Overview and Brief History:
The islands of Japan have been inhabited since 13,000 BC, but did not begin to become civilized until the first century AD. With the introduction of rice-based agriculture from the mainland, social classes started to evolve, and parts of the country began to unite under powerful land owners. The indigenous Shinto religion was the only religion practiced in the first century. In the mid-sixth century AD, Buddhism, Chinese philosophical, organizational, and social ideas and writing were introduced to Japan. The political system centering on the Emperor was consolidated at this time. Clan warfare and the vying for power led to the rise of the samurai military class in the 11th century. Bloody civil wars wracked the country between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries. In 1542 the first Portuguese traders and Jesuit missionaries arrived in Kyushu, and introduced both firearms and Christianity to Japan.

In 1615, Japan was closed to all foreign contact by the newly centralized Shogunate. This isolation was broken by the arrival of American Admiral Matthew Perry in 1854. Japan’s rise to world power between 1854 and 1905 (when Japan won the Russo Japanese War) was unprecedented. Success led to colonial behavior modeled on European and American examples, but resulted ultimately in World War II, a calamitous and major event in Japanese history. Since defeat in 1945, Japan’s industrial and post-industrial performance has been impressive and consistent.

Immigration to the United States and Albuquerque:
It’s not known exactly when the first Japanese arrived in New Mexico and Albuquerque, although a minority viewpoint among some anthropologists and linguists maintains that the people of Zuni Pueblo may have Japanese roots. It is more likely that the railroad was responsible for bringing most of New Mexico’s earliest Japanese immigrants.

In 1636, the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan imposed an embargo on emigration to mitigate the corrupting influence of the Western world on the country. This embargo lasted until shortly after the arrival of the American naval officer Admiral Perry in 1853 and the signing of a peace treaty between the United States and Japan. The lifting of this embargo coupled with severe economic and agricultural hardships in southern Japan in the late nineteenth century caused a rapid influx of Japanese into the United States that continued well into the 1920's. Although most of this emigration was to the west coast, to a smaller degree, Albuquerque’s Japanese population growth mirrored this national trend. Census documents note that there were a few Japanese living in New Town Albuquerque at the turn of the twentieth century.

While it is known that Japanese workers were imported to work in coal mines west of Albuquerque to help supply the railroad, most Japanese immigrants tended not to stay in these types of hard physical labor jobs for very long. Many of these immigrants, especially those from Southern Japan, came from a rural agrarian environment. These Japanese settled in the Rio Grande valley between Belen and Bernalillo and established farms. The Yonemoto’s were one such family, arriving in Albuquerque during the 1920's. These earlier Japanese immigrants were also known for operating American-style restaurants, although many turned to other small businesses including truck farming, gardening centers, and auto repair. Many Japanese immigrants at this point in time tried to send their children back to Japan to be educated.

When war broke out between America and Japan in 1941, many Issei, or first-generation Japanese Americans, were rounded up and confined in internment camps. There were two of these camps in New Mexico, one in Fort Stanton by Ruidoso and one in Santa Fe. However, most of the Japanese held in these camps were not from New Mexico and left the state shortly after their release in 1945.

Japanese living in New Mexico were more fortunate than their west coast relatives. In New Mexico, the issue of internment was considered to be a local one and communities in the state were allowed to vote on the policy. In spite of this, few communities even bothered to vote on the issue. The only city in New Mexico that voted to intern its citizens of Japanese descent was Clovis. While Albuquerque mayor Clyde Tingley was in favor of interning Japanese immigrants in the city, Hispanic groups opposed the policy and it was never brought before the citizens for a vote.

Following the war with Japan, many Japanese women began arriving in Albuquerque as wives of servicemen who had been stationed in Japan and had now been reassigned to Kirtland Air Base. At present, Japanese Americans in Albuquerque work at a broad variety of jobs, including professional (doctors, lawyers, and managers) to a large variety of small businesses (restaurants, medical supplies, etc.). According to census figures, there were 1,593 people of Japanese origin living in Albuquerque in the year 2000, although nationally, there are more Japanese currently leaving the US than arriving.

Cultural Traditions:
Instead of referring to themselves as first or second generation immigrants, Japanese in the United States use the terminology of Issei to refer to first generation immigrants, and Nisei, Sansei, and Yonsei for second, third, and fourth. Yet another term, Kibei, refers to Japanese immigrants who have gone back to Japan for their education and then returned to the United States. It is fairly common for Japanese to return to their homeland to live with and/or visit relatives. In this fashion, many cultural traditions, such as language and customs, are more intact in this community than in others. Some in this community keep up with the language, culture, and news by watching Japanese television via satellite. Japanese is currently taught at UNM by a Japanese woman, although the majority of students who take these classes are not Japanese.

Japanese cuisine is quite popular in Albuquerque as represented by the number of Japanese restaurants in the city. Most of the Japanese we talked with in this survey have assimilated many American and regional cuisines into their diet, but also prepare Japanese foods with some frequency. Rice is a main staple in the Japanese diet. Japanese cooking classes are currently being offered at Noda’s Restaurant. Noda’s also donates books on Japanese culture to local schools.

The Japanese tea ceremony, or chanoyu, is also practiced in Albuquerque. The tea ceremony is an aesthetic pastime unique to Japan that features the serving and drinking of a powdered green tea called matcha. It was brought to Japan from China and was refined in the sixteenth century by a man named Sen no Rikyu. His teachings were passed on by his disciples and schools were established to teach the ceremony to young Japanese women.

Chanoyu involves more than merely enjoying a cup of tea in a stylized manner. It also involves the appreciation of the room in which it is held, the garden attached to the room, the utensils used in serving the tea, and the decor of the setting, such as a hanging scroll or a flower arrangement. The tea ceremony has been described by such terms as calmness, rusticity, and gracefulness. There are at least three Japanese women who have studied and can conduct this ceremony in Albuquerque, though none are licensed.

Martial arts are another popular manifestation of Japanese culture and there are several dojos (dojo basically means “place of enlightenment”) where one can learn a variety of them. Examples of martial arts practiced in the city are judo, karate, aikido, and kyudo.

In judo, “the gentle way,” one uses one’s opponent’s strength against him. Technique is more important than strength and stamina. In karate one is defending oneself with fists, elbows and feet. Karate is related to the Chinese Kung-fu and the Korean Taekwondo. Karate-do means "the way of the empty hand." Aikido is a Japanese martial art involving throws and joint locks that are derived from the Chinese jujitsu and kenjutsu. Instead of punching or kicking opponents, aikido focuses on using one’s opponent’s own energy to gain control of them or to throw them away from you. It places great emphasis on motion and the dynamics of movement. Kyudo is Japanese archery. The long bow used is about two meters long and the targets are typically either 28 or 60 meters away. An important part of kyudo is the ritual preparation of each shot. The training of one's mind is essential in kyudo as it is in all the other Japanese martial arts.

Artistic Traditions:
Of the Japanese visual arts practiced in New Mexico, paper art is by far the most widespread and popular. Origami is the most common of these as well as the most difficult to learn, and it serves as a basis for the other paper art forms. It teaches discipline, finger dexterity, and accuracy. Origami in simple terms is the art of folding paper into artistic shapes and designs, often representing animals, such a cranes, or geometric designs such as decorative balls. It is considered to be an ancient art form over ten centuries old. Kirigami is a form of origami that also incorporates paper cutting. A third form, chigiri creates a three-dimensional effect by tearing paper into various shapes and using a brush to layer it on cardboard with paste and water.

In modern Western culture, writing is simply a visual representation of language. In Japan, stylized writing is an art. There are three styles of Japanese calligraphy: katakana, hiragana, and kanji. Hiragana was the original language. It is sometimes described as looking like “noodle characters” because of the shapes of the characters. Hiragana is considered to be more difficult to master than katakana because the loops and curves of the characters are difficult to write correctly and smoothly without a confident hand.

Katakana, whose style is closer to block letters is most often utilized for writing foreign words. Japanese women write in katakana although the older hiragana is considered by many to be more feminine. There are 46 basic hiragana characters, each one having a counterpart in katakana.

Kanji is most complicated of the Japanese scripts. It was first brought to Japan by Chinese Buddhist monks in the eighth century. These Chinese ideograms number in the thousands. Each one represents a different idea, not a different sound as is the case with katakana and hiragana. Calligraphy is becoming more and more popular in Albuquerque with more people interested in learning it over other arts such as origami.

There is a Japanese Shigin performer who has been quite active in teaching this art form in Albuquerque for many years. Shigin (Shi means poetry and gin means to sing) is a two-thousand-year-old art form derived from Chinese poetry. It can also be accompanied by a dance form called Shibu, which is also taught in Albuquerque. These poetry songs take many forms, but they are always performed a capella. The subject matter tends to be about history, culture or even landscape and they are traditionally written by or about famous Japanese people — scholars, warriors, kings, and some without names. Through Shigin one can teach discipline, morals, and how Japanese people lived. The woman who teaches it in Albuquerque has studied the art in Japan has earned many diplomas attesting to her skill and knowledge.

Taiko (Japanese drumming) is a fast-growing performing art in the Albuquerque area. Taiko, which translates to “fat drum” is also a fairly recent phenomenon in Japan as well as in the U.S. The art form is attributed to a jazz drummer, Daihachi Oguchi, who developed the current array of drums that are played as an ensemble in the early 1950's. Oguchi also wrote arrangements for the drum group. His creation was an instant hit in Japan and many groups were soon formed in the Hokuriku region of Japan, eventually spreading across Japan in popularity as groups began to be featured on television.

The first taiko drumming group in North America was started in San Francisco in the late 1960's by Sensei Tanaka. As it had been the case in Japan, these drumming groups caught on quickly and rapidly spread across the continent. The instrumentation in a typical taiko ensemble is made up of the high pitched shime-daiko, a two-headed rope, bolt, or turnbuckle tensioned drum; the odaiko, which literally means "big fat drum" and can have a head over three feet in diameter which is typically placed on a stand and played horizontally, often by two people at once; a variety of nagado-daiko (long-bodied taiko); and the tetsu-zutsu (often called a canon in English), a bell like instrument consisting of three pieces of pipe of differing diameters welded together.

One woman we interviewed has a yagumo koto a three-stringed instrument that she used to play. but rarely does any more.

As Okinawa is now a part of Japan, we note that there is a very active and vibrant Okinawan dance group performing in the Albuquerque area. The group is composed of all women and specializes in Okinawan classical dance.

Events and Celebrations:
The largest event held by the Japanese community is the annual Aki Matsuri celebration in early Fall. The date was chosen arbitrarily as a time that was convenient for most of the local community rather a date with any specific cultural meaning.

For the past several years the event has been held in the courtyard in front of the Japanese Kitchen restaurant by Louisiana and Uptown Blvd. The event usually showcases local performing artists, such as dancers and taiko drummers, as well as Japanese cuisine, arts, and crafts. The Buddhist community also sponsors a variety of events throughout the year.

Conclusions:
As with other cultures, many in the Japanese community lament the loss of Summerfest. Among the needs, most cited a building for the Japanese American Citizen’s League that can house the organization, classes and community events. The JACL was established nationwide in the 1930's and in Albuquerque in 1946. The New Mexico chapter of the JACL publishes a monthly newsletter called the Sagebrush Shimbun and has an email address at AST361@aol.com.

The Buddhist Church is one organization that some in the Japanese community use as a gathering place. Kyokai is the name of the local Japanese Buddhist community. There is also a small group of Shinto practitioners. Many we spoke with belonged to the Unitarian Church.

Albuquerque Zen Center

Buddhist Centers in New Mexico