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From ethnic religion to generative selves: Pentecostalism among Nikkei Brazilian migrants in Japan

From ethnic religion to generative selves: Pentecostalism among Nikkei Brazilian migrants in Japan Starting in the early 1990s, Brazil-derived Pentecostal denominations have flourished among Nikkei Brazilian migrant communities in Japan. While some researchers have characterized the phenomenon of Pentecostal conversion in this ethnographic context as a formation of ‘ethnic religion,’ the individuals often characterize themselves as primarily Christian. This article takes this apparent disconnect as the point of departure to investigate the relationship between ethnicity and religious identity. The concept of ethnic religion indicates an overlap between ethnic group and religious community, oftentimes prioritizing ethnic categories as the basic units of analysis. My ethnographic findings based on 14 months of fieldwork in Toyota, Japan, however, suggest that the very boundary of ‘ethnic group’ is fluid and unstable, which in turn shows that ethnicity cannot be taken as an analytical given. By tracing the varying narratives of four migrant converts, I detail the ways in which Pentecostalism in fact contributes to the proliferation of identities, both ethnic and non-ethnic. For example, migrant converts speak of Pentecostal ideas, practices, and networks as ‘Brazilian,’ ‘Japanese,’ and/or ‘just Christian,’ depending on the context. In conclusion, I argue that Pentecostal churches in this ethnographic context seem to give rise to generative selves rather than an ethnic religion. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Contemporary Japan Taylor & Francis

From ethnic religion to generative selves: Pentecostalism among Nikkei Brazilian migrants in Japan

Ikeuchi, Suma
Contemporary Japan , Volume 29 (2): 16 – Jul 3, 2017
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From ethnic religion to generative selves: Pentecostalism among Nikkei Brazilian migrants in Japan

Abstract

Starting in the early 1990s, Brazil-derived Pentecostal denominations have flourished among Nikkei Brazilian migrant communities in Japan. While some researchers have characterized the phenomenon of Pentecostal conversion in this ethnographic context as a formation of ‘ethnic religion,’ the individuals often characterize themselves as primarily Christian. This article takes this apparent disconnect as the point of departure to investigate the relationship between ethnicity and...
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Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
© 2017 German Institute for Japanese Studies
ISSN
1869-2737
eISSN
1869-2729
DOI
10.1080/18692729.2017.1351046
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Starting in the early 1990s, Brazil-derived Pentecostal denominations have flourished among Nikkei Brazilian migrant communities in Japan. While some researchers have characterized the phenomenon of Pentecostal conversion in this ethnographic context as a formation of ‘ethnic religion,’ the individuals often characterize themselves as primarily Christian. This article takes this apparent disconnect as the point of departure to investigate the relationship between ethnicity and religious identity. The concept of ethnic religion indicates an overlap between ethnic group and religious community, oftentimes prioritizing ethnic categories as the basic units of analysis. My ethnographic findings based on 14 months of fieldwork in Toyota, Japan, however, suggest that the very boundary of ‘ethnic group’ is fluid and unstable, which in turn shows that ethnicity cannot be taken as an analytical given. By tracing the varying narratives of four migrant converts, I detail the ways in which Pentecostalism in fact contributes to the proliferation of identities, both ethnic and non-ethnic. For example, migrant converts speak of Pentecostal ideas, practices, and networks as ‘Brazilian,’ ‘Japanese,’ and/or ‘just Christian,’ depending on the context. In conclusion, I argue that Pentecostal churches in this ethnographic context seem to give rise to generative selves rather than an ethnic religion.

Journal

Contemporary Japan – Taylor & Francis

Published: Jul 3, 2017

Keywords: Nikkei Brazilian; Christianity; ethnicity; religion; ethnic church; Japan; Pentecostalism

References

  • The context of diaspora
  • Pentecostalism in translation: Religion and the production of community in the Haitian diaspora
  • The ‘diaspora’ diaspora
  • Institutional barriers, marginality, and adaptation among the American-Japanese mixed bloods in Japan
  • Mixed race Okinawans and their obscure in-betweeness
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  • Beyond the ethnic lens: Locality, globality, and born-again incorporation
  • The concept of kokusaika and Japanese educational reform
  • Back to the present: The temporal tandem of migration and conversion among Pentecostal Nikkei Brazilians in Japan
  • Accompanied self: Debating Pentecostal individual and Japanese relational selves in transnational Japan
  • 'You know
  • Ancestor, emperor, and immigrant: Religion and group identification of the Japanese in rural Brazil (1908-1950)
  • Mistura for the fans: Performing mixed-race Japanese Brazilianness in Japan
  • From ethnic affinity to alienation in the global ecumene: The encounter between the Japanese and Japanese-Brazilian return migrants
  • Pentecostalism, collective identity, and transnationalism among Salvadorans and Peruvians in the US
  • Three meanings of “diaspora,” exemplified among South Asian religions
  • Can a mestiça be a haafu? Japanese-Brazilian female migrants and the celebration of racial mixing in contemporary Japan