Interviews
Retaining Japanese customs (Spanish)
(Spanish) In my case, the truth is that I come from a family in which mother and father are Japanese, even though my mother left there at a young age – but her parents were very strict, and they would only speak Japanese at home. So my mother speaks Japanese, and my father, of course, being Japanese, also speaks. So, when I was little we started out speaking Japanese at home. Later on when – I’m the oldest of three – when I went to school, we began turning more towards Spanish. But my father always spoke Japanese in the house. And, in my case, later on I had the opportunity to go to Japan on a monbusho scholarship for a year and a half, and there of course I took six months of Japanese. And then since returning to Chile, I’ve spent the last forty years working for Japanese companies. Possibly, I’m an exception in that regard because I have many friends in my age range who don’t speak Japanese. It’s true, they’ve kept many customs, such as eating gohan or misoshiru, but they don’t speak [the language]. Maybe in my case the path was different.
Date: October 7, 2005
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Ann Kaneko
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
Explore More Videos
School life in Japan (Japanese)
(1928 - 2008) Drafted into both the Japanese Imperial Army and the U.S. Army.
I’m a Japanese, Peruvian… who am I? (Spanish)
(b. 1962) Peruvian Poet, Okinawan descendant
Fitting back into American life
(1928 - 2008) Drafted into both the Japanese Imperial Army and the U.S. Army.
Helping youth in the community
(1928 - 2008) Drafted into both the Japanese Imperial Army and the U.S. Army.
Working tirelessly after the war (Japanese)
(1928 - 2008) Drafted into both the Japanese Imperial Army and the U.S. Army.
Three important things learned from father
Hawaiian businessman, developer.
A Lifestyle Using Both Japanese and Spanish (Japanese)
(b. 1929) President of Amano Museum
On Getting the Call from J. Anthony Kline
(b. 1942) The first Asian American woman judge
Father's Sacrifice
(1941-2018) Japanese Canadian photojournalist and activist
Growing Up in Japan
(b. 1930) Half Japanese and grew up in both Japan and the United States.