Gosei (Japanese diaspora)

For other uses, see Gosei.

Gosei (五世, transl. 'fifth generation') is a Japanese diasporic term used in countries, particularly in North America and in South America, to specify the great-great-grandchildren of Japanese immigrants (Issei). The children of Issei are Nisei (the second generation). Sansei are the third generation, and their offspring are Yonsei.[1] The children of at least one Yonsei parent are called Gosei.[2]

The character and uniqueness of the Gosei is recognized in its social history.[3] The Gosei are the subject of on-going academic research in the United States and Japan.[4]

  1. ^ In Japanese counting, "one, two, three, four, five" is "ichi, ni, san, yon, go". Future generations would be called rokusei (6th), 7th: nanasei (7th), etc. -- see Japanese numerals
  2. ^ Nomura, Gail M. (1998). "Japanese American Women," in The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History (Mankiller, Barbara Smith, ed.), pp. 288-290., p. 288, at Google Books; Masterson, Daniel et al. (2004). The Japanese in Latin America, p. 291., p. 291, at Google Books
  3. ^ Numrich, Paul David. (2008). North American Buddhists in Social Context, p. 110.
  4. ^ 国立大学法人 東京学芸大学 (Tokyo Gakugei University), "Socioeconomic Status, Acculturation, Discrimination, and Health of Japanese Americans: Generational Differences" by Takashi Asakura et al., 2004; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Grant# 12490011; retrieved 2012-12-24.