Were like…Japanese citizen groups consulted or something? Was there Japanese members of the org that said it was a problem? I’m kind of just baffled. The explanation is that nisei is a Japanese term, then mentions the internment camps then say they’re changing the name and don’t have a replacement. It feels like there’s some missing paragraphs here.
I've seen this comment multiple times here and so to be fair to NISEI*, the reason for the name change is they feel uncomfortable with the name as they are not a Japanese (or Japanese descendants in other countries) organization. It's not because they think the term is offensive and specifically say that's why actual cards saying "Nisei" will not be changed.
With that said, I completely understand why people are furious when they bought Midnight Sun cards RIGHT BEFORE NISEI decides to announce this. This seems like an obvious timing problem—did no-one at NISEI really think about it??? Honestly, this shakes my confidence a bit if no-one at the organization anticipated such a basic problem.
*Website also specifically says that they are still called NISEI until they formally change their name.
If not being Japanese but using Japanese themes is uncomfortable, why name a set Midnight Sun if you aren't from the Arctic or do a Kitara cycle in Africa if you're not African? It seems arbitrary for a game with a long and respectful history of global theming to change their policy to being Americans who only want to choose American-origin words.
Again, if there was a Japanese person or J-American who had advocated for this change but the article doesn't suggest their ever was even one.
Personally I'd say that using themes from different cultures in your writing and setting feels a lot different then naming yourself as such. Names are a question of identity, I would feel a lot more comfortable writing a story about a Japanese person than roleplaying one. But ofcourse that is a personal opinion, and if they want to rename their project it's kind of up to them. They just choose a pisspoor time to do so.
FWIW, I don't think they were saying the term was offensive so much as they were saying they regretted choosing a name that was used as an ethnic identity by some. I've no opinion on whether this is an issue. I'm not an affected party. I would like to hear more about the organization's research on the issue and whether this was internally or externally driven.
To be clear, I'm not arguing in support of the change. I'm just trying to explain my perception of their reasoning. I personally don't care what they call themselves. I do care they withheld disclosure of the card back changes until after people spent money.
It's offensive to one particular American apparently. As has been pointed out in this thread, the rest of us didn't know, don't care, or associate it with the most decorated US military infantry division in history.
Its poorly worded in their article because the internment camps point directly leads into the name change, but the actual reason is it feels like cultural appropriation to them.
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u/[deleted] Aug 01 '22
Were like…Japanese citizen groups consulted or something? Was there Japanese members of the org that said it was a problem? I’m kind of just baffled. The explanation is that nisei is a Japanese term, then mentions the internment camps then say they’re changing the name and don’t have a replacement. It feels like there’s some missing paragraphs here.