Identity
Learning to FallBy Natalie Ume Liverant Like returning home after a long journey, stepping onto the tatami at the dojo is one of the most relaxing moments I look forward to after a long day of work. A wave of excitement builds as I change into my gi, enter the dojo, slip off my zori (flip flops), step onto the mat, and bow as I enter. At this moment, it’s as if all the troubles of the day disappear and what is left is a mind that is clear, calm, and ready to learn.
Frank Endo - A Balanced LifeBy Frank Endo My name is Frank Endo, age 81, and I reside in Gardena, California. I was born in Wilmington, California, on April 20, 1923. I had a twin brother named James. My father owned a fishing boat and my mother worked in the fish cannery. We moved to Terminal Island, California, located several miles from where I was born, in 1935, as the major fishing industry was located there. My parents came from the Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, and had very little education. My father spoke some English as he had contact with other Americans in the fishing industry. However, my mother spoke no English. My parents could not help me to read, write, or speak the English language. This was the case for most of the Nisei.
Una promesa hecha en OkinawaPor Yamato Icochea Oshima Ricardo Munehide Ganaja Kamisato juntó las palmas de sus manos e hizo una reverencia. Iba dirigida a su fallecida abuela. Luego entró a la casa en ruinas. Casi no podía creer que la construcción, en medio de la densa selva de Okinawa, siguiera en pie. Su obaachan la había dejado atrás para emigrar al Perú hace casi un siglo. Entonces ella tenía alrededor de 20 años.
KibeiBy Irene Suyeoka Kibei (from the Japanese ki = return, bei = America) refers to an American of Japanese ancestry, who is raised in Japan, but returns to America. She is a perpetual outsider, an American while in Japan, and Japanese when she returns.
Teaching English in Kashiwa, JapanBy Yoko Joy Kobayashi
A few years ago, I received this fortune while dining at the Chinese fast-food establishment known as Panda Express. I am not embarrassed to admit that I love their food. (Kung Pao chicken has always been in my top 5!) However, I am a little embarrassed to admit that this fortune probably served as the catalyst that brought me abroad to Japan.
Amache RememberedBy Rodger Hara I was born in Denver the year after World War II ended and grew up as the only Asian in my schools until I hit Junior High. Until I was five, we lived with my Issei grandparents and Nihongo was all that was spoken around the house. Then when I was six, my parents bought their first house, we moved out and I began attending school. From then on, the only time I heard Nihongo was at family gatherings – and other than at home, that was the only time I saw other Asian faces.
新二世のアイデンティティー: 補習校か、日本語学校か？福田 恵子 私の子供たちはアメリカ生まれの二世である。私と私の夫は日本生まれの日本人。そんな日本語を第一言語とする我が家の長男が最初に通った学校は、ロサンゼルス郊外のトーランスにある日系の幼稚園だった。この幼稚園では英語は一切使わず、徹底した日本式の幼児教育を行っている。１年後、３歳になった息子は英語のプレスクールにデビューした。当時、英語はゼロの状態だったが、何とかプレキンダーガーテン、キンダーガーテンと進級し、地元レドンドビーチ市の公立小学校の１年生になった。今から５年前のことである。
Their Pride - Filmmaker documents the story of Black Japanese in GeorgiaBy Bobby Okinaka Yohei Suzuki is a 30-year old documentary filmmaker based in New York, NY. In 2006, he produced and directed Our Pride: The Spirits of Black Japanese in Georgia, a documentary about families where the father is Black and the mother is Japanese and their children are both. The story touches upon bi-racial identity in a culture that is almost exclusively Black; a perspective that has rarely been touched before.
Analyze My Face: Hapas, exoticism and the entertainment industryBy Leah Nanako Winkler I have hazel eyes. My skin is pale, my nose is tall and my hips are hopelessly wide. At first glance there is nothing about me, or so I am constantly told, that looks remotely Japanese. This is why he wanted to take me out of the shot. I heard him utter the recurring phrase of my life, the one that was born in the mouths of the children at Hiroba Koen and echoed to lips of an up and coming film director in New York City on the set of a big budget feature.
Embracing HistoryBy Joey Furutani Joey Furutani is featured in a public program by Discover Nikkei titled, "From One Generation to the Next—Families Intersecting with History" on May 17, 2008 at the Japanese American National Museum. This essay was originally written for an Asian American studies class answering the question, "How does your life intersect with history?" -ed. From the day I set foot on the campus of UCLA for the first time, I have been mistaken for every ethnicity besides Japanese. As I walk up Bruinwalk on my way to class, I mistakenly get fliers for Samahang Pilipino and Southeast Asian Studies majors. A dark complexion and large eyes must be the misleading features that I possess. Having been involved in an Asian-American fraternity for the past two years, I have had numerous encounters where the mystery of my actual ethnicity is the topic of discussion. When I tell them that I am a fifth-generation Japanese-American, most people are left in disbelief. 
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