Traditional familialism as a basic antecedent for understanding Japanese-American communication in Honolulu is examined. The traditional Japanese extended family evolved from economic interdependencies in agricultural, rural communities. This familial communalism demanded that individualism be suppressed so that the needs of the corporate group could be met. Permeating this sense of hierarchy and order was a feeling of obligation and adoration to one's place in the scheme of things. However, Japanese immigrants to Hawaii encountered a new society in which the close-knit family organization was challenged by expanding capitalism, urbanization, and industrialization The structural changes which the Japanese family underwent in Hawaii due to this new culture can be seen in the reduction of birth rates, family size, and urbanization of the Japanese family over the last 50 years. However, as the Japanese became ethnically assimilated into the culture, their familial identification strengthened with commensurate importance of filial piety and family honor in their human relations and communication patterns. (Author/DE)