Nisei and Sansei
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In his review of the play “The Summer Moon” (“ ‘Summer Moon’ Eclipses the Realities of Life,” Nov. 8), Michael Phillips describes the character Rosie Yoshida (played by Tamlyn Tomita) as a nisei, which means second-generation Japanese American. But the review then goes on to say that the character’s father was born in the United States.
The Japanese American community counts the immigrant generation as a family’s first generation, or issei. So, the nisei are the children of Japanese immigrants. Assuming that it was Rosie’s grandfather who was the immigrant, her character would then be third-generation, or sansei.
In any event, a nisei’s parents cannot be born in the United States.
ROBERT PAYNE
Studio City
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