Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/604/

Little contact with Asians growing up on the east coast

By the time I was about 9 or 10, I would go out every summer to Los Angeles, and I would spend the summer with my cousin out there and my aunt. That was actually the only time I had contact with any Japanese. There was one Japanese American. There’s actually a side story to this. Later on, I’ll go into it. But there’s one Japanese food store on Connecticut Ave. called Miyako. There was the restaurant next to it, and that was the only Japanese restaurant in D.C. at the time I was growing up. So we would get Japanese food here and there. My mom would cook rice of course. But, principally, I grew up pretty white American, I would say. But, yeah, no contact. So that’s why—earlier I was telling you about there’s a big difference between east coast Japanese Americans and west coast Japanese Americans. When I grew up in D.C. there was only one other Asian Chinese girl, and I only met her when I was in 6th grade. So not a lot of contact. I would hang out with my cousin, but he’s about 5 years older than me, so we didn’t hang out that much. I usually hung out with the grandparents or the aunt and the uncle.


East Coast (U.S.) Finding Home (film) food identity United States Washington, D.C.

Date: September 12, 2003

Location: Tokyo, Japan

Interviewer: Art Nomura

Contributed by: Art Nomura, Finding Home.

Interviewee Bio

Vince Ota, (Sansei on his mother’s side, Yonsei on his father’s), was born in New Hampshire. From there, he and his family lived in several cities throughout the United States and also lived in London before finally settling in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Growing up in a small town in Maryland, Vince did not have much contact with other Asian Americans, except during the summers he spent in Los Angeles with relatives. He describes his upbringing as “pretty White American.” Vince eventually moved to southern California where he attended community college and the California Institute of the Arts. He worked as a creative designer and lived in Los Angeles for seven years until moving to Japan. Vince has lived in Japan since 1996 and plans to stay. At the time of the interview, he was working as a creative designer. (September 12, 2003)

Richard Kosaki
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Kosaki,Richard

Growing up in Waikiki

(b. 1924) Political scientist, educator, and administrator from Hawai`i

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Peter Mizuki
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Mizuki,Peter

Visiting Japan to study kendo

Sansei Japanese American living in Japan and Kendo practioner

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Roy Hirabayashi
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Hirabayashi,Roy

The philosophy of playing Taiko

(b.1951) Co-founder and managing director of San Jose Taiko.

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Jero  (Jerome Charles White Jr.)
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(Jerome Charles White Jr.),Jero

Learning Japanese traditions by observing his mother and grandmother

(b. 1981) Enka Singer

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Peter Mizuki
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Mizuki,Peter

Japanese wife with American citizenship

Sansei Japanese American living in Japan and Kendo practioner

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Mónica Kogiso
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Kogiso,Mónica

Nihongo gakko - Preserving Japanese culture (Spanish)

(b. 1969) Former president of Centro Nikkei Argentino.

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Peter Mizuki
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Mizuki,Peter

Not wanting to stand out as a foreigner

Sansei Japanese American living in Japan and Kendo practioner

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Frank Yamasaki
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Yamasaki,Frank

Have compassion for all of humanity

(b. 1923) Nisei from Washington. Resisted draft during WWII.

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Mónica Kogiso
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Kogiso,Mónica

Identity crisis (Spanish)

(b. 1969) Former president of Centro Nikkei Argentino.

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Jero  (Jerome Charles White Jr.)
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(Jerome Charles White Jr.),Jero

Never sang Enka outside the family

(b. 1981) Enka Singer

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Fujima Kansuma
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Kansuma,Fujima

Both Japanese and American identities though Japanese dance

(1918-2023) Nisei Japanese kabuki dancer

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Jero  (Jerome Charles White Jr.)
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(Jerome Charles White Jr.),Jero

Coming to Japan

(b. 1981) Enka Singer

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Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig
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Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

Results of being more American than Japanese

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

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Jero  (Jerome Charles White Jr.)
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(Jerome Charles White Jr.),Jero

Trying to convey the meaning of the songs

(b. 1981) Enka Singer

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Kenny Endo
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Endo,Kenny

Internship on a Native American reservation in Arizona

(b.1952) Master drummer, artistic director of the Taiko Center of the Pacific

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