Nikkei Chronicles #7—Nikkei Roots: Digging into Our Cultural Heritage
Stories in the Nikkei Chronicles series have explored many of the ways that Nikkei express their unique culture, whether through food, language, family, or tradition. For this edition, we are digging deeper—all the way down to our roots!
We solicited stories from May to September of 2018 and received 35 stories (22 English; 1 Japanese; 8 Spanish; and 4 Portuguese) from individuals in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, Japan, Mexico, Peru, and the United States. For this series, we asked our Nima-kai community to vote for their favorite stories and an editorial committee to pick their favorites. In total, four favorite stories were selected.
Here are the selected favorite stories.
Editorial Committee’s Selections:
- ENGLISH:
Sharing Heart Beats
By Mori Walts
- JAPANESE:
The Tea of Soul from Aizuwakamatsu Revived After 150 Years
By Nao Magami
- SPANISH:
The Japan Inside Me
By Akemi Figueredo Imamura
- PORTUGUESE:
Crossing the World
By Heriete Setsuko Shimabukuro Takeda
Nima-kai selection:
- 27 stars:
The Mochitsuki Tradition in the Hikari Group of Londrina, Paraná
By Alba Shioco Hino, Nilza Matiko Iwakura Okano, Kiyomi Nakanishi Yamada
Stories from this series
“Hey, Chinese.” I am not Chinese
Oct. 2, 2018 • Roberto Oshiro Teruya
My family lived in Barrios Altos, a populous neighborhood in Lima, Peru. We liked being in the store as children, we had a warehouse, contact with people was little, we only thought about playing, waiting for mom to get free and having her attention, we did not have the notion that we were of another race, other traits , that there were good people and bad people. The three children have gone to a school very close to the house, …
Sharing Heart Beats
Sept. 28, 2018 • Mori Walts
(content warning; child abuse and suicidality) These days, I talk with my grandma, younger siblings, and a cousin, but that’s it for biological family. I’ve cut ties with my white dad twice. My mom and him are too entwined to part. Recently I met with her at a donut place and said to her in public, “I can’t trust you, but, I love you.” This is the moment that I was too tired to keep being condescended to by the …
Embracing Our Nikkei Roots Via Southern Routes
Sept. 26, 2018 • Linda Cooper
If you’re a Japanese-American who lives on the East or West Coast, chances are, there are myriad ways to celebrate and nurture your Nikkei heritage with various festivals or celebrations, museum exhibits, trips to your local Japanese markets and restaurants, or through memberships in organizations such as the Japan Society or Japanese American Citizens League. But, what do you do if you grew up and live in the American South like my best friend Brenda and I? We are the …
My Bachan
Sept. 21, 2018 • Raymond Nakamura
We called my Dad’s mom, Bachan. When we visited, she’d offer me a cherry-flavoured cough candy, and I would nod and say, arigato. Every Easter, she sent me and my brothers a chocolate bunny each. She didn’t speak much English and I didn’t speak much Japanese. So I knew her only a little. She was 4’7”, vegetarian, and raised eight kids. She lived 91 years smoking roll-your-own cigarettes. I’ve since realized her life reflects many of the most significant events …
I am Nikkei
Sept. 19, 2018 • Roberto Oshiro Teruya
On October 22, 2017, a census was carried out in Peru. Aside from the data that was collected for the first time so that Peruvians could “self-identify,” it served to define us in terms of our ethnic identity. While it is true, we are all Peruvians, we will be able to say how we feel about our customs, our ancestors, our roots. What caught our attention is that those of Asian origin in general were not considered an option, so …
Hidden Memory: A Family History Journey
Sept. 18, 2018 • Anne Shimojima
In my family, we never told stories about the past. No one talked about what it was like to come to the United States from Japan, about the years before and during World War II, or how it felt to be locked up in an incarceration camp behind barbed wire even though you had done nothing wrong. Of course I never learned about the camps in school. I was so unaware of my own family’s experiences that when I was …