanese, but by the
British, Dutch, Canadians, and others. In the past six
years, foreign ownership of American farms, factories,
banks, businesses, real estate and other assets has
doubled. According to a special report by Jack Anderson,
"The U.S. Commerce Department estimates that total foreign
investments now exceed $1.5 trillion" (Anderson, 1989, 4).
While the British and the Dutch still own more American
assets than other foreigners, of late the most visible
financial invasion has come from Japan.

According to a General Accounting Office

survey issued in October, 1988, Britain
holds $75 billion or 29 percent of the
$252 billion in foreign investment in
manufacturing and real estate in the
United States; Holland holds $47 billion
or almost 20 percent; and Japan holds
$33.4 billion or 12.7 percent. Canada,
the next on the list, holds $21.3 billion
or 8.3 percent. (Los Angeles Times,
n.d., A13)

Japanese direct investments increased in 1989 by 45 percent

and continue at a similar rate. "The Japanese, whose

devastated homeland was rebuilt with American aid, now

10
surpasses the U.S. as the world's economic leader, while
threatening to overtake us as the world's No. 1
technological power as well" (Anderson, 1988, 4).

The most recent Japanese acquisitions have been of such
a public nature that the awareness of the Japanese presence
in the United States has become highly visible to almost
everyone. Newspapers and television dedicated columns and
hours discussing the Japanese purchases of Rockefeller
Center, the Sears Tower, and 7-Eleven, all considered
sacrosanct symbols of American life.

Despite the fact that numerous articles and books have
been written about such topics as Japanese culture and
customs, Japanese problems with adjustment to the United
States, eventual adjustment when returning to Japan, and
Japanese concerns about American education for their
children, little has been done to study the communities who
accept these Japanese families. David Gelsanliter, in his
1990 publication, Jump Start: Japan Comes to the

Heartland, introduces his brief 23-item bibliography by

 

saying, "The coming of the Japanese auto makers to the
American heartland is such a recent phenomenon that little
has been written on the subject."

There is considerable concern about the reactions of
the Japanese to their new life, but more research must be
done on how and why local communities react to these new
residents. Many small Midwestern and Great Lakes
communities have had little experience with cultural

diversity and certainly nothing as sudden and as culturally

11
different as the arrival of from 10 to 50 Japanese families
within a period of months.

Communities change, respond, react; it is inevitable
that change occurs over time when a significant amount of
cultural difference is injected into a community system.
Factors such as the significant issue of language, vastly
different customs and cultural expressions, the physical
difference of the new residents, food preferences, and
educational needs are only a few of the major dynamics
involved. A singular area which cannot be ignored is that
of a basic prejudice against people of a different race, a
concept many scholars of the Japanese feel affects the
attitudes of Americans toward the Japanese. Many small
communities have never had to deal, as a whole, with the
issue of racial difference. Impossible to ignore is the.
fifty-year-old prejudice resulting from World War II,
particularly the attack on Pearl Harbor. Robert Christopher

in The Japanese Mind, one of the most widely read books on

 

understanding the Japanese, is very direct in his
interpretation of American attitudes. "In the relationship
between Japan and the United States, there is another factor
at work as well: a deeply ingrained superiority complex
which makes it hard for a great many Americans to concede
that we could ever be in error or at fault in our dealings
with the Japanese. To some degree, this superiority complex
clearly reflects plain, old fashioned racism" (Christopher,

1983, 24).

‘F
nu

 

u?!‘
eHH

12
All of these factors, and others, come to play in
communities where Japanese plants locate. These communities
are selected by the Japanese because they are small, safe,
rural areas with a desirable "quality of life." The paradox
is that as a result, these communities have the least amount
of experience with racial difference.

Since the advent of numbers of Japanese moving into
small American communities is relatively recent, little has
been done to chronicle the changes and responses which occur
in the community as a whole and in the lives of the

individual members who make up those communities.

WHAT WE CAN LEARN IN PLEASANTVILLE

The purpose of this study has been to attempt to
discover, almost as a detective seeks to follow the trails
of evidence, what has happened in Pleasantville in the three
years since the arrival of the first Japanese. The focus
has been on the local community and its citizens, not on the
Japanese population.

In the manner of the detective, the study was designed
to follow where the trail leads, from individuals into
numerous community domains as they are opened up and
directed by the informants in the study. The details of the
design are included in Chapter 3's presentation of the
research methods.

In addition to recording what the community has
experienced and is currently experiencing, as viewed through

its neighborhoods and areas of community life, this study

13
sheds light on specific ways a community and its members
adapt to or resist cultural change. As I began the
research, I knew I would consider the study to be successful
if it led to assumptions regarding things which have
contributed to, or failed to support, positive community
acceptance of this new culture. Information of this kind
would be valuable to community developers, Japanese
planners, and others attempting to integrate Japanese, and
other nationalities, into American communities in the
future.

Since most economists and business leaders predict that
this trend of Japanese companies establishing themselves in
American communities will continue, and more small and
mid-sized cities and towns will become home for Japanese
workers, research must be done on what is happening in the
communities where Japanese are currently living. How are
American citizens reacting to their new neighbors? Are
there changes in the community? Are the reactions positive
or negative? Why? What methods have been used, or could be
used, to create or affect reactions?

Pleasantville was a perfect community to begin this
important research. Japanese have lived here for up to
three years; few other minorities live in the area; the
community is small, rural and relatively easy to access
.because of its size; the community is easily available to
me. The answers found in Pleasantville address a topic of

increasing importance around the country.

14

The study may not be generalizable to every community
in mid-America which currently is or might become home to a
Japanese industry. The results of this study, however,
could help many community planners and economic developers
understand the human dimension of the adjustment into
communities of a culture so different from our own.

More specifically, the study should be valuable to
Pleasantville itself. Even though almost three years have
passed since Japan and Pleasantville merged, the resulting
dynamics will create an on-going process for community
leaders for years to come. Japanese families will complete
their assigned term and return to Japan and new Japanese
will come. It is also possible that in the near future
other Japanese firms, support to Pleasantville
Manufacturing, may locate in the area. In Bellfontaine,
Ohio, of the 11,000 jobs created by the location of Honda,
3,000 are a result of Japanese supplier companies which
located nearby to be able to respond to the just-in-time
manufacturing philosophy espoused by most Japanese
manufacturers (Gelsanliter, 1990, 70).

The practice of just-in-time management, an integral
part of Japanese business, is based on the concept of
inventory being delivered "just in-time" for it to be used
in the manufacturing process, as opposed to warehousing
large amounts of inventory, requiring space and a large
investment of funds. As a result, suppliers must be located

nearby, able to deliver parts, often within an hour.

15

National and state leaders feel this is only the
beginning of a trend which will continue in this area for
years. Therefore, local leaders need to look seriously at
how the community is being impacted at the present time and
how well selected community members feel they were prepared
for the transplant into their community of a vastly
different culture.

Since the process involved in this study was a personal
one, I was affected in an intimate way by the entire
research experience. It was obvious to me from the
beginning that my bias toward Japan needed to be kept
contained during the course of the study. That was not
always easy to do, especially when encountering community
members who shared my attitudes toward Japanese people and
Japanese culture. One of the most difficult aspects of.
conducting interviews was not allowing myself to show my
enthusiasm or influence the reactions being shared with me
by leading the interviewee in any way. I was concerned that
I would like the people who had positive reactions and
dislike those who spoke of bitterness and antagonism toward
the Japanese, thereby possibly coloring the results with my
own palate of feelings.

I cannot guarantee that I kept my own attitudes from
surfacing but I did make a constant, conscious effort. In
fact, I was stunned that I sincerely liked the American
Legion member who was actively involved in the South Pacific
fron11942-1945, as he shared, often in tears, his tremendous

sense of patriotism and now disappointment in and anger at

16
his government as it supports and encourages Japanese
investment in his country and in his own town.

Only on a few occasions, at the conclusion of a
particularly spirited and personally enriching interview,
where definite interest in and support of the Japanese had
been expressed, did I share the existence of my own
newly-acquired Japanese family, and never once did I pull
out wedding or trip pictures!

During the course of this research, state and local
economic developers announced that another multi-million
dollar foreign company, not Japanese, will be built in
Pleasantville in the immediate future. Hopefully the
results of this study will help community leaders prepare

for the next arrival of its new international neighbors.

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE LEADS AND SUPPORTS

INTRODUCTION

The nature of this study evolved, from early in 1988 as
I began to realize the importance of what I saw happening in
Pleasantville, until I began the actual collection of data
in mid-1990. The relationship of the study to the
literature evolved in a similar way.

Since I began this work intent first on studying the
Japanese as well as the American cross-cultural interaction,
I immersed myself in literature regarding Japanese culture
and customs. In the summer of 1988 I designed an
independent study on that topic, and spent three months
reading appropriate books, viewing video tapes, watching.
classic films, and visiting area libraries and Japanese
centers. By the end of 1988, I had delved into that related
literature to such an extent that I became one of the local
"experts" on the topic of the Japanese.

However, as the heart of the study began to emerge, the
Japanese reactions and adjustments became less important
than chronicling the activities, attitudes, and responses of
the Pleasantville community to the presence of the Japanese
plant and its employees. Areas of literature which then
began to emerge included: 1) those related to the concept of
”community," and to community acceptance and rejection of

change; 2) the development of individuals from monocultural

l7

18
to multicultural, and the relationship of ethnocentricity
and prejudice to the events in Pleasantville; and
3) theories of cross-cultural communication. Thus, three
distinct bodies of literature led and supported this study

and regularly reinforced the appropriateness of the research.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE APPROPRIATE LITERATURE

These bodies of literature which I considered at
various stages of the study break down into eight major
components, only six of which I will describe in any
detail. I will briefly discuss the eight, explain the
reasons for eliminating the first two, explain the use of
the next three primarily to support and document the
findings, and elaborate in some detail on the final three
which are of greatest significance to the study.

Following are the eight areas which were important
during the development of the study and into which the
resulting research fits.

1. Asian refugees in the United States

2. Reactions to Japanese-Americans

3. Japanese management styles

4. Japanese adjustment problems

5. Japanese culture and customs

6. The concept of community and the acceptance
versus rejection of change

7. Ethnocentricity to multiculturalism
8. Cross-cultural communication processes

Brief descriptions of the topic areas follow.

l9

1. Asian Refugees in the United States

 

A great deal has been written about the reactions,
problems, and concerns in the United States and other
countries to the settlement of a variety of Asian immigrants
and refugees. Reference to the reaction in the United
States to any other immigrant/refugee groups was also
considered (Tsai, 1986; Wilson and Hosokawa, 1982).

2. Reactions to Japanese-Americans

 

The past and present problems and recent solutions to
the situation of the Japanese and Japanese-Americans
interned in camps during World War II has been a topic about
which much has been written recently as a result of the
United States government's efforts to provide compensation
for the heavy financial and personal losses of those "Issei"
(first generation) and ”Nisei" (second generation) Japanese
Americans (Smith, 1990, 9; Johnson, 1988; Armor and Wright,
1988).

3. Japanese-American Management Styles

Books, articles and television programs present
comparisons, contrasts, and analyses between Japanese and
American management concepts and practices. These include
many broader studies of national concerns regarding the
Japanese "buying" of America (Halberstam, 1986; Zimmerman;
1985; Rowen, 1988).

4. Japanese Adjustment Problems

Numerous magazine and newspaper articles, and some
books, address the Japanese adjustment in America. Most are

primarily concerned with problems regarding the education of

20
Japanese children so they are able to succeed in the future
in Japan, the difficulty for Japanese families in general as
they return to Japan, and the difficulty for Japanese
workers to adjust to the different work styles and ethics of
American workers (White, 1988; Schwartz et al., 1988; Nance,
1989).

5. Japanese Culture and Customs

 

There is a significant amount of work available on
understanding Japanese culture and customs, including a
large number of videotapes on almost any topic of Japanese
life. (Japan video series, 1989; Christopher, 1983;

White, 1987; Lebra and Lebra, 1986).

6. The Concept of Community

Of relevance to this research are the theories on what
constitutes "community," theories on community change, and
theories about acceptance or rejection, particularly of
people considered foreign (Goodenough, 1963; Nelson et al.,
1960; Christenson, 1989; Robinson, 1989).

7. Ethnocentrism to Multiculturalism

An important area related to this study and existing in
current research is how people move from the basic
ethnocentric impulse to the ability to accept society as
multicultural (Wurzel, 1988; Stewart, 1972; Brislin, 1990;
Ramsey, 1987).

8. Cross-Cultural Communication Processes

A reasonable amount of information exists on the
general topic of the problems, difficulties, and solutions

related to the communication processes between persons of

21
different cultural orientations (Barnlund, 1975; Barnlund,
1989; Porter and Samovar, 1988; Storti, 1989; Goodenough,
1971).

Of these eight areas of existing literature, the last
six provide the background support for this dissertation,
the rationale for the major questions being addressed, and
will benefit from the results of this study. The first two
do not address the topic of the study for the following
reasons:

1. Asian Refugees

 

Although work has been done on Asian adaptation
processes and American reactions to the large number of
Asian refugees in the United States in the past 10—15 years,
there are several major differences which make these studies
inappropriate for inclusion or major consideration in this
study.

The differences between the Asian refugees and the
Japanese dispatchees, as they are referred to by the
Japanese, are so considerable as to separate them from any
serious comparison.

While most Asian refugees are financially dependent on
any community where they settle, Japanese dispatchees are
financially secure, even considered by many Americans to be
wealthy. Refugees are frequently unable to acquire or
retain employment due to language barriers, while
dispatchees are employed upon arrival at middle management
or higher levels. Refugees are relegated to housing in

poor, transient—type housing, while dispatchees are able to

22
purchase or rent homes, condominiums or apartments in
upper-middle class residential neighborhoods. Ultimately,
many refugees are potential permanent residents requiring
long-term support from community systems. Dispatchees are
temporary residents, usually here for three to five years,
and requiring no financial and little other assistance.

In effect, the Japanese currently locating in local
communities do not draw on the community and its resources.
On the contrary, they frequently contribute to its economic
well-being.

2. Japanese-Americans

 

The second area mentioned, studies on the adjustment of
and American attitudes toward Japanese-Americans, also is
significantly different enough not to be a major area for
further reference in this study.

Many studies, books, and articles in this area relate
to those Japanese either in the United States as
transplanted workers from the 19203 and 19305, or as
spouses/children of American citizens, many at the time of
the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The resulting internment
camps, which were designed to assure the security of the
United States from Japanese sympathizers, have caused many
negative reactions and resulted in apologies and payments to
those transferred to camps (Smith, 1990). The attitudes
regarding many Japanese-Americans, as reported in these
studies, are part of another era of history. These studies
do not address the new view of Japan as an economic power.

They are not concerned with the category of Japanese being

 

V §F~
HIM e I»

23
addressed in this research, the well-educated, financially
successful, well-employed person whose company has just
injected often-needed economic life-blood into small

American communities.

AN OVERVIEW OF THE JAPANESE LITERATURE

Of the remaining six areas which have some relationship
to any analysis of American reactions to the Japanese, the
first three, which appeared to be most important when this
research began, became only supporting literature as the
final study emerged. They relate to the specific knowledge
necessary to understand the Japanese who moved to
Pleasantville. Since the study is concerned primarily with
the American residents of Pleasantville, this knowledge is
of secondary importance. However, it remains critical in
understanding the attitudes and reactions of Pleasantville
citizens to their Japanese neighbors and therefore will be
detailed as appropriate in the interpretation of the
findings. These three areas include:

1. Japanese/American Management Styles

There is a great deal of literature available which
compares and contrasts Japanese and American management
styles. The popular press is filled with articles and
frequently with series detailing relationships at specific
plants or in specific communities. Books have been written-
on the topic and new publications appear almost daily.
Examples of such books include Michio Morishima's Why Has

Japan 'Succeeded'?: Western Technology and Japanese Ethos

24
(1982), Mark Zimmerman's How to Do Business with the

Japanese: A Strategy for Success (1985), John Condon's

 

With Respect to the Japanese: A Guide for Americans

 

(1984), and David Halberstam's popular treatise The

Reckoning (1986), to mention a few.

 

Knowledge in this area is important background
information in any study of relationships between Americans
and Japanese. The studies and reports in this area indicate
some very specific differences which affect the way these
two peoples relate to each other in the economic and
employment arenas. Understanding these dynamics makes it
easier to interpret why members of the Pleasantville
community have certain reactions to their Japanese
neighbors, or reactions in general to the presence of the
plant based on perceptions of the way the Japanese do
business.

2. Japanese Adjustment Problems

Publications in this area are primarily in the form of
newspapers and magazine articles, particularly as they
relate to recent events in the United States which result
from the increasing amount of Japanese investment in this
country. Only within the past three to five years have such
significant numbers of Japanese been dispatched from Japan
to live and work in American communities. The recency of
these events is one reason for the lack of available formal.
research in related areas. A popular and widely quoted
author on this topic is Dr. Merry White, Sociology Professor

at Boston University. Dr. White addresses the very real

25
problem of the Japanese return to Japan after adjustment to
life in the United States in The Japanese Overseas: Can
They Go Home Again? Published in 1988, this is one of the
most recent scholarly attempts to analyze this problem.
News articles at the local and national level also address
this topic.

Understanding how the Japanese adjust to America
provides insights into what is happening on the other side
of the adjustment -- to the Americans involved.

3. Japanese Culture and Customs

Of value in this study is understanding the motivations
behind the Japanese behavior and life style to which
Pleasantville community members are reacting. More than
sufficient literature exists. In this area, the role of the
videotape must be considered, since public television and
educational television companies have produced quality
productions on the subject of Japanese culture and customs.

Among the most popular publications and productions are
The Japanese Mind by Robert Christopher; books by Edwin O.
Reischauer; anything on the subject by Donald Richie; Ruth
:Benedict's classic anthropological study from 1946, The
Chrysanthemum and the Sword; the works of Japanese author
and.social scholar Chie Nakane; and many others. A 1988 PBS
production entitled £222! a four-hour series, is
Inasterful and well-researched. Television documentaries, as
‘well.as print materials surrounding the death of Emperor

Itirohito and the inauguration of his son, Akihito, in 1989,

26
presented the United States with major coverage on the topic
of the Japanese.

Understanding Japanese culture and customs is essential
in interpreting the comments and observations made by the
Pleasantville residents as they react to the Japanese in
their community.

The remaining three areas of literature provide the
theoretical framework for this research. They are those
which relate to the structure and content of community; the
concepts of and relationships between ethnocentricity and
its opposite, multiculturalism; and finally, the theory and

process of cross-cultural communication.

THE CONCEPT OF COMMUNITY

Community Defined. In order to conduct empirical
research in a community setting, drawing conclusions about
activities, reactions and attitudes both of individual
Inembers and representatives of various community domains, an
landerstanding of the existing theories and concepts of
"community" is essential. "An understanding of the nature
of community as an unit, the interrelationship of its parts,
1&3 necessary to the understanding and prediction of
COmnmunity behavior" (Nelson, Ramsey, and Verner, 1960, 2).

In Community Structures and Change (1960), Nelson et
31-. describe a dichotomous relationship which exists in the
Study of the theory of community. On one side, they
P08 tulate that the concept of community cannot be easily

“Dd. erstood, since it is based on "complicated and often

ins

the

des

he
be

27
mysterious” relationships among human beings, groups, and
institutions (1960, 2). Basically human relationships are
the subject matter for the study of community. And yet,
despite these mysterious and sometimes difficult to
understand relationships, the fact exists that the results
of community studies often seem to be "an elaboration of the
obvious" (1960, 9). My study in Pleasantville is an example
of elaborating the obvious, as it looks at the very normal
everyday existence of community residents, and attempts to
analyze these "difficult to understand" relationships so
they become more understandable.

Nelson et a1. maintain that despite these two
juxtaposed concepts, the study of community is to understand
"how it behaves, how it can be changed to solve human
problems (without creating more problems), and to furnish
people information leading to some control of the community
process and change for their welfare and happiness" (2).

The community, according to Nelson, similar to other
(descriptions to be discussed later, includes three basic
sparts: area, individuals, and a psychological
identification. The local area is the area within which
"Kbst of the basic human needs are satisfied within daily
travel distance. The community is, therefore, composed of
the relationships among people identifying with and living

5hl the local area, and also the relationship between people-
and institutions, and among institutions.

This definition of community and the issue of

Psx’chological identification is a factor in what is

28
happening in Pleasantville. The question rises whether
people will feel psychologically the same about the
community and identify with it in the same way they did
before it became home to a contingent of Japanese.

In a slightly different definition of community,
Stoneall (1983, 18-21) also considers that there are three
dimensions of community: 1) People. Without people
communities do not exist. Some theorists argue that at a
minimum, communities require families, multiple generations
and multiple genders. 2) Space. Stoneall refers to
localization as "the quality of being located in only one
place outside of which the system has no identity" (1968,
65). 3) Time. The concept of time is implicit in what
communities are. Communities last--but how long and the
minimal time requirement are empirical questions. Some.
native communities have lasted longer than nations while
some, the communes of the 19603, lasted only a few years.

The factor of time is added by Stoneall and is
.important in an analysis of Pleasantville. This
:sesquicentennial community identifies itself through such
activities as the historic walk to view its historic homes.
Over a hundred years have gone into the development of the
Sense of community. A question for further study might be
IND‘V long will it take for the Japanese to become part of
that community, and will Pleasantville change, in time, to a
di :Eferent kind of community?

Christenson and Robinson in their 1989 work, Community

Egfifelopment in Perspective, summarized the work of G.A.

29
Hillery as he defined community in 1955 and C.W. Willis as
he defined the development of community concepts since
1950. They suggest four main components for defining the
concept of community. First, community involves people.
Second, place or territory is an element of community. (Not
all writers include place. Blakely and Bradshaw (1981)
present a modern concept that community does not require a
set space or territory since place is becoming less
relevant, being replaced by networks based on interest and
activity without implications of space or territory.)
Social interaction is Christenson and Robinson's third
aspect of community and describes the condition where people
within a defined area relate to or are interdependent on one
another. Fourth is the idea of common attachment or
psychological identification.

A formal definition combining these four concepts, as
formed by Christenson and Robinson is "Community is defined
as people that live within a geographically bounded area who
are involved in social interaction and have one or more
psychological ties with each other and with the place in
Vflhich they live" (1989, 9).

Christenson and Robinson's addition of social
iniaeraction as an essential component of community is
sisynificant for this study, as the social interaction
betzween Japanese and Americans in Pleasantville was used as
altlajor clue to determine what is happening in this small

bmmrn as a result of the arrival of the Japanese plant.

30

Community Change Theory. Communities change through

 

time, as a result of various influences. Some changes are
massive and happen over a long period of time. Some are
relegated to one component of community life and occur
rather quickly.

Nelson, Ramsey and Verner (1960) describe four levels
of structure where community change can occur. The first
and most significant level is the total community. This
change is slow and may take generations to occur. The
growth in size of a community, or the arrival of major
industry, may change it, over time, from one with unwritten
rules and regulations to one with written laws, uniformity,
and dictated institutional relationships.

The second place where change can occur is at the
pan-community level, or the level where influences are
exerted on a community by the larger society. Here
relations change as a result of such acts as school or
geographic consolidation, or tax districts being altered.

A third level of change is in the dimensions and
elements of community structure, such as in the
relationships between the school and the family, between the
church and the school. This type of change can occur when a
system changes from being homogeneous to heterogeneous, a
condition currently happening in Pleasantville.

The fourth level happens in a component of the
community, such as the family, or the organization of the
school itself. These may not always affect the entire

community, but, depending on the scope of the change, they

31
may be significant in producing community-wide change, such
as the change in family structure caused by working mothers,
as it relates to the labor force, child care needs, and
school responsibilities (Nelson, Ramsey and Verner, 1960,
391-397).

Another way of looking at community change is through
the concept of community culture. Brislin defines culture
as "widely shared ideals, values, formation and uses of
categories, assumptions about life, and goal-directed
activities that become unconsciously or subconsciously
accepted as 'right' and 'correct' by people who identify
themselves as members of a society" (1990, 11). What is
happening in Pleasantville affects these "assumptions about
life” which community members have accepted as ”right" for
their culture or society for generations. The presence of
Japanese in Pleasantville calls for community members to
assess their assumptions, and decide either to change them
or hold on to them despite the changing nature of the
culture.

Goodenough views community change as it relates to
personal and community culture, culture being defined as
”the shared products of human learning...standards for
deciding what is, standards for deciding how one feels about
it, standards for deciding what to do about it, and
standards for deciding how to go about doing it" (1963,
272-281). He isolates these changes in community culture in
three dimensions: changes in private culture, changes in

operating culture, and changes in public culture.

..J-

‘9

C11

C11

32

Changes in a person's private culture arise in
connection with efforts to reorganize one's culture after
new experiences, or in response to conditions which cannot
be handled with the existing culture. Goodenough points out
that some people will respond to a new situation by altering
or expanding the private culture, while others may respond
negatively and seek protection in the old culture. Often
this decision is based on whether the individual feels there
is an ability to learn what is necessary to expand and grow,
whether there is an adequate opportunity to learn what is
needed to respond to the new situation.

The second change is to one's operating culture, or the
culture we all operate in outside our private person, in
work or social situations. These changes occur when the
group's culture changes and the resulting standards for.
group members are changing. Changes in one's operating
culture are obvious to others since they can be observed,
while changes in private culture are likely not to be as
obvious.

Finally, there are changes in a community's public
culture which result from gradual change in the operating
culture of the community's individual members. This can be
the result of major personal cultural change, or because of
such community changes as size or economics. According to
Goodenough, sometimes people may follow behavior which
supports the public culture because they feel it is expected
and there is no place in the community for the new behavior

to be accepted. "Such is the case when people become aware

33
of new ways of thinking, believing and acting, following
contact with members of other communities, and are privately
attracted by some of them" (1963, 280).

Questions arise in Pleasantville regarding the
individual behavior of the community members and whether the
presence of the Japanese causes change to their private
culture or results in a difference in their operating
culture, and how these individual differences are impacting
the public culture of the community as a whole.

Community Attitude toward Newcomers. In the history

 

of this country, major migrations of people to new
geographic areas have been caused either by changing
employment trends, which drive unemployed workers to pack up
families and move to greener pastures, or in some cases, by
the arrival of large numbers of foreign nationals who locate
in a particular area.

Two recent migrations fit these historic patterns. A

three-part series written by the Detroit Free Press

 

describes the reactions to the 3,600 workers from other
states who arrived in Spring Hill, Tennessee in 1990, to
staff the new GM Saturn plant. According to the article,
"There have been some outright screaming matches with
Tennessee natives who don't like unions or the northern work
force Saturn has imported" (Lippert, 1990b, 4P).

This is a reverse pattern from the trend early in the
century to the mid-1950s, when millions of Americans moved
north to work in large factories. Now, as more and more

plants "seek greenfield sites removed from the industrial

34
heartland's high wages, costly benefits and rigid work
rules" (Lippert, 1990a, 6H), the migration has reversed
itself and people are following the trend south.

As the Free Press reports, the Northerners are not

 

well received for a variety of reasons--causing overcrowding
to existing roads and schools, increasing costs of land and
services, creating resentment regarding the jobs being taken
away from local residents. The newcomers are viewed as
taking away from the community rather than adding.

"Cultures are clashing, inevitably, as the country's most
advanced auto plant takes root in a rolling pasture which
until now produced only Tennessee walking horses" (Lippert,
1990b, 4P).

In a different type of migration pattern, "At least one
out of every six Arabs who immigrated from Lebanon, Iraq,
North and South Yemen and Jordon to America since 1975
settled in Michigan" (Hamada, 1990, 10A). According to
Hamada, Arabs have settled in the Detroit area in numbers
estimated to be at least 100,000. These immigrants have
been, in general, well received by Detroit and its various
communities. Many of the refugees purchased small America
businesses, either alone or in family partnerships. Over
600 large markets in Detroit with average annual sales of $1
million each are owned by Arabs. "These businesses have
added life to many tough, declining neighborhoods in Detroit
and its suburbs" (10A). Because of a high work ethic,
caused in large part by the fact that there is no welfare in

Arab countries and therefore work is survival, the large

If]

35
numbers of immigrants have been an economic asset to the

communities rather than a financial drain. The Free Press

 

study reported that most of the Detroit non-Arab residents
interviewed saw their Arab neighbors as "hard-working,
prosperous neighbors who share many of the same values." An
Arab interviewed about his new home said, "Detroit is just a
good area for people of different cultures who want to be
accepted. It's a true melting pot. If you do a good job,
they accept you easily" (10A).

According to the theory described in these two news
reports, since the Japanese dispatchees are financially
stable, are producing rather than taking away jobs, and are
not dependant on the community, this study should find that
they meet with acceptance in Pleasantville.

A study done in 1980 in a small town in California is

reported by Blakely and Bradshaw in Order and Image in

 

the American Small Town. They describe a "new migrant,"

 

very different from the immigrants in the past. "The actual
flow of new 'immigrants' to rural areas may not be as
important as the characteristics of the migrants

themselves. Recent evidence indicates that new migrants to
rural areas tend to be better educated and enter
professional and managerial occupations" (Blakely and
Bradshaw, 1981, 34). Interviews were conducted with two to
four people on each street who were newcomers in the past I
five years. The results show that there are a number of

factors that made these American migrants easily accepted in

36
their new town. Among these factors are: l) the motivation
to move to a small town was to access a rural lifestyle;
2) they were employed on arrival or easily employable and
able to make an economic contribution to the area; and 3)
they were a non-dependent group, using very few unemployment
or other services. "The data indicated that the new
migrants were highly skilled and successful in finding a
place for themselves in the new rural economy...it is clear
that the newcomers form an important new economic resource
for their communities" (44-45).

As life style becomes a major determinant in location,
more small towns will experience growth caused by the new
migrants. Already within this decade we have seen many
small non-metropolitan towns and rural areas experience
economic and population growth. According to Blakely and
Bradshaw (1981), there is a movement afoot to identify the
dynamics of this new migrant movement, its impacts on
communities, and its causes. The interest in identifying
this new movement indicates that the "emergence of the small
town as an economic and population growth area may be a
signal that new factors are shaping our economy" (48).

This study will attempt to relate community impressions
about economic and personal contributions of a new category
of migrant, the Japanese, both to the capacity of a small
community to respond and grow, and to the community's

willingness to accept these new residents.

In

37
FROM ETHNOCENTRICTY TO MULTICULTURALISM

In discussing community change as it relates to
personal and community culture, Goodenough described culture
as "the shared products of human learning," the learned
patterns of knowledge which a group uses to establish common
understandings among members (Goodenough, 1971, 258).

Each local or community group, and certainly each
national, ethnic, and racial group, identifies its common
understandings through its own culture and pattern of
behavior. The macrocultures, i.e., national, ethnic and
racial groups, and the microcultures, such as family, an
office, a neighborhood, form a vast array of cultural
identities which meet, clash, mesh, and somehow interact.

As our society becomes more and more technologically
sophisticated, the frequency and intensity of these
multicultural meetings increases. Television, air travel,
and computer contact make cultures that were once considered
foreign now part of our every day existence.

As we move, both individually and as cultures, to
participate in a multicultural world, it is suggested by
Jaime Wurzel in Toward Multiculturalism (1988) that we
progress through a variety of stages, identified as "the
multicultural process." Wurzel defines seven stages of
development leading from monoculturalism, which includes
ethnocentrism, to the final stage of multiculturalism. The.
seven stages are: 1) monoculturalism, 2) cross-cultural
contact, 3) cultural conflict, 4) educational interventions,

S) disequilibrium, 6) awareness, and 7) multiculturalism.

38

It is important to note here that stage theories such
as Wurzel's are one way to approach the subject of human
development. Stage theorists, such as Erikson, Havinghurst,
and Kohlberg, present the belief that people progress
through various stages in life experience, with the
necessity of successfully passing through one in order to
reach the next. They argue that human beings get "better"
as they move from one stage to the next, with an ultimate
goal to achieve the last, or best, stage. Wurzel's
seven-stage theory is one of these, since his goal is the
achievement of the final, ”best" state of multiculturalism.

Stage theories result in a limited view of the
possibilities in human development by requiring that all
stages must be passed through in order to move ahead. Other
theories, such as those of Levinson and Lowenthal, hold that
there are phases associated with age, time, and events, that
move us through our lives (Schlossberg, Troll, and Lebowitz,
1986, 20-28).

Wurzel's seven-stage theory, while limited and
certainly not absolute, seems to me to serve the analysis of
what's happening in Pleasantville.

Monoculturalism, Ethnocentrism, Prejudice and

Discrimination. In the monocultural stage, an individual's

 

way of viewing the world is considered to be the universal
one, the only one, or at least the best one. It is the
basic way an individual's world view is developed--and is
critical to the survival of a cultural group and the

individual's relationship to it. A child learns the

39
monocultural view from parents, the environment, and
traditions, and defines his or her identity through that
psychological belonging. So we grow up identifying with our
culture, which sustains and nourishes us in return.

The values held by individuals in a culture are
considered by them to be absolute--morally right. Most
people not only believe their own value orientations to be
ultimately right, but others to be wrong. That leads to the
basic condition of community life as ethnocentric, defined
by Webster as "regarding one's own group as superior,” and
results in a condition which divides all people and groups
into "in-groups" and "out-groups." As important as group
identity is for cultural survival, it does result in a world
view which perceives what is familiar as superior and what
is unfamiliar as negative and undesirable. "When people
come into contact with individuals from other cultures, they
observe differences in dress, customs, behavior patterns,
language, and more. Most people react to such differences
'ethnocentrically,' that is, they use their own ethnic group
(an in-group) as the standard and judge others favorably if
they are like in-group members and unfavorably if they are
not” (Triandis, 1990, 34).

The existence of the "in-group" and "out-group"
distinction leads to the most negative aspect of
ethnocentrism, that of prejudice. Gordon Allport, one of
the leading social psychologists of this century, analyzed
prejudice in The Nature of Prejudice (1979), a classic

study of the roots of discrimination. Allport defines

40
prejudice as "a feeling, favorable or unfavorable, toward a
person or thing, prior to, or not based on, actual
experience," and he continues to define negative prejudice
as "thinking ill of others without sufficient warrant"
(1979, 8). Prejudices can be directed toward a group as a
whole or toward an individual because he or she is a member
of that group.

Allport feels that the concept of "sufficient warrant"
is an important consideration. Some judgments, based on
enough "warrant," may appear to be prejudice but are, in
fact, justified reactions. Therefore, it can be hard to
know if prejudice exists, because sufficient warrant is
possible.

Other possible non—prejudicial reactions appearing as
prejudice are simply generalizations and some others are
simply misconceptions. However, these generalizations and
misconceptions become prejudices, or are revealed as
prejudices, if they are not reversible when they are exposed
to new and/or correct knowledge. "If a person is capable of
rectifying his mistaken judgments in light of new evidence,
he is not prejudiced--just misinformed" (Allport, 1979, 9).

Prejudices, which are characterized by hostile
attitudes, are grounded in a generalized negative belief
which drives the attitude. These two ingredients are
inseparable, an attitude and a belief, since a person could.
not long hold on to a hostile attitude without some basic
negative belief to fuel the fire. The attitude "I don't

want Japanese-Americans in my town" may be driven by the

PB

be

CC

th

41
generalized belief that Japanese-Americans are sly and
tricky (Allport, 1979, 9).

A basic question for me, considering the almost
all-white nature of Pleasantville, has been whether or not
there is anti-Japanese prejudice in the community and, if
so, what beliefs and attitudes lie behind these prejudices,
and if they lead to acts of discrimination.

Ultimately, in the chain from monocultural thinking and
ethnocentrism, to prejudice, the final step is
discrimination, defined by Holmes as "prejudice transformed
into action," where we think of a group of people in an
overgeneralized, stereotypical way and then promote
practices and establish conditions which reinforce our
negative thinking (1970, 1).

Toward Multiculturalism. In his seven stages of
multicultural process, Wurzel takes us from the first, early
stages just discussed, through a progressive growth process
which brings people finally to the attainment of a
multicultural perspective.

The second stage, the cross-cultural contact stage,
begins the process of growth as we have direct or indirect
contact with other cultural groups. That leads to stage
three, cultural conflict, in which two or more different
cultural patterns, and as a result, two or more ethnocentric
views, conflict or clash. "Cultural conflict takes place I
when two or more groups who think of their own folkways as
unique collide" (Wurzel, 1988, 6). This is the beginning of

the "we - they", "us - them" attitude.

42
The resulting concept of viewing the world as if "we"
were right and "they" were wrong, has been humorously and
appropriately addressed in the following poem "We and They"
by Rudyard Kipling.

Father, Mother, and Me,
Sister and Auntie say
All the people like us are We,
And everyone else is They.
And They live over the sea
While we live over the way,
But--would you believe it?--They look upon We
As only a sort of They!

We eat pork and beef
With cow-horn-handled knives.
They who gobble Their rice off a leaf
Are horrified out of Their lives;
While They who live up a tree,
Feast on grubs and clay,
(Isn't it scandalous?) look upon We
As a simply disgusting They!

We eat kitcheny food.
We have doors that latch.
They drink milk and blood
Under an open thatch. We have doctors to
fee.
They have wizards to pay.
And (impudent heathen!) They look upon We
As a quite impossible They!

And good people agree,
And all good people say,
All nice people, like us, are We
And everyone else is They:
But if you cross over the sea,
Instead of over the way,
You may end by (think of it!) looking on We
As only a sort of They!

This poetic approach to the issue of ethnocentrically
viewing the world, after being aware of the existence of
another cultural way of doing things, fits well into this
study. Due to cultural differences, it may be easy for
Pleasantville residents to think in a "we - they" attitude.

As Kipling describes people who "gobble their rice off a

43
leaf” and "feast on grubs and clay," I immediately think of
the Japanese custom of eating raw fish and using
chopsticks. The "doors that latch" and the "open thatch"
certainly apply to the differences in sizes and types and
arrangements of homes found in Japan and in Pleasantville.
And if this study were to be reversed, and the Japanese were
the interviewees rather than the Americans, the last line
would certainly apply, ”You may end by (think of it!)
looking on We as only a sort of They!"

Wurzel's fourth step, educational interventions, is
based on a fundamental premise that educational
interventions can ease the cultural conflict and contribute
to the development of a multicultural perspective. These
interventions can take various forms, including the study of
self-awareness, of cultural difference themes, of the
existence of ethnocentrism and prejudice and the
ramifications of their practice.

In the final three stages, one moves from
disequilibrium, caused by the challenging and/or
invalidating of previously held knowledge; to awareness,
when one begins to understand the concept of cultural
differences; and finally to multiculturalism. "To be
multicultural is to be aware and able to incorporate and
synthesize different systems of cultural knowledge into

one's own" (Wurzel, 1988, 10).

44
CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION

In Public and Private Self in Japan and the United

 

States: Communicative Styles of Two Cultures, Dean

 

Barnlund (1975) describes the depth of the cultural gap
between people of different cultures, using the differences
between Japan and the United States as particularly
disparate. His analysis of the difference is lengthy, but
artfully stated and very appropriate to this particular
study.

Here is Japan, a tiny island nation with a minimum
of resources, buffeted by periodic disasters,
overcrowded with people, isolated by physical fact
and cultural choice, nurtured in Shinto and
Buddhist religions, permeated by a deep respect
for nature, non-materialist in philosophy,
intuitive in thought, hierarchical in social
structure. Eschewing the explicit, the
monumental, the bold and boisterous, it expresses
its sensuality in the form of impeccable gardens,
simple rural temples, asymmetrical flower
arrangements, a theatre unparalleled for
containment of feeling, an art and literature
remarkable for their delicacy, and crafts noted
for their honest and earthy character. Its
people, among the most homogeneous of men, are
modest and apologetic in manner, communicate in an
ambiguous and evocative language, are engrossed in
interpersonal rituals and prefer inner serenity to
influencing others. They occupy unpretentious
buildings of wood and paper and live in cities
laid out as casually as farm villages. Suddenly
from these rice paddies emerges an industrial
giant, surpassing rival nations with decades of
industrial experience, greater resources, and a
larger reserve of technicians. Its labor, working
longer, harder, and more frantically than any in
the world, builds the earth's largest city,
constructs some of its ugliest buildings, promotes
the most garish and insistent advertising
anywhere, and pollutes its air and water beyond
the imagination.

And here is the United States, an immense country,
sparsely settled, richly endowed, tied through
waves of immigrants to the heritage of Europe, yet
forced to subdue nature and find fresh solutions

45

to the problems of survival. Steeped in the
Judeo-Christian tradition, schooled in European
abstract and analytic thought, it is materialist
and experimental in outlook, philosophically
pragmatic, politically equalitarian, economically
competitive, its raw individualism sometimes
tempered by a humanitarian concern for others.
Its cities are studies in geometry along whose
avenues rise shafts of steel and glass subdivided
into separate cubicles for separate activities and
separate people. Its popular arts are
characterized by the hugeness of Cinemascope, the
spontaneity of jazz, the earthy loudness of rock;
in its fine arts the experimental, striking and
monumental often stifle the more subtle
revelation. The people, a smorgasbord of races,
religions, dialects and nationalities, are turned
expressively outward, impatient with rituals and
rules, casual and flippant, gifted in logic and
argument, approachable and direct yet given to
flamboyant and exaggerated assertion. They are
curious about one another, open and helpful, yet
display a missionary zeal for changing one
another. Suddenly this nation whose power and
confidence have placed it in a dominant position
in the world intellectually and politically, whose
style of life has permeated the planet, finds
itself uncertain of its direction, doubts its own
premises and values, questions its motives and
materialism, and engages in an orgy of self
criticism.

It is when people nurtured in such different

psychological worlds meet that differences in

cultural perspectives and communicative codes may

sabotage efforts to understand one another.

(18-20)

As we will explore later in the analysis of community
members on the issue of the economic difference between the
United States and Japan, Barnland has here epitomized the
difference which we find at this moment in time between the
two countries. One has new-found prowess, unexpected due to
the nature of the country and its people, and the other,
long a world power, find itself "uncertain of its

direction." The descriptions of the people are very

appropriate in this study, being described as "modest and

46
apologetic" vs. "approachable and direct," "engrossed in
interpersonal rituals" vs. "impatient with rituals and
rules." These cultural variances, as described by Barnlund,
are many and vast and are meeting on a daily basis in
Pleasantville as Americans and Japanese attempt to
communicate differences in meaning and experiences across
cultures.

Every culture creates a way for its members to
interpret their life experiences for each other. Without
this ability to communicate through some type of coding
system, we would be unable to share meaning with each
other. This coding system for communicating cultural
meaning is critical to sustaining cultures, and is handed
down, generation to generation. It is taught in schools;
parents train children; adults model for children; and so
the processes continue on, unique to each culture,
containing far more than the basic coding system of words.
”One of if not the primary function of culture is to create
and preserve such communicative codes because they alone
make possible a universe of discourse within any community"
(Barnlund, 1989, 98).

Even within the same culture, communication between two
people can be difficult-~sometimes impossible, despite the
use of the same codes and processes. Even though we have
agreed to give certain meanings to certain sounds or
actions, sometimes these symbols fail to express the

experience. It is therefore not surprising that people of

47
different cultures would have unique problems in creating
meaning across the cultures.

One of the major items to be studied in Pleasantville
will be if and how the Japanese and Americans have
discovered and/or developed methods for communicating across
their cultures and what problems they have encountered.
Difficulties of social exchange and communication between
people of two different cultures can arise in a wide variety
of ways. Several main problem areas are 1) language;

2) nonverbal communication (uses of facial expressions,
gestures, touch, etc.); 3) social situation rules, such as
gifts, visiting, and eating; 4) what motivates people to
achieve and to save face; and 5) concepts and ideology,
ideas derived from religion and politics (Argyle, 1988).

Language is one of the most important differences
between many cultures and the one most critical to the
development of meaningful communication. Not only does this
include the obvious process of the specific words used, but
the style and degree of formality of the speech and the
sequential structure of conversations. "In order to be
considered intelligent and competent by members of a given
culture and to avoid embarrassing or even disastrous
miscommunications, a speaker must learn to use a language
correctly...including such things as what subjects one may
discuss and with whom, the way in which one frames a
statement, question or argument, the protocol of

turn-taking, when we should not talk, and so forth-—which

s:
d:
cc<

bel

azfl
gest
EBani
in Je

be ok

48
are integral to the communicative function language serves"
(Menyuk and Menyuk, 1988, 154).

Nonverbal communication plays an essential role in
social interaction. Some nonverbal signals are used in
similar ways by many cultures-—and others can produce
disastrous results when interpreted through a different
code. "There is little doubt that differences in nonverbal
behavior can contribute to miscommunication,
misunderstanding, incomprehension, and embarrassment"
(Irujo, 1988, 148). For example, the proximity of bodies
during communication, including the use of touch, and the
general differences in use of space in relationships can be
misinterpreted. "Children are conditioned by their culture
to accept varying degrees of tactile contact. Departures
from the norms to which one is accustomed cause
embarrassment and discomfort" (Irujo, 1988, 145).

Gestures are most often different in different cultures
and can easily cause misunderstanding. For example, the
gesture of forming a circle with the thumb and forefinger
means "0.x." in most parts of the United States, means money
in Japan, can signify extreme hostility to an Arab, and can
be obscene for an Italian (Irujo, 1988, 142).

Even vocal qualities, vocalization and the use of
silence are areas of nonverbal communication which cause
different interpretations. "The intercultural implications.
of silent behaviors are diverse because the value and use of
silence as communication vary markedly from one culture to

another" (Ishii and Bruneau, 1988, 311). Barnlund (1989)

descril
reactil
conclu
situat
embarr
period
silenc

and B:

diffi
enccm
Publi
criti
cultu
alto?
@iViI
and 1
IEpQ‘
Cult

IArg-

betw
Pu:5

5m

49
describes a study attempting to determine the differences in
reactions to silence between Americans and Japanese. It
concluded that Americans viewed pictures of silent social
situations as signs of worry, criticism, regret or
embarrassment. Japanese saw them as a neutral waiting
period or evidence of agreement (142). In Asian countries,
silence is considered to be "positively meaningful" (Ishii
and Bruneau, 313).

Social rules in different cultures are a main area of
difficulty in cross-cultural communication. These rules
encompass a vast area of interpersonal activity, usually
public and obvious in its potential misinterpretation. A
critical area is eating and drinking, including such
cultural rules as the use of certain meats, the use of
alcohol, table manners, and how eating is performed. Gift
giving, the meaning of time, rules for buying and selling,
and the meanings of such social interactions as bribery and
nepotism are only a few of the themes where differing
cultural rules of behavior can prevent understanding
(Argyle, 1988).

Several forms of motivation have been found to differ
between cultures which means that individuals or groups are
pursuing different goals for different purposes. This can
result in basically different sets of behaviors. The types
of motivation which drive behavior include differing levels.
of need for recognized achievement (Stewart, 1972; Argyle,
1988); assertiveness or dominant behavior vs.

submissiveness; degrees of extraversion; and the need to

cultx
uncle:
basi
poli

to d

50
save face so common in Japan (Christopher, 1983; Benedict,
1986; Condon, 1984).

Understanding certain aspects of life in another
culture may be impossible without an understanding of the
underlying ideas, concepts and ideologies which are at the
basis of the culture. Differing religions, concepts of
political structure, and cognitive categories which are used
to define the functions of the culture--all contribute to
the ways we interpret the activities of individuals or
groups. Those concepts and ideologies, as they are meeting
and confronting in Pleasantville, were well described in
Barnlund's earlier analysis of the differences between Japan

and the United States.

SUMMARY

Two major bodies of knowledge have played an important
part in the development of this research and create a
context within which it is appropriate and significant to
study and analyze Pleasantville and its attitudes and
reactions to the Japanese.

One area of literature which will be used to interpret
the findings relates to the Japanese culture itself, such as
what its customs mean, how business is conducted, and how
the culture is expressed. Drawing on this information in my
interpretation of the "new migrants" in Pleasantville will I
result in new information to add to the existing
literature. Empirical research on the relationships being

now formed as Japanese settle in American communities should

51
fill a void in the current literature by addressing the way
members of one American community react to and interpret
Japanese culture and customs.

A second body of literature which has contributed to
the rationale for this study, and which will benefit from
the specific application of its theories to the
American-Japanese interaction in a small community, revolves
around the areas of "community," multiculturalism, and
cross-cultural communication. Included are theories of what
forms community and how it is defined; how community culture
bonds community members; how our cultural awareness develops
from monocultural to multicultural, including the role of
ethnocentrism and prejudice as cultures cross; and how
culture aids and/or prohibits communication.

The arrival of financially secure, educated people from
a culture so very different from our own, settling in
numbers in many small communities, is a situation unique in
the history of this country. How we understand these
events, in light of what we know about how communities act,
why they change, and how they communicate, will contribute
to our future theories about merging cultures in communities

under the conditions set forth in this research.

CHAPTER 3

SEARCH FOR VERBAL PHOTOGRAPHS CREATES THE DESIGN

INTRODUCTION

On December 18, 1988, an article in the Sunday edition
of a newspaper from a city near Pleasantville influenced the
initial concept for this study. For over a year, working
with Japanese "dispatchees", as they are referred to in
Japanese culture, I had watched their early assimilation
into the Pleasantville community and wondered how they would
make the adjustment. The article on the front page of that
Sunday paper described the arrival of the Japanese.
According to the reporter, adjustment was well underway for
the influx of Japanese families. I wondered if the
adjustment was also underway for Pleasantville families.

Similar articles in the months that followed chronicled
other adjustment developments of the Japanese. There were
descriptions of a variety of community activities aimed at
welcoming the new Japanese residents and interviews with the
Japanese themselves. There was nothing, however, about the
Pleasantville residents who were now sharing their community
with Japanese.

A preliminary ethnographic study which I conducted
early in 1989, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
a course on fieldwork research, looked at the cultural I
change process in Pleasantville in a small downtown diner
for a three-month period. Hoping to discover what was

occurring between the new Japanese residents and the local
52

53
citizens, I observed both the Japanese and the Americans and
noted what transpired at Cal's Corner Cafe during the lunch
hour. As that project was completed and potential
dissertation possibilities became more and more apparent, I
found that my focus on the local community members was
increasing.

The newspaper articles referenced earlier looked at the
process of change and integration which the Japanese in
Pleasantville were undergoing, but no one was looking at how
the process of transplanting 15 Japanese families into
Pleasantville neighborhoods, and up to 130 Japanese in the
early stages, was affecting the community. No one was
looking at how Pleasantville and its people were reacting.

Researching the literature in a more complete way
validated for me that there was little actual research done
from either viewpoint, with the exception of the types of
articles in the popular press mentioned earlier, and
virtually nothing in terms of the impact on local
communities.

Despite my already-described interest in Japan, my role
as a community educator focused my interests in the area of
the local community, and how individuals and community
representatives would react and respond to this cultural
injection. I found myself wishing I had a magic camera that
would take pictures of attitudes and perceptions, allowing I
me to photograph Pleasantville in 1987 before the
announcement of the plant, in 1988 and 1989 and 1990, and

again in 1991, so that I could look down the historic main

54
street and actually see the changes in the community and its
people.

Since that camera is yet to be invented, I began to
create a research design that would allow me to capture
community attitudes, perceptions, activities, reactions, and
interests, in a photograph of a different kind, the verbal
picture possible through the use of ethnographic research.
”The ideal of ethnography is to describe participants,
setting, and circumstances so clearly that the image
reproduced constitutes a verbal photograph" (Goetz and

LeCompte, 1984, 232-245).

ETHNOGRAPHY AND THE DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

In the early stages of the development of this
research, the original design plan utilized one Japanese
family as informants, coincidentally the family who was
featured on the front page of the Sunday edition from the
nearby city newspaper. By using that family as informants
to the community, identifying how they access Pleasantville
and its people, I hoped to discover who were the appropriate
persons and what were the appropriate domains of the
community for the focus of my research. The proposed study
of one family's movement and adjustment in the community,
however, not only limited the validity of the study but also
placed an unacceptable level of risk of exposure on the A
Japanese family. Therefore a method of viewing the
community without these limitations by directly contacting

people living in neighborhoods with Japanese was explored.

55
The design as it then developed existed as a direction
rather than as a requirement. As is always true in
qualitative research, not only is the final outcome of the
research unknown, much of the direction of the study is
evolutionary in nature.

A strategy qualitative researchers employ in a
study is to proceed, as travelers, as if they
know very little about the people and places
they will visit. They attempt to mentally
cleanse their preconceptions. To state exactly
how to accomplish their work would be
presumptuous. Plans evolve as they learn about
the setting, subjects, and other sources of
data through direct examination . . .
Investigators may enter the research with some
idea about what they will do, but a detailed
set of procedures is not formed prior to data
collection . . . The study itself structures
the research, not preconceived ideas or any
precise research design . . . It is not that
qualitative research design is not existent; it
is rather that design is flexible. Design
decisions are made throughout the study - at
the end as well as in the beginning. (Bogden
and Biklen 1982, 55-56)

The design for this research project was flexible, not
structured enough to provide the final direction, but was a
road-map directing me to where the clues I was seeking could
be found, allowing me to take my verbal photographs along
the way.

The design direction for this qualitative study
utilized the constant comparative method, a research design
for multi-site studies. In the constant comparative method,
the research theory is developed in six basic steps:

1) beginning to collect data, 2) looking for the issues that
begin to focus ideas, 3) continuing to collect data,

expanding the data in the categories which are evolving,

56
4) beginning to write about the categories drawing on all
the incidents recorded in the data, continuing to collect
data, 5) attempting to bring the concepts together into an
understanding of the social processes which are in play,
and, 6) focusing the analysis into final observations
(Bogden and Biklen, 1983, 68-70).

Originally, I was not certain, as one never is in
qualitative research, whether the search being proposed,
that of interviewing community members in certain
neighborhoods and then using their information and responses
to lead to representative community citizens, would produce
significant data. As a result, I proposed a second phase,
that of interviewing and observing students and educators in
Pleasantville schools. In my proposal for this research, I
explained, "If enough depth and richness of material is.
present in Phase I, then Phase II remains for someone else's
dissertation.” In fact, school-based research in
Pleasantville remains an excellent area for further study,
since the information gathered in the "Phase I" aspect of
this research was more than sufficient for drawing
reasonable assertions regarding individual and community
response.

The original guiding design called for interviews of
community members in five neighborhoods in Pleasantville. In
four of the neighborhoods Japanese had either purchased or I
rented residences. Locating the neighborhoods to be used
was guided by the personnel of the Japanese plant, since

they were aware of the residential locations of all their

57
employees. These four neighborhoods which house Japanese
were initially to be selected in an attempt to allow for the
diversity of the various types of Japanese living in the
community. A fifth neighborhood was to be selected where
there were no Japanese residents. The original plan was to
locate neighborhoods with Japanese in the following
categories, in order to allow the data to address different
aspects and social situations.

1. A Japanese family with children, having been

in Pleasantville over 18 months.

2. A Japanese family, with children, having

been there less than one year.

3. A Japanese couple without children.

4. A single Japanese male.

Once the locations of all of the Japanese were
established, however, it seemed inappropriate to limit the
research to five neighborhoods since all the Japanese
families were located in only seven neighborhoods. The idea
of identifying specific family structures no longer seemed
significant enough to exclude any neighborhood. Therefore,
the design was altered to begin interviewing neighbors in
all seven neighborhoods where Japanese families were
residents. In addition, one neighborhood with no Japanese
residents was also added in an effort to determine, if
possible, whether awareness and reactions differed with or
without the presence of Japanese neighbors.

Once the neighborhoods had been located, interviews
were conducted with a minimum of two residents in each

neighborhood; in the case of one neighborhood where an

energetic, eager and vociferous family of seven all wanted

58
to be interviewed, eight interviews were conducted. In this
family, the mother was interviewed and then two elementary
school children together, two middle school children
together, and two high school children together. They were
the final contact in that particular neighborhood, after
four interviews had already been conducted there.

By sampling neighborhood residents in neighborhoods
with Japanese families, I wanted to be assured that the
informants would at least be aware that there were Japanese
in the community. In this way I accomplished two major
tasks: 1) ascertaining the attitudes and perceptions, past
and present, of representative Pleasantville community
members regarding the Japanese, and isolating their causes
and results; 2) through the informant status of the
interviewees, locating people who would represent a variety
of domains of community life and their attitudes,
perspectives and activities related to the Japanese.

In total, 52 people were interviewed in 47 separate
interviews. Of these, 35 were residents of one of the eight
neighborhoods interviewed in 30 separate interviews. Five
interviews were with couples or pairs of children. The
remaining 17 were those who represented the broader
community, civic leaders, service providers, educators, and
other spokespersons for Pleasantville-at-large. Of the 52
interviewees, 28 were women, 17 were men and 7 were
children. Further description is included in Chapter 4.

In addition to formal interviews, a profile of each

interviewee was collected in order to relate types of

59
reactions and attitudes to types and backgrounds of
community residents. The profile consisted of a form for
reporting such items as employment, type of work, length of
residence in Pleasantville, educational level, international
travel experience, and exposure to people from other
countries or cultures.

The selection of those to be interviewed was a type of
"detective following the clues" process. I began the
interviews with a fellow employee and her husband, quite
frankly, because I knew her--and I felt a real need to
conduct the first interview in friendly territory. I did
not know her attitudes toward the Japanese, and certainly
not her husband's, but I did feel that they would answer my
questions honestly and would provide a "safe" first
interview experience. From that point on, I asked each‘
person interviewed who they knew in each of the eight
neighborhoods. In some cases they recommended friends, in
others acquaintances, and in others simply the last name of
a child's school friend.

From that point, I began to move from neighborhood to
neighborhood, calling people and asking them to spend time
with me on the subject of the new Japanese plant and the
Japanese people living in Pleasantville. Some people
accepted readily, some hesitated and then accepted, and
three refused to be interviewed. I was never able to
determine any pattern in their refusal. One seemed negative
about the Japanese, one seemed very busy, and one seemed

totally disinterested. This system of interviewing

60
neighborhood by neighborhood worked for the first two
neighborhoods. Then this structured plan began to
disintegrate as people got sick and delayed interviews,
changed their minds and decided not to be interviewed,
forgot and rescheduled interview times. Finally I was
simply interviewing people from the eight neighborhoods in
whatever order their lives and schedules allowed.

By this time, however, I had begun to realize that the
neighborhood distinction, which I had originally thought
might play a part in determining attitudes and activities,
was not a major factor. All seven neighborhoods where
Japanese had purchased homes were very similar in nature.
All were new or relatively new subdivisions of middle and
upper-middle class homes, with the exception being the two
neighborhoods where the Japanese company vice-presidents had
purchased the most expensive residences. However, there
appeared to be so little difference among the types of
neighborhoods and the attitudes and responses of those
interviewed, that the possible use of neighborhood as a
category or influence failed to materialize.

In my journal notes of mid-October, 1990, I noted, "I
am finished with neighborhood number one and number three
and have two interviews done in neighborhood number eight.
I'm beginning to feel that the neighborhood concept really
has little purpose except as a way to locate people who have
had possible relationships with Japanese. ,There doesn't

seem to be anything particularly the same or different from

61
one neighborhood to the other. All the neighborhoods are at
least upper middle class--made up of mostly professional/
educated/executive-type people. The only thing at this
point that seems to make the difference is who the people
are."

The decisions to move away from the "neighborhood"
construct, to interview more people in one neighborhood than
another, and to interview certain people as representative
of community life while not selecting others, are all
examples of the inductive process essential in fieldwork
methodology. In their paper defining the role of fieldwork
in educational research, Erickson, Florio and Buschman
(1980, 2) state "...(the researcher) pursues deliberate
lines of inquiry while in the field, even though the
specific terms of inquiry may change in response to the.
distinctive character of what is happening in the field
setting and in response to changes in the fieldworker's own
perception and understandings of those happenings during the
time spent in the field."

Also important here is the flexibility of ethnography.
Since it does not entail extensive pre-fieldwork design, as
social surveys and experiments generally do, the strategy
and even direction of the research can be changed relatively
easily, in line with changing assessments of what is
required by the process of theory construction. As a
result, ideas can be quickly tried out and, if promising,

followed up. In this way ethnography allows theory

62
development to be pursued in a highly effective and
economical manner (Hammersley and Atkinson, 1983, 24).

A major aspect of the original design which did develop
according to my expectation was the process of having the
neighborhood interviewees act as informants, pointing me to
a variety of areas of community life. The 17 people
interviewed outside of the neighborhood context were all
referenced and/or recommended during one or more of the 30
neighborhood interviews-~as the trail of the research led
into various domains of the Pleasantville community.

In my proposal for this study, I stated, "It is
anticipated that other areas of community life will be
referenced. These areas could include adult and youth
recreation, education, retail and grocery services, eating
and drinking, business and employment, and avocational
pursuits." In fact, each of these areas was surfaced by the
study's informants as the trail was followed into the

community.

GUIDING RESEARCH QUESTIONS

In order to determine what has happened, and continues
to happen in Pleasantville since the arrival of the Japanese
plant, I developed an early major research question to lead
this study, as well as a number of subsidiary questions to
guide the data toward the main research question.

The primary information being sought in this research

study originally was stated in the following major question.

63
How is Pleasantville, as a community and as individuals in
that community, different now than it was before the arrival
of the Japanese, in its attitudes, its perceptions, and its
actual knowledge, as indicated through a study of selected
aspects of community life?

As the interviews proceeded, however, I realized that
the direction of the study was changing from one focused on
the "changes" and "differences" in the community since the
arrival of the Japanese, to a much more general overview of
what has happened in Pleasantville, how do people feel about
it, and what has transpired between Americans and Japanese,
as interpreted by Pleasantville residents. I began to
realize that trying to interpret the interview comments as
"changes" forced me to assume a "before" situation that I
could not adequately defend. Events subsequently happening
in Pleasantville could eventually be interpreted as changes,
possibly with this study as base-line data. At the present
time, everyone seems too close to the issue to understand
whether real changes have occurred. And so, in time, I
realized that the research question which was guiding me was
"What has been going on in Pleasantville since the Japanese
arrived and how do people feel about it?"

The subsidiary questions to be addressed, in order to
lead to assertions which would answer the main research
question, are:

1. What are the basic attitudes, currently, of

people in the community regarding the
Japanese, as stated by community members?

64

2. What factors do community members identify
as having influenced their attitudes/
perceptions/knowledge?

3. Has there been any interaction between
Japanese and American neighbors? If so,
what has characterized these interactions?

4. What activities have occurred in the actual
domains of community life (i.e., education,
government, retail services,
entertainment/leisure, etc.) during the
two-and-one-half years of the Japanese
presence in Pleasantville?

5. Were there events in the community which
prepared people for the arrival/presence of
the Japanese and therefore impacted people's
attitudes, knowledge, and perceptions? If
yes, what were they? If not, do people feel
there should have been?

The purpose for conducting the interviews, for asking
similar if not identical questions of 52 members of this
small community, was, as described by Goodenough (1963,
257-259), to determine the patterns of behavior existing in
representative community members. Goodenough describes
culture or patterns of behavior as systems of "standards for
deciding what is, standards for deciding what can be,
standards for deciding what to do about it, and standards
for deciding how to go about doing it" (272-281). In order
to determine what is going on in Pleasantville, it was
necessary to view these patterns and standards as
demonstrations of shared group phenomena. It is that
"shared phenomena" defined by Goodenough (1971, 36—42),
that leads to the ability to describe what is going on, what

is truly happening in the experiences of the residents of

Pleasantville.

65
THE INTERVIEWING PROCESS AND THE QUESTIONS

In order to guide the interviews, a series of 12
questions were developed and used to open discussion in
appropriate areas. As is always true in the ethnographic
process, the questions served as guides and were adjusted to
fit each interviewee. They were presented orally and, as is
true in any conversation, led to a wide variety of
discussion. With the exception of one interview, all the
interviewees expanded on the questions and allowed the
conversation to move naturally around the subject.

To determine the specific type of interview to conduct,
three basic approaches to collecting qualitative data
through open-ended interviewing were considered. Michael
Quinn Patton in Qualitative Evaluation Methods (1980)
describes three types: 1) the informal conversational
interview, 2) the general interview guide approach, and 3)
the standardized opened-ended interview. Patton defines the
purpose of the qualitative interview as providing a
framework within which respondents can express their own
understandings in their own terms.

Considering my personality and the subject of the data
being collected, I selected the second, the general
interview guide approach. While the first type relies
entirely on spontaneous generation of questions at each
interview, and the last depends on each person being asked I
exactly the same questions in exactly the same way, the
second option seemed most appropriate to me. In the

interview guide approach, a set of guide questions is

66
prepared "in order to make sure that basically the same
information is obtained from a number of people by covering
the same material...thus the interviewer remains free to
build a conversation within a subject area, to word
questions spontaneously, and to establish a conversational
style--but with the focus on a particular subject that has
been predetermined" (Patton, 1980, 200).

The interview guide focuses the interaction, while
allowing individual perspectives, interviewer and
interviewee experiences, and distinct personalities and
styles to emerge. In addition, it helps make the process
systematic by delimiting the issues to be discussed.

The selection of this interview style proved very
appropriate for the 47 separate interviews of 52 people
which were conducted. In some cases, depending on the
nature of previous answers, I decided not to ask certain
questions. In the reverse, there were numerous situations
where the conversational nature of the interview opened up
new areas and led to new or restructured questions.

Patton cautions the reader that the interviewer's
flexibility allowed in the interview guide approach can
result in a difference in sequencing and wording questions
which can result in substantial differences which reduce the
comparability of responses. Guarding against that, I
attempted to be thorough in covering all the subject areas
which were included, at least as they were appropriate to

the specific interviewee.

67

A weakness for me of the interview guide process was
caused by my own enthusiasm for and interest in the
information being discussed. I had to guard against
allowing the interviews to become personal conversations.

In other words, I had to force the interview guide to do its
job of delimiting the issues to be discussed and focusing
the interview on the guide questions. I so thoroughly
enjoyed conducting the interviews, meeting so many new and
interesting people, that I did truly have to hold reign on
my emotions not to move toward developing friendships or
sharing more than was appropriate in order to create the
necessary level of conversation. On only one occasion,
after a particularly interesting two-hour interview, did I
allow myself to schedule a lunch date with the interviewee
to continue our discussions outside the research process.

I noted in my journal as I neared the 30th interview,
"Something must be wrong. This is too much fun. Everyone I
meet is interesting, and I love the conversations and
hearing all their experiences. I really have to guard
against getting too involved. Sometimes I just want to sit
around and visit and hear stories all evening. The topic
seems to bring out so much that is personal from people that
it is easy to feel close to them. I want to share too much,
to tell them stories in return, and to form a friendship
during this interview. Somehow I never expected that it
would be so much fun. I wonder if that is okay?"

My own constant concern about my closeness to the

subject is not only a personal concern, but a basis for

68
criticism aimed at qualitative research methods by
detractors of this process for solving problems of inquiry.
Borman, LeCompte, and Goetz (1986, 42-57) point out, in
their analysis of the potential problems in ethnographic and
qualitative research designs, that it is based on the major
characteristic that the researcher is the primary research
tool. Critics charge that qualitative researchers are
unable to separate themselves from the data collected since
the process of gathering the data requires the researcher to
be "both filter for and interpreter of the data" (Borman,
LeCompte, and Goetz, 1986, 43).

However, as Borman et al. provide solutions for the
areas criticized, they advise strong personal and analytic
discipline to help researchers avoid excessive
subjectivity. It was this discipline that I called forth
regularly as I forced myself to maintain the objectivity to
look at the interviewees and their data without bias, and
yet retain a closeness and concern for the subject. Not
only was this constant surveillance of my bias necessary in
the interview and data collection process, but also in the
interpretation of the responses and coalescing of the data.

The twelve specific questions which acted as the
interview guide and which were asked, when appropriate, to
guide each interview were:

1. Do you know your Japanese neighbors? How
did you get to know them? What kind of
experiences have you had with them?

2. Have you personally encountered other
Japanese in Pleasantville? If so, describe

10.

11.

12.

SUMMARY

69

these encounters. How do you feel about
any encounters?

Is there anything else that you see or
notice in the community that relates to the
Japanese? What do you hear? Where? Who
do you hear it from?

What feelings/attitudes have been shared
with you, by your co-workers or friends in
the community regarding the Japanese? In
your opinion, what caused these feelings?

Before you knew Japanese were coming here,
how did you feel or what did you think
about Japan or Japanese? What did you know
about them?

After you heard a Japanese plant was
coming, what was your reaction?

What happened in the community that helped
inform you about Japan or the Japanese?

What else could have happened and what did
not happen in the community that would have
supported, changed, or contributed

to your attitudes or knowledge?

What do you know about Japan and Japanese
people now that you did not know before?

What are the biggest differences about the
community now that the Japanese have been
here for over two years? Where do you see
evidence?

Who else in the community should I talk to
and where else should I go to understand
more about how Pleasantville is reacting to
the presence of the Japanese?

Do you have any other thoughts or examples
or stories you would like to share?

In a qualitative research process which developed over

a two-year period from January 1989, through December 1990,

this study of the reactions of Pleasantville residents to

70
their Japanese neighbors grew and changed and focused. As
described by Bogden and Biklen, much of the direction of
ethnography and qualitative research is evolutionary in
nature. "The study itself structures the research...the
design is flexible" (Bogden and Biklen, 1982, 56). In the
analogy of the verbal photographs I was seeking of
Pleasantville, during the two-year period I changed focus,
arrangement of subjects, my angle of view, the lens, and
even the camera, but never the overarching goal to
photograph what was happening in the community in
relationship to the Japanese.

The surprisingly simple research question, as it
ultimately evolved, was "What has been going on in
Pleasantville since the Japanese arrived and how do people
feel about it?"

In order to answer that question, 52 people were
interviewed; 35 were residents of neighborhoods where
Japanese have purchased homes and were interviewed in 30
separate interviews with 5 interviews being conducted with
pairs of interviewees. These 35 were interviewed regarding
their own attitudes and activities and were also looked at
as informants to the larger community. Their responses led
to the interview of 17 additional people as representatives

of a variety of domains of community life.

CHAPTER 4

THE PLACE AND THE PEOPLE

THE PLACE

The slogan on the cover of the Pleasantville Chamber of
Commerce's attractive color brochure is particularly
appropriate in the context of this study. "Where a Town
Becomes a Hometown" certainly identifies a desired attitude
and spirit for this small town. The opening line follows up
the slogan with the statement "Pleasantville, a point on the
map that can quickly become a place in one's heart."

To illustrate the type of community which attracts new
Japanese industry, it is appropriate to look at the details
of Pleasantville.

With a population of 7,500 (estimated 1988), the town
encompasses 4.66 square miles. There were over 2,750
housing units in 1988, but a recent building "boom" in the
area has raised that number, particularly in higher priced
homes (in Pleasantville that would include houses at
$125,000 and up). The average home value published in
Pleasantville literature as of 1988 was $57,700.

An advantage to Pleasantville residents is its location
15 minutes from the county seat which has a population of
25,000; 25 minutes to a major university community; 45
minutes to a substantial community of 350,000 with a wide
variety of activities and services; and only one hour to a

metropolitan area and a major airport.

71

72

Pleasantville is home to a progressive community public
library, a new state-of-the-art indoor swimming pool as part
of the school system but available to the public, a country
club and golf course, and an active city recreation
program. Nine community parks attract residents, with small
parks of one acre and large recreation centers of 15 to 30
acres. Ponds and lakes in these parks provide enhanced
recreation activities. In addition, a community center
overlooking a pond houses senior citizen activities.

The public school system, which serves 3,100 students,
includes six elementary schools, one junior high school, and
one senior high school. A growing adult education program
is also offered. Special educational programs for
handicapped children and vocational education for youth and
adults are coordinated by the near-by regional educational
system.

Eighty-five clubs and organizations are listed in
community literature, from Rotary, Boy Scouts, and Band
Boosters to a eucre card club, square dancers, a theatre
group, and a Hospice organization. A lOO-bed health care
center provides a wide variety of services and imports
consultant specialty physicians from a nearby teaching
hospital.

Pleasantville has little history of racial diversity,
other than the strong anti-slavery sentiment of many of its}
early Quaker settlers which resulted in shelter for fugitive
slaves escaping through the Underground Railroad. However,

the current African-American population of the community is

73
less than 1/10 of one percent. The children of one
African-American family currently attend the high school,
and there have been years when there were no
African-American students. The only significant minority is
Hispanic, with three percent of the population.

Approximately 20 companies are listed as manufacturers
and major employers in the area, with products ranging from
banking and health care to the one Fortune 500 manufacturing
company whose presence stabilizes the economy of the
community. Employees of these 20 companies range from 14 to
1,500.

A weekly newspaper with a circulation of over 5,000 is
the primary communication vehicle for the city, with a daily
newspaper from the county seat covering Pleasantville news
extensively.

The historic homes mentioned earlier are a show-case
and the focus of the major event in the community, a "Stroll
Through History" which occurs for two days each spring and
brings thousands of visitors into Pleasantville.

There are several clothing stores, two furniture and
appliance dealers, two florists, a building supply store, a
number of antique and specialty shops, and a variety of
grocery stores, discount outlets, and drug stores.
Restaurants are few, although Pleasantville does have its
McDonalds and Big Boy as well as several cafeterias, pizza
restaurants, diners, and one "better" dining establishment.

It is in this setting that approximately 45 Japanese

citizens, including wives and children, have found homes and

74
neighborhoods. The original number of 130 Japanese who
descended into Pleasantville in the early phases of the
plant's establishment included equipment set-up personnel,
trainers, and others who returned to Japan in six months to
one year after the plant was fully operational. The number
of Japanese men currently employed in the plant numbers over
30, only 15 of whom actually reside in Pleasantville. The
remaining numbers live within a one-hour commute of the
plant, some having been reassigned from other Japanese
plants who commute from existing homes. However, in
different circumstances all Japanese would live in the plant
community, even more significantly affecting the life of the
community and its members. For example, Bellfontaine, Ohio,
has become home to a major Honda operation. "Bellfontaine
has scarcely 14,000 residents, but by 1990 there were fifty
Japanese families living there, and there soon would be

more" (Gelsanliter, 1990, p.170).

THE PEOPLE

The study was conducted by interviewing a total of 52
people in 47 separate interviews. The numbers reflect five
people who were interviewed as part of a couple or a pair of
school children and so were not considered as separate
interviews.

Of the 52 people, 35 were interviewed in the category.
of "neighbor." Thirty-one are residents in one of the seven
neighborhoods where Japanese live and they were interviewed

in an attempt to understand if and how they interact with

75
their Japanese neighbors and what their attitudes are about
the presence of Japanese in the community. The other four
are in the neighborhood with no Japanese residents. Of the
52 people, 17 are representatives of various domains of
community life. I "found" them as a result of their being
referenced by one or more of the 35 neighbors. They were
referenced as people I should talk to in order to find out
about schools, or recreation, or banking, or shopping, or
other community aspects.

An overview of the 35 neighbors, in relation to their
employment or career status, shows a preponderance of people
with professional careers. This can be explained to some
extent by the types of upper-middle class neighborhoods
where the Japanese settled and the fact that the prices of
the homes can limit the people who can afford to live
there.

The neighbors, as quoted in the findings, are introduced
by name (pseudonyms are used in all cases) and by
employment. Gene, a retired school administrator; Mary, a
retired teacher; Jenny, Joyce, Donna, Jeanette, Mary Ann,
Noreen, Joan, Janet, and Margo, all housewives; Jeff, a city
official; Stan, a factory supervisor; Doreen, a retired
nurse; Karen, a school aide; Ted, an airline employee;
Margie, a school counselor; Betty and Judy, special
education teachers; Gary, a fireman; Larry and Kevin,
industrial salespersons; Doug, a controller; Patty, a
realtor; John, an attorney; Roy, a fine arts teacher;

Sheila, a home child care provider; Barb, a secretary/

76
administrative assistant; and Robin, Angie, Karen, Chuck,
Jake, Debbie and Marie, all students. The locations of
these neighbors according to neighborhoods is detailed in

Figure 1.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neighborhood Neighborhood Neighborhood
#1 #2 #3
Judy Gary Doreen
Stan Kevin Karen L.
Gene Larry Ted
Mary Marie Janet
Joan Robin and Angie
Jeff Karen M. and Chuck
Jake and Debbie
hdargie
Neighborhood Neighborhood Neighborhood
#4 #5 #6
Doug and Noreen Barb Joyce
Patty Jenny Donna
Neighborhood Neighborhood

#7 (No Japanese) #8

 

 

Margo Jeanette
John Betty
Roy and Sheila Mary Ann

 

Figure 1 Neighborhood interviewees listed by neighborhood.

The representatives of aspects of community life who
were interviewed in relation to specific domains of the

community, such as recreation, education, health care, and

 

77

retail services, suggested by the neighborhood interviewees,
included the following (identified by pseudonyms): Jerrie,
a dance teacher; Maureen, a librarian; Louise, a real estate
agent; Jim, a school official; Marty, a representative of
the Chamber of Commerce; Miuki, a beautician; Paul, an
official of the country club; Barbara, the manager of a golf
course; Greg, a city official; Sandy, the principal of an
elementary school; Marvin, an officer of a major bank;
Catherine, an official of the community medical center;
Suzie, the manager of a popular restaurant; Bill, the owner
of a retail establishment; Dan, the manager of a large
grocery store; Christine, the manager of a day-care center;
and Sam, a member of the American Legion and former World
War II veteran.

The total number interviewed included 28 women, 17 men
and 7 children. Although I did not ask their ages, I
attempted to place all of the adults in an age range. By my
estimate, 21 are in the 21-40 range, 20 in the 40-60 range
and 4 over 60 (see Figure 2). The larger number of those
under 60 made sense since all of the neighborhoods where
Japanese live, with one exception, are in areas of new,

larger homes, occupied primarily by families with children.

78

 

Number of interviews: 47

Number of people interviewed: 52
Adults: 45 Men: 17 Women: 28
Children: 7 Boys: 2 Girls: 5

Number reporting previous cross-cultural experi-
ence: 44 out of 52

 

 

 

Figure 2 Demographics of interviewees

Of the 45 adults, 11 were long-term residents of
Pleasantville, living there over 20 years. Fifteen had
lived in the area 10 years or more and 14 under 10 years.
Five, all people interviewed in one of the community
domains, do not live in Pleasantville (see Figure 3).

The seven children included five girls and two boys,

two in elementary school, three in middle school and two in

high school.

Age Length of Residence in Pleasantville

 

Under 10 10-20 Over 20 Live
21-40 40-60 60+ years years years elsewhere

 

 

 

 

Women 14 12 2 9 l 1 5 3
Nkm. 7 8 2 5 4 6 2
Total 21 20 4 14 15 1 1 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 3 Age and length of residence of interviewees

79

Of the 52 people interviewed, a surprisingly large
number, 44, or 84 percent, reported that they had previous
cross-cultural experiences. One explanation is that
Pleasantville has a long-term educational exchange program
with France whereby elementary children from the two
countries visit each other for a three week period each
year. The foreign children spend the three weeks in
Pleasantville homes, and, in return, Pleasantville children
visit in homes in France. This program, now in its sixth
year, has given lots of community residents the opportunity
to experience contact with people from another culture and
with another language.

Other reasons given for having experienced cultural
difference include:

-traveling in Europe and other countries;

-grandparents from other countries;

-family members marrying people from other countries;

-living in other countries in military or corporate

service;

-college roommates from other cultures;

-neighbors or friends from other cultures;

-exchange students living in home;

-born in another country;

-foreign born students in classes;

-work in a company owned by another culture and/or

with lots of visitors from other cultures; and

-married to someone from another culture.

80
The reason most commonly given, both by the students
and by adults, was being exposed to exchange students,

either in the classroom or in the home.

SUMMARY:

These people of Pleasantville, as just introduced, for
the most part were welcoming and willing to share their
feelings and their stories of life with their new Japanese
neighbors and community members.

The results of their experiences are detailed in the
following three chapters, looking specifically at their
attitudes and feelings about the Japanese plant and its
Japanese employees, at what happened in the neighborhoods,
and what happened in the larger community and some of its

domains.

CHAPTER 5

ATTITUDES TOWARD THE JAPANESE PEOPLE AND THE JAPANESE PLANT

INTRODUCTION

In order to better understand what happened in
Pleasantville neighborhoods and in the community as a whole,
it is necessary to analyze the 52 interviewees' general
beliefs about and attitudes toward the Japanese.

The purpose of this study is to attempt to determine
not only what is happening in Pleasantville, but how people
are feeling about it. Obviously, how people feel about
something determines what actions they will take. In
Chapter 6 I will examine what happened in the neighborhoods
where Pleasantville residents and new Japanese residents
encountered each other. In Chapter 7 I will look at what
happened in the community-at-large, as interpreted from the
responses of 35 neighborhood interviewees and 17 community
representatives.

Some insight into how people report that they feel
about Japan as a country, about racial prejudice as it
relates to the Japanese, about the left-over feelings from
World War II, about the new and growing economic progress of
Japan, and specifically about the existence of a major
JaPanese manufacturing facility in their community, will aid
in understanding the later findings. I

In The Nature of Prejudice, Allport (1979) explained
that-prejudices, positive or negative, are grounded in

beliefs which drive attitudes. Without some basic belief in
81

82
place, one could not support, defend or hold on to an
attitude. In Pleasantville, people interviewed described
many beliefs and attitudes toward the Japanese, more of them
positive than negative. I hadn't expected to find
Pleasantville a hot bed of rampant racism, but I had
expected to find more negative beliefs and attitudes than
were revealed to me.

As noted earlier, Pleasantville has little experience
with racial diversity, and was described by those
interviewed in ways which would lead one to expect to find
racial concern, at least, and possibly prejudice and even
discrimination. Examples of those comments about
Pleasantville, not directly quoted but as closely word-for-
word as possible, are:

Mary: Pleasantville tends to be not terribly
welcoming in general to newcomers. An
element doesn't want growth.

Joan: It's so lily white.

Miuki: Pleasantville is tight--they don't take to
outsiders. Some people are good to

outsiders but not the whole community.

John: Plesantville is a nice compromise community,
a great town to be in.

Louise: We have people who are prejudiced because we
have a small, cloistered town.

Margo: A lot of people don't want change here.
People want this town to stay the same.

Jeff: It's a white community and it wants to be a.
white community. There is a hidden
prejudice, but maybe not against anyone in
particular, but just at keeping the
community white.

83

Gary explained something about the attitudes he
experiences in Pleasantville as he shared with me a story
which I had heard before, and which is accepted as fact by
some people in the community. The almost total absence of
African-Americans in Pleasantville is, according to Gary, a
result of the actions of a local community leader. As owner
of a major manufacturing plant, he would hire black people
but give them such terrible jobs that eventually they would
quit and leave the area. Finally one family didn't leave
and the employee became a valuable worker. The owner still
didn't want a black family in town, so he built a home in
the country and gave it to the family so they would not be
living inside the city limits. Gary said, "He wanted it to
be an all white community and he had the power to do it."

True or not, that and similar stories travel throughout
the community. Based on such stories and reactions, which,
having lived near Pleasantville for many years, did not
surprise me, I expected to hear some very strong opinions
voiced about the presence of the Japanese. The following
findings describe a more accepting and welcoming attitude,
and describe many people who appear to be moving toward or

are already multicultural in their world view.

MOST PLEASANTVILLE RESIDENTS REPORT POSITIVE ATTITUDES

Of the 52 separate individuals interviewed during this.
StUdyy only one described himself as being angry about the
Japanese in the conununity. The other 51 ranged from

ex'CJE‘emely positive, to accepting, to passive or

disi

othe

resp

hone

whom

Wante

3y b:

incl:

.Hte:

D:
n

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In

84
disinterested. However, most interviewees did describe some
others who had expressed to them their negative feelings.

I am not sure why I heard almost nothing but positive
responses. I sincerely believe that people were being
honest in describing their feelings. It is possible that my
selection process led me from one positive person to another
and that people did not suggest others to be interviewed
whom they knew to be vocally unhappy about the Japanese. It
is also possible that people only said what they thought I
wanted to hear. Despite the fact that I tried not to show
my bias, it might have seemed that I would be favorably
inclined toward positive attitudes.

For whatever reason, most Pleasantville residents

 

interviewed rgported they have positive feelings about the
presence of a Japanese plant and Japanese people in

Pleasantville.

 

Describing these attitudes is insufficient in writing.
It is here that audio or video tapes would better describe
the manner with which so many people discussed their
feelings about having Japanese neighbors or associates. In
so many cases, there was a level of excitement and
enthusiasm that is hard to convey on paper.

For example, the Frye family described events between
thEir children and their Japanese friends. Eight-year-old
Annie and eleven-year-old Eileen stayed in the room with
their parents throughout our interview, constantly
interrupting eagerly to add some piece of a story. Annie

ran to her room to bring me Japanese gifts which she had

85
received, and at the end of the interview the family shared
a video tape of the children playing together, described
more fully in Chapter 6. They described it as having been
"so much fun." Sarah Frye explained that they haven't
really thought about the Japanese in Pleasantville as any
kind of economic issue, or trade deficit issue, or World War
II issue. "We just see it as a kind of fantasy come true of
future relationships and wonderful cultural experiences--and
we're loving it." Roy Frye added that they have never heard
a negative comment from anyone.

Karen and Chuck, high school students living next door
to a Japanese family, said they are impressed with the
Japanese "high standard of values, honor and integrity," and
that these standards should help our whole society. Karen,
a very bright and articulate senior, added that it has
rounded out her personality to have Japanese neighbors. "I
know now that Japanese aren't just in history books but are
people too."

Other Pleasantville residents made the following types
of observations.

Donna: It didn't bother anybody on these streets
that they were Japanese. They saw it as
interesting and international.

Marty: Most people think it's really exciting and
a chance for people to learn about a
different culture.

Karen M.: It was viewed as positive by our family.

Dan: They have some of the best work ethics.

I'd like to have 100 Japanese working for
me, the way they work.

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86

Christine: This has given me lots of respect for
them. They are very nice people and very
polite. They always take time for a nice

word.

Joan: People think it's a good idea--something
different.

Jerrie: For people who know someone Japanese it's

only been positive. It's good for us to
see each other's countries and cultures.

Jeanette: I have a warm feeling about them.

Bill: They are excellent citizens--good to deal
with.

Greg: It has given me the opportunity to see

that people are the same around the
world. They are warm people and very
enterprising. If we'd sit back and learn
from them we'd be in better economic shape.
Karen L.: I have a positive image of Japanese as
good neighbors. I've not heard any
neighbors in this neighborhood say
anything against them--and they would!

Barb: I don't see any negative things. They've
been wonderful neighbors.

In addition to these positive attitudes, others
described a kind of acceptance, but without the outspoken
enthusiasm.

Doreen, who now has a positive relationship with her
neighbor, Mrs. Kobiyashi, told me that when the Japanese
first came, she thought it was great but she thought she
didn't want a Japanese next door to her--"in the
nGighborhood, maybe--but not next to me."

Karen and Chad's mother, Janet, explained that she
acCepts the Japanese because her background taught her to
acCept people. "I want them to accept my culture, so I have

to accept theirs."

87

"I haven't heard anything bad. I think they're well
accepted," Betty said.

Doug described the attitude in his neighborhood where
two recent events have been noteworthy, the arrival of two
Japanese families and a pre-fabricated house being built in
his custom-designed neighborhood. "There's lots more uproar
in the subdivision about a family who built a manufactured
house than about two Japanese families. If you keep your
house decent and are easy to live next to, then it's O.K."

According to Gary, one of the reasons for the high
acceptance level of the Japanese in the community is "the
class of people here from Japan." He described them as the
upper class. They live in good neighborhoods and don't need
anything from the community. There are no ill feelings--"so
we don't have any problems with them."

Gary described his personal feelings, "I see them as
struggling, frightened. I have empathy for them."

Not only is there acceptance in the neighborhood, but
in general in the community. Maureen, the librarian, said
that she hasn't seen anything negative in people's
acceptance of the Japanese and has not heard of or seen any
problems among any age group.

Speaking about parents, Christine, who manages a day-
care center, thinks from her observations that the parents
0f Pleasantville children have no reaction other than "isn't
he cute" or "isn't she cute" when they see the Japanese
Children all dressed up at day-care. Christine said she has

nevem received any derogatory comments about the Japanese

88
children. She thinks it may be because all of the parents
of the daycare children are young parents with no
anti-Japanese history affecting them.

A third level of comments which I categorize at the
lowest level of acceptance are those which are basically
indifferent. For some there is a feeling of lack of
involvement which results in a passive or apathetic
attitude.

Jeanette explained it when she said, "Most of the
attitudes I hear or feel are indifference. I haven't heard
that they would hurt the community." She went on to add
that the indifference is not just toward the Japanese but
toward anyone new in general. She feels people are too lazy
and treat any new neighbor indifferently.

According to Patty, most people just can't be
bothered. The attitude toward the Japanese is "so they're
here--so what?"

Suzie, who manages a local diner, said, "I haven't
heard one negative thing in the past year--or positive for
that matter. It's just nothing."

As I interpreted these comments, and others, I found
them to be more multicultural in general and less
ethnocentric than I had expected. Most people viewed the
Japanese presence as at least acceptable and for many, as
positive and even exciting.

However, I did hear about some negative feelings.
Negative comments about the Japanese from the interviewees

were few, although magy people talked about others who have

89

negative feelings. In general, most negative comments

 

described were based on specific complaints or attributed to
specific types or groups of people.

For example, Karen told of standing in line in a
neighborhood market when she overheard a comment made by a
man in the line. She described him "in a muscle shirt with
some beer or union logo on it, jeans, you know the type."
She heard him say, "We could show these Japanese a thing or
two. My union guys can do it better than they do." Karen
felt the comment was no reflection on anyone or anything
racial, but more a work-related comment defending union
workers. It was the only negative comment she has heard.

Her husband, Ted, had a discussion with a neighbor who
didn't like the idea of Japanese moving into the
neighborhood. The one blatant comment he heard against the
Japanese was from a man who had just been laid off from an
American plant, "so he saw it from a different vantage point
than I did." The man asked Ted how he felt. Ted thinks the
neighbor expected him to have a negative reaction, too. Ted
told him he thought it was positive for lots of reasons, one
was that the Japanese would be fastidious neighbors. "So he
just stopped talking about it to me."

Jenny overheard a discussion at an adjoining bridge
table. She quoted one woman as saying, "We don't need a
bunch of foreigners coming here and buying our land." Jenny
described the woman as ”covered with gold chains and four
diamonds on each hand." The woman continued, "I don't know

why they want to do this. This town is fine just the way it

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90
is." Jenny concluded that someone who has everything is in
no position to think things are fine, when Pleasantville
obviously needs the Japanese plant to bring in jobs.

Gary thinks that there really isn't anything basically
negative in the community, as a whole, just in some
individuals who don't like it. His brother doesn't like it,
because his brother-in-law married a Japanese and brought
her to Pleasantville. ”He doesn't like her and he doesn't
like Japanese."

Barb told me that a few of her neighbors are not happy
that there are Japanese in Pleasantville. They tell Barb
that they are upset because the Japanese were able to pay
the high prices for houses that they bought and because they
can afford to always be buying things. But Barb added, "I
don't see how anyone could not like them."

Marty said, "I thought everyone would be glad to have
them come--guess that isn't true." She heard some people
say that the city was bending over backwards for the
Japanese and it doesn't bend over backwards for them. But
she added that the people she hears that kind of thing from
are the ones who complain about everything.

Finally, Barbara referenced the negative feelings she
encountered at her golf course, but she feels that the
negative comments are less now than they used to be. "It
used to be 'the Japs' this and 'the Japs' that--now its 'a I
group of Japanese out there.'"

In addition to these specific people who are unhappy

because of perceived threats to their jobs or job

91
performance, or a change in the status quo, several people
mentioned that older people in the community are unhappy
about the Japanese. George said that older people "hate
them" and will never get over it, but that others don't feel
that way.

Mary, who is 59, said that people older than she is are
"very, very distressed" that there are Japanese in the
community. They handle it by telling degrading and
demeaning jokes about the Japanese. Joan also has a sense
that there is animosity in older people. She couldn't think
of anything specific--"just things I hear third or fourth
hand."

In general, it appears that far more people have
positive attitudes about the Japanese than have negative
feelings. Almost all the negative comments which were
reported either belong to some unidentifiable "they," to
people who are discredited by type, or are feelings and
attitudes which are described as abating over time.

One area where negative feelings were reported by a
number of those interviewed related to experiences on golf
courses and in bowling alleys, particularly in the first
year of the Japanese presence. These feelings and attitudes
are described in Chapter 7.

As I listened to negative feelings, I was waiting to
discover if a typical enthnocentric attitude about one's
race, culture or community would lead to or be expressed as
actual prejudice. There were a variety of comments about

prejudice, ranging from Judy's "I was brought up that there

92
really isn't much difference between people," to Mary Ann's
"My husband is very prejudiced against the Japanese, very
prejudiced."

None of the interviewees reported personal feelings
of prejudice against the Japanese, but told of others who
did. There were some people who did discuss their own
personal prejudices against other groups and there were
those who indicated that others had made comments to them
which contained prejudice toward the Japanese.

An example is Janet, who thinks she must have grown up
with feelings of prejudice having been raised in an large
multi-racial city. She remembers watching Japan-America war
movies and thinking of the Japanese as "the bad guys" when
she was a child. She received no parental influence or
prejudice against Japanese, but lots against blacks.

Doug told me that he didn't have negative feelings
about Japanese. In fact, he said he "catches it" from some
of his family for driving a Mazda. He added, "My dad
wouldn't like them moving in. I just listen to him. That's
his own opinion."

Jenny reported hearing someone in her neighborhood say
”there goes the neighborhood" when he heard there were
Japanese moving in. He used the term "Japs," a term which
Jenny hadn't heard used since she was a child. She felt the
neighbors comments reflected a prejudice against the .
Japanese.

The Martin family, in three separate interviews with

the mother, the high school children, and the middle school

93
children, described an attitude which they perceive exists
in the neighborhood. High school freshman, Chuck, said,
"There seems to be real prejudice there." Chuck guoted his
friend as saying "Japs, I wish they wouldn't move here."
The father of the family being described as prejudiced is a
car dealer who doesn't like Japanese here because their
auto-related plant is affecting his business. Chuck told me
that the son's prejudice was "passed down from parent to
child as a resentment against Japanese." Although Chuck
thinks that the obvious issue is an economic one, he feels
the prejudice is based on race.

The middle school daughters, Robin and Angie think
there probably are some prejudiced kids, but they don't know
any. Their mother, Janet, told me ”With the other neighbors
around, I don't hear any bias. I hear acceptance."

Mary Ann, whose husband is very prejudiced, said she
and her husband do not share his feeling about the
Japanese. Brian's father was in World War II and he grew up
inheriting his father's feelings. "Brian got a strong
subtle statement against the Japanese--that was his
reality." Mary Ann sees Brian's anti-Japanese sentiment as
a statement of protection for his dad. He wears his
father's Marine jacket, won't buy a Japanese product, and is
very vocal about his feelings with friends who own products
made by Japanese. I

Mary Ann pointed out one irony in her husband's strong
prejudice. Although he won't buy Japanese products and is

very vocal in his negative feelings, he was very eager to

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94
secure a contract with the Japanese plant for his company,
which he successfully did. She wonders what he would do if
tested. The test she suggests is making money on property.
She knows a family who were offered twice the market value
of their house by the Japanese, but the woman's prejudice
against the Japanese was so strong that they wouldn't sell,
even to make that kind of money. Mary Ann wonders what
Brian would do. "If they'd come along and offer him twice
what his house was worth, would he sell?"

Many people interviewed report that they are not
raciallyjprejudiced against the Japanese as they report
they and others are against blacks or Hispanics. While
few people admitted to prejudice against the Japanese,
numbers of people discussed their own and other's feelings
about blacks and/or Hispanics.

Karen presented an interesting situation about her
father, who served in the Pacific during World War II.
Despite his World War II involvement, her father is not
prejudiced against Japanese, but is very prejudiced against
blacks. His twin brother was wounded by the Japanese, but
Karen's dad ”didn't seem to carry any of that on into
life." He doesn't talk much about his war experiences or
feelings, "but his feelings about blacks, well, that's
another story."

Barbara, describing Pleasantville as "ethnically
pure--they don't even have any Jewish people," said that
black people scare people in Pleasantville. The blacks from

nearby big cities are associated with things that scare

95
people: drugs, guns, murder. As she sees it, the Japanese,
on the other hand, don‘t scare peOple.

Doug and Noreen do not have much of a personal feeling
about the two Japanese families in their neighborhood. "Not
that it isn't O.K.--it's just no particular event."

However, they feel that if the families were black, the
neighborhood would be very upset. Noreen said that people
don't view the cultural difference of the Japanese in the
same way they consider the racial difference of blacks. "I
don't consider myself a bigot. I really feel terrible with
what I'm saying," as she went on to admit that if it were a
black family rather than a Japanese family down the street,
it would have bothered her. She didn't like hearing herself
say that, and then acknowledged that as long as everyone
keeps up their property, that's what people are worried.
about. This suggested to me that Noreen and her neighbors
feel that the Japanese will keep up their lawns and houses
and black people will not.

Doug and Noreen then disagreed about the neighborhood
reaction if a Hispanic family moved into the neighborhood.
Doug felt the reaction to a Hispanic family would not be as
strong as it would against a black family. Noreen countered
with "I think it 32219 be something--it would too be
noticed. We don't have any in the subdivision."

Jeff, a city official, succinctly stated his view of
the community. "I sense a lot of bigotry toward blacks, but

Japanese came in with money and bought expensive houses."

96

Gary, a fireman and retired factory worker, said that
his kids tell him he is prejudiced against blacks--and he
admits to some personal social problems with blacks as a
young person that have colored his view. But he admitted
"there are bad whites too--bad blacks and bad whites--but
the Japanese who are here are O.K." Gary described the
Japanese as "not lower class" as compared to "lower class
whites or blacks" and added that the Japanese are fitting in
to the community.

Joyce presented an interesting analysis of why black
and Hispanic people would be less welcome in Pleasantville
than the Japanese have been. She blamed the attitude toward
these different racial groups on the media. The media
presents nothing but negative reports, at least as she views
it, about blacks and Hispanics. The views reported in the
media, of "murder, rape, drugs and mayhem," set up fear of
blacks and Hispanics. "You never hear good things except in
unreal situations like the Cosby Show."

On the other hand, when you hear about the Japanese in
the media, you hear about excellence in education,
intelligence and hard work, people striving to be on the top
of the heap. "The country is so educationally advanced."

According to Joyce, no wonder most people feel
accepting of the Japanese presence and would feel very
concerned and resentful about the presence of blacks or
Hispanics in their neighborhoods.

Since there was little expression of real prejudice

from those interviewed, it follows that I would hear little

97

about discrimination. Holmes defined discrimination as
”prejudice transformed into action" (1970, 1), and since I
heard of little prejudice, I was not surprised that there
was only one example reported to me of possible
discrimination.

I had heard, as you might expect, that the people most
upset about the Japanese were the veterans of World War II,
and other veterans, in support of their fellow military.
The sites for the most concentrated anger and prejudice
reported were the American Legion Hall and Veterans of

Foreign Wars Post. There was no evidence of potential

 

discrimination except at the American Legion Hall and

Veterans of Foreign Wars Post.

 

I heard one story which was hearsay and I was never
able to validate it, about two Japanese being steered, as a
joke, to the American Legion and then being badly treated.
When I heard it a second time, it was attributed to the
original storyteller--and no one else could confirm it.

Toward the end of the interview process it was
suggested by the city official that I interview Sam, a
veteran of World War II, very active in the American Legion
and very vocal about his anti-Japanese sentiment. I was
eager for this interview, hoping to determine the truth of
the story of discrimination at the American Legion, and
finally to hear first hand from someone who not only was
angry and resentful about the Japanese but could speak for

the World War II veterans in Pleasantville.

98

I have to admit here that I expected to find the
interview a difficult experience. Dealing with someone so
outspoken in his dislike of any group of people had to be
distasteful. To my great surprise, I liked Sam very much.

I certainly did not agree with his attitudes, but I couldn't
help liking him and felt empathy for his obviously very deep
and emotional feelings on the subject.

Twice during our lengthy interview, sitting at the
kitchen table in his modest Pleasantville home, Sam cried.
Once the interview stopped for a moment while he buried his
face in his hands and wept, so personal and emotional were
his memories and his reactions, even after 50 years.
However, his tears were not ones of sorrow or regret, but
were based on emotions of pride and loyalty, which our
discussion provoked, particularly as he described a recent
reunion of fellow soldiers with whom he served in the South
Pacific.

Sam was 18 in 1942 when he joined the army. His father
had recently died and a hurt and lonely young man eagerly
joined his country's fight. He spent much time on an island
in the South Pacific, where Japanese were holed up in caves
in the inner part of the three-mile-wide span.

I asked Sam about the story I had heard concerning the
American Legion. Sam had never heard the story and doubted
very much that it had ever happened. However, he said the I
guys at the Legion have talked about what would happen if
Japanese ever did come. They joke and say, "They'd never

get out of here alive. They definitely wouldn't be welcome."

99

Some of the younger men in the Legion are not as set in
the anti-Japanese sentiment as Sam. He told me that
sometimes when the guys are talking, some will tell him that
the people who are at the plant and living in Pleasantville
weren't even born when World War II happened. For Sam, it's
not these particular people, but they represent the
country. It's where they come from. "But damn it, they
come from Japan.”

Sam goes out of his way not to be where there are
Japanese. If he goes in a restaurant where Japanese are
eating, he leaves, unless he is with his wife. For her
sake, he will stay, but he feels very uncomfortable. "Maybe
I have a bad attitude." For Sam, his attitude is based on
"what I went through." He says he wasn't ever in a direct
Japanese confrontation, but he saw what "they" did to our
troops, "especially the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor."

According to Sam, he is mild in his feelings compared
to the men who were on the front lines. "You don't even
mention the plant or the Japs to them."

It's difficult for Sam and others who spent time at the
Legion and VFW Post to have Japanese in Pleasantville and to
have the community leaders so welcoming and eager to have a
Japanese plant. "It bothers me if people think it's great.
Those people didn't have to go through what we went

through."

100
WORLD WAR II AND ECONOMICS PLAY A ROLE IN PEOPLE'S ATTITUDES
While Sam described the only area of potential
discrimination which I heard about, many people discussed
the influence of World War II and Pearl Harbor on their
beliefs and attitudes about the Japanese.
Earlier, older residents were referenced as being a

group of people negative about the Japanese. Some older

 

Pleasantville residents view Japanese as historic war
enemies and resent their presence. In relationship to
World War II, older people were singled out by the
interviewees for their negative attitudes.

Stan: Older people in the community are still
bitter over World War II. They resent most
any older Japanese that might have played a
role in the war. I would be bitter, too, if
I had lost a parent.

John: The guys around here in their 605 were
affected by World War II. They were the ones
I know of that were upset. It was hard for
them to stomach it--having Japanese in the
community.

Gary: A lot of old guys still have animosity
because of the war. Older people say they
fought those people in the war and don't want
to have anything to do with them. The
Japanese who are here now had nothing to do
with it--same as I didn't. But some older
people still have animosity against them.

Greg: There are really divided reactions--two
factors. The old factor are the World War II
vets. For the most part they have bitter
feelings and express it. The younger
generation has no reason to be part of the
older era, and have accepted them personally.

While many people described others' war related
feelings, some people told of experiences as children that

formed fear and negative attitudes. Mary, now 59 and a

101
retired school teacher, talked about how afraid she was of
Asians as a child and young adult. She had seen graphic war
newsreels and she was sure that if she ever saw a Japanese
she would be killed. As a young woman, she took her
daughter to nursery school and there was a Japanese boy in
the class. As Mary and her daughter walked in that first
day, the boy, using a piece of wood as a gun, pointed it at
them, shouting ”bang, bang." Mary was terribly frightened,
even of a little boy with a stick gun. She said, "I thought
they were evil." As an adult, Mary told me, "Now I know
that the common people aren't 'the country,'" but she still
is confronted at times with her early negative feelings from
the 1940's war newsreels.

Early memories continue to haunt Greg, whose uncles all
fought in the South Pacific. As a child he was living in a
very small town south of Pleasantville. In 1945, at the end
of the war, a soldier from the town returned, bringing a
Japanese uniform. He stuffed the uniform with straw and
hung it from the single stop light in the center of town and
burned it in effigy. Greg remembers that night and the
crowd of yelling people. "I don't have any animosities
against the Japanese," was Greg's reaction, but he has
memories tinged with anger and fear.

While most interviewees said they did not have negative
attitudes about the Japanese based on World War II, they I
discussed those feelings as reported by others. Additional

comments on the subject included the following:

102
Jenny: I've heard a comment or two from World War II
vets that aren't exactly happy. They won't
have anything to do with them. They're still
fighting the war.

Marty: I've heard from World War II vets that it's

hard for them--and they know it's hard and a
lot of them don't want to feel the way they
do. But they do--because they were there.

Jim: There are still lots of World War II vets in

town who speak strongly resenting the
presence of the Japanese.

Barbara: I have lots of older people who golf in their

leisure time. Lots were involved in World
War II. They haven't been happy about it.
They say things like 9I'd like to shoot them
all."

Even though lots of older people have real difficulty
with the Japanese living in Pleasantville, and still others
carry painful memories, two people expressed a more
accepting point of view about this 50-year-old war which is
still a part of our national psyche.

Jeanette expected to have negative feelings about the
Japanese because of World War II. After a recent trip to
Hawaii where she and her husband toured Pearl Harbor, she
was surprised that she didn't. "I treat each person as an
individual. I don't think of them as part of World War II."

Margie also went to Hawaii several years ago and
visited Pearl Harbor. Her reaction was, "I realized that we
were all just victims of our leadership--we're victims just
as they are." Margie felt sorry for the Japanese and
wondered about all the stories they have to tell of the
things we did to them. "They had people shot and killed by

us."

103

An interview with Ted in the early stages of the study
began to clarify for me that there were really two "wars"
related to the Japanese being reacted to in Pleasantville.
According to Ted, "The feelings about the Japanese are
dependent on a person's age." The people who fought in
World War II have feelings against them as the old war
enemy. Ted thinks people his age see them from the
viewpoint of the blue collar worker, taking away jobs, as
the economic enemy.

Maureen made the same distinction. She pointed out
that people's early negative fears were based on two main
factors, World War II prejudice and the economic fear that
the Japanese are taking over. She added that she heard
those comments in the first year, but she's not hearing much
any more.

During the course of the interviews, I was surprised to
hear more concerns about the economic issues than the World
War II issues. I heard it from every age group, including
from Chuck, a high school freshman, who told me that the
kids in school see what's happening between the United
States and Japan as an "economic war." Economic concerns
about the present and future relationship between Japan and
the United States appear to be the strongest issue affecting
attitudes toward the Japanese. Sam sees it almost as a
continuation of World War II. "We go over there and blow
them to hell, and now they're coming over and going to take
us over.” Sam blames our government for letting it happen.

He hopes he won't live to see the take-over, but his

104
impression is, "Unless our government does something,
they're going to take us over without firing a shot."

While Sam sees it from a very negative point of View,
most people had mixed feelings and some tended to go so far
as to give Japan credit for their new-found world status and
even to hope that our country will learn from the Japanese.

Gary thinks the Japanese have figured out how to do it
better and our manufacturers better listen to them. Gary's
friend Bill joined us at the fire station mid-way through
the interview. He added, "The Japs know how to do it
right. They have for years." Bill described the quality
cars made by the Japanese, where everything works. "The
doors shut perfectly. Ours, the snow blows in till you had
a blizzard inside." Bill said our cars were falling apart
and we knew it, so no wonder other countries didn't want to
buy our cars. He concluded with, "Why would anyone buy a
piece of crap?"

Gary picked the interview back up at this point and
added that he would rather have Japanese plants here
employing our people than have plants in Japan with Japanese
labor selling cars over here. "They have helped our
economy," was Gary's opinion.

Others who have concern about the economic issue but
have opinions which still support Japan are:

Larry: You hear they're taking over the U.S.
They're investing in the U.S. They're
creating jobs. They're not taking over the
U.S. They're getting involved in

business--showing people how it should be
done.

105

John: The best thing that happened to the American
auto industry was the Japanese auto
industry. When I think about the quality of
cars we made in this country ten years ago!
In many ways it's terrific that the Japanese
do what they do. We need this competition to
make our products better. Maybe we'll learn
from the Japanese and do something about it.
I'm pretty awed by what the Japanese are
doing. I'm really impressed by their
success. There's a feeling of quality and a
solid sense of doing business.

John is like a lot of the Pleasantville residents I
interviewed. They give Japan credit for its economic
success, but are still afraid of what it means for the
United States. John went on to describe his concern. He
chose to buy a John Deere lawnmower. It had a Japanese
engine and he was glad. He wanted to buy it because of the
Japanese engine. He said, "It's terrible when you go out of
your way to avoid buying products from American companies
and seek out Japanese products."

John isn't afraid of the Japanese owning a lot of
things, but he doesn't see it as positive for our country.
He thinks the Japanese will be sensitive to the communities
and do a good job, but there's something else troubling
him. Since Japanese headquarters for everything are in
Japan, the profits are going back to Japan, not to our major
cities and local communities. He worries that "maybe it
could result in a decline in our quality of life."

Many others suggested similar concerns without really
being angry at or blaming the Japanese.

Ted: We've switched roles with the Japanese from

the time when we occupied their country.

They don't occupy our country, but they are
buying it up. Even though I like the idea of

106

them being here, it scares me what is
happening to our country. I'm leery about
where it's heading. If it were equal
purchase, us and them, it would be O.K.

Bill: They do dominate the world market. I have
mixed emotions about that--about them buying
up the country. The Japanese have our credit
card. They're going to control the world
with their banking. But if we could do it,
if we had the money, we'd be over there
buying them up.

Maureen: I still hear lots of comments about the
Japanese buying our buildings, our antiques,
our major art works, and golf courses. I
hear it less often in the local context but
from a broader range of feeling. It comes
from all types, not just auto workers. It's
the whole concern about America losing its
status as number one power in the world. I
don't think it's based on prejudice. It's
not unfounded anymore--it's real--and people
are afraid.

Barbara: There were several reasons that people were
negative--the war and the fact that they're
buying us up went hand in hand. But most.
people blamed our country more than the
Japanese. People say our country let it
happen--let them buy us up.

Jerrie: I think most people feel it--the economic
side--and don't feel it positively. What
will our government do about the open trade
issue. Really, how much of the country can
the Japanese buy? I didn't feel too bad
about it 'till they bought Rockefeller Center
and other similar places. Then it was
something to worry about. I've always
thought as a liberal, but this is scary.

Gene: For me the basic fact is they've beat the
hell out of us mass producing quality
cars--so now we're all competitive again.
We're just fanning up old prejudices through
this car competition.

While some people fear the economic realities of

Japan's new world-power status, and primarily older
residents still react based on 50-year old emotions caused

by World War II and Pearl Harbor, most of the Pleasantville

107
residents still report primarily positive feelings about the
presence of the Japanese people and plant in their
community.

The positive acceptance of this very different cultural
group called to mind the work of Blakely and Bradshaw as
they described the "new migrants" (1980). Although Blakely
and Bradshaw's study was not about foreign immigrants, it
seems applicable here. The study indicated that there are
many "new migrants" settling in America's small towns and
these migrants are very different from the immigrants of the
past. They are employed on arrival or easily employable and
therefore are a non-dependent group, not accessing the
community's financial and support services.

In Blakely and Bradshaw's study, the new migrants are
most often "city" people moving to rural areas for a quality
of life. No studies have been done on the Japanese in that
regard, but the Japanese contain all the characteristics of
the "new migrant" described, with the exception that their
company, rather than they, selected the small town for a
certain quality of life. Blakely and Bradshaw's study
indicated that there is a need to identify the dynamics of
this new movement and how it affects small towns. This
study responds to that need and adds the new dimension of
the Japanese.

In the 1980 study, these new migrants were easily
accepted in their new town; that acceptance, and the reasons
described, being self sufficient and employable, seem to fit

the Pleasantville situation. This acceptance is easy to see

108
in the attitudes of the citizenry toward the Japanese

individuals and even toward the manufacturing plant itself.

JAPANESE PLANT IS WELCOME AND WELL RECEIVED

It was a real surprise to me that most people
interviewed had such positive things to say about the
Japanese manufacturing plant itself. This general positive
attitude and acceptance of the plant appears to me to have a
real bearing on their views of what happened in the
neighborhoods and in the community as a whole. People's
attitudes about the Japanese as neighbors and as customers
and clients had a base in an early positive attitude about
the plant itself. I had not expected an almost unanimous
acceptance and in many cases, excitement and happiness about
this new facility. There was a positive attitude about.
the presence of the Japanese plant in Pleasantville reported
py almost every person interviewed. Even those who told me
about the negative attitude of others toward the Japanese in
general had few stories of people who were unhappy about the
presence of the plant. Exceptions included two people who
wished the plant were not Japanese, but admitted that they
would rather have it be Japanese than not have it at all.
Even Sam, with all his years of anger at the Japanese, was
glad there was a new plant. "Pleasantville needed another
manufacturer for workers." And Sam reported that many of
his friends say it's a fine place to work. He too wishes,

however, it were not Japanese.

109
While a few people reported some early doubts or
concerns about having a Japanese plant, those concerns
dissolved over time. Louise, a realtor, told me, "I feared
it would hurt the town, especially sitting there at the
entrance. I think now people are convinced they (the
Japanese) are going to do well for the community."

The presence of the Japanese manufacturing plant is

 

viewed as economically good for the community. Some
attitudes were based simply on being pleased that there
would be a new plant in Pleasantville; some saw long-term,
overall economic benefits; while others saw it simply in
terms of jobs.

The city official whom I interviewed, Jeff, was heavily
involved in negotiating with the Japanese for the selection
of Pleasantville as the site for the $100 million plant. He
told me that he went after it aggressively. "I wanted it
here." He said he had some early concerns about bringing
lots of Japanese into Pleasantville, but felt that with the
generally high socioeconomic status of Pleasantville
residents, the community would be generally accepting. He
also felt that the existence in Pleasantville of one
national-level company already involved in international
trade meant that people would be more tolerant of an
international company.

Marvin, a banker, saw long-term benefits for
Pleasantville from the plant. This included a more stable

work force and more people living in the county.

110

Dan Greene, manager of a large grocery story catering

to Japanese clients, reported real excitement on the part of

lots of people.

He related that to the impact on the

general economy and the fact that the new plant would help

the community recover from the closing several years earlier

of a large manufacturing facility.

Other comments which people attributed to themselves

and others regarding their feelings when they heard a

Japanese plant was scheduled to be built at the entrance to

Pleasantville include:

Sandy:

Jenny:

John:

Bill:

Patty:

People were real positive. We needed that
plant to bolster the economy. No one I heard
said it wasn't O.K. Maybe some people were
afraid that Japanese cars were going to take
over, but no one was upset about the plant.

My reaction was "great." To me it sounded
like a good thing for the town. But I heard
one lady say Pleasantville was fine just the
way it was.

When the new plant came in, I knew it was
going to be good. I knew they were here to
stay. I knew they'd do things well, treat
workers well, be solid members of the
community. When the first word came out, I
was jumping for joy. I'd read so much about
the Japanese, I had confidence that they
would do a quality job with everything:
landscaping, a well-maintained plant, quality
treatment of workers. I knew it would be a
first class operation.

It's the plant that adds to business. The
plant is very good for us in lots of ways. A
dozen families spend $2, 000 in our store over
a year. It's not a lot--not like 50 families
would, but it doesn't hurt!

There was a kind of excitement. I don't
remember hearing many bad things. We were
"up" because it was coming. There were
economic reasons to be glad.

111
Donna: I welcomed the plant, for the community. It
didn't really directly affect anyone I know,
but I don't know anyone who was opposed. I'm
aware that there are people who do resent it,
but I don't think anyone I know feels that
way.

Margo, the librarian, summed up for me the mixed
feelings that some people had, happy and concerned at the
same time. She told me that from an economic standpoint,
people were glad to have the new plant and a chance for
jobs. And people also had the feeling "We rated. We were
selected." However, there was still concern that it was a
Japanese plant, for a variety of different reasons: "World
War II, race, economics." For some it was the fact that the
thing they kept reading about in the papers and hearing on
television, the Japanese buying up America, was happening to
them. As Margo explained it, people were thinking "The.
Japanese are pggg now; now they're knocking on 22g door,
too."

For those who saw the economic benefits of the plant,
the issue of jobs was a critical one. The creation of new
jpbs was an important factor in the acceptance of the
21223. Greg stated it very directly when he said, "I was
pleased. I didn't care if it was Japanese or Indian or
where it was from. It meant jobs for the community." As he
remembered it, when the plant was announced, there wasn't
much reaction about it being Japanese.

Gary, a local fireman, told me that most people were

glad, because they knew it would bring jobs into the area.

Jobs were especially important since there had been the

112
plant closing several years before. Since the younger
people, those who would be working at the plant, didn't have
any World War II feelings, Gary felt it didn't matter to
them if the plant was Japanese. "The overall feeling is
that it's good for the area--it produces jobs," was Gary's
response.

Janet said, "When I heard a new plant was coming, my
only reaction was 'new jobs.'" Marty, who is associated
with the Chamber of Commerce, said that most of the people
she deals with in the Chamber are trying to keep
Pleasantville and the county vital, and the Japanese plant
helps to do that. She said, "It's good for Pleasantville.
It brings jobs."

Even Sam's reaction was that the plant had created jobs
for many people he knew. According to him, "The guys like
working there." They tell him it's a clean place to work
and they like the fact that everyone, the secretaries and
even the president, all wear the same uniform, ”like they're
all on one team." But Sam would never consider accepting
one of the many new jobs. "I would go out and dig ditches
before I'd go out there and work."

For some, it was not only a matter of being pleased

that the new plant was coming to Pleasantville, the fact

 

that the Japanese selected Pleasantville over other

communities was a matter of pride.

 

It was John, an attorney, who characterized this
feeling of pride. "There's a real community pride in having

this Japanese plant here," he began. As he explained it to

113
me, Pleasantville residents recognize that not everyone got
picked. The Japanese could have gone anywhere. ”When the
Japanese choose you, you've got something going for you."
John said he knows, from what he's read, that the Japanese
do endless research and checking into a town before they
choose it. "Having a Japanese plant in your town is like
having the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval."

John continued to explain that if the Japanese put a
$100 million plant in Pleasantville, it says to the world
that it is a great community to put in a business. The
Japanese have done the research for anyone else to follow.
As a business man, John feels sure that if another company
wants to know whether to come to Pleasantville, the Japanese
have proven "we're a top community, worthy of a major
international company."

Other people described it similarly.

Jerrie: When the plant was announced, most people were
pleased they chose Pleasantville. It meant
that there were qualities here that were
better than other communities. I had
community pride.

Louise: It was a compliment to Pleasantville for them
to come here. They had the choice of
anywhere to go.

Ted: I was immediately pleased that it was coming
to Pleasantville. It was inevitable that it
was going to be built somewhere, and how
wonderful they chose to be here.

Margo summed it all up for me when she told me she had-

three basic reactions to the arrival of the plant. First,

she thought "Hooray for Pleasantville and our economic

developers and our economic base." Second, she thought, "It

114

really does happen. This is 'Gung Ho' right in my own
neighborhood!" She realized that the articles she had read
and TV shows and movies were right, that the Japanese really
are building plants in American towns. And third, she was
impressed. "Gee, they really know what they're doing." She
found it all to be "incredibly controlled and disciplined."
And since they know what they're doing, and chose
Pleasantville, it could only be good for the town. "They
are everywhere--where they can be economically successful."

As evidenced, most people, for a variety of reasons,
reported that they welcomed the arrival of the plant. When
asked how they feel about the plant now that it has been in
operation in the community for almost two years, community
members interviewed view the plant as supportive,
financially and personally, to the community as a whole.

Marty explained it well when she said, "Pleasantville
Manufacturing is a good employer, a good member of the
community." She went on to detail the reasons why they are
a good member. According to Marty, they have given money to
the city, to the parks, and to the community. They
encouraged their employees to give to the United Way and had
a very good response. They are active members of the
Chamber of Commerce, with an employee on the Chamber Board.
Marty told me, "They are a participating member of the
community, not just sitting out there making money and going
home at night."

Margo thinks that the executives at the plant figured

out what they needed to do to be accepted. "In

115

Pleasantville, everyone pitches in. In this town the best

thing you can do is help out." So Margo thinks the Japanese

found out who was important and what was important, and then

did the right thing.

There were many similar comments about the supportive

nature of the plant. To name a few:

Greg:

Jim:

Karen:

Jeff:

Doug:

Gene:

Jerrie:

The city has benefited from their presence.
They are excellent people to work with, very
giving people. It's been good for the
community. We've been introduced to another
culture. They're very strong in their
culture. We've benefited.

In the early days, I sent tickets to the
travelogs to Mr. Wada. Then he started
promoting the travelogs. Now Pleasantville
Manufacturing is a big supporter of the
travelog series. They take out a half-page ad
each time.

I can remember a large contribution to United
Way from the plant. The image of a good
neighbor was definitely coming through.

The positive thing is that they have come in
and tried to fit into the community. People
think they kept their promises--they provided
jobs. In fact, when the union tried to come
into the plant, they were defeated.

They've given monetary contributions. They
gave money to fix up a park. They should put
some kind of sign on it and people would see a
new park and know the Japanese plant gave it.

Lots of positive things are coming out of the
plant. American workers are loyal. I haven't
heard anything negative from them about the
Japanese. That helps since the Japanese plant
is reinforced by Yankees--our own think it's
O.K.

The existence of the plant does a lot for the
community. The Japanese plant has very civic-
minded people.

Jeff and Louise both added a slightly different

dimension to the sense that the Japanese have worked to fit

116
in and be good community citizens. Jeff spoke from the
experience of being involved with the early negotiations.
Jeff had always heard that Japanese were "cut-throat" in
business, "would put the screws to you." But he said the
Pleasantville economic developers didn't find that to be
true. "I never sensed they were going for the jugular."
Jeff told me that they originally felt they had to be scared
of the Japanese, "But we didn't. They were so good to us."

Like Jeff, Louise reported that people started out with
one idea but changed their mind. She described some people
who were veterans, involved in World War II, who said,
"Never trust a Japanese," and those people were very
distrustful. Some of them were on the Planning Commission
and they wanted everything to be double checked. But the
Japanese did far more than they needed to, according to.
Louise, to assure people. They even did more than they were
asked in order to prove that they would be good for the
community.

As was discussed in the Blakely and Bradshaw (1981)
study, in their description of the "new migrant" as
contributing to the community rather than being dependent on
it, the Japanese plant and its employees are seen as adding
to the community of Pleasantville.

Other research on migrating populations describes a
similar reaction, positive if the migrants add and negative.
if they appear to take away. In the case of the Arab
population in Detroit (Hamada, 1990) and the North to South

migrants to Smyrna, Tennessee (Lippert, 1990b) described in

117

Chapter 2, the Arabs are seen as contributing and are
therefore generally welcome. The Northerners are seen as
taking away jobs from Southerners, depleting housing,
crowding the roads, and are therefore not welcomed to the
community.

A final observation about the general acceptance level
of Pleasantville Manufacturing is based on an individual
Japanese person. The president of Pleasantville

Manufacturing is highly regarded in the community for his

 

communication skills, his friendliness, and his appropriate

 

responses to community needs, and that reflects positively

on the plant and on all the Japanese.

 

Mr. Wada, company president, has taken the American
name "Henry" rather than force local community members to
pronounce his complex Japanese first name.

Many people commented that Henry somehow always
remembers their name and how he knows them, a fact that
astounds them. Marvin met Mr. Wada shortly after his
arrival, since, as a banker, he was eager to do business
with the plant. He described the president as "hand
picked--and super suitable for it." During a series of
lunch meetings, they discussed many things about America
culture. According to Marvin, Mr. Wada "is more well versed
about our country than most people who live here."

Many others reacted positively to Mr. Wada and to other
Japanese executives as well.

Jim: I'm impressed with Henry Wada. He's not a

flashy guy. He doesn't try to impress you
with being CEO of a big operation. He's

118

very down to earth. He's been very well
received. So have the other executives.
Obara has been well received, also Iguchi.

John: Mr. Wada always remembers who I am. He's a
real pleasant guy. In fact, they have
exceptionally pleasant people there.
Everyone thinks so. They say, "Have you
met so and so--he's a great guy.”

Bill: You couldn't ask for a nicer guy than Henry
Wada. A young man who worked at the plant
got killed. Henry himself went to the
funeral home and the funeral, to represent
the plant. That's the Japanese attitude of
loyalty.

Jeanette: There was a reception for a man in town,
and Mr. Wada came. I didn't expect he
would. He hardly knew him. They really
try.

Gene: Henry's fluent in English and that really
helps.

Catherine: One night at the emergency room they
brought in one of the Japanese employees.
Suddenly there was Henry Wada. How did he
know to show up? He always knows where to
be. I gave him my card that night and he
gave me his. Since that time he always
knows me and calls me by my name.

It appears to me that in many ways, the general
perception of the plant as positive and necessary to the
economic well being of the community, as something which
makes people proud of Pleasantville, and as a supportive

community institution has contributed to overall acceptance

of the presence of Japanese in Pleasantville.

SUMMARY
As I approached Pleasantville to conduct this study, I
anticipated a variety of reactions, but I did not anticipate

such strong positive reactions from those interviewed.

119
Most Pleasantville residents interviewed reported they have

positive feelings about the presence of a Japanese plant and

 

Japanese people in Pleasantville.

 

Almost none of the interviewees indicated that they
personally had negative feelings about the Japanese. It is
possible that people only referred to me those whom they
felt had positive attitudes, or they only told me what they
thought I wanted to hear. For whatever reason, negative
comments about the Japanese from the interviewees were few,
although many people talked about others who have negative
feelings.

Some of those negative feelings attributed to others
appeared to exist for a variety of reasons, but few were
truly intolerant. None of those interviewed reported
feelings of prejudice against the Japanese, but told of.
others who did. Those interviews which did mention
prejudice did not direct it at the Japanese, whom they
seemed to see as more culturally different than racially
different. Many people interviewed report that they are
not racially prejudiced against the Japanese as they report
they and others are against African-Americans or Hispanics.

While there was some minor report of Japanese-directed
prejudice, and a significant amount of African-American and
Hispanic prejudice, there was little discussion of actual
discrimination. There was no evidence of potential
discrimination except at the American Legion Hall and the

Veterans of Foreign Wars Post.

120
The reported response of veterans and many older
Pleasantville residents to the Japanese is often a negative

one. Some older Pleasantville residents view Japanese as

 

historic war enemies and resent their presence. Even those

 

who do not carry anger about World War II, and who report
that they are happy to have Japanese in Pleasantville, do
express some concern about the economic complications. In

fact, economic concerns about the present and future

 

relationship between Japan and the United States appear to

 

be the strongest issue affecting attitudes toward the

Japanese.

 

The first attitudes of people in Pleasantville, even
before the Japanese moved into the neighborhoods and became
part of the community, were in response to the Japanese

manufacturing plant itself. There was a positive attitude

 

about the presence of the Japanese plant in Pleasantville

 

reported by almost every person interviewed.

 

A major reason that people felt acceptance about the

arrival of the $100 million facility was that the presence

 

of the Japanese manufacturing plant was viewed as
economically good for the community. There were
significant economic benefits of this new enterprise. Th3
creation of new jobs was an important factor in the
acceptance of the plant.

In addition to the economic impact which it was
anticipated the plant would bring, some people were simply
pleased that Pleasantville had been chosen as the site for

this plant. The fact that the Japanese selected

121
Pleasantville over other communities was a matter of
p£;d_. The positive attitudes were reinforced in the time
that followed by the way the plant established itself in the

community. Community members interviewed view the plant as

 

supportive, financially and personally, to the community as
a whole. While many of the plant's Japanese executives
were mentioned favorably, the company president was most
often referenced. The president of Pleasantville
Manufacturing is highly regarded in the community for his
communication skills, his friendliness, and his appropriate
responses to community needs, and that reflects positively
on the plant and on all the Japanese.

As demonstrated, people interviewed and those they
referenced have accepted and even welcomed the Japanese
plant and its employees, despite some existing feelings of
concern and, for a few, even anger. Looking more closely at
life in Pleasantville, it is possible to see how these
attitudes and beliefs about Japanese are visible in the

neighborhoods and in the community in general.

CHAPTER 6

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS

INTRODUCTION

As I started out gathering the data for this research
study, moving into various neighborhoods in Pleasantville, I
was very quickly struck by how many beautiful upper-middle
and upper class neighborhoods there are in such a small
town. Pleasantville has always prided itself that there are
no slums in its 4.6 square miles and that the majority of
its 7,500 residents live the "good" life. That is certainly
the Pleasantville which the 15 Japanese families living here
found, since they are all located in very pleasant homes in
new and well maintained neighborhoods. Despite the fact
that I have lived near Pleasantville for 18 years, I had
never been in the majority of these neighborhoods, and have
never been in so many attractive homes in any given period
of time.

I report this fact to lay the groundwork for the
findings to be reported in this chapter. The 35
Pleasantville residents interviewed in their homes in
neighborhoods shared with Japanese appear to be middle class
at the lowest and upper class at the top. I hesitate to use
these rather elitist terms, but it is necessary in order to
describe the economic status of those being interviewed, A
since it impacts the findings.

The homes being described range from $90,000 to over

$200,000. The average home in Pleasantville, according to

122

123
the city assessor's office, sold for $78,000 in 1990, in a
county where the average home, according to the county Board
of Realtors, sold for $59,000. Therefore the people
responding to this research are, for the most part, people
with a large enough income to afford to own homes in the
highest range in the area.

Pleasantville realtors report that the Japanese were
not interested in looking at older homes and were interested
only in new homes in "nice" areas. This fact is not limited
to the Japanese in Pleasantville. Gelsanliter reports on
the Japanese settling in Belfontaine, Ohio: "The Honda
families preferred to buy new. They didn't want a house
that had been tramped through by strangers, nor one that had
been lived in by a dog or cat. They didn't appreciate the
broken-in feeling some Americans cherish in an older home.
Anything pre-war in Japan is rarely attractive, and so much
was destroyed during the war. Their dream home would have a
cathedral ceiling, with floor-to-ceiling windows, and a
foyer where shoes could be removed" (1990, 158).

As a result, the Pleasantville residents being
interviewed, while not necessarily representative of the
community at large, may be representative, on a national or
at least a regional level, of those who live or will live in
neighborhoods with Japanese. While the economic status of
those interviewed in neighborhoods may limit the ability to.
generalize about the findings to the community as a whole,

it may allow a broader generalization to those specific

124
types of neighborhoods where Japanese choose to live in

other communities.

COMMUNICATION IS A MAJOR PROBLEM

It was during my second interview that Stan told me a
story beginning a pattern which appeared in many of the
interviews to follow. It had to do with the fact that he
was afraid to communicate with his Japanese neighbors for
fear of miscommunicating. This fear is only one aspect of
the most common thread which appeared in all the interviews:
Most people interviewed View the problem with communication

as the major factor inhibiting the development of

 

relationships with Japanese.

Stan's story highlighted one aspect of the
communication problem, the fear of miscommunicating. As we
were talking that summer afternoon in his sunny Florida
room, Stan was drinking a beer and was very enthusiastic
about our discussion. We were talking about his early
experiences having a Japanese neighbor, and he was
explaining to me why he has not been more involved with his
neighbors. As he told me his story, he jumped up and began
to act it out for me. Stan is a big man, a supervisor at a
large, successful manufacturing firm--someone whom I'm sure
has the reputation of not being afraid of anything. He
started by saying, "I'm afraid to talk to them because I
think they won't understand me, and I'll make a fool of

myself, like I did before." The "before” happened shortly

125
after Stan and Judy moved into their new house, next to
Japanese neighbors.

On the eventful day, Stan and Judy's daughter, Tracy,
was playing in the house. The little girl next door,
Taieko, regularly walked in and out of the house uninvited.
They were never surprised to look up to see Taieko's little
four-year-old face staring at them. That morning Stan noted
that Taieko had arrived and she and Tracy were playing in
the living room. As he looked out the front window, he saw
Taieko's mother walking up and down the street with a
concerned look on her face, and Stan was sure she was
looking for Taieko. Stan had never spoken to Taieko's
mother except to smile, nod, and say hello. As he realized
that she was concerned for her daughter's welfare, he
decided he would be brave and begin a conversation.

By this point in the story, Stan was dramatically
acting out what had happened. It seems he went to the front
door and out to the steps. Taieko's mother was walking on
the sidewalk in front of the house about five steps down the
embankment, looking for her daughter. Stan waved at her to
catch her attention and motioned for her to come toward the
steps. However, she just waved back. So he went down the
steps toward the sidewalk and very slowly and very loudly
explained and gestured that Taieko was in the house.
Assuming she spoke no English, he used elaborate gestures as
he explained about Taieko, including rocking a baby in his
arms, trying to demonstrate the meaning of the word "little

girl" by pointing to his own head while demonstrating long

126
hair and then pointing out someone of short stature. Then
he pointed to himself and to his house.

At this point in the story, Stan was laughing, saying
how loud, how long, and how elaborate this speech was as he
stood, like an actor on the stage, on the front steps of his
yard. After he finished all of his shouting and gesturing
for Taieko's mother, she was silent for a moment, then
looked up at him and, in what he says was perfect English,
responded "Thank you, Stan," turned and went back to her
house. Stan said "I came back into the house red as a
beet--so embarrassed."

He concluded this interview, sometime later, by saying
that he would like to get together and do some things with
his neighbors. He is pleased that his daughter is having
the opportunity to meet people of a different culture and
have a playmate from another country. In fact, he and Judy
both indicated that they hope Taieko will stay around long
enough for Tracy to form some kind of relationship which she
remembers. They even hope someday Tracy will have a
Japanese friend whom she can visit in Japan, but for Stan,
the possibility of a relationship with Taieko's parents is
unlikely. "It's hard to make the first move; it's just
fear."

Stan told me this was his first experience dealing with
people from another culture. His lack of experience trying
to communicate across the cultures leaves him uncomfortable
and, after having felt foolish, afraid to extend himself

again.

127

Gene lives down the street from Stan. Gene is older
and more experienced dealing with unusual situations, but he
too struggles with a fear of miscommunicating. When his
Japanese neighbors moved into the house next door, he sought
out their name by asking the people in town who were working
with the Japanese families, and asked if it would be alright
to take them an apple pie. He and his wife Mary called one
day to deliver a pie and shortly thereafter received a brief
visit returning the kindness of the pie with two Japanese
pizzas famous in Hiroshima, the home of these Japanese, and
two large Japanese chocolate bars. He was very excited
about this exchange and took one of the pizzas and one of
the candy bars to share with people in his office. However,
as things moved ahead, the relationship did not progress.
Gene talked about how difficult the communication was, and
that he could never remember his neighbors' name. Finally
one thing happened that made Gene so cautious that he
indicated he was not going to try to communicate with his
neighbors again.

Gene had not seen Mr. Iguchi in the yard in a week or
two and began to wonder if he were ill. Mr. Iguchi
frequently worked on the lawn, and it was on those occasions
that he and Gene attempted to communicate. Finally one day
when Gene was in his yard he noticed Mr. Iguchi pull into
the driveway. Gene went over to him and asked if he had
been well. As Gene explained, by speaking very slowly and
carefully, he asked Mr. Iguchi if he had been ill, since he

had not noticed him in the yard and had noticed that his

128
wife and daughter had been mowing the lawn. Gene was
uncertain about whether or not Mr. Iguchi understood him,
and that concern was validated when almost instantly Mr.
Iguchi returned from the house, got on his riding mower and
began to mow the grass, which incidentally had just been
mowed the day before. Gene knew then that he had been
misunderstood.

Later in the week he was at a community function and
noticed Mr. Iguchi in attendance. Mr. Iguchi was talking to
a translator whom Gene had used, shortly after the Iguchis
arrived, to explain to them about a common sprinkler system
which the two yards shared. Gene took the opportunity to go
up to the translator and to Mr. Iguchi and explain what had
transpired in the yard. The translator spoke with Mr.
Iguchi and responded that, indeed, Mr. Iguchi had
misunderstood Gene's question and thought that Gene was
reprimanding him for not mowing his own lawn and for having
the women in his house do it instead.

Gene is a very kind-hearted and sensitive man, and he
was very troubled by the misunderstanding that he had
caused. The result was that he didn't want to try to
communicate anymore. He concluded the story by saying that
he is concerned about the fact that the Japanese don't
understand him, and so he feels that they try to be
agreeable, regardless of what he says and even if they do
not want to be. I could see his concern when he said, ”I
feel I make them uncomfortable; so I avoid them." He said

he is not motivated to talk to Mr. Iguchi "because I don't

129
know what to say and I might be misunderstood and make him
uncomfortable."

Whenever he goes over to their house for any reason, he
feels that the Iguchis wish that he wouldn't come over.
Since they can't communicate with him and because they want
to be agreeable, he thinks that they will agree to anything
he says rather than attempt to dialogue. He said, "I feel
like I force them to say yes to me again." Despite the
exchange of ethnic foods and yard information, it is
unlikely that Gene and Mr. Iguchi will develop any type of
relationship, at least in the immediate future. Gene's
concern is, "I strain him when I try to talk to him."

While Stan's concern was his own embarrassment and fear
of feeling foolish, Gene's concern was making his Japanese
neighbors uncomfortable. Gene's wife, Mary not only worries
about offending her neighbors, but also worries about the
possible fear of miscommunicating which the Japanese must
have.

Mary's comment about communication was, "I don't want
to say or do anything they will misunderstand. Better to
not communicate rather than miscommunicate." She said she
worries about offending her neighbors in some way,
unknowingly. But she also reports that she feels sorry for
them, because in a country where they can't communicate and
with the culture so different, they must worry about the I
possibility of offending the whole community.

Mary told me about collecting for the cancer drive.

Mrs. Iguchi came to the door and Mary tried to explain her

130
purpose, to no avail. Then the Iguchi daughter came to the
door to help. Mary ended up explaining to the daughter. "I
felt bad talking to the daughter when I was really talking
to the mother."

Wurzel, in his seven stages of the multicultural
process, identifies miscommunication as one of the early
characteristics of the cultural conflict stage when two or
more ethnocentric views confront each other (1988, 6-7). It
is almost inevitable at this stage, and the ability to move
beyond depends on the individuals involved.

Porter and Samover explain that "The chief problem
associated with intercultural communication is error in
social perception brought about by cultural variations that
affect the perceptual process...grave errors in meaning may
arise that are neither intended nor really the fault of the
communicators. These errors are the result of people with
entirely different backgrounds being unable to understand
one another accurately" (1988, 30).

Although not all Pleasantville residents reported
feelings of fear, enough responded in that way to allow a
conclusion to be drawn that fear of making mistakes and
being misunderstood keeps some Pleasantville neighbors
from developing relationships with their Japanese

neighbors.

 

Although not everyone reported feeling fear, everyone
interviewed mentioned some type of language problem which

made communication difficult and hindered the development of

131
relationships. Some of the comments were humorous, some

were sad, and some contained concern for the Japanese.

Every person interviewed reported some type of

 

communication problem caused py language difference.

Stan's wife, Judy, is very outspoken and easy to know.
She shared one of the humorous stories of a language
encounter involving her parents who work at a downtown
retail establishment. Whenever her father waited on a
Japanese customer, he always spoke loudly. One day, after
he had been particularly loud, her mother said to him, "Why
are you shouting? The guy wasn't hard of hearing; he just
doesn't speak English."

Doreen voiced similar concerns about her Japanese
neighbor, even though Mrs. Kobayashi speaks better English
than most Japanese wives. Doreen reported feeling
embarrassed trying to talk to her--that it was just so much
more difficult. "You talk too loud and too slow. It's just
harder." Many neighbors supported Doreen's feeling of the
difficulty of making conversation.

Joyce has several young children, as does her Japanese
neighbors. She told me a story about a language problem her
children encountered in attempting to play with the Japanese
children and communicate with a Japanese parent. Shortly
after the Japanese family moved in, Joyce's children and a
few other neighbor children went to the door to see if the
oldest daughter could play. The daughter opened the door
and they all started to talk at once, scaring her, and she

started to cry. The mother came to the door and, according

132
to Joyce "carried on and on in Japanese, as if the kids did
something wrong." The children tried to explain, but
obviously, neither understood each other. It was a bad
beginning for neighbor relations, because since then Joyce
has felt hesitant about attempting to communicate. She
said, "That is how the language barrier can really get in
the way."

Betty is also hesitant about trying to cross the
language barrier with her new neighbors, but she is eager to
have her daughter play with Japanese children, despite the
language barrier. "I told her, 'It's O.K., even if you
don't speak the same language,‘ but I wouldn't have been so
eager!"

Betty's first meeting with the Kato family was
facilitated by a translator, a Kato family member who had
lived in the United States and spoke excellent English.

When they called on Betty and her husband, they brought the
cousin along and he translated for both families. "Having a
translator for the first visit helped a lot. I was able to
tell her things that I couldn't possibly have explained
otherwise."

The Kato family also visited another neighbor,
Jeanette, and brought along the family translator and a gift
of a beautiful Japanese fan on a display stand. The
translator quoted Mr. Kato as saying, "We hope you will be
friends with us." They presented Jeanette and her husband
with Mr. Kato's business card with all the family members'

names written on the back.

133

The use of translation was mentioned frequently as very
important when it was present, and very necessary when it
was not present. A later discussion of things neighbors
”wished" for will describe their interest in using
translators to ease the early language differences.

Earlier I mentioned that Gene had used a translator.
Gene and his Japanese neighbor share a sprinkler system
which was installed in the years when Gene and the previous
owner were good friends. Gene, knowing he had to explain
the system to Mr. Iguchi since it turns on in his yard,
called the plant and asked for a translator to interpret the
discussion. Gene felt the meeting was quite successful and
his Japanese neighbor was very agreeable regarding the
sharing of the sprinkler system and told Gene, through the
translator, that he should come into the yard anytime he
needed to. Gene told about the meeting which was held at
his neighbor's house, and how he was made to feel very
welcome and was served a coke and cookies while the
translator conducted the meeting.

This meeting was held in the first month after the
Iguchis' arrival. Gene now reports that his neighbor's
English is still a major barrier in their communication
process, which contributes to Gene's continuing fear of
communicating. Gene said that 16 months after the arrival
of his Japanese neighbor, his English is ”really not
functional" and it is still very hard to communicate. A

translator is helpful in emergencies or for major

134
conversations, but daily communication must be conducted
alone.

Also sharing the feeling that language is a major
problem was Jeff, who as a city official has worked a great
deal with the Japanese executives. He spoke about his and
his family's relationship with their Japanese neighbors. He
said that the kids get along fine together. The kids play;
"Play is play!" But he said that he and his wife can't
communicate beyond the basics and formalities. "The
language barrier is too great."

Some neighbors manage to conduct basic communication,
but feel limited beyond that. Janet, a very easy-going
woman whose seven children have become friends with the
neighboring Obara children, reported that she has done many
things to be helpful to Mrs. Obara, but she voiced real.
concerns over the limitations which the language problem
places on the development of a friendship. She said she
likes Mrs. Obara but ”the language really makes a barrier in
being close friends." She reported, as did many other
Pleasantville neighbors, that the adults do not pick up the
language like the children do. Janet said that Mrs. Obara
isn't picking up English like her children are. "It would
help if she spoke as good English as her children. I'm
still not sure if what I'm saying is getting through." She
talked about the Japanese habit of saying yes and nodding I
(she demonstrated by vigorously nodding her head and
smiling) and how that can mislead, because it really doesn't

mean that they understand. You think at first that you've

135
been understood--and then you realize that maybe you haven't
been. "You never know," she said. "I think she (Mrs.
Obara) is trying to make efforts, but I don't always
understand what aha means--or what it means."

Many writers, and many neighbors, used the custom of
nodding and smiling as if in agreement, as examples of
nonverbal communication processes which lead to
misunderstandings among cultures. According to Condon,
"Most just listen quietly, nodding and seeming to agree. It
is irritating when you later hear that the Japanese you were
talking to had doubts and disagreements but didn't say them
at the time" (1984, 38).

Janet tried to befriend Mrs. Obara immediately after
they arrived. At first she took Mrs. Obara with her to
meetings of a women's organization. According to Janet,
Mrs. Obara's English was so poor that she didn't seem to be
understanding anything. In fact, she fell asleep in one
meeting. "So I stopped asking her to go. It was too hard
for her." This failure to communicate has kept several of
the Obara neighbors from forming the relationships they
would have liked.

Margie is also a neighbor of the Obara family, living
across the street on their quiet cul-de-sac. Margie said
that she would be very interested in knowing the Obaras
better. "If I could speak to them, or if I knew they could
speak English, I'd be over there." She talked about how
much extra effort it takes when you don't speak the same

language. "It just takes too much time. And what can I talk

136

to her about? If I spoke Japanese or she spoke English, it

would be different.”

When the Obaras moved in, it was October and Margie
took apples as a welcoming gift.

"It was awkward as can
be.

None of us knew what to say." She went on to explain

that they used facial gestures, hands mostly, and other

forms of nonverbal communication including pointing and

laughing. The Obaras returned at Christmas time with

origami ornaments which Mr. Obara had made. Each of the
four ornaments had one of their names on it. Margie said
she keeps them on the refrigerator. "It's the only way I
could remember their names.

I couldn't pronounce them if I
had to."

The idea that most Pleasantville neighbors cannot

remember or pronounce even the last name of their Japanese
neighbors was a surprise for me. I had not expected so many
people to be blocked in the relationship at such a basic
stage. A few of those interviewed used the names as
casually as American names, but most stumbled, at best, or
wouldn't even try.

Doug and Noreen have two Japanese families as

neighbors. Both families have been in the neighborhood

about the same amount of time, over a year and a half.

Neither Doug nor Noreen can handle the families' names,

"They are so long and hard to remember." Noreen said, "I

just can't get them. Only Kevin, our six year old, can
remember them." They called Kevin in and asked him to tell

 

‘n‘

137

me their names, and sure enough, he gave me the family name

and children's names with no hesitation.

Gene and Mary have called and asked community people

for the names of their neighbors several times.

According
to Mary,

"I can't call them by name.

I don't know what to
call them."

These are not the only Pleasantville residents who

admit to not being able to pronounce or even remember the
names of Japanese neighbors. In fact, many Pleasantville

neighbors were unable tolronounce the names of their

Japanese neighbors even after two years.

Joyce is another Pleasantville resident who doesn't

know her neighbor's name even though they have lived next

door to each other for over a year. She reported the
neighbors speak "very little English.” As she said this,

she spoke in a staccato, high-pitched attempt to imitate her
neighbors. She reported that speaking to them is "almost

like using sign language." She found her inability to

communicate with her neighbors most frustrating during a

recent episode with the cable company in her neighbor's

lawn. Her neighbor had spent many weeks weeding and then
seeding his lawn. She reported watching him hand planting
the seeds "one by one." One day, the cable company came in

and dug up his yard to lay television cable. Her neighbor

Joyce looked out the window and saw

him sitting in the yard looking very sad.

came home and saw it.

She went over to

try to explain to him what had happened. "He understands

certain things, but I think most of what I said to him went

'3‘ ,__

138

over his head." She came back into the house feeling very

frustrated that she had been unable to explain to him why

somebody had been digging in his yard. She was somewhat

relieved when later a translator from the plant came over

and explained it to him.

Even when the Japanese attempt to speak English, most

Pleasantville neighbors find it hard to understand. Joan

said that even though her neighbor speaks some English, she

cannot understand it. Her neighbor has been very kind to

her including giving her daughter some beautiful dresses
which her own daughter had outgrown, but Joan feels unable

to reciprocate in the relationship, “The biggest roadblock

is communication. She has learned some English, but even if

she speaks English, it's so hard to understand."

Communicating in person presents a tremendous problem

to neighbors, but communicating on the telephone is even

more difficult. Jerrie, who teaches dance,

talked about
communicating on the telephone.

She said that frequently
the mothers will call to ask her about something, like what

type of dance shoes their daughters should buy. They talk

on the telephone and very slowly she explains it. After they

talk on the phone, the Japanese mothers hang up and then, "I

guess they figure it out." The mothers then call back, and

tell Jerrie it is alright to order the shoes. Jerrie thinks

they have called some of their Japanese friends in order to

try to understand what she explained. "How brave they are!

It's one thing to try to do it in person, but to do it on

the phone is very hard."

 

 

139

Karen, a high school student and neighbor of the Obara
family, also talked about the difficulties of speaking on
the phone. She said, "Talking on the phone is hard because
you don't have any other resources. You can't draw and no
using your hands to make gestures."

Karen also shared with me her experience when the
Obaras first moved in. She said they tried to talk to the
Japanese family, and the only one who could speak even
broken English was the Dad. She explained that it was kind
of exciting, "like trying a new ice cream to get a taste.
You wanted to try the Japanese culture and find out what it
was about." She and her brother also talked about how hard
it is to communicate with Japanese friends. "You have to
say it two or three times and then you have to overlook the
nodding and the 'yes.'" As they explained it, it means they
hear you, but "it doesn't mean that they understand what
you're saying."

Of all those to whom I spoke, almost all blamed any
lack of relationship between neighbors on the communication
problems, rather than on personalities or attitudes.

However one neighbor, Larry, is one of the few who
spoke negatively about his Japanese neighbors and lays only
some of the failure to develop a relationship on
communication problems. Larry said that right after his
neighbors moved in, he went over to welcome them. The
Japanese man came to the door and tried to explain to Larry
that he couldn't speak English, so Larry left. He went back

several more times in ensuing months and basically the same

‘5—

 

140
thing happened. He decided that his Japanese neighbors
really didn't want to mingle. He called them "cold and
stand-offish." He says that he and other neighbors went out
of their way to say “hi" or to help, but that the Japanese
have been cold. They are concerned that the neighbors have
been so disconnected that no one in the neighborhood would
know what to do or how to respond in the case of an accident [1
or a problem at the house. "They haven't connected with [
anyone in the neighborhood; we wouldn't know know who to 3;
call or anything." Larry feels that a possible cause of
this must be the communication problem, but he wonders if
the neighbors are simply unfriendly.

An interesting addition to this discussion of the role
of communication and language in Pleasantville neighborhoods
was brought to light in an interview with Miuki, a Japanese
woman married to an American and living in Pleasantville for
the past 10 years. Miuki works in a local beauty parlor,
hired specifically because she assured the owner she could
bring in the Japanese business (which, by the way, she has
done). Miuki adds a dimension to this analysis by reporting

what she feels her Japanese customers want from their

 

neighbors, and how they see the communication problem.

Miuki told me that most Japanese want to have conversations
with Americans, but they can't start it. They wish so much
that they could talk to Americans, "but the words don't '
come. I see these Japanese trying to talk to Americans, and
they do the same things Americans do--misinterpret." Miuki

said that the Japanese get part of what's being said, they

141
get the idea, but they don't know how it fits. They don't
knOW'if it}s information or a question or what. "They don't
know what.to say, so they just keep smiling."

Miuki specifically mentioned Mrs. Kato, Betty's
neighbor who brought a translator to their first visit.
According to Miuki, Mrs. Kato told her that she was afraid
she wouldn't be able to talk to her neighbors. Now, because

her children play with neighborhood children, she is

associating with her neighbors. Miuki reports, "She is very

happy about it."

Ironically, Mrs. Kato, who is also a neighbor of
several other people I interviewed, is reported to have the
best English of any Japanese woman in Pleasantville, and
even she was very worried about her ability to communicate

with her neighbors. Concern about communication is on both

sides of this cross-cultural situation.

In Beyond Language: Intercultural Communication for
English as a Second Language, Levine and Adelman (1982)
give advice to foreigners about forming relationships with
Americans. "With foreign visitors, Americans may not always
be the first one to begin friendships. It is possible that
some Americans, because of their linguistic and geographic
isolation, are hesitant about interacting with foreigners.
Don't be passive when it comes to making friends with
Americans. Begin conversations, extend invitations and make
the first move" (1982, p.70). It appears that in most

Pleasantville neighborhoods, based on my interviews with so

4‘

 

142
many people who have not formed friendships with their

:neighbors, few are making the first move.

SOME PEOPLE RELATE DESPITE COMMUNICATION

Some of those interviewed in Pleasantville seem not to
have been deterred by language, or lack thereof, or by fear,
or cultural differences. At one point in the analysis, it
seemed that the data was leading to an assertion that people
who had former Asian relationships or interest were more
likely to persevere and create their own type of
communication process with their Japanese neighbors. That
was true in the case of Doreen, who had such a positive
relationship with Mrs. Kobayashi. Doreen's husband works
for a Japanese-owned plant in a nearby city and they have
traveled to Japan. Jeanette, who was visited by the Kato
family and their translator, later spent lots of time with
Mrs. Kato. She has visited Hawaii a number of times and has
had a Korean doctor as a neighbor and friend. Barb, who has
the only real friendship with her Japanese neighbor, works
with lots of Japanese visitors as the administrative
assistant to the president of an international company in
another city.

However, these three women were not enough to defend
that assertion, considering that people without any Asian
background also managed to find a way to interact as
neighbors.

It appears that some of those who wanted to form

relationships, be somehow involved, or at least be

 

143
neighborly, however that term was interpreted, did manage to
some extent to overcome the communication barriers.
Some Pleasantville neighbors were not deterred by the
language differences and found ways to work around the

language difficulties.

 

There is a lot of evidence that some residents of
Pleasantville neighborhoods wanted to communicate and be
helpful and "neighborly" enough to cause them to overcome
any language barriers and develop their own techniques of
communication. Others, who also sincerely wanted to
communicate, were unable to conquer the language
difficulties.

In time, some Japanese neighbors did, in fact, develop
adequate English communication skills that allowed
relationships to operate very comfortably. However, in only
one case, Barb and her family, did a real friendship develop
to the extent that the Pleasantville neighbor and the
Japanese neighbor actually socialize outside of the
neighborhood context.

Doreen was one of those interviewed who was most
excited about having a Japanese neighbor and who kept
working on the communication process. She described her
first visit to Mrs. Kobayashi's house. She took brownies
over and stayed to visit. It seemed to her that Mrs.
Kobayashi wanted to understand, and maybe could understand a
few things. She would try a few words and then a few more.
If Mrs. Kobayashi couldn't understand, she'd try writing out

the words. Since the study of English is required in

’”“_mhmv-r

 

144

Japanese schools, most Japanese have some ability to read

and,1x>some extent, write English. However, their studies

doxun:include much experience speaking the language

(Condon, 1984, 76).
"We just struggled through," explained Doreen.

But she talked about how

"I was

comfortable doing it."
uncomfortable she was when there was a lull in the

conversation. Japanese are comfortable with silence--a fact

not true of most Americans. While Americans tend to view

silence as the interruption of communication, Japanese

"endow silence with immense power" to communicate. "The

capacity of silence to provoke diverse interpretations makes

it one of the highest forms of communication and one of the

greatest sources of misunderstanding" (Barnlund, 1989, 142).

Doreen continued that she and Mrs. Kobayashi would.
attempt to talk about many things, including topics as

difficult as the differences between Buddhism and

Christianity. ”I don't know if she understands what I say.

I don't always understand everything she says, but I pretend

I do." Doreen tried to explain all our holidays and her

neighbors tried to celebrate them.

about the bunny rabbit and then tried to explain about

”At Easter we explained

Jesus. They celebrated but they didn't really understand."

Doreen was very happy with the relationship and

disappointed that the Kobayashi family would be returning

soon to Japan after only two years. "I don't know if she

understood what I was saying half the time, but I kept

trying."

 

145

While Doreen tried for two years to build a
relationship with her neighbors, in some families the
children took the lead. Janet's middle school aged
children, Robin and Angie, described their first encounters
with the Obara family and their early techniques for
communicating. As they explained it, Mr. Obara knew a
little English and Mrs. Obara knew none. When they would
visit, the Obaras would point to things. "We'd tell them
the words when they'd point." Each Obara family member had
his or her own Japanese/American dictionary, which was also
used by Robin and Angie and their family as a means to
communicate.

Joyce, whose relationship with her neighbor has not
developed beyond formal and required interaction, said that,
if you have to, somehow you figure out how to communicate.
"If you really need to talk to your neighbor about
something, you can just sit down and figure it out."

Noreen said much the same thing as she described trying
to talk to her neighbor about asthma, since her neighbor was
concerned that her son was unwell. "It was very difficult
to talk about something like asthma. But we just used key
words and tried to tie it all together."

While both Joyce and Noreen described communication as
difficult but possible, neither of them have pursued the
relationship with their neighbors beyond conversation in
passing or in necessity.

Barb, on the other hand, has a relationship with her

neighbor which includes both husbands and has extended into

 

146
a social relationship. Barb explained that in the beginning
no one could communicate with the Kojima family except her
11-year-old son. "Tim was really the one who got it going.
Somehow he was able to communicate."

The Kojimas took Tim everywhere with them. He
communicated for them. He ordered the pizza; he went to the
store with them. "It was hard to keep him from going over
there everyday." Tim would even answer the phone at the
Kojimas when Mr. Kojima wasn't home.

Barb tells a wonderful story about an early incident
when she thought Tim was at the Kojimas, since he always
was. She called and carefully asked Mrs. Kojima to send Tim
home for dinner. It took two tries before Mrs. Kojima said
"O.K." A few minutes later Tim came in, very upset. It
seems he had left the Kojimas earlier and was playing in his
own driveway. ”Mom, why did you do that--send her all the
way over here to tell me to come in?" Mrs. Kojima had come
across the street and said, "Mama. Dinnertime." Mrs.
Kojima didn't know how to explain to Barb that Tim wasn't
there. It was easier to find him and tell him to go home,
even if he was in his own front yard.

Today the two families are good friends. As the
Kojimas' English has improved, so has the relationship.

They entertain each other for dinner. Barb said, "It's like
going to a Japanese steak house." Barb takes Fumiko golfing
and her husband golfs with Mr. Kojima. The first time Barb
suggested the two women golf while the two men babysit, Mr.

Kojima was almost indignant. His response was, "What? Me

 

147
babysit?" But they did babysit while the women golfed. In
Japanese tradition, the children are the responsibility of
the woman. The man is seldom if ever available for domestic
responsibilities. Most children never have babysitters as
the mother or grandparents are with them always.

The two families golf together on couples' night and
have dinner out. They all went trick or treating on
Halloween this year. According to Barb, "They loved it."
Barb plans to continue the relationship when the Kojimas
return to Japan in a few years. She has no interest in
visiting Japan, and says the relationship will probably just
be letters occasionally after the Kojimas leave.

Jeanette also has a neighborhood relationship with her
neighbor, whom she likes a great deal. She said that she
doesn't think it would have worked if there had been a
serious communication problem. "If I didn't have a neighbor
who spoke good English, it wouldn't work. It's who I have
here that makes it work. She's a marvelous woman."
Jeanette and Sachiko teach each other to cook, particularly
since Sachiko wants to learn American cooking. Jeanette
says it's almost like family. "She thinks of me as a mother

image. And the little kids call me 'Auntie' in Japanese.”

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES AFFECT COMMUNICATION

As we have looked at the various examples of people who
moved beyond the communication barriers to be neighborly and
to develop relationships, all of the interviewees quoted

were women, speaking primarily about their relationships

 

148
with Japanese women. There is an often-reported feeling
among the Pleasantville residents that Japanese males are
seldom at home, always at work or golf, and only minimally
involved in the lives and activities of their families. As
a result in Pleasantville most relationships with male
Japanese neighbors do not develop beyond formal
acknowledgments.

There are numerous examples of this feeling. Following
are responses from several neighbors regarding their
perceptions about the absent husband/father and the primary
responsibility of the mother.

Jeff: I don't ever see him. He's just not around.
We don't see the man.

Robin: It's the mom who has all the responsibility.

Joan: He's never home. I've spoken with him only
once.
Mary: He's always gone, and I never see them go

anywhere together.

Stan: I only see her. He always stays on the golf
course.

This reaction fits with the Japanese custom, where men
relate as much or more to their work place and the people
there, as they do to their family. Work includes many
additional hours socializing with fellow workers. "The
structure of the family is based on the central core, mother
and children, to which the man attaches...Relationships
between families are very weak: hence, the husband has very
few social obligations as the household head, and finds it
all the easier to concentrate his attention on the affairs

of his place of work" (Nakane, 1972, 129).

I. n: “h— N

 

 

149

The only place where most Pleasantville and Japanese
men connect is in their lawns. While in some Japanese
families the women also do the lawn work, in most the men
are somewhat or primarily responsible. This probably makes
sense since in Japan there are no yards, and as a result, no
age-old social directive of responsibility. Therefore when
the Japanese come to this country, each family works out the

lawn responsibilities individually. Communicating about

 

and sharing lawn responsibilities was a basis for early
contact between Pleasantville and Japanese neighbors.
Most of those interviewed shared a lawn story as an
example of some early association or contact with the
Japanese family, and many of these stories were about the
Japanese husband. Because the Pleasantville families are
very involved in maintaining their lawns, and American
tradition has one of a child's first jobs as mowing the
lawn, it seemed incredible to the interviewees that the

Japanese come from a culture that doesn't know even the

basics about lawn care.

Examples of comments about the yard work include:

Noreen: The only time I see the men is out mowing
grass. They're not cutting shrubs. It's like
they don't know how, and don't even know that

they're supposed to.

.Angie: Mr. Obara wanted to work on the lawn. They
both did, because they don't have a lawn in
Japan. They have a house with a small yard in

Japan, but the lawn is all rock.

Doreen: We don't see the husband often. We talk to him
when he is mowing the grass. It was so funny
the first time he went out to mow his lawn. He
had on a suit and tie and his dress shoes. Now

he knows better.

 

Gene:

Doug:

Joan:

Judy:

Gene:

Jenny:

150

When they first started mowing their lawn, they
would cut it in pieces or sections. The wife
would cut a piece in one part of the yard; the
daughter would out another piece. Now they mow
in rows.

They have a power push mower. He didn't even
know how to start it. They didn't know how to
cut the lawn. For days they went over and over
the same spot. They'd do just a little bit at
a time, here and there in the yard.

I have spoken with him only once. When they
first moved here, their grass got so long and I
figured they didn't know what to do. My mower
wouldn't work in it because it was so long, so
another neighbor came over and helped out it
with a rider mower. They said "thank you" so
often.

We helped him trim his trees. My boys helped
cutting his grass. My husband showed him how
to use his rider mower. He had questions all
the time. He didn't even know he had a
pump--and he had water in the basement. We
showed him how to turn it on.

He didn't understand his lawnmower. He didn't
know it was power. I saw him struggling to
push it; he was sweating. I went over and
showed him how. As he understood, he went "ah
ha" and hit his forehead with the palm of his
hand. Later he bought a riding mower. He was
mowing one day when the grass was wet and the
chute was getting plugged. I went over and
explained. He was very grateful and said lots
of thank you's.

He has a big lawn and he wanted to water it.

So he went out and brought 10 sprinklers and
miles of hose. He had seen my husband going
out and moving our sprinkler from place to
place and he didn't want to do that. So he set
up these sprinklers all over the yard. When he
turned it on he didn't have any water coming
out of them. My husband explained what was
wrong--that he didn't have enough water
pressure to force water into 10 sprinklers. So
my husband helped him pack them up and took
them back to the hardware store.

 

lSl

Without the existence of the lawn, it appears that most

Pleasantville neighbors would never have any contact with

Japanese males.
The primary area where some conununication occurs in the

neighborhoods is between the wives, particularly as the

Japanese wives seek information and assistance in
interpreting confusing information. Pleasantville women

neighbors often interpret school notes, messages, requests,

and community events for Japanese wives.
Betty's neighbor, Sachiko, comes over often with notes

from school she wants explained. She usually has figured

most of it out and has her own notes of things she doesn't
understand and vocabulary words she can't find. One such

note said that her daughter was limited in language; however
she could go on to first grade in the Fall. Sachiko didn't

understand "Fall" and thought the note meant that her
daughter was "falling” behind because of being limited in

language. Betty provided great relief when she explained,
in her own limited way, the meaning of the note.

Betty said she doesn't see Sachiko often unless she's
out in the yard or there are school notes. She did invite

her to a Discovery Toy party, although she was hesitant at

first, not wanting Sachiko to feel she had to buy
something. As she extended the invitation, she very slowly

and carefully explained the process of demonstrating special

children's toys at a party at her home and then some people

ordering the toys. As Betty finished her lengthy and
difficult explanation, Sachiko said, "Oh, like Tupperware!"

l
4 .2

 

152

She did come to the party and, as Betty reported it, had a

good time--and did buy something.
The Pleasantville women who shared their examples feel

glad that they are able to explain notes and events to their

neighbors. Janet says that Noriko Obara really needs her
help, since she thinks that each note from school is a
mandate for her to do something. One day she came over to

see Janet, very confused by a note from her daughter's
Each

elementary school, asking for help on a fund raiser.
Janet's response to

family was to bring a "white elephant."
me was, "Can you image what she must have thought, to send a
white elephant to school!" Janet has also explained such

events as potlucks, or shared dinners, which are regular

events in Pleasantville schools for end-of—the-year sports

banquets.
These all seem to me to be examples of people from both

cultures whose desire to communicate overcomes the

communication barriers of language and cultural difference.
There is one aspect of cultural difference that I heard
often enough to feel it should be reported here. In all my

personal experience with Japanese, one of the cultural

attitudes of Japanese which I have found so appealing is the
giving of gifts. For Japanese, the giving of gifts entails
a very complex set of cultural guides dealing with
obligation and repayment of obligation. There are rules
which dictate when a gift is given, what gift is given in
Condon describes

return, the cost of the gifts, and more.
Japanese gift giving in a way which, ironically, can also be

 

153

used to explain the reactions Pleasantville residents feel
about the gift-giving process. "Keep in mind that gifts are
expressions of relationships and quite literally tokens of
To spontaneously give a Japanese something

gratitude.
because you just saw the item and thought the person would

like it causes all sorts of confusion and usually requires
the recipient to 1) figure out why the gift was given, and
if there was some ulterior motive, 2) determine the

approximate value of the gift, and 3) find something
reasonably appropriate to give back in order to restore the

balance" (1984, 84) . While Japanese might react in these

ways, most of the Americans interviewed have the same
reactions when gifts are given to them by their Japanese

neighbors.
What has happened in Pleasantville, as a result of all

the gifts that have been given as expression of gratitude to
local neighbors, is that gift giving by Japanese neighbors

confused and frustrated Pleasantville neighbors and they do

not know how to respond.
Janet explained that she is not afraid of communication

problems, and the fact that she doesn't have any experience
"It's only

with Japanese doesn't make her feel intimidated.

when I get a gift I didn't expect and I don't know why that

I don't feel O.K. I want to know what I'm supposed to do in

re turn . "
The Obaras brought things back for Janet's family when
"It makes you feel so guilty

they went on a trip to Japan.
Janet went on to say that she

because she does so much."

4

 

154
knows it's an expression of Noriko's thoughtfulness--that
it's part of the cultural difference, but she added, "I wish
I had thought of bringing back something for them on my

vacation. We just don't think to do that, to bring gifts

back to our neighbors."

At Janet's son's birthday party, the Obara boy brought

a gift of a pair of shoes, not just ordinary shoes, but

“high top teenage-type Ninja Turtle shoes--what more could

any kid want?" Janet was overwhelmed at the size and

expense of the gift and the fact that she felt it placed her

under an obligation which she cannot repay.

Later in our discussion she told me that one of her
biggest concerns about her relationship with Noriko Obara is
that she still doesn't understand what the culturally polite

things are in the Japanese culture, so she feels she doesn't

always know what she should be doing. She said that the

Japanese are in America and she thinks they should try to do
it the American way-~but she still wants to know ”what are

my obligations as a neighbor, in her eyes? Like when should

I give her a gift, and how big a gift and why does she give

me and my family gifts?" Janet told me she felt that Noriko

will probably return to Japan before she has begun to figure

out what she should have been doing all along.
Another person who expressed concern about not
understanding the Japanese gift-giving process is Betty.

The Katos have brought over lots of gifts, particularly for

Betty's daughter, Kim. The Katos bring candy often for Kim,

and Mrs. Kato recently brought her a sweatshirt when they

 

155
came back from a trip to Japan. "I enjoy it, but I tell her
not to do it. I wonder why she's doing it, and I don't know
when to expect it." Betty truly sounded frustrated as she

explained her inability to understand when and why gifts

arrive, and what she should do in return.
Not all neighbors express as much frustration and
concern as Betty and Janet, but most are aware that the

gift-giving is more frequent than is the American custom.

Typical comments include:
Doreen: They always do anything they can for you.

They can't repay you enough. You can't do
anything for her that she won't do back.

Jeanette: Every time I make cookies and take them over

some, she runs off and buys me candy. They
brought me a scroll from Japan when they went

back this year.

Jeff: They are so grateful. Every time you do,
something you get a gift.

Robin & They give us lots of things. They give us

Angie: lots of Japanese food to try. They order

things from Japan and share with us.

Only Larry, who earlier indicated that his neighbors

‘were not.responsive, had no feeling that Japanese are
grateful and gift-giving. He explained that his family sent
over a pineapple upside-down cake as they always do for new
neighbors. "We never heard a thing. No thank you, no
return visit, nothing."

As I could best interpret what is happening, the
Japanese, who always repay an obligation in some way,
frequently feel obligated to their new and helpful
neighbors. Japanese consider obligations as a burden and

culturally are driven to relieve themselves of this burden.

 

156

As they need help in their neighborhoods, regardless of how

insignificant that help seems to the Pleasantville
neighbors, they immediately repay that help with some type
of gift, appropriate in size to the nature of the help

given. The Pleasantville neighbors are used to "neighbor"

activities, which are part of being neighbors, and do not

expect gifts. Upon receiving them, often they then feel the

burden of the very obligation of which the Japanese have
been trying to relieve themselves.
Here is a case where one group's cultural norms and

means of identity cause misunderstanding and cultural

misinterpretation in the other group. It is ironic that the

discomfort is caused by something as basically kind,

relatively simple, and normally acceptable in our culture as

the giving of gifts. As Argyle points out, typical areas

where problems occur in social exchange and/or communication

are in the areas of social rules, such as the giving of

gifts, and in motivation, what motivates people to do
certain things (Argyle, 1988) . The Pleasantville response

to the Japanese giving of gifts is a perfect example of

Argyle ' 5 point.

CHILDREN PLAY ROLE IN THE CROSS-CULTURAL PROCESS
Throughout the course of the interviews, I found that

children played an important role in the relationshipg

between Pleasantville and Japanese residents.

The Frye family were all visibly excited as I sat in

their cozy living room and talked with them about their

W‘l-HH

 

157

Japanese friends. I had contacted the Fryes as

representatives of Pleasantville who live in a neighborhood

with no Japanese. Surprisingly, the interview was full of
”adventures" they have shared with Japanese friends whom the

children met through school. Annie is 8 and Eileen is 11.

The primary friendship is between Annie and Masako who met

when Masako was seated next to Annie after arriving in First

 

Sheila Frye shared with me Annie's excitement that
She wanted her parents to

"I just told her

Grade.
first day when Masako arrived.

help her know how to act and what to say.
to smile often, and to take her hand and lead her wherever

she needed to go."
After the first year, when Masako moved to a different

school, she and Annie wrote notes and called each other, and
with the pick-up and delivery service of the two mothers,

played at each other's houses. Annie told me about her

first visit to the Kobayashi house, about taking her shoes
What she would be

off at the door and putting on slippers.

expected to eat for dinner had been a worry for her, but to

her relief they had pizza--"and the mom used chopsticks to
pick off some of the things I didn't like." When the play

time was over, Annie received gifts, her own pair of
At this point in

chopsticks and a package of origami paper.

the interview Annie ran to her room and returned with the
chopsticks, some samples of origami, and the remaining

pieces of colorful folding paper.
The Fryes shared many other stories, including Masako's

first overnight at their home to celebrate Annie's

 

158

birthday. Throughout the interview they kept telling me

that they would show me a video tape taken one night when
the Fryes watched all three Kobayashi children, ages 3, 7,
and 9, while the parents went out for the evening.

It was fascinating for me to watch in the video the

kind of intimate children's activities which I had had no I

opportunity to directly observe. A number of particularly

interesting things happened during the 10-15 minutes which F

Sheila Frye had taped. There were so many examples of the

sharing of cultures.
At one point, Keiko, the oldest Japanese child, sat

down at the piano and started to play--and I suddenly

realized she was playing "My Old Kentucky Home."
Then Annie and Masako began a game of singing and
clapping each other's hands--and they were both singing the

song in Japanese. Sheila told me that Annie learned the

words from Masako on the playground.

Toward the end of the tape Keiko was humming a familiar

sounding song. Sheila recognized it and found a record of
it which she began to play. All the children started a

circle dance to "It's a Small, Small World!"
At the end of the tape, 3-year-old Jun was sitting on

Annie's lap as Masako and Keiko squeezed next to her on

either side. Annie looked up at the camera and said
"Ohayo," Japanese for "good morning," the wrong greeting for
the time of day but certainly in the spirit of this

cross-cultural evening.

 

 

.» . . . . . a"

159

The children on the tape had played together, not as if
there were no differences in their cultures, but as if they
had easily assimilated the difference into one common area
of understanding and appreciation.

Many parents spoke about the fact that their children
were the ones who formed the first relationships, or in some
cases the only relationships. A few examples of these
comments include:

Betty: We know them because of the children.
Otherwise there's not a lot of contact.

Donna: My only personal contact came through my
daughter.
John: The only way we have any contact with them is

that our kids ride a shuttle bus with some
Japanese kids.

Joan: We have a good relationship, but it's
basically through the kids. Kids seem to
make the difference in people mixing. I
think the Japanese kids make it a little
easier.

Joyce: My kids have Japanese friends from school,
first and second grades. They call each
other and ask if they can play, either here
or there.

Jeanette: Young people with children fit in more
easily. Our summer car pool included one
Japanese child.

Not only do the Pleasantville neighbors talk about how
much easier the children are forming relationships than the
adults, many parents are pleased that their children are
having the opportunity to experience a different culture.

Margo coordinates a neighborhood service which delivers

preschoolers to a specialized day-care program in a nearby

160
community. One Japanese mother and daughter are involved in
this program.

Margo sees an important influence for her sons in the
experience of knowing their friend, Junko. "I see this as
affecting my children. Every experience they have is
changing them." It seems strange for her to hear her young
sons saying the name "Junko" as they talk about their
friend, and, "as young as they are, understanding that she's
from somewhere else." She knows that her sons will
regularly go to school with Japanese children and is glad
they are having this opportunity.

John told me about a friend who, years ago, said to
him, "Are you a citizen of the U.S.A. or the world?" John
wasn't sure exactly what he meant at the time. Now he
understands much better and wants his children to have more
of a world view as a result of the Japanese presence. "I'd
like my kids to be a little less parochial. I'd like them
to have a world view--a sense of the global village. I
don't want them only to know a small town view of the world."

Other typical comments from parents who are pleased
that their children are having the opportunity to experience
a different culture include:

Stan: I encourage my daughter to play with
Taieko. It could change her whole life.

Roy: It has been such a great experience for all
of us. It makes the kids see that there is
a big wide world out there.

Mary Ann: I'm happy that Paul and Tetsuo are friends.
I hope they stay friends. I hope they stay
here long enough for a real friendship to
develop. Then when they go back, they could

161

write--and then go visit. I hope my kids go
over there.

Margo: My friend is really fostering a relationship
with a Japanese boy who goes to school with
her son. She's someone who really wants to
take advantage of having Japanese here, for
her kids.

Joyce: This is good for the kids. It gives them
exposure to difference. But the kids don't
see it as terribly unique.

Several children either reported, or were quoted, as
being very casual and undisturbed about the unique situation
of having Japanese children in their Pleasantville schools.
Joyce went on to explain that her son Eric came home from
school one day and very casually said, "I have a new friend
and he taught me to say a word in Japanese." Other words
followed very naturally as Kazuhiko and Eric became friends
and playmates. Joyce added, "If kids grow up with it, they
can accept it." She continued that parents can make a real
difference. If Eric came home and said he had a Japanese
friend and she said, "You can't play with those
kids--they're not nice," then it would teach him to have '
negative feelings. This response seems to directly relate
to my earlier discussion of the monocultural stage in which
a child learns a monocultural, ethnocentric view from
parents, but can begin to be supported in the process of
moving to a multicultural view.

In general, all of the families interviewed in
Pleasantville were interested in and many even eager to have

theid: children experience the cultural opportunities made

POSSible by the presence of the Japanese. Even Larry, who

162

had been so negative about his neighbors, wanted his
children to be friends with the Japanese children and was
particularly disappointed that his daughter had been unable
‘to form a relationship with the neighbor girl her age.

To conclude this discussion of children and how much

more easily and casually they adapt, being younger and less
rigidly formed in their ethnocentric patterns of thinking, I

share a brief story of my interview with Jake and Debbie,

Jeanette's third and first grade children.

After hearing so many adults discuss how impossible it

was to handle the language and even the names, I was

interested to see how children dealt with the Japanese

sounds. I expected these younger children to have a very

di fficult time with the unusual and complex Japanese names,
names that have no sound reference for young Pleasantville

Chi ldren.
As we were talking about their Japanese friends, I

asked Jake and Debbie if they found the Japanese names hard

to Pronounce. Jake, in the third grade, looked at me, as

children so frequently look at adults, as if they cannot
ir“agine that the adults could say anything so stupid, and
responded "You mean Kazuhiko and Taieko and Masako? SIMPLE!"
Debbie, the 6-year-old, responding a little less
indignantly to my ridiculous question, said, "Well, I do get
a. little mixed up with the last names and the first names.".
And then she proceeded to explain, in perfectly pronounced

J .
apaI‘lese, the fact that there's a Masako and a Mitsuko and

163
two boys named Takashi, and then a girl whose last name is

Takahashi--and that does get confusing!

MOST NEIGHBORS WISH FOR MORE CONTACT WITH JAPANESE
As Stan so clearly stated, after he explained about his
ennbarrassing moment acting out and shouting his message to
Twiieko's mother on his front steps, "I'd like to get
together and do some things with them. It's hard to make
the first move. It's just fear."

Many of the Pleasantville neighbors interviewed
ee:c;pressed what seemed to me to be a sincere desire to have
some type of relationship with their Japanese neighbors--a
desire which has been blocked by fear of miscommunication,
language barriers, lack of comfort with cultural difference,

airici even lack of time. Many people talked about what I.
Jrezjfeer to as "neighbor wishes," or expressed interest in more
Contact and communication.

Goodenough's theory regarding individuals responding to
11€3VV ssituations by altering or expanding their private
culture seems appropriate in this context. According to
C3<><><i€3nough (1963, 272-281), some expand their private
‘3‘33L1211re while others respond negatively and seek protection
:LII illle old culture. I found more people either expanding
their culture actively or at least their wishes for more
cross-cultural contact, rather than acting negatively.
Joyce told me she wished she could find out more about
the Japanese culture. In particular she wants to see inside

her neighbor's house. She thinks it may be decorated in

164

Japanese style. "I'd love to see it and learn about it, but

unfortunately, the language..." Joyce thinks her neighbor

seems "sweet," and wishes she could speak English.

Jeff had hoped that he would have a relationship with

his neighbors, but it hasn't happened. "I wish I could

communicate so I could socialize more."

Ted lives several houses down from the Obara family.
"I looked forward to seeing them come into the

neighborhood. I wanted to meet and know them." When Ted

and his wife took flowers to welcome the Obaras, they were

not home. When the Obaras later returned with a gift, Ted

was not at home. Nothing has happened which would easily

allow a next exchange.

While Ted simply wanted a better chance to meet his

neighbors, and Joyce had a specific wish to see her

neighbor's house and learn about Japanese culture, Gene had

an even more specific wish which he doubts would be
ful filled.

Gene is an avid fisherman. He told me he would like to

take his neighbor fishing before the summer is over. He

feels that maybe fishing would be something they could
Share, but he is concerned about how it would work--what

con la they say to each other for hours. He offered an only

Sligl‘ltly facetious suggestion. "I know what I'd do. I'd

have him face the other way in the boat so at least we

dldh ' t have to look at each other without being able to say
anything."

165

While most of the people who expressed wishes for more

contact blamed the language and communication issues,

several people blamed it simply on lack of time in busy

family schedules.
Margie explained that in order to develop a

inelationship, she would have to just go over and sit and

\KiSit. As an educator and mother, she just doesn't have the
During the summer when school she was out she planned

t:iJne.
1:c> try to get to know her Japanese neighbors, but the wife

airiCS children had returned to Japan. “I just haven't’done
j;t:.. I wouldn't have done it with any neighbor--nothing to
(1:) with them being Japanese. I just don't have the time

anymore."
Margo lives in the neighborhood with no Japanese but

relates through a shared day-care transportation for her
One Japanese child rides

1:!iiréee pre-school aged children.
‘irlea bus and her mother shares responsibility for supervising

111162 laus ride. Margo feels that she would like to say to
I<€31Ll<<>, "Just come over and let me give you an American
She wants her to "just come over and sit and

welcOme. "
She just doesn't know how to do it--feels it is too

Vis it. n

"parsonal" and wonders if maybe someone should facilitate

1:11€3 nueeting. She ended the conversation about Keiko by
But there just isn't

saYing, "I want to invite her over.

1:' . . . .
13“£3.. The issue is really time, not lack of interest."
The fact that some people blamed lack of time more than
c: . . .
oneerns about communication raises a question for me. Was

't‘ .
1m“EB. and the possibility that maybe people do not take time

166

to form relationships, really the issue for more people?

Was the problem of communication almost an excuse for not

pursuing relationships, when in reality the reason really
was lack of time and interest? In fact, communication
problems may have been a mask for simply not wanting
anything beyond a superficial relationship. These questions
would require further study of our modern life style in
order to be adquately answered.

However, Margo's husband, John, said he is sorry that
they do not have a social relationship with any of the
Pleasantville Japanese and wonders if they lived in the same
neighborhood, if they would be more inclined to be social.
"When I first heard that Japanese would be living here, I

thought it would be nice to develop friendships."

These episodes and quotes are only examples of the.

frequently-heard wish for more contact. Most Pleasantville

 

£53 jgghbors want to have more experiences with their Japanese
Laighbors but are held back by fear, lack of conununication,

2nd time .

In addition to wishing for more opportunities to get
acquainted with and socialize with their neighbors, many
interviewees suggested that community leaders,
representatives of the Japanese plant, or specific
individuals, could have facilitated activities which would
have made contact easier. Particularly in the area of
communication, neighbors wished for help and for methods to

e
age the introductory process.

167
Several people wished that an initial gathering, a

party or a tea or a housewarming, had been organized by

someone. Gene suggested that an interpreter should have

come to a get-together to help the neighbors get

acquainted .

Both Joan and Janet also asked for something where the

neighbors could have gotten together and, through a

translator, exchanged personal information with their new

neighbors. Barb wanted more information before her

neighbors moved in. She wanted to know something about each

of them, when they were coming, likes and dislikes, language

ability-~50 she could be ready to welcome them.

Larry suggested a block party, with neighbors bringing
a "dish to pass," so all neighbors could get involved and

meet the Japanese. He felt an interpreter was essential and

Said that as a result "we would see a little more

intermingling. "

Mary wished for a social get-together once a month,

with a translator, so the relationships would have an

opportunity to develop. She wasn't sure who should have

arranged it. "I could have organized it myself, but it was
just too hard."
Like Mary, Doug and Noreen felt someone should have
arral'iged a housewarming. Doug said, "I guess it's people's
hat"fire to wait and see what happens"--and Noreen added, "and
hope that someone else is already doing it." Noreen thinks
that

when the two Japanese families in their neighborhood

moved in, someone already living in the neighborhood should

168
have been responsible for each family, assigned to help
them. She knew that didn't happen in her neighborhood but
felt certain that the city leaders probably did arrange
something like that for most new Japanese residents. It
seemed so necessary to her.

In fact, the city hadn't made any such arrangements and
Jeff, a city official, wishes they had done more to create
neighborhood involvement. He included the need for
translators at community functions, to facilitate for people
who want to communicate with the Japanese. He also
suggested that there should have been workshops specifically
for community members who were going to have Japanese
neighbors, helping them understand the culture and customs
which seem so different.

While numbers of people wished for ways to help them
get to know the Japanese, Jenny went the next step and
wished there was a way to help the Japanese know how to live
in an American community. She has lived next door to a
Japanese family for two years. She would love to sit down
with her neighbor and an interpreter and say, "Look, there
are some things about our culture that I think you'd like to
know." Jenny is frustrated because "no one is interpreting
American life to them." No one, according to Jenny, tells
them the things they should know, and their English isn't
good enough to catch all the things about living in the
United States.

Jenny feels that no one explains the little details of

living and of getting involved in the community-~things like

169

American family life; caring for houses, wells, and septic
systems; recreational activities and classes; and community
events. She doesn't have the communication skills or the
time, or even the awareness of what is needed, to provide
all the information, but feels it is essential in order for
the Japanese to begin to fit in to Pleasantville
neighborhood life.

In numerous ways and from various points of view, mggy
Pleasantville neighbors wish there had been more assistance
and more activities to facilitate interaction with their

Japanese neighbors.

SUMMARY

A major finding in this study of a selected number of
Pleasantville residents is that most people interviewed.
view the problem with communication as the major factor
inhibiting the development of relationships with the

Japanese.

 

There are a number of factors directly related to
people's willingness and ability to deal with communication
problems. One problem reported by a number of neighbors is
that fear of making mistakes and being misunderstood keeps
some Pleasantville neighbors from developing relationships
with their Japanese neighbors.

Even for those who did not report fear, the issue of
the language difference was raised in every instance as a
barrier in communicating. Every person interviewed

reported some type of communication problem caused by

170

language difference. In many cases, this problem, caused

 

by the perceived difference in complexity and sound of the
language, is so basic that many Pleasantville neighbors

were unable to pronounce the names of their Japanese

 

neighbors, even after two years.

 

Relationships in varying degrees did form in
Pleasantville neighborhoods despite the universally reported

problems with language difference. Some Pleasantville

 

neighbors were not deterred by the language differences and

 

found ways to work around the language difficulties.

Most of the relationships were established between the
women in the families. Pleasantville residents perceived
that Japanese males are seldom at home, always at work or
golfing and only minimally involved in the lives of their
families. As a result most relationships with male
Japanese neighbors do not develop beyond formal

acknowledgements.

 

There were several areas which provided opportunities
for Pleasantville residents and new Japanese neighbors to
interact. Communicating about and sharing lawn
responsibilities was a basis for early contact between
Pleasantville and Japanese neighbors. The relationships
between Pleasantville and Japanese women were easier to
develop. Pleasantville women neighbors often interpret
school notes! messages, requests and explain community

events for Japanese women.

 

One particular area of cultural difference presented a

problem for many Pleasantville families. Despite the fact

171
that most people reported pleasure at receiving many
beautiful gifts, gift-giving by Japanese neighbors confused

and frustrated Pleasantville neighbors who did not know how

 

and when to respond.

Another area where communication of varying types did
happen despite language difference was among the children of
the families and often it was through the children that some

elementary relationships were formed. Childrengplayed an

 

important role in the relationships between Pleasantville

and Japanese residents. One reason why the role of

 

children was important in Pleasantville is that mgpy
parents are pleased that their children are having the
ppportunity to experience a different culture and therefore
encouraged relationships among the children.

Most Pleasantville neighbors want to have more
experiences with their Japanese neighbors but are held back
py fear, lack of communicating and time. The failure to
develop these relationships is blamed primarily on
communication problems, particularly language, time
constraints, and the lack of assistance from someone outside
the neighborhood in developing initial contacts. Mgpy
Pleasantville neighbors wish there had been more assistance
and more activities to facilitate interaction with their

Japanese neighbors.

 

In terms of my own personal reactions to what I found
in the neighborhoods, I did have some surprises. As is
always true in ethnography, the purpose is not to prove

already-determined hypotheses, but to allow the findings to

172
develop. In spite of that fact, I did have a few
expectations of my own regarding what I might find.

In the area of neighborhood life, I expected a wider
and more extreme range of feelings and activities. I
anticipated that more people would express concern about
having Japanese neighbors, based on racial or cultural
prejudices or historic bias. In the neighborhood, however,
these negative feelings were rare, at least as the
interviewees revealed them to me.

On the other hand, I anticipated the existence of more
social relationships between Pleasantville and Japanese
neighbors, involving entertaining each other, attending
community events together, activities which would be
evidence of friendships formed. With one exception, I found
no social relationships in the people I interviewed, nor did
they report knowledge of any such relationships.

I did not expect the communication issue to be as
pervasive nor as frightening and relationship-defeating as I
found it to be, especially considering the length of time
that has lapsed since residents and Japanese newcomers began
to share Pleasantville neighborhoods.

As a result of interviewing these residents of local
neighborhoods, I was not only provided with insights about
what was going on in their respective neighborhoods, but

what they perceived was happening in the larger community.

CHAPTER 7

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE COMMUNITY

INTRODUCTION

In addition to identifying what was happening in the
personal lives of Pleasantville residents with their
Japanese neighbors, there was another reason for conducting
interviews in these neighborhoods. I hoped that the
interviewees would share their views about life in the
broader community and would lead me to representatives of
various community domains, such as recreation, business, and
retail services. In this way I would be able to make
assertions and draw conclusions; from both the neighborhood
and the community interviews, regarding broader aspects of
community life.

In fact, that did happen. The 35 neighborhood
interviewees commented on many aspects outside of
neighborhood life and led me to 17 people who represented a
wide variety of services and activities in the Pleasantville
community.

Early in the planning for this study I had hoped to be
able to identify "changes" caused by the Japanese presence
in the community. Nelson, Ramsey and Verner's (1960)
discussions of community change indicated that many real
changes are massive and happen over a long period of time.
As they describe change to the total community, they report

that these changes may take generations to occur.

173

174

This was the conclusion I drew from the interviews. As
a result I am only able to report changes in components of
the community, changes which in time may be viewed as part
of overall community change. At this time I felt it was
premature to identify them as anything other than minor
changes or adjustments to the presence of the Japanese.
Those interviewed did not identify them in the broader
context and most often reported that while some aspects of
the community had changed, Pleasantville was still the same.

While many of the neighbors described in Chapter 6 did
report a personal impact from the presence of Japanese in
their neighborhoods, none of them seemed to see the Japanese
presence as having affected the community in any significant
way. Even those people to be introduced in this chapter,
who adjusted businesses and services to accommodate the new
Japanese residents, did not report any major change in the
community itself as a result.

Personally, I find it hard to believe that the presence
of a $100 million auto-parts plant and 15 Japanese families
in a community the size of Pleasantville could fail to
create significant community change. The fact that few
residents reported feeling a significant change in the
community must be explained by the theories of Nelson et al.
(1960) and Goodenough (1963,) regarding the length of time
change takes to impact the sense of a whole community.

It would be fascinating to look at Pleasantville again
at the turn of century, and see if significant change can be

identified and defended.

175
PLEASANTVILLE IS STILL PLEASANTVILLE

In general, a major assertion which can be drawn
regarding the presence of the Japanese in the community of
Pleasantville, based on the following comments both by
neighbors and by community representatives, is that
Pleasantville residents interviewed do not report a great
deal of community change as a result of the presence of the
Japanese.

Sam summed up a lot of the comments when he said, "It
doesn't feel different. Pleasantville is still
Pleasantville." Later he told me that he had moved here
when he was eight and it's always been the same. "I don't
think it (the Japanese) will make any difference to
Pleasantville. Most people don't have anything to do with
it."

Others, those from neighborhoods and those from the

community domains who reported similar feelings, said:

Karen: Nothing feels different at all. I feel only
minimally aware that there are Japanese here.

Doreen: It doesn't feel like a different community.

Greg: There's nothing much to let you know
Japanese are here, other than seeing them
shopping.

Gary: I haven't seen them much. I hardly ever see

them around town.

Marvin: I think it will raise cultural knowledge for
a certain number of people but not have the
general community impact we thought it might.

Dave: An outsider wouldn't be aware of it.
Nothing has changed noticeably.

Jerrie: There's really no big change--nothing major.

176

Patty: I don't think there are really any changes,
not in the general community. You don't see
them much. I don't know what they do. You
don't see them outside or anywhere.

Maureen: There's not really as much of an impact as I
had expected either positive or negative. We
haven't been affected as much as I thought we
would.

Gary, who was interviewed in a neighborhood with
Japanese, made an observation which reflected many people's
reaction about the lack of impact. "Are there Japanese
living in my neighborhood? If they live in my subdivision,
I didn't even know it."

While the general reaction was that there was less
impact than expected, both by the interviewees and by me,
some reasons for the lack of personal impact seemed to be
that Pleasantville residents who do not live in a direct
neighbor relationship with Jgpanese, do not have children in
school with Japanese, do not work at the plant, or do not
have close friends or family in any of the above categories!
are only minimally aware of the presence of Japanese in the
communipy.

Ted's comment supports this contention: "There aren't
enough Japanese to really make an impact. If you don't work
with them or your kids don't go to school with them, you
don't ever see them."

Jerrie, the dance teacher, felt the same way. "I don't
think people really see them. If I didn't have the Japanese

girls in my class, I don't think I'd be very aware of them.

I don't really see them. But people who know someone

177

Japanese, it's only been positive. It's good for us to see

each other's countries and cultures."

A few people, however, wonder if possibly the reason
why there seems to be little impact felt is because part of

the change has already been absorbed or assimilated.

Jenny, who lives next door to the Kojimas and has lived

in other countries herself, said that she thinks there is no

real difference obvious in the community. "People don't

think about it anymore. You don't hear much about them.

They've just melded in." She wonders if that is true, or is

it. "acceptance or just passivity?" Have the Japanese been

accepted and no longer seem so different, or is the

community in general simply passively ignoring their

ex istence?
Barbara, who manages the golf course, thinks that the

community members are just used to it. "It used to be that

You would walk into a restaurant and you would do a

double-take when you saw Japanese. Now you don't even

notice that they're there. Maybe we're all used to it

new,"
Others, like Mary Ann, feel that the Japanese are being

igliored--or just tolerated, rather than being accepted and

being part of a change in the community. "The difference

“0», that they've been here a while is that now I never see
them anymore. It's not like friendships were forged," Mary
Ann said. She says that with other new neighbors,

frequently friendships happen and newcomers become part of

178
the community. With the Japanese, "they could have been
friends--but it didn't happen."
Jeanette said, "We're used to it--it's the second year
now," and Marty said, "They're part of the community

now-~it's not new anymore."

Doug remembered being in Cal's Corner Cafe for lunch

shortly after the plant construction began and seeing a
group of Japanese enter the restaurant. He thought, "Times
Elites changing." But it's different now. "You don't even
11£i1<e a double look anymore. It's no big deal."

It is possible that all of the small changes and
Eiciqjustments which have been made over the past several years
Eilruount to greater change than community residents realize.
TPliee fact that some people see the presence of the Japanese
5153 no longer unusual certainly reflects a degree of change.

At this stage in the cross-cultural process it is not
possible to determine exactly what is happening in terms of
cllange in Pleasantville. Most people still do not see the
lgllrsesence of the Japanese plant and its Japanese employees as
‘:Léiiasing a significant impact on the community as a whole.
(:SEurtainly the neighbors feel the presence of the Japanese,
est311d those providing services to these new residents feel
S3<3~me change, but in general, none of them see these specific
iImpacts as influencing the sense of the overall conununity.

Even if people are unsure of the current cross-cultural

5status of the community, individuals appear to be at
c1iff’ering stages in Wurzel's (1988) seven stages in the

p-"='<I>cess from monoculturalism to multiculturalism. Some are

179

in the early stages of cross-cultural contact, and possibly
cultural conflict, while many are at the disequilibrium
stage and/or moving on to awareness, the last step before
acquiring a multicultural outlook. After the Japanese have
been in Pleasantville for a few more years, there will have
been more opportunity for individuals to have made these
changes in the multicultural process and then possibly for
that growth to have impacted the larger community.

While most interviewees reported less overall impact or
Change than expected, some people did report specific
differences. Differences in the community which were
£eported by some residents are the presence of Japanese
leaces and Japanese cars. The most frequently mentioned
was the presence of Japanese cars, the specific brand for
which the Japanese plant provides parts. Many people
mentioned how many Japanese cars were seen on Pleasantville
S‘treets and in parking lots.

Judy said she goes for days without thinking that there
are Japanese in the community, and then she walks out of the
Store and sees a number of Japanese cars--and then remembers
that Pleasantville is now home to a Japanese plant.

Gene said it still feels different to him to go into a
restaurant and see a group of Japanese eating together. He
also commented on the presence of so many Japanese cars.

Judy also commented that even though there may not seen
like a lot of Japanese in Pleasantville, any addition of

difference is noticeable. She told me that, as a

Pleasantville native, in her whole life there was only one

180
black family in the community and a few Hispanics, so "it
does seem different to see Japanese faces." According to
Judy, "A day doesn't go by that you don't pass someone on
the road with a Japanese face."

As a city official, Jeff rides in the parade which
celebrates the tour of historic homes which brings many
visitors to Pleasantville each spring. He sees a
difference. "As you ride in the parade, you look out now
and see lots of oriental faces. Two years ago it would have
been lily white."

Although Mary thinks there is not much noticeable
difference, she said her daughter thinks it is very
obvious. Her daughter no longer lives in Pleasantville.
When she comes back for a visit, she notices the difference,
jparticularly at the grocery store where she sees Japanese
foods and Japanese shoppers.

More specific changes related to community services,
lousinesses, and schools will be discussed later in this
(:hapter.

While most people mentioned that there was less
(Sifference in the community than had been expected, gpmg
,Eileasantville residents suggested that there would be

miticeable community change, in time.

Catherine, an officer in the community's health center,
tflninks that Pleasantville is definitely going to feel a '
Cliange caused by the plant and Japanese residents. "We're
9C>ing to be different; we can't help it. Every small thing

CEluses change. We're going to be different for the good."

181
Mary Ann hopes for more change. She told me that with

the Japanese plant, and a second international manufacturer
on its way, Pleasantville will have to change from its small
town, white, conservative outlook. With employers from
other countries and other cultures, things will be
different. "I hope in the future it will be different, but
change is very slow. The world is getting smaller and
smaller. The days of Americans owning the world are over."

Bill, the owner of a local furniture and appliance
store, also said it is just too soon for there to have been
real acceptance and resulting change. "I don't think

there's really much resistance to them, or to socializing
with them. It's just too soon." Bill's theory is that
most of the families have been here a relatively short time,
and in time, acceptance and friendship will happen. Now it
is too difficult. He gives the example of neighbors talking
'to Japanese. Now it is too hard. They might try it for a
ashort time, but with the language problems, long visits are
1:00 difficult. But he feels that in time the Japanese will
toe a real part of the community.

The role children will play in the future changes for
E’leasantville was a prediction for Louise, a local realtor,
and for Greg, a member of the city council. Louise has
gfirandchildren in the school system, attending classes with
-T£ipanese children. "It's going to be a long time before we.
S<2e any real changes. Maybe it will happen for the children
if! school. Maybe it's most beneficial for them." According

to Louise, you can't change a lot of adults, but for

182
children this is a great opportunity. She hopes it reaches
a time when families will exchange Japan/America visits
throughout the years.

Greg wants parents to let the children create the
future. "We're going to have kids who have a different
view. Kids are our future and we can't spoil it for them.
Let them change the future." Greg's children attend the
Pleasantville schools and he feels that they will learn
about Japan and other countries and then set the way for a
new future. "The community will change if parents allow it,
because the changes will come in the kids."

Marvin, a local banker, anticipates changes that are
much more pragmatic and business-oriented. Marvin feels
that with the presence of a Japanese plant which practices
just-in-time management, other Japanese plants are sure to
follow the original company to the Pleasantville area.
Dmarvin told me that "the just-in-time concept could mean
czountless companies in the future."

In concluding this section on the overall impact felt
h>y members of the community as a result of the Japanese
§>resence, it seems appropriate to look at a few people who
Stated strong wishes for more conununity involvement or sense
C>f change. Some Pleasantville residents are disappointed
Efigat there has not been more impact felt from the Japanese
,Rggesence and that they have not had more opportunity to be .
Eszgsonally involved.

Suzie manages Cal's Corner Cafe which has serviced

Japanese customers from the first arrival of the Japanese.

di.

th=

kn’l

ex;

the

Sh:

doe

th.

whc

TU

31‘

th:

th

Ja

We

D;

it

th

Ye

 

183
It was at this small restaurant that I did my preliminary
study of the interaction between Japanese and Americans over
the lunch hour. Suzie has personally been involved with
events surrounding the arrival of the Japanese, and she is
disappointed that there is not a stronger Japanese sense in
the community. "If I didn't know they were here, I wouldn't
know they were here. It's very different from what I
expected. I thought something would happen." She hoped
there would be more interaction with the Japanese and more
sharing of culture. "I find it disappointing that it
doesn't seem more. I don't know know what 'it' is, but I
thought 'it' would happen." She attributes the absence of
what she expected to the fact that there may not be enough
Japanese in Pleasantville to make an impact, "and those who
are here are so low-keyed."

Marty, who works for the Chamber of Commerce, thought
'there would be more things happening that were Japanese. "I
'thought it would feel more different. I wanted more
CIapanese cultural things to happen."

For Margo, the disappointment she feels, and change she
Events to see, is a more personal one. "I have a sense that
I: haven't met them yet. I realize that they're not just
Flassing through--they live here. But I still haven't felt
i ta" Margo thinks that many people feel as she does, that
‘tlie presence of the Japanese just hasn't been real for them.
Y<3t.

Finally, Louise thinks Pleasantville hasn't taken

adVantage of having Japanese in the community for cultural

184
and international enrichment. Whatever early activity there
was when the Japanese first arrived has died down. "I
wonder if we need more integrating activities, especially

now that the initial enthusiasm has worn off."

BUSINESSES AND SERVICES ADAPT TO THE JAPANESE

While the general sense in Pleasantville is that the
community as a whole has not felt the anticipated impact
from the presence of the Japanese, representatives of
specific businesses and services do report that they have
adapted to their Japanese customers. There have been some
changes in businesses, retail operations, and services!
caused by the presence of the Japanese.

Welcome Signs. The most frequently referenced

 

difference or adjustment to the Japanese was the presence of
"Welcome" signs, in Japanese, in many downtown stores. As
‘the story is told, Suzie of Cal's Corner Cafe worked with
lflrs. Barber to prepare some Japanese food for a community
lpresentation on Japanese culture and customs. Mrs. Barber,
ea Japanese woman married to a Pleasantville resident, helped
1the community from the beginning in making Japanese food for
Eaarly receptions and presentations. Suzie wanted to put a
Esign in Cal's to welcome the Japanese and Mrs. Barber made
i:t for her. Other downtown merchants saw her sign and
Wanted their own. Mrs. Barber hand-lettered the
txvo-foot-high signs, the school system laminated them, and

tIley'were sold by the Chamber of Commerce or at Cal's Corner

Céiifie.

 

 

 

 

 

re
th

Vi

 

 

 

in
Cu:
Sui
the

Ca;

185
For many months, in some cases the entire first year
the Japanese were in Pleasantville, these signs were in the
front doors and windows of many downtown establishments and
their presence there seemed to many the most obvious
notification that there were Japanese in the area.

Grocery Stores. The second most frequently

 

referenced change in any physical or visible sense in the
community was the availability of Japanese food in the two
largest grocery stores in town, particularly at Greene's
Groceries, a large family-owned chain store located in a
number of communities in the state. Almost every person
interviewed commented on the Japanese section at Greene's as
a major difference and a sign that the community was being
responsive to the Japanese. Jim, a school official, told me
that the Japanese food section at Greene's was "my first
‘vision, publicly, in terms of commerce and day-to-day
living, that Japanese were here."

An interview with the manager of Greene's, Dan Greene,
:indicated a real commitment to meet the needs of all local
(oustomers and a sincere effort to provide appropriate
ssupplies. "It's a kind of a policy of our stores to adapt
t:he store to the community it's in. So when the Japanese
Clame to Pleasantville, that's what we did."

In order to provide what the Japanese would want, Dan
gwot a list from his suppliers of the Japanese food that was
a‘railable. With list in hand, he met with the president of
tlle plant, then the only Japanese executive who had moved to

P1Jeasantville and spoke English. Mr. Wada reviewed the list

 

i1

1:

ar

c‘u

 

186
and suggested what would be essential. According to Dan,
"We started with the basics and over a period of five to six
months we added to it as they wanted more things."

Those interviewed were particularly intrigued by the
large bags of rice, which some indicated they now use and
prefer to American rice, and the variety of fresh fish which
became available after the Japanese arrived. Mary talked

about the availability of things like fresh ginger, bok choy

.‘l '

’u ,.

and other unusual vegetables. She reported that community
members buy the vegetables, as well as the Japanese. "I had
a wok but hadn't tried it. Now with all the Japanese
vegetables around, I use it all the time."

There were a number of adjustments which had to be
made, in addition to providing different types of food. As
Dan told me, "We learned to expect that they didn't do
weekly shopping like we do. It was daily shopping." Most
Japanese live in small homes with small appliances and
little storage. Shopping is usually done on a daily basis,
in order to assure freshness.

The cashiers figured out how to communicate. They used
lots of gestures, lots of pointing and acting out the types
of foods and locations in the store.

Dan told me about something unusual that occurred as
'the Japanese began to establish themselves. In the early
(iays of the plant, for a six to nine month period, there

‘vere 125 Japanese men in Pleasantville, setting up the plant
61nd training new employees. These men shopped each evening

Eind they did not speak English or understand American

 

 

 

of

me

l<

In

187
money. They would select their purchases and then just open
their wallets and let the cashiers take the money out. As
Dan said, "In Pleasantville that's not a problem, but in a
city, that's a problem and they would be taken advantage of."

Most Japanese had no local identification nor
experience with checking accounts. Mr. Wada asked Dan if
the cashiers would assist the Japanese in the check-writing
process and if the store would honor their checks without
local identification. Mr. Wada assured Dan that the plant
would honor all checks, and that he would handle it
personally if there were any problems, because it would be a
disgrace if a Japanese caused any financial problem.

Dan is glad that the Japanese food is meeting the needs
of the Japanese residents but said that he is surprised that
many Japanese buy so much American food and that they seem
to want to experience American ways of eating. "They bought
lots of beef. I ordered Japanese beer--but it's 'Bud' they
want. In fact, more Americas buy the Japanese beer than the
Japanese." Other local "party stores" have added several
brands of Japanese beer and a number of interviewees
mentioned liking and purchasing it.

Library. Third in the list of area businesses and
services most frequently mentioned by interviewees as having
changed or adjusted to the Japanese presence was the
library. Many people mentioned the books in Japanese, the
(iisplay of books about Japan, the story hour for Japanese

czhildren, and programs about Japan.

188

In talking with Maureen, the librarian, I learned about
a variety of things the library did to assist in the process
of making the library responsive to all Pleasantville
residents.

In preparation for the arrival of the Japanese, the
library ordered books on Japan and merged them with books
they already had, into a display of books about Japan and
Japanese culture and customs. Maureen reports they have
been very popular. The books from the business end, how to
do business with Japanese and how Japanese business works,
have been very much in demand by Americans. Maureen thinks
that local business people have wanted to understand how to
work with the Japanese plant. "It encourages one to see
that kind of response--that kind of interest."

In addition to the books, the library sponsored a New
Year reception to introduce the Japanese to local
businesses. At the reception, local business people set up
displays of their products and services to introduce
themselves to the new Japanese residents. The plant
cooperated and sponsored a large display of Japanese arts,
crafts, and foods. Local restaurants also provided
refreshments to go along with the Japanese cakes and
cookies. Champagne and saki were used to toast the New
Year, a time of celebration as significant in Japan as in
‘the United States. Business people interviewed mentioned
‘the reception as an important and enjoyable event. Several
Iieighborhood people interviewed mentioned knowing it had

flappened and wishing they had been invited.

189

Several other informative events were sponsored by the
library, including a brown-bag lunch presentation by a young
American man who grew up in Japan, a workshop on Japanese
customs and business practices attended by 60 local business
people, and a Japanese lunch and presentation on Japanese
culture for community members.

Once the Japanese families arrived, the library started
bringing in a monthly collection of books in Japanese from
the nearest large library. However, Maureen reported that
they are not used often, only 10 to 12 each month, but she
continues to provide the service, particularly for adults.

For children, the library provided children's books in
Japanese and, with the help of a Japanese wife, offered a
story hour in Japanese to coincide with a regular, on-going
story hour for local children. According to Maureen, the
story hour was very popular, but this year the children are
speaking English so well that they now attend the regular
story hour and the Japanese story hour has been
discontinued. Maureen says lots of Japanese children use
the library "but they're integrating so well they're not
here for Japanese books. They're using the books in
English."

In order to provide service to the new Japanese
customers, Maureen did some staff training about the
~Japanese. "I also taught them some basic language. We
liaven't used it much, just an occasional 'ohayo' (good

mnorning), but we wanted to be prepared."

h

190

She told the staff that if they were having problems
and couldn't understand the Japanese, they should write it
down and try to communicate in writing. Maureen has seen
that work with the staff and Japanese customers, and she has
resorted to writing things out herself. She says that the
staff were very excited and interested. There was no
resistance to the training, but some apprehension. They
wanted to give good service and did not want to be put in a
position of not being able to serve because of a
communication problem. Maureen feels that despite the fact
that the Japanese customers are hesitant to approach and ask
questions, eventually everyone is taken care of. She thinks
the Japanese are afraid they won't be understood and avoid
having to ask questions. "The staff hasn't reported any
real problems--all the time everyone is smiling--and O.K."

Banking. Other Pleasantville establishments reported
some impact from the presence of the Japanese. In an
interview with a local banker, I was told that the Japanese
plant and its employees made a real financial impact on the
community. Marvin told me that "their philosophy is to shop
local, as individuals and as a company." According to
.Marvin, Henry Wada made contacts with lots of Pleasantville
businesses which later resulted in Japanese customers for
real estate agents, insurance brokers, opticians for safety
‘glasses, furniture and appliance stores, and the bank itself.

In order to respond to the possibility of a new
(:lientele, bank officials attended workshops on

linderstanding Japanese customs and business practices. They

191
summarized what they had learned and distributed the
information to all their employees. They hired a firm to
translate the brochure describing their services into
Japanese and arranged for it to be given to all arriving
Japanese. They entertained Japanese executives at golf and
dinner. They had their own "Welcome" sign in the door and
were available to work closely with the Japanese to help
them understand the American way of handling money, very
different from the Japanese custom. Ultimately, this
extended effort on their part resulted in Marvin's bank
acquiring approximately 95 percent of the Japanese
accounts. Marvin told me that there was only one negative
response to the bank's public wooing of the Japanese
business. A woman in the community called him and he quoted
her as saying "I've been a customer here for many years.
You spend so much time with the Japanese that you don't have
time for my account."

Marvin considers Henry Wada a friend and indicated that
he is pleased with the Japanese involvement, not only for
the bank but personally as well. He feels, however, there
is still an undercurrent with Pleasantville people in
general that says, "They're Japanese. They're
different--and so people don't try to understand them."

Other stores and services. The major furniture/
(appliance store reported lots of business when the Japanese
first located--major purchases of refrigerators and TVs.
Iiowever, since they settled, Bill reports, "We see very

ILittle of them-~1ess than we expected." He said the reason

192
for that is a basic difference between Americans and
Japanese. "American people are constantly shopping.
Japanese are more savers. They buy what they need and then
use it."

Bill admits that the store did business differently for
Japanese customers. "Sometimes we did more for them because
it was easier to provide extra service than explain to them
how to do it." As a result, Bill and his employees would
take time to set up furniture or other services that are not
usually included in the price.

Bill likes working with Japanese customers and also
socializes with them at a local pub. He referenced one
Japanese from the plant in particular, with whom he has
visited at the Fireside Lounge after work.

Suzie said that the Japanese have become regulars at
Cal's Corner Cafe. "They have been here so often, we have
seen their faces so often, we know who they are and what
they want." Communication is still a problem. Usually at
least one in each group interprets for the rest. The fact
that Cal's has a cafeteria service allows the non-English
speaking Japanese to point to their meal selection. Suzie
said she never sees American and Japanese eating
together--and seldom hears the Japanese use any English.

A local beauty parlor recognized the possibility of a
:number of new clients for their services, and quickly hired-
ii Japanese beautician, an eight-year resident of

I’leasantville, who assured them she could bring in the

(Tapanese business.

193

The men's store in the downtown area reported that
their main response was to order new stock in smaller
sizes. In the early days when over 100 Japanese men were in
the town, they did lots of business, particularly as men
purchased things prior to their return to Japan. The store
ran out of the size "small" items and quickly re-ordered to
meet the need. However, they now have less business from
the remaining Japanese than they had expected.

Health Services. One of the most interesting

 

interviews was with Catherine, an officer with the medical
center in Pleasantville. Catherine's presence in the
community and in her position when the Japanese settled in
Pleasantville gave the medical center a special resource in
determining ways to prepare for and service their new
customers. At an earlier stage in her life, Catherine
worked as a nurse on an Asian island and the result of that
experience prepared her well to help the medical center make
the necessary adjustments.

Among the steps which the medical center took to adjust
to the Japanese were:

1. sending nurse managers to programs at the library
to learn about Japanese customs;

2. hiring a specialist in transcultural nursing to
work with and train the nursing staff;

3. acquiring a translated medical history record and
distributing it to all staff and Pleasantville
doctors to use with Japanese patients;

4. offering presentations by Catherine to nurses and
other staff, talking about cultural differences and
ways to give appropriate service.

194

Catherine was very clear in her determination that the
Japanese patients would be treated in a way consistent with
their own culture.

She explained to me how difficult it is for people to
be in a hospital or an emergency room, and how much that
anxiety is increased when there are language barriers.
Frequently at the medical center those language barriers
were resolved by a Korean doctor in the community who spoke
enough Japanese to be able to communicate when necessary.
Catherine explained that most patients came with a
translator, or in emergencies the plant sent a translator
immediately, which alleviated many problems.

According to Catherine, most of the nurses were
agreeable about the changes. In fact, "there was some
fascination and intrigue." The hospital has had lots of
growth and change in recent years and Catherine thinks that
the nurses' positive reactions were "that all this was just
one more part of our growth and change process."

Housing. The housing of the Japanese was a subject
raised in the majority of the interviews. There were lots
of opinions, many negative, regarding the high prices paid
by Japanese and the resulting effect on appraised values and
property taxes in the neighborhoods in question. This one
area caused many negative comments about the presence of the
Japanese and seemed to me to be the most misunderstood issue
which exists in the community. Although I think I

understand what happened, after 65 specific references and

195
comments made on the subject during interviews, I am still
not sure I can accurately interpret what happened.

In order to attempt to explain it, one other factor
must be added to the picture. Pleasantville had been in a
flat real estate market for years. Little construction had
been undertaken and housing prices were stable and in many
cases below the market for surrounding areas. Then, at
about the same time the Japanese discovered Pleasantville
and chose it as a site for their plant, so did many
residents of nearby urban areas looking for a simple quality
of life and more value for their real estate dollar.

According to a 1989 article from a large city
newspaper, Pleasantville has become a haven for refugees
from more urban areas. The article quotes bankers as saying
that property values have shot up 30 percent in the past
three years. The article goes on to propose that the real
estate boom was not fueled by the Japanese factory or the
second newly announced international plant, but by families
and young professionals from urban centers whom it describes
as seeking tranquility and small-town qualities at a price
they can afford within commuting distance of their jobs.

It is in this context that the Japanese arrived in
Pleasantville and began to buy homes. As referenced
earlier, they wanted new homes with yards, and they had the
lmoney to purchase them. With land in Tokyo selling for I
$6,220 per square meter (1.2 square yards), an average
apartment in a new 26 story building not far from the

Imperial Palace in Tokyo renting for $12,460 per month, and

196
a typical four-room condominium in Tokyo selling for
$530,000 (Berger, 1990, A3), the price and size of property
in Pleasantville was like a dream, according to Patty and
Louise, the two realtors interviewed.

A number of issues resulted from all of this. First,
the general feeling is that the Japanese paid too much for
houses. This resulted in 1) some resentment of the Japanese
themselves; 2) some resentment of the homeowners for vastly
increasing the asking price if Japanese were interested; and
3) some resentment of realtors for assisting in inflating
prices.

Despite the fact that housing prices were beginning to
increase in general, there is a consensus among those
interviewed, as interpreted by John, an attorney, that
"there's no question that Japanese paid higher prices than
anyone was used to around here. The perception is that they
paid top dollar when they bought houses." John explained
that the result was that lots of people suddenly got the
idea their house was worth lots more. Other comments to
that affect include:

Gary: They didn't quibble about the price. If you
wanted $150,000 for a $75,000 house, they
paid the price without even questioning.

Larry: Houses have sky-rocketed. They just paid
the price that was asked. I think Americans
usually try to haggle about the price and the
Japanese didn't.

Jim: The plant bought 10 to 15 houses and really
inflated the market. People were trying to

sell their houses to the Japanese.

Jerrie: When they started buying homes for such high
prices, everyone jumped on it. People got

197
greedy about what they could get for their
house. Anyone with the "right" house made
big bucks.

Jeanette: The house behind us was sold to Japanese.

They made lots of money. They sold the
contents and all.

While it is true that most of the Japanese homes
purchased were for high prices, it is also true that those
prices frequently included most, if not all, of the
contents. I heard stories of people selling everything in
the house, including dishes, vacuum cleaners, and towels, in
addition to furniture. So in many cases, what seemed like
highly inflated house prices also included total
furnishings.

Still, for many people interviewed, there was the
feeling that homeowners and realtors took advantage of the
Japanese for their lack of knowledge of Pleasantville
property values by asking very high prices for homes.
Others blamed the Japanese for not knowing what was fair.
Some people feel that realtors andgproperty sellers took
advantage of the Japanese by inflating prices ofgproperty

and household goods.

 

Jeff: Some realtors took advantage of the
situation. Some people jacked up the prices
of the houses.

Doreen: People said to me, "You want to make money?
Sell your house to the Japanese 'cause
they'll pay anything."

Greg: They bought houses and paid higher than
market price. It's not the fault of the
Japanese. It's the fault of the people who
set the prices. People would laugh like hell
that they'd sold their $40,000 house for
$120,000.

198

Jerrie: The Japanese became the scapegoat for some
people making lots of money for their houses.

Jenny: The Japanese made a mistake. Maybe they
didn't think there were greedy people out
there who would take advantage of them. They
were a little at fault for not understanding
property values. They should have checked it
out first and learned what reasonable prices
were. People were putting houses on the
market, if they were in the area where the
Japanese had shown interest, at $50,000 more
than they would have the day before.

Marvin, the banker, explained that in truth, there were
four houses which were seriously "overbought." These were
houses already in the highest-priced neighborhoods, on the
golf course or with a pool, and they were purchased by high
level company executives. Marvin feels that the rest of the
houses may have been sold at higher prices than people in
Pleasantville expected, but the prices were in line with
prices beginning to be paid by the new "urban refugees" who
had started to move to Pleasantville.

According to John, later transactions began to agree
with Japanese prices. As people started moving out from the
cities, they paid the same kind of prices. "The Japanese
arrival coincided with the increased prices. The market was
just there." John predicts that housing prices would have
gone up even if the Japanese hadn't bought their 15 houses.

Greg supported the feeling that the Japanese did not
cause the large increase in property values in
Pleasantville. According to Greg, people from nearby cities

could buy a house in Pleasantville for $80,000 that was

‘Worth twice that much in the city. So they would offer

199
higher prices to secure a bid on a house--and everyone was
happy. "And the Japanese came and paid high prices. It was
easy to blame the Japanese, so they took a bum rap on the
higher taxes."

In fact, that is exactly what happened. People blamed
the Japanese for the large increase in property taxes.
Japanese are blamed by some residents for the increase in
property taxes due to the high prices theyypaid for houses,
while others feel that Japanese are not to blame but are
scapegoats. Mary Ann reported that in her neighborhood
"lots of people had heart attacks when the taxes came out.
They blamed it on the Japanese." Jeanette reported the same
in her neighborhood. "The only negative things I heard were
about the impact on taxes. Some people said, 'Because of
them my taxes went up 68 percent.'"

Some other resentments surfaced during this process.
Jerrie heard from her friends that they resented the fact
that the Japanese can afford to buy big, expensive houses
and they cannot. Louise, the realtor, reported that there
is still some racial prejudice "but really there's not as
much of that as you might think." There were people who
told her they would not sell their house to a Japanese.

The most extreme reaction was from Sam, the World War
II veteran. He told me of his disappointment at a friend,
also a veteran, who sold his house to a Japanese family.

"It was all just the money. I gave him hell. I said,
'You're a good one--selling your house to them slant eyes.‘

MY wife gives me hell when I call them that."

200
A final issue on the subject of housing was the
reaction of many people to the way the Japanese located
throughout the community rather than all settling in one

area. Many residents feel that locating the Japanese

 

families throughout Pleasantville in different

 

neighborhoods was good for the Japanese and good for the

 

community.

 

Examples of comments include:

Ted: I don't think it would have been good to put
them all in one neighborhood. I think they
handled it well by spreading them around the
town. This way they have a chance to really
live in the town and get assimilated into the
community. Whoever decided to spread them out
made the right decision.

Joyce: If they were all in one neighborhood, they'd
never become part of the community. Living
all over town gives them a chance to meet
other people. Now they stick together because
of the language, but they are having
experiences with American neighbors.

Margie: I like it that they moved into lots of
different neighborhoods——that they mixed in,
but it's much harder on them.

Still, two years after most of the purchases of the 15
houses in question, there is a great deal of discussion
regarding what is the truth about what happened to property
values in Pleasantville as it relates to the Japanese.
While it appears to many, and to me, that the property boom
in Pleasantville coincided with the arrival of the Japanese
and was not caused by it, for many the Japanese arrival is.
to blame for their higher property taxes.

Although I cannot prove it by any collection of

comments, I wonder whether those who blame the Japanese are

 

201
exhibiting some form of ethnocentrism, or even some
prejudice against people from another culture. It is not
possible to make an assertion to that affect, but the
question surfaces for me and is left unanswered.

Recreation. One thing I found during these interviews

 

is that some people become very protective of their
recreation time and places and defend them almost as
strongly, it seemed to me, as they would their families and
homes. The primary subject here is golf. Although a few
other sports were mentioned by interviewees in relation to
the Japanese, golf is the topic that caused more emotional
outbursts and complaints about the Japanese presence in
Pleasantville than any other. Even those people who said
they were pleased to have Japanese neighbors, and happy to
have the Japanese plant in the community, didn't want the
Japanese on their golf course.

As I gathered together all the comments and stories
about problems around the topic of golf, I realized that one
of the problems at the heart of people's concerns was caused
in the first six to nine months of the Japanese plant in
Pleasantville. In those early months when there were 120
Japanese men in this small community, men who were used to
paying $200 for a round of golf if they could ever get an
appointment on a course, local golf courses were very
popular. At $11 a round, the Japanese flocked to play this.
,popular sport. Courses were crowded, people could not get
their "regular" tee time, and anger surfaced. Both in

individual interviews and in an interview with the manager

 

202
of the golf course, I heard about problems which caused some

early negative reactions to the Japanese. Failure of the

 

Japanese to understand the rules and etiquette of golf and

 

bowling resulted in negative reactions to the Japanese by

 

Pleasantville golfers and bowlers.

 

The attitude of some is well stated by Gary who told me
that he feels the community as a whole is very accepting of
the Japanese. The only times he heard people be angry or
unhappy was in the first year. There were big groups of
Japanese at the golf courses, the driving range, even the
bowling alley. Gary bowls, and he would go in before league
play "to get in shape and roll a few balls, and you couldn't
get a lane--the place was full of Japs." He also described
seeing lots of them on the golf course last summer. "They're
a real pain in the fanny."

In relation to both bowling and golf, Patty described
it when she said, "They violated the rules, did things wrong
and made people angry. It was just common consideration and
etiquette."

Jim described experiences when the Japanese would
arrive in large numbers, having raced to the course
immediately after work, still in uniforms. They spoke no
English so they could not ask or be told anything. They
would go out in fives or sixes, instead of the standard
fours. Finally someone called the plant and asked that they
be told that they cannot go out on the course in groups of

Inore than four. Then according to Jim, they came always in

203
fours, and stayed in groups of four for everything,
including sitting in the lounge.

Many people complained that the Japanese were slow;
they did not know the rules; they would not let small groups
play through; and they did not extend the expected
courtesies. Some people reacted to this with real anger.
Sam, who served the South Pacific in World War II and has a
great deal of resentment against the Japanese, told of
playing golf with his son. There were five Japanese playing
ahead of them. They did not offer to let Sam and his son
play through. Sam said, "I told my son, 'We can't wait for
them to putter around all the time.'" His son, whom Sam
said has picked up his Japanese attitude, said, "Watch
this," and drove a ball right into the Japanese group.

"They got the hint. They motioned for us to go ahead."‘

Much of the problem was golf etiquette, complicated by
large numbers, according to Barbara, who manages the golf
course. She explained that it was "a little tough at first
to get golf etiquette across to them." It made her realize
that a lot of them hadn't played much golf before. She
thinks most Americans have this idea that all Japanese men
play golf all the time--"but a lot of these men just didn't
know the rules."

Barbara understands one reason why they love golf.
"It's something to do. They can't understand movies or
T.V. There's nothing to do, so they play golf."

However, due to the large numbers involved, the lack of

<:ommunication possible to explain the rules, and the lack of

204
knowledge about the rules of golf and bowling particularly,
some negative impressions of Japanese were formed by
Pleasantville residents. These impressions, made two years
ago, are still being used by some to negatively describe the
Japanese today, although Barbara says she did not have a
single complaint all of last season.

The auto-parts plant has a golf league team made up of
Japanese and Americans. The first year Barbara scheduled
them in front of a regular league team. At the meeting
where she explained positions, she had lots of complaints
from the group about being behind Japanese. In fact, three
dropped off the regular team and left the meeting
immediately. But by the end of the season, the regular
league members apologized to Barbara about their early
negative attitudes. She told them they would have the same
placement next year, and they all agreed--a sign to her that
things between Japanese and American golfers have really
improved.

Barbara shared other stories about her attempts to
communicate. "We did a lot of sign language. People always
say I talk a lot with my hands. It came in real handy."

She often wrote things down, and used lots of gestures.
Sometimes it took so long to figure out what was being asked
or told, she was afraid the Japanese would be frustrated
‘with her. "But they continue to smile and nod that I'm
getting through to them." It was a difficult type of
<:ommunication. "It takes 20 minutes to have a 5 minute

'conversation." Her major concern about the amount of extra

205
time it took was that it could further anger or frustrate
others waiting their turn or waiting in line. She felt torn
between keeping her regular customers happy and taking care
of these new customers. "Patience is the word. It needs to
be used a lot. If people have patience, they can make it
work."

On the golf course and in the bowling alley were
obvious cases where failure to understand each other's
culture and the inability to communicate resulted in lots of
misunderstandings. The Japanese did not seem to be aware
that they did not know the rules and were thereby causing
problems for people and creating anger. Many Pleasantville
golfers and bowlers decided that the Japanese were simply
rude or selfish, rather than questioning whether or not they
understood the rules of the game.

The results of this anger on the part of Pleasantville
residents allowed them to form a belief that Japanese are
rude, or inconsiderate, or unwilling to follow rules. This
type of belief can then underlie an attitude about not
wanting Japanese in the community. This did happen,
according to Barbara and according to several interviewees,
although after a second sport season with fewer problems,
the negative attitudes seemed to be abating. Barbara shared
several stories with me of people who had positive
experiences with Japanese during the course of the summer
which changed their negative attitude.

Schools. It had been my hope to draw conclusions

about what was happening in schools, as one of the domains

206
of community life. However, the extent of information
available in a study of schools is so significant as to make
it the subject of its own entire research study.

Many of those I interviewed made comments about the
schools, about their children's experiences in the schools,
and about their perceptions of the schools' attempts to
respond to the Japanese. I feel that I have touched only
the tip of the iceberg on this subject, however, and am
uncomfortable drawing any conclusions or identifying any
findings related to the schools. It is such a vast subject
and needs to be individually addressed. If I had reason to
do two research studies, that would be the next to absorb
me. Since I do not, I highly recommend this topic for
someone else's research study and assure them of my guidance

and support.

SUMMARY

The 35 neighbor interviewees commented not only on what
was happening in their neighborhoods but expanded into their
observations on and perceptions about life in the community
as a whole. Further, they led me to 17 individuals who
represented a wide variety of aspects or domains of
community life.

While I had hoped to identify broad changes in the
community itself, I found that it was too early in any
change process for individuals to see any major impact on
the community in general, but they were able to identify

many changes and adjustments and reactions to specific

207
domains as a result of the presence of the Japanese plant,
its 15 Japanese families, and the over 100 Japanese in
Pleasantville when the plant was being established.
Overall, Pleasantville residents interviewed do not
report a great deal of community change as a result of the

presence of the Japanese. Those who live next door to one

 

of the Japanese families or who have other reasons for
contact, report a variety of experiences and personal
reactions. But the majority of the community, as I was able
to gather from those representative community members
interviewed, feel untouched. Pleasantville residents who
do not live in a direct neighbor relationship with Japanese;
do not have children in school with Japanese, do not work at
the plant, or do not have close friends or family in any of
the above categories are only minimally aware of the
presence of Japanese in the community.

Many people interviewed did feel that there were a few
things which they could see that were different.
Differences in the communipy which were reported by some
residents are the presence of Japanese faces and Japanese
sage-

While most pe0ple felt there was no significant or
noticeable change in the community or in overall community
life as a result of the presence of a Japanese plant and

Japanese residents, some Pleasantville residents suggested

 

that there would be noticeable community change! in time.
Of interest was the fact that many people seemed sorry

that there hadn't been more difference felt because of a new

208
culture in the community. Some Pleasantville residents are

disappointed that there has not been more impact felt from

 

the Japanese presence and that they have not had more

 

opportunity to be personally involved.

 

While most people interviewed were not able to identify

any major changes to the community itself, there have been

 

some changes in businesses, retail operations and community
services caused by the presence of the Japanese.

Interviewees identified adjustments to and reactions
from a variety of businesses and services, including grocery
stores, the library, banking, miscellaneous retail
establishments, health services, housing, and recreation.
Education was such a major area for a study chronicling
events which have transpired that it was too vast to be
included in this research and remains a separate topic for
another study.

Of significance in this study and worth separate
discussion here is the topic of housing. Some people feel
that realtors and property sellers took advantage of the
Japanese by inflating prices of property and household
gppg_. Because of these suggested higher prices, and due

to a surge of other newcomers to Pleasantville, Japanese

 

are blamed, by some residents, for the increase in property

taxes due to the high prices they paid for houses, while

 

'others feel that the Japanese are not to blame but are

scapegpats.

 

While there was debate on the issue of property taxes

and the relationship to the Japanese, many Pleasantville

209

residents feel that locating the Japanese families

 

throughout the town in different neighborhoods was good for

 

the Japanese and gpod for the community.

 

Another area which resulted in some negative reactions
to the Japanese was recreation, particularly golf and

bowling. Failure of the Japanese to understand the rules

 

and etiguette of golf and bowling resulted in negative

reactions to the Japanese by Pleasantville golfers and

 

bowlers.

In conclusion, I found Pleasantville as a community,
reported by the interviewees, to be less affected by
Japanese influence than I had anticipated. I remember a day
in January 1989, early in my preliminary study, when I was
looking for signs of the existence of the Japanese. I wrote
the following comments in my journal: "I can't find any ‘
evidence of Japanese...I wonder where the Japanese are...I
get this feeling that except for the welcome signs in the
windows and the section of Japanese food, that there aren't
any Japanese here...It's so different from the way it looks
inside the plant, full of Japanese...I wonder if that
feeling will ever happen in the town." Two years later,
many people report still feeling much the way I did then,
that "it" hasn't yet happened in the town.

However, the accumulation of all of the small
adaptations, adjustments and changes to specific services
reported in this chapter and the two previous chapters
appears to reflect greater change than is sensed by people

close to the situation. While most residents do not report

210
feeling a significant difference in the community, and I
expected more obvious change than I found, the evidence
appears to show that the process of community change is

slowly and subtly underway in Pleasantville.

CHAPTER 8

CONCLUSIONS

INTRODUCTION

After approximately two years in Pleasantville, from my
first lunch at Cal's Corner Cafe in January, 1989, as part
of an initial effort to conduct participant observation of
Japanese/American interaction, to the final interview over
coffee at the Tip Top Restaurant in December, 1990, it is
time to form conclusions about what has happened in this
small town. Recently I had occasion to be in Pleasantville
on a personal errand and I felt somewhat emotional at the
thought that this two-year relationship was shortly to come
to an end. My early wish was to collect a series of verbal
photographs showing events and relationships in
Pleasantville related to the presence of a large Japanese
manufacturing facility. After two years and many
interviews, I have a head full of verbal and visual
pictures, from Stan standing at the top of his front steps
acting out his message to Taieko's mother, to Sam, with his
face in his hands, weeping as he described his World War II
pride and his loyalty to his country.

The series of interviews with 52 Pleasantville
residents, reacting to their new Japanese neighbors, was
designed to focus on the reactions of American residents of
Pleasantville. There is potential, as a result of this
study, to research the Japanese living in Pleasantville, but

this study did not attempt to present Japanese reactions or

211

212
attitudes, except as they were described as part of a story
or impression shared with me by an interviewee.

In total, 35 assertions have been made and defended in
the findings in an attempt to "photograph" what has happened
in Pleasantville. These 35 significant assertions were in
three main categories: 12 findings in the area of attitudes
toward the Japanese and the Japanese plant; 13 describing
what happened in the neighborhoods; and 10 relating
experiences, attitudes and changes in the
community-at-large.

The assertions coalesced into seven conclusions in
answer to the major question which drove this research,
"What has been going on in Pleasantville since the Japanese

arrived and how do people feel about it?"

 

The resulting seven conclusions are:

1. The predominant attitude reported by those interviewed
is one of acceptance of the Japanese.

2. There is an overall acceptance of the Japanese
manufacturing plant as a result of its economic impact,
its role in the community, and the attitude and
activities of its president.

3. Some activities and events in the development stages of
the plant caused misunderstandings on the part of those
interviewed.

4. Cultural differences caused confusion and concerns
between Japanese and Americans in Pleasantville.

5. Where there are concerns about the Japanese presence in

Pleasantville, economic concerns appear to override

213

World War II, or "historic enemy", issues and basic

racial issues as the predominant concern.

6. Communication, primarily language and the fear of
misunderstanding, is such a pervasive problem that even
after two years it prevents most Japanese and Americans
in Pleasantville from interacting except in the most
minor way, despite the fact that many want to and try
to relate.

7. While some aspects of the community have changed, for
most people "Pleasantville is still Pleasantville,"
although there is a feeling that significant community
change will be more obvious in time.

By studying what has occurred in Pleasantville over a
two-year period, from early 1989 through the end of 1990, a
great deal has been learned about the interaction which
occurs between Japanese and Americans, from the viewpoint of
community members, as Japanese plants are established in

small American communities.

CONCLUSION l: ATTITUDES TOWARD JAPANESE

The first conclusion centers around the issue of the
overall attitudes, both personally expressed and interpreted
about others, toward the Japanese people living in
Pleasantville. Considering the nature and personality of
Pleasantville, described by interviewees as "conservative,"
"cloistered," and "lily white," I had anticipated a greater
number of people voicing active resentment and even outright

anger at the Japanese presence. I was sure that some people

WI
at
or
pe
ir.
as
th

 

 

B

D.

 

214
would be pleased by the new experience, but I expected more
prejudice and bigotry than I found.

Whether more prejudice and bigotry exists in
Pleasantville than I am reporting is impossible to tell. It
is certainly possible that the 52 people interviewed are not
truly representative of the community and their attitudes do
not reflect the general community. If they are not
representative and therefore present a biased view, I can
think of two possible reasons why they would report such
strong positive attitudes. Interviewees might only have
shared "nice" or "proper" feelings with me and felt
uncomfortable admitting to prejudice or negative reactions
toward the new Japanese families, or only have shared with
me what they thought I wanted to hear. I have always
thought I was a reasonable judge of people, and I sincerely
felt I was hearing true and genuine responses.

The second possible reason for such strong positive
attitudes might be that my selection process only led from
one positive person to another, each person suggesting only
people whom they thought might be accepting in their
attitude about the Japanese. In many cases, however,
interviewees suggested people whom they only knew slightly,
as they were responding to my attempt to locate people in
the various neighborhoods where Japanese were living.

Whatever the reason, THE PREDOMINANT ATTITUDE REPORTED

 

BY THOSE INTERVIEWED IS ONE OF ACCEPTANCE OF THE JAPANESE

 

PEOPLE IN PLEASANTVILLE.

 

215

Although almost every person interviewed reported a
positive personal attitude toward the Japanese presence,
many talked about others who had negative feelings. Those
attitudes were specific to some older people, however,
particularly those relating all Japanese to Pearl Harbor and
World War II, and others who relate in some way to these
events in history. Some negative feelings were described
related to the Japanese presence on golf courses and in
bowling alleys. Other attitudes which might seem negative
are those concerning an economic fear of Japan's new-found
prowess, although people expressing those fears, for the
most part, still reported acceptance of the Pleasantville
Japanese.

There were numerous reasons why people seemed positive
about the presence of Japanese in the community, including
the potential for cultural growth; the opportunity for
children to experience a new culture and grow up with a
broader world view; the potential for new and different
experiences with Japanese neighbors; the experience of the
Japanese as generous and kind people; and finally,
acceptance of the Japanese as neighbors. Many people
indicated that it was acceptable to have a Japanese
neighbor, but not to have a black or Hispanic neighbor.

An additional reason why Japanese were considered as
acceptable additions to the community was not often stated
but implied by many. This relates to the studies and
reports which show that people who add to the community are

more easily accepted than those who drain the community's

 

 

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216

resources. Numbers of people mentioned the fact that
Japanese are in an "acceptable" economic class; they give
rather than take from the community. As Gary described it,
"They live in good neighborhoods and don't need anything
from the community, so we don't have any problems with them."

To know whether or not these attitudes exist in a
similar fashion in other small towns where Japanese plants
have been established would require that similar studies be
conducted. Not only would these studies shed light on this
new phenomenon of Japanese living in American communities,
but would also add to the research described by Blakely and
Bradshaw (1980) regarding the impact of "new migrants" on

America's small cities and towns.

CONCLUSION 2: ATTITUDES TOWARD JAPANESE PLANT

Related to, and possibly contributory toward the
acceptance of the Japanese people in Pleasantville is the
acceptance of the $100 million manufacturing facility.
Based on my experiences in Pleasantville over the past
several years, I had sensed that the plant was well regarded
in the community and the interviews supported that
assumption.

A number of assertions were made which support the
conclusion that THERE IS OVERALL ACCEPTANCE OF THE JAPANESE
MANUFACTURING PLANT AS A RESULT OF ITS ECONOMIC IMPACT, ITS
ROLE IN THE COMMUNITY, AND THE ATTITUDE AND ACTIVITIES OF

ITS PRESIDENT.

 

 

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217

Relative to the economic impact, many people saw the
plant as good for the community's economic future,
particularly in light of a plant closing which had
negatively affected the community in the recent past. As
Greg stated it, "I didn't care if it was Japanese or Indian
or where it was from. It meant jobs for the community."

The plant's supportive role included donating money for
community parks, contributing to charities, and financially
supporting local events.

The importance of the role of the president was
surprisingly strong for many people. Knowing Mr. Wada
Persomally, I understood how people viewed him as friendly,
outgoing, easy to know, and concerned about the community
and the individuals employed by the plant.

An additional factor supporting this conclusion was the
fact: that many people saw the selection of Pleasantville as
the site for the new plant as a matter of pride, of feeling
chosen over many other possible communities.

That early acceptance of the plant and positive feeling
aborrt its importance to the community may have had some
bealiing on the later positive attitudes which were shown to
the .Japanese individuals who arrived to support the plant.

It appears to me that there may be implications here
for asimilar plants being established in small communities.
It 1:3 obvious that community members pay close attention to
and fire favorably impressed by the role the Japanese plant
play}; in the life of the community. Contributing to

appropriate causes, taking the initiative to build a

 

 

 

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218
community park, and other such activities seem to be
critically important in achieving a positive attitude from
community members. Promotion of these events is probably
important to heighten awareness of the plant's community
participation.

Of importance to Japanese companies making personnel
decisions for future American sites is the selection of the
president. The role which Mr. Wada plays in the positive
acceptance of the plant was reported by many people.
Particularly noteworthy is his command of the English
language, his ability to remember and pronounce American
names” his knowledge of American customs, and his
willingness to personally participate in the life of the
COmHUJnity, its members, and his employees. He appeared, in
manyr cases, to be the Japanese who set a standard by which
Other Japanese were judged and therefore his selection would
aPP’ez-ir to be critical to the plant's acceptance.

Replicating this study in other similar locations would
b99111 to build a foundation for more generalizable data
regarding patterns affecting conununity acceptance of
Japanese plants. Such information should be of real
imPcrrtance to Japanese or other international companies
preparing to establish new American ventures, as well as to

communities gearing up to receive new international

residents .

 

219
CONCLUSION 3: CAUSES OF EARLY MISUNDERSTANDINGS
While at the time of the interviews I found most
interviewees reporting a significant level of acceptance for
themselves and, in general, for other members of the
community, I did hear reports of misunderstandings early in
the development of the plant and with the arrival of the

Japanese. SOME ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT

 

STAGES OF THE PLANT CAUSED MISUNDERSTANDINGS ON THE PART OF

 

THOSE INTERVIEWED. Those misunderstandings were in three

 

specific areas: 1) the prices paid for housing, both
actually and as perceived by others; 2) the numbers of
Japanese in the first years as compared to those staying for
a 3 to 6 year period; and 3) sports etiquette, i.e.,
understanding the rules of golf and bowling, particularly in
light of the inability to communicate about appropriate
behavior.

The major misunderstanding which was still being
discussed two years later centered around the issue of real
estate. Reality for most people interviewed was that the
Japanese paid substantially more for Pleasantville houses
than the market value. A local banker's opinion was that
out of the 14 homes purchased, four or five probably were
"over bought." Whatever is true, many members of the
community believe the Japanese used their wealth to pay any
price to buy the houses they wanted. Resulting opinions
were that some residents took advantage of Japanese by
inflating fair prices; that some realtors contributed to the

attempt to lead Japanese into innocently paying higher

 

 

 

 

 

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220
prices than were appropriate, in order to increase their own
income; and most important, that the increased assessments
and resulting increase in property taxes are the fault of
the Japanese. Many people interviewed, however, reject the
possibility that the Japanese purchases caused tax increases

and relate the increase to a general rise in property values

a r'

as a result of many home purchases at the same time by

people moving to Pleasantville from nearby large cities. In

 

other words, the Japanese moved to Pleasantville at the same .
time it became a "bedroom community" for commuters from *
metropolitan areas. For some, the Japanese did become the
"scapegoat" for increased taxes.
The second and third causes of misunderstandings are
separate but related. Many people complained about the
Japanese people's lack of etiquette and proper behavior on
golf courses and in bowling alleys. Examples given were
five or six people playing golf together rather than the
maximum four, playing very slowly, not allowing others to
play through, rushing from work to the course and filling up
the tee-off area too close to league play, filling up the
bowling lanes too close to league play, not waiting for the
person in the next alley to roll the ball at the bowling
alley, and similar complaints. Interviewees, and others
they described, were surprisingly upset at the Japanese over
these issues. Some, including the manager of the golf
course, added that the Japanese behavior was probably not
lack of manners but failure to understand the rules,

compounded by an eagerness to take part in sports which are

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221
limited in Japan. The enticement of paying $11.00 for 18
holes of golf, rather than the $200 typical in Japan,
brought most Japanese to the golf course for the golfing
experience even if they did not know how to play.

Related to the sports misunderstanding is the one
caused by the fact that most people seemed not to know how
many Japanese would be establishing themselves as residents
of Pleasantville. The first year over 100 Japanese men
lived in the town for anywhere from six months to one year.
During that period they took up every motel and apartment
space available, filled up the golf courses and bowling
alleys and driving ranges, and were major customers at
stores and restaurants. Many people did not understand that
this was the "set-up crew" and that most would be short-term
visitors.

As a result, the large number of Japanese here during
the first year misled community members into believing that
the number of Japanese buying homes and using community
services would be large. This larger number had a positive
impact on local business, but in some cases that resulted in
resentment, as they "took over," in the case of golf courses
and bowling alleys. Ironically, the smaller number now
present do not have a negative effect by overcrowding local
services, but on the other hand, they do not impact local
business in a positive way, as the larger numbers did.

There are a number of implications from this
conclusion, both for communities and for Japanese

developers. It seems appropriate that Japanese settling in

222
a community research the property values prior to homes
being purchased. The vast difference between property
values in Japan and property values in the United States
creates a situation where the Japanese view our housing
prices as very inexpensive. That causes them to view
inflated prices as reasonable and therefore to pay higher
prices than appropriate.

Instruction in the basic rules of American sports prior
to arrival in the United States appears to be very
important, in order to prevent early misunderstandings. As
a result of the failure of Japanese to operate according to
the rules, beliefs were formed that Japanese are rude,
leading to negative attitudes about Japanese. This could be
avoided in the future.

Finally, better communication from city officials and
Japanese executives with the community-at-large and with all
service providers, regarding the number of Japanese in the
community at various stages, would prevent assumptions from

being made which later cause misunderstandings.

CONCLUSION 4: CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

As has been pointed out throughout this study, there
are vast cultural differences between Japan and the United
States and some of these differences surfaced in
Pleasantville as causes of misunderstanding and
miscommunication. CULTURAL DIFFERENCES CAUSED CONFUSION

AND CONCERN BETWEEN JAPANESE AND AMERICANS IN PLEASANTVILLE.

223

Although these cultural differences did not cause any
major problems in the community, they were referenced often
enough in a variety of contexts to require discussion here.
Three specific topics surfaced most often in my discussions
with the interviewees: l) the giving of gifts; 2) family
relationships, primarily the role of the male; and
3) affirmation and unwillingness to disagree.

The Japanese custom of giving gifts on many occasions
and for many purposes, primarily to eliminate the burden of
indebtedness for kindnesses done and favors shown, became a
burden and created a feeling of indebtedness for many people
in Pleasantville. In Japan, the custom is understood and,
in fact, the cultural rules of gift giving are a basic norm
for the society. People know how and when to respond
appropriately. Gift giving in the United States is much
less formal, less frequent, and less structured. Therefore
the frequent gifts caused confusion for the Pleasantville
recipients who felt there was some way they should be
responding but did not know what it was or even how to find
out. As a result, they ultimately felt not only confused
but indebted to their Japanese neighbors, the very thing the
Japanese were trying to avoid by giving the gifts.

The difference in family relationships between Japan
and the United States became obvious in neighborhoods,
caused comments and questions, and was given as one of the
reasons why few American/Japanese relationships developed in
neighborhoods. In Japan, the male is only minimally

involved in the life of the family. The female and children

 

 

 

 

6:

ea

224
are the nucleus of the family group, while the male's
primary relationships and time commitments are at work and
with co-workers after work hours. In Pleasantville,
American neighbors noticed the absence of the Japanese male
and commented on their inability to make any contact with
Japanese men, with the exception of occasional contact over
lawns and yard work. It appeared that the Japanese males
continued the Japanese customs related to work and family,
thereby not allowing for the type of neighborhood exchanges
and activities common in American families.

The third cultural difference which seemed to confuse
and frustrate many of the interviewees was the Japanese
custom of nodding and smiling in affirmation and agreement,
regardless of whether they agree or understand. American
neighbors seldom knew if they had been understood since they
always received nods or smiles from the Japanese. Included
in this concern is the Japanese discomfort with
confrontation or replying in the negative, which caused
their Pleasantville neighbors to question if they were ever
receiving accurate responses from the Japanese. One of the
interviewees explained that he hesitated to talk to his
neighbor because the neighbor always tried to be agreeable
"even if he doesn't want to be." Gene said, "I feel like I
forced him to say "yes" to me again."

Implications for other communities where Japanese and
Americans share life are basic ones of greater exposure to
each other's customs and cultural groundings. At a minimum,

each group could be exposed to an understanding of the areas

225
where cultural differences are the greatest. Japanese might
receive some type of indoctrination into the parts of their
culture which will cause the greatest degree of difference
and discomfort for American neighbors. In the reverse,
American neighbors might receive training or literature on
Japanese customs and the cultural differences to which they
may be exposed. In order to better understand, and
hopefully appreciate, each other's customs, some training
,and basic information would seem to be in order, at least at

the neighborhood level.

CONCLUSION 5: ECONOMIC, HISTORIC AND RACIAL ISSUES

At the beginning of this study, I anticipated finding
some resentment of the Japanese on the part of the
Pleasantville community, and that the primary areas would be
left-over feelings based on World War II, and basic racial
prejudice. Although, I did find some evidence of both of
those reactions, they were far less dominant, or at least
obvious, than I expected, while economic concerns were more
obvious than expected in many people interviewed. WHERE
THERE ARE CONCERNS ABOUT THE JAPANESE PRESENCE IN
PLEASANTVILLE, ECONOMIC CONCERNS APPEAR TO OVERRIDE WORLD
WAR II, OR "HISTORIC ENEMY," ISSUES AND BASIC RACIAL ISSUES
AS THE PREDOMINANT CONCERN.

None of those interviewed, with the exception of a
World War II veteran, admitted to feeling any anger or
resentment against the Japanese based on World War II in

general or Pearl Harbor specifically. Many of them reported

 

226
hearing about those feelings from others in the community,
however, particularly from those they classified as
"older." Even Sam, the World War II veteran, said, when
asked to comment on the affect of World War II on people in
Pleasantville, "I guess it's just us old World War II vets
that carry it on." Many interviewees did acknowledge that
it is hard for those with World War II involvement to have
the Japanese welcomed and even catered to by Pleasantville

city officials.

 

Regarding the issue of racial prejudice, I was *
surprised to find that many people interviewed did not see
the major difference between the Japanese and Americans as a
matter of a different race, but rather a different culture.
In fact, Noreen said, "I don't think that people here view
cultural difference the same way--it's not considered to be
the same as race." It was surprising to me that as racially
different as Caucasians are from Asians, people did not seem
to identify the Japanese as a different race in the same way
that they saw themselves as different from blacks and
Hispanics.

Noreen was also one of a number of people who clearly
stated that Japanese were welcome in the neighborhood and
the community, while blacks and Hispanics would not be. She
explained, as did others, that the major reason for the
difference seemed to be that Japanese people were associated
with high educational level, strong work ethic, quality

products, and money, while the media had trained people to

227
associate blacks and Hispanics with drugs, weapons, rape,
and murder.

Economic concerns surfaced in some way in almost every
interview. A high school student, Chuck, described it as an
"economic war." The future relationship between Japan and
the United States, the loss of America's No. 1 role, and the
fear that Japan is buying up America were predominant issues
for many. As Ted explained it, "Even though I like the idea
of them being here, it scares me what is happening to our
country."

Like Ted, the majority of those interviewed described
mixed emotions about the Japanese presence and the economic
issue. There was almost uniform acceptance of the fact that
the Japanese have been producing quality products and that
our workers need to learn from them. Most did not blame the
Japanese for being here or for "buying up America," but
blamed our own workers and our government for letting it
happen. Several indicated that they go out of their way to
buy a Japanese product, while feeling regret that our
country's products do not have the same quality. Yet almost
all expressed fear that the Japanese will continue to
purchase American companies and establish Japanese ventures
until they dominate American real estate, banking and
manufacturing.

There seem to be few implications for action for either
community or Japanese executives as a result of this
conclusion. The Pleasantville reactions are not based on

what is happening in Pleasantville alone, but are reactions

 

228
to what people see and hear in national and international
media coverage.

An issue surfaces here for me, however, which seems to
cry for further attention or study. As reported, I am
unable to document the existence of racial prejudice as a
result of any substantial comments by Pleasantville
residents either about themselves or their impressions of
others. Yet it seems unlikely to me that such prejudice
does not exist. Questions arise for me about whether there
would be such fear of economic take-over if the people in
question were British or Dutch or Australian, in other
words, white. How much of the left over World War II
resentment and anger is based on race, since I heard little
mention of similar feelings about the Germans, certainly
very much our enemies during the same time period? However,
since most interviewees failed to identify the race of the
Japanese as an important difference, compared to the way
they viewed cultural difference, is there prejudice against
the Japanese in Pleasantville based on race? Further study
on this subject, either in Pleasantville or in similar
communities where Japanese plants have been established,
seems critical to a better understanding of the issues
facing this country in light of this new cross-cultural

trend.

CONCLUSION 6: PERVASIVE PROBLEM OF COMMUNICATION
Most people report acceptance of the Japanese and the

Japanese plant in Pleasantville, despite some reported

 

229
concerns based on World War II, and on an economic fear of
Japan's rising status as a major world power and our
country's loss of its No. 1 stature. Despite the
surprisingly high level of acceptance and even pleasure at
the Japanese presence, the issue of communication between
Japanese and Americans in Pleasantville is a major problem.

COMMUNICATION, PRIMARILY LANGUAGE AND THE FEAR OF

 

MISUNDERSTANDING, IS SUCH A PERVASIVE PROBLEM THAT EVEN

 

AFTER TWO YEARS! IT PREVENTS MOST JAPANESE AND AMERICANS IN

 

 

PLEASANTVILLE FROM INTERACTING EXCEPT IN THE MOST MINOR WAY!

 

DESPITE THE FACT THAT MANY WANT TO AND TRY TO RELATE.

The fact that most of the Japanese people sent to
Pleasantville had little or no command of the English
language presented a major obstacle in the development of
relationships in neighborhoods and in community life. Many
people reported numerous attempts to communicate, most of
which were deemed unsuccessful. Americans in Pleasantville
found the sound of the Japanese language so foreign that
most people interviewed were unable even to pronounce the
first or last names of their neighbors, in some cases after
living next to them for up to two years.

Many of those interviewed had given up any serious
efforts at communication, either simply in frustration, or
after having been embarrassed by some misunderstanding which
they felt they caused. Not only did many people hesitate to
attempt further communication due to language barriers, some
were hesitant as a result of the Japanese custom of

agreeing, whether or not understanding has been reached.

230
Interviewees were concerned that they always received
affirmative responses even though they felt sure they had
not been understood. For many it was easier not to attempt
communication than to deal with failure to communicate.
Almost all interviewees had attempted to communicate

with Japanese neighbors and most truly seemed to want to

 

p.
form some type of relationship. Some persisted despite

language barriers, resorting to writing messages, using 5
gestures, acting out words, trying word after word until one g
clicked, and using Japanese/American dictionaries. Even f

those who reported successful communications, however, such
as neighbor women sharing school or community information,
indicated that the process was difficult and time consuming
and would not easily lead to the development of real
relationships or friendships.

The primary areas where some communication was
attempted and was sometimes successful were helping with
lawn care, providing assistance with household problems, and
interpreting school notes and customs. Children appeared to
play a major role in crossing the cultural barriers and
almost always overcame language and cultural differences
easily and quickly. Most children interviewed or described
by interviewees were only minimally aware that there was
anything unique about their new Japanese friendships and
pronounced Japanese names as easily as their own.

The need for translators in the early stages of the
Japanese-American interaction, and for general assistance

from city officials and English-speaking Japanese, was

231
mentioned by many. Suggestions included neighborhood
gatherings to welcome new Japanese neighbors, attended by
interpreters who would facilitate some of the early attempts
to get acquainted. Others wanted interpreters to visit
regularly so relationships could develop despite the absence
of a common language. Still others, expressing a desire to
form a friendship with a Japanese neighbor, simply wished

the Japanese would find ways to learn English more quickly

. . r‘—‘

so communication could occur.

 

fi nut-

There are numbers of implications for city officials,
economic developers, and Japanese executives, both in other
communities and in Pleasantville in the future. While
translators were available on a regular basis at the plant
to facilitate communication between workers, it appears that
more effort could be put into providing a similar and
regularly scheduled service for Japanese and American
neighbors, particularly in the early stages of interaction.
The wish on the part of the Americans for their Japanese
neighbors to speak English might suggest more intensified
conversational English classes for Japanese prior to being
given American assignments, and more regular and on-going
English language classes after arrival in American
communities.

I am aware of the existence of English classes in the
Pleasantville area, but such classes were attended by a
minority of the Japanese and were not financed by the
Japanese plant. If Japanese families are to fit in to

American neighborhoods and experience community life during

232
their American tenure, then some command of conversational
English seems critical, as well as some understanding of the
cultural aspects of the communication process in this
country.

Some interviewees suggested that they would have
appreciated receiving lists of basic words or phrases to use
in welcoming their Japanese neighbors, and some even
recommended that a class or workshop specifically for people
living near Japanese could provide them with a few words to
use, a better sense of the language itself, and some
cultural information as well.

Since the Japanese currently in Pleasantville will
complete two to five year assignments and return to Japan,
to be replaced by new Japanese families, this communication
situation will continue to occur regularly in local
neighborhoods and stores and restaurants. It is not too
late for those responsible in Pleasantville to determine a
different technique for assisting in the development of
communication for those who will arrive in Pleasantville in

the years ahead, including learning some Japanese themselves.

CONCLUSION 7: IMPACT OF JAPANESE ON COMMUNITY CHANGE

In Community Structure and Change, Nelson, Ramsey and
Verner (1960) describe the way changes occur in a
community. They describe significant change as slow, taking
generations to occur, and an example they give is the
arrival of a new major industry and its impact on community

change. According to Goodenough (1963), while changes are

 

233

occurring in the private culture and then the operating
culture of the individuals in a community, the impact on the
public culture of the community as a whole may not be
visible for years or even generations. I believe such is
the case in Pleasantville.

WHILE SOME ASPECTS OF THE COMMUNITY HAVE CHANGED, FOR P
MOST PEOPLE "PLEASANTVILLE IS STILL PLEASANTVILLE!" ALTHOUGH
THERE IS A FEELING THAT SIGNIFICANT COMMUNITY CHANGE WILL BE

MORE OBVIOUS IN TIME.

 

Many businesses, retail establishments, and community
services, report an impact from the presence of the Japanese
and have made noticeable changes in the way they do business
as a result. From the Japanese rice, fish, and produce in
the grocery stores and the books in Japanese at the library,
to the gradual acceptance of Japanese on the golf course and
in the bowling alleys, some places in Pleasantville seem
different than they were two years ago.

Some individuals interviewed report that the presence
of Japanese faces in this almost all-white community seems
very noticeable to them, particularly during community
events, while shopping, and while driving in town.
Concerning the issue of driving, many people mentioned the
presence of so many Japanese cars of the type for which
Pleasantville Manufacturing produces parts. All Japanese
families and employees drive that particular brand of
automobile and the sudden increase in Japanese cars is
obvious to many. Judy told me that at times she forgets

there are Japanese in Pleasantville, and then she walks out

234
of a store and sees a parking lot with Japanese cars, and
suddenly remembers that Pleasantville is now home to a
Japanese plant.

Despite these changes for some individuals and for
certain domains of the community, most of those interviewed
did not report a great deal of personal impact or community p
change as a result of the presence of the Japanese. In
fact, unless residents live in a neighbor relationship with

Japanese, have children in school with Japanese, work at

 

Pleasantville Manufacturing, or have close friends in any of
the above categories, they are only minimally aware of the
presence of Japanese in community. Karen actually said
those words when she told me, "Nothing feels different at
all. I only feel minimally aware that there are Japanese
here."

While some residents did not feel truly aware of or
involved with the Japanese plant and Japanese families in
the community, a number of those interviewed were
disappointed that there had not been more community impact
felt from the presence of the Japanese. They wished they
had had more opportunity to be personally involved. Suzie
expressed it for many when she explained, "I find it
disappointing that it doesn't seem more. I don't know what
'it' is, but I thought 'it' would happen." Mary thought it
would "feel more different. I wanted more Japanese cultural
things to happen."

Despite the fact that most people thought that the

community did not feel different, nor more international,

235

nor more Japanese, nor less like the Pleasantville they had
always known, some residents suggested that there would be
noticeable community change, in time. Catherine said,
"We're going to be different; we can't help it. We're going
to be different for the good." Some people even hope for
change, like Mary Ann, who told me, "I hope in the future it P”
will be different, but change is very slow." It is obvious "
from the many examples in this study of personal changes, A

adjustments and adaptations, that change is underway in

 

Pleasantville.

Sam said that his generation of World War II vets were
the last of the people who have negative feelings about the
Japanese because of Pearl Harbor and World War II. Greg
said that the change in the community would come from the
newest generation, the children. A number of people
supported Greg's feeling that the children would make the
changes in Pleasantville. For Louise, with grandchildren in
Pleasantville schools, "It's going to be a long time before
we see any real changes. Maybe it will happen for the
children in school." The sharing of friendships between
Japanese and American children in Pleasantville was noted by
many as the way to community change. Greg summed it up by
saying, "We're going to have kids who have a different
view. Kids are our future and we can't spoil it for them.
Let them change the future."

A question that arose for me, during the discussion and
analysis of the lack of impact felt by most people, had to

do with the role the Japanese themselves may have played in

236
the almost invisibility of the Japanese families at the
community level and the lack of "Japanization" of
Pleasantville. Without interviewing the Japanese families
and the plant executives it would be unfair to draw any
conclusions, but the question arises for me whether or not
there had been a corporate decision or at least a
recommendation to maintain a very low profile in the

community.

 

Even without a corporate decision, a number of factors
could come together here. The personality of the Japanese
themselves is an issue. As Barnlund described the Japanese
in his lengthy Japanese/American comparison quoted in
Chapter 2, they are "modest and apologetic in manner,
communicate in an ambiguous and evocative language...and
prefer inner serenity to influencing others" (1975, 18).
This type of personality is not the type which demands
notice, forces itself forward, or becomes obvious. Perhaps
a nationality of more outgoing, bolder people would have
made a more noticeable impact.

Other issues raise the question of whether the
combination of the lack of language, and possibly some doubt
about their welcome to Pleasantville, would add to the
already low-profile Japanese manner. The American press has
certainly been full of reports of "Japan bashing" and books
and articles have been written decrying the presence of
Japan in the U.S. economic scene. Without knowing how the
community as a whole and its individual residents would feel

about the Japanese influence in Pleasantville, the Japanese

237
people may deliberately be refraining from appearing to be a
significant factor in the life of the town. By locating
them in ones and twos in neighborhoods around the community,
it would appear there has been an attempt to blend the
Japanese into the community rather than drawing attention to
their presence by settling them in one area or subdivision
as has been done in some other locations.

Whether or not these factors of Japanese personality,
corporate decision on low profile, the question of
acceptance, or neighborhood locations plays a role in
Pleasantville, the fact remains that the Japanese presence
is not strongly felt. Further study of the Japanese might
determine how much of the slow change in Pleasantville is an
example of the theory of gradual community change and how
much is a deliberate attempt on the part of the Japanese not

to appear to be changing Pleasantville.

FUTURE RESEARCH

As this study concludes, three particular areas for
future research surface for me as appropriate and necessary
if we are to understand, as a nation, this new phenomenon of
Japanese establishing large plants and locating numerous
Japanese families in our small cities and towns.

Repeat Study in Five Years. The first area for
future study is obvious to me as a result of Conclusion 7,
that community change is not yet apparent to the community
members. Another study could be conducted in 1995, five

years after this initial study and seven years after the

238
opening of the plant, to see what changes have occurred and
which changes reported in this study have become
institutionalized. By that time some of the original
families would have returned to Japan and been replaced by
new Japanese. Will Pleasantville residents be more
sensitive to making communication happen despite language
barriers? Will Japanese names and customs be more familiar
and accepted? Will children who have had Japanese playmates
and friends be establishing norms of acceptance? Will
international friendships have been established with the
returning Japanese? Will the adults have been able to
overcome their fears of miscommunicating to develop social
relationships with their neighbors? Will they have learned
any Japanese language? Will Japanese men be more involved
in the social life of their families, as a consequence of
the role modeling by American men? Will Americans give
gifts more easily and frequently in response to the example
set by the Japanese? These are only a few of the many
questions that could be answered in an on-going study in the
evolution of cross-cultural change in Pleasantville. An
interesting component of this study, or even possibly a
separate one, is how what has happened in Pleasantville is
part of the "new migrant" situation affecting small towns
described by Blakely and Bradshaw (1980).

School Study. As referenced earlier, the study of

 

what was occurring in the schools was too large to even
attempt to comment on in this report. It is obvious from

this study that the role played by children is an important

239
one in any analysis of a community's reaction to new
residents. Some of that interaction is found in
neighborhoods, but most would be available in a study of the
schools themselves. Pleasantville, with its six elementary
schools, one middle school, and one high school, would be an
ideal size to allow an analysis of all age groups.

The minimal amount of information that I unearthed in
this study indicated that there is easy and almost complete
acceptance in the elementary grades, a fair amount of 1
interaction at the middle school level, and almost none at
the high school level. An analysis of that factor alone
would be significant to communities integrating Japanese
into the schools in the future. Further, an analysis in
five years and ten years of those elementary children who
have accepted as natural the friendship of children whose
parents and grandparents were considered our enemies would
add significantly to our understanding of community change,
cross-cultural change, ethnocentrism, and the nature of
prejudice.

The Japanese Side of the Stogy. Despite the
difficulties inherent in conducting a study where major
language differences exist, there is another side to this
story. This study has attempted to look only at the
reactions of a representative number of American residents
of Pleasantville to the presence of a Japanese plant and its
Japanese employees. It would be fascinating to conduct a
study in the same neighborhoods with the same Japanese

families who were reacted to in this study, to see how their

240
feelings and attitudes and reactions compare. How did they
feel about the early communication attempts? Were they
afraid of being misunderstood? What customs of their
American neighbors seemed most unusual, hard to understand,
or frustrating? Did they experience their own feelings of
ethnocentrism and nationalism about Japanese ways and
manners? Did they feel the acceptance that most of those
interviewed in this study reported? Do they also want to
establish better relationships with their neighbors? A
possible way to look at the Japanese side of this venture
would be to conduct a profile of the plant itself,
particularly concerning how they prepared for this
adventure. How did they make decisions about the role the
plant would play in the community? How did they select the
president? How was his role determined? In general, how
did they study for and anticipate our culture? Many
questions resulting from this research would provide the
framework for a study of the other side of the story in

Pleasantville.

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS

Personally, during this time I have grown tremendously,
both in my appreciation for the Japanese and their ancient
culture, and in my fascination with the multicultural
process. The impact of this phase of my life has been
significant. Not only have I learned the discipline

necessary for and the appreciation of fieldwork research, I

241
have developed a level of expertise and feeling of
professionalism regarding the subject of this study.

I am more convinced as I conclude this research than I
dreamed I would be when I began it, that there is great
value in these results. One of my new "photographs"
resulting from this experience is not one located in
Pleasantville. I visualize a group of Japanese, reading a

version of this research, translated into Japanese, as they

 

learn more about how their plants and people are accepted in

5;;

one small town in America. And then I see Jeff, the city
official, and other economic developers in Pleasantville,
learning from these results how to help Pleasantville grow
and culturally adapt to the Japanese in the years ahead.
And I see economic developers, in other small towns across
America, considering what I found in Pleasantville as they
embark on a similar adventure with a Japanese company. And
finally, I picture myself continuing to learn about Japan,
finding ways to share my growing knowledge and enthusiasm
for Japan and for cross-cultural change.

Toward the conclusion of this research, my
step-daughter, whose wedding to a Japanese I attended in
Japan, announced that her father and I would be grandparents
in 1991. Obviously, with a Japanese grandchild, I am
destined to continue this compelling involvement with the

Japanese, in Japan, as well as in this country.

 

 

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