I read the article and found it interesting. Personally, I'm Nisei and speak Japanese flawlessly (only spoke Japanese with my parents; was an only child; have the equivalent of a minor in Japanese from university). While the reality may be that many Nikkei don't speak Japanese well (or at all), I personally put a lot of effort into learning and maintaining my Japanese because I think it's pathetic to look like a visible minority but only be monolingual (in English), even if culturally one identifies solely as "North American" (which at least in Canada is more of a tossed salad of cultures, rather than a melting pot).
If "Sakura" had been a realistic character, wouldn't the Japanese native audience have had a lower opinion of her (due to her inability to speak Japanese)? Wouldn't they have identified with her less (because of the language AND culture barriers)?
I don't see anything wrong with nikkeis striving to at least have conversational skills in Japanese - the language is inextricably tied to culture, and in order to really appreciate any culture one needs to grasp the language(s) associated with it, IMO.
