Face to Face : Glossary

ISSEI: Literally, “first generation.” The first generation of Japanese to immigrate to the United States, largely from 1885 to 1920. Most of these immigrants had lived in the U.S. for decades by the time the U.S. became involved in World War II. The U.S. government labeled the issei “enemy aliens.” They had been denied American citizenship since the earlier 1900s. Naturalized citizenship wasn’t offered to Japanese Americans as an option until 1952.

NISEI: Literally, “second generation.” American-born children of Japanese immigrants. Most first-generation immigrants arrived between 1885 and 1920. Two-thirds of Japanese Americans imprisoned in the U.S. during World War II were nisei. The term nisei is sometimes used in reference to any child of Japanese American descent born between the 1910s and the 1930s.

SANSEI: Literally, “third generation.” American-born grandchildren of first-generation immigrants from Japan. This term sometimes also loosely refers to Japanese Americans born between 1945 and 1964.

NIKKEI: When used as a noun, nikkei usually refers to a person of Japanese ancestry who has emigrated abroad, including those who may have been transferred temporarily, such as business people. In this context, nikkei implies a lifestyle that recognizes a common Japanese heritage, whether in an overseas community or one that found its base in Japan. Used as an adjective, nikkei may refer to anything of Japanese origin, as in “a nikkei culture.”

KIBEI: A person of Japanese ancestry born in the United States and sent to Japan for purposes of education and/or socialization, with the full expectation that he or she would later return to the United States. Kibei comprised a small part of the population of Japanese Americans who were incarcerated in the U.S. during World War II.

HAKUJIN: In Japanese, a white person of European descent.

NIHONJIN: A Japanese person living in Japan or whose roots are firmly planted in Japan. In some contexts this term may be loosely applied to those who have retained a sense of Japanese culture, including those who emigrated to the U.S. and became U.S. citizens after World War II.

KENDO: In the modern Japanese equivalent of fencing, the “Way of the Sword.” This “-do” form of the physical arts, as distinguished from “-jutsu” martial arts, has a philosophical aspect and traditionally implies a study of the sword that awakens self-awareness and self-improvement rather than simply being a technique of war. In modern times, kendo has become an avidly followed Japanese sport, popular without losing its philosophical aspects.

JACL (JAPANESE AMERICAN CITIZENS LEAGUE): Founded in 1929, the JACL is the earliest and largest organization in the U.S. to defend the civil rights of Japanese American citizens. Originally focusing on Japanese Americans on the West Coast, the JACL grew to advocate Asian American rights at the national level. By 1980, it had successfully lobbied Congress and then-President Jimmy Carter to establish a federal commission to investigate the circumstances of the World War II-era U.S. imprisonment of Japanese Americans. The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 was signed as a result of the commission’s findings, including provisions that mandated monetary compensation and a formal apology to Japanese Americans who had been subjected to internment.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066: With Executive Order 9066, signed on February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt directed the Secretary of War and his appointed military commanders to designate parts of the U.S. as “military areas.” The order led to the detention-camp imprisonment of all Japanese Americans living on the West Coast. Although race was not specifically addressed, it was understood that the directive was to exclude and detain anyone of Japanese ancestry. For over three years, more than 110,000 Japanese Americans were forcibly removed from their homes and transferred to internment camps. Over two-thirds of those detained were American citizens.

ASSEMBLY CENTERS AND INTERNMENT CAMPS: Assembly centers were temporary detention camps that housed Japanese Americans who had been removed from their homes on the West Coast and incarcerated following President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066. From these camps, which operated from May to October of 1942, inmates were transferred to more permanent internment facilities. Most of the temporary camps were located at racetracks or fairgrounds.

Internment camps, euphemistically called “relocation centers,” were administered by the Department of Justice and used to isolate non-citizen “enemy aliens” deemed dangerous to national security during World War II. Most of those imprisoned were American-born children of the first U.S. Japanese immigrants (nisei), young Americans of Japanese ancestry (kibei), and people of Japanese ancestry removed from their homes in 12 Latin American countries, primarily Peru.

ISLAM: A monotheistic religion and Abrahamic faith founded in the seventh century A.D. Muslims—practitioners of Islam—believe the Qur’an to be the literal word of God as revealed to the Prophet Muhammad through the angel Gabriel. In Arabic, Islam is the verb form of sallama, to submit oneself, especially to the will of God (Allah). Its root word is salam, which means peace and tranquility. In Islamic theology, true submission to God will result in the attainment of peace in this world and the Hereafter.

MUSLIM: A practitioner of the Islamic religion. Literally, “submitter,” implying submission to the will of God (Allah). Theologically, the word Muslim refers to a believer in the Abrahamic prophecies, including that of the Prophet Muhammad. The Shahadah or Kalimah is the Muslim testament of faith, which states: There is no God but God, and Muhammad is the Prophet of God. Reciting the Shahadah and accepting these precepts as ultimate truth makes one a Muslim.

ALLAH: The Arabic word for God, in usage since the days of pre-Islamic Arabia. Islam is a monotheistic and Abrahamic faith. This means that Muslims believe that there is only one God, and that this God is the same God that Christians and Jews (referred to in Islam as the People of the Book) worship. Muslims believe that Abraham, Moses and Jesus, and all the other prophets of the Old and New Testament, were all prophets of God. Arab Christians use the word Allah to refer to God.

QUR’AN, transliterated as Koran: The holy book of Islam, as told by God (Allah) through the angel Gabriel (Jibril) to the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century A.D. over a period of 23 years. The Qur’an provides ultimate guidance for Muslims on how to conduct both everyday and spiritual activities according to the Allah’s revelations. A main teaching of the Qur’an is that the goal of life is to live as humankind was intended to live: to worship Allah and to find peace by obeying His commandments. Revealed in the Arabic language, the Qur’an literally means “the recitation.” A book of profound eloquence in the original Arabic, the Qur’an has been translated in its entirety into English by numerous translators, as well as into all the major languages of the world.

JIHAD: The term jihad is derived from the word jahada, meaning to strive, work hard and exert oneself. In Islam, jihad is generally understood to mean exerting oneself in the deepest sense to diligently defend one’s life, land and religion, and also to seek knowledge and purify oneself. According to the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad, the highest and most worthy form of jihad is to struggle against one’s own vanities and weaknesses. Among the meanings of jihad is to engage in a just war or an armed struggle to resist oppression, uphold justice and defend Islam. In traditional Islamic jurisprudence, only the Muslim Caliph (the just ruler of all Muslims), if such a Caliph exists, can call upon Muslims to join an armed jihad. However, in modern times a Caliph does not exist, and so it is not clear who, if anyone, has the authority and legitimacy to declare an authentic Islamic jihad.

HIJAB: Commonly used to describe the head covering worn by Muslim women of the Islamic faith, this term, often translated as “veil,” more literally describes the general modest dress code women are encouraged to use according to the guidelines of the Qur’an, the holy book of the Islamic faith. Local custom and in some cases individual comfort determine the extent to which these guidelines are followed. In Islam, men and women are commanded to be modest, lower their gaze, and cover the private parts of their bodies. In the opinion of some, the veil was prescribed for Muslim women in order to protect them from unwanted sexual attention or harassment. Many Muslim women choose not to cover their hair or wear the veil. Some women wear longer veils than others; some are made of plain cloth while others are bright or decorative; and some women cover themselves from head to foot, including their faces. In addition, in the modern age, the veil is often practiced as a symbol of cultural independence or political protest against secular governments.

ISLAMIC JIHAD: Traditionally, jihad has been described by Muslim followers of the Islamic faith who adhere strictly to the guidelines of the Qur’an as describing a defensive rather than an offensive war, as well as war against any unjust regime. Taken literally, an “Islamic jihad,” according to the Qur’an, is not undertaken “to force the faith on others.” It is waged against leaders of unjust regimes, excluding civilians, with the belief that the removal of such leaders will free people to believe in God, if they so wish. A more politicized definition arose in 1983, after a group calling itself the Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for three highly publicized suicide bombings in Beirut. Before that time, the term was unknown on a global level, but shortly thereafter other attacks were attributed to this organization. U.S. intelligence concluded that the Islamic Jihad was related to the Lebanese Hizbullah, but the label Islamic Jihad quickly became a pseudonym for actions whose attribution to any one group were likely more conceptual than organizational.

AL QAEDA: A loose collection of groups or individuals, generally having their own philosophies and goals, depending on their nationality and locale. In Arabic, Al Qaeda means “the base.” The term was originally coined during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan to describe an Afghani operational base for the mujahideen, Islamic resistance fighters. Since 2001 the interpretation has grown to imply terrorists with a connection to the anti-American activism of Osama bin Laden.