シカゴの声
このシリーズに掲載されているストーリーは、もともとシカゴ日系人歴史協会のオンラインジャーナル、「シカゴの声」に掲載されたものです。シカゴ日系人歴史協会は、2004年12月からディスカバー・ニッケイに参加しています。
シカゴの声は、シカゴに住む日系人の体験を綴った私語りのコレクションです。シカゴの日系コミュニティは、第3波までの移民およびその子孫で構成されています。最初の波は、1899年のシカゴ万国博覧会の頃に到着した約300人でした。第2波のグループは最多の3万人から成り、第二次大戦後、強制収容所から直接シカゴに移住して来ました。彼らは「最定住者」と呼ばれ、社会奉仕団体や仏教またはキリスト教会、中小企業周辺でコミュニティを形成していきました。第3波はさらに近年となり、1980年代前半に到着した日本人のグループです。彼らは芸術家や学生で、その後、シカゴに留まりました。4番目のグループは移民ではありませんが、企業幹部の日本人とその家族で、シカゴに長期滞在し、場合により永住しています。
シカゴは、いつの時代も人々が安らぎを得られる場所であり、民族的に多様な人々が共に住み、働く町でした。「シカゴの声」は、先述の4グループそれぞれのメンバーのストーリーと、彼らがどのようにこのモザイク(寄せ集め)都市に適応していったかを伝えています。
このシリーズのストーリー
My Life Between Two Cultures - Part 1
2010年11月1日 • キョウコ・イノウエ
I have lived in the United States since 1968. While I have adjusted well to life in America, I have also tried to maintain my Japanese identity. My upbringing and experience have led me to live a life between two cultures. 1. The Beginning: My Maternal Family in America My life between two cultures began when my maternal grandfather, born in 1867 in Kyushu, decided that he wanted to emigrate to the United States. In 1887 he arrived in San …
Will
2010年5月7日 • アヤコ・カトウ
You never know your fate or your path in life, yet somehow I feel we cannot avoid reflecting upon our own lives and making some decisions that are influenced by our ancestors’ bitter memories in their lives, trying not to repeat their mistakes, or else following their will, even unconsciously. My grandmother, Asano, was born in California in 1914. According to my mother, Masumi, it was in Gurendora (グレンドラ), presumably Glendale, near Los Angeles. Her parents were Yoshinosuke and Yoshie …
A Conversation with Tatsu Aoki
2010年4月13日 • シカゴ日本人歴史協会
Tatsu Aoki remains a prolific artist, composer, musician, filmmaker and educator, contributing to and enriching Chicago’s cultural scene. He works in a wide range of musical genres, ranging from traditional Japanese music to jazz to experimental music. His primary instruments are the bass and the shamisen lute. He is also an accomplished experimental filmmaker. His biological father, Wahei Hoshino, was a movie producer at Shin Toho Movie Studio in the 1960s and was the reason that Tatsu got into small …
Guiding Force
2010年3月1日 • マサル・カトウ
Looking back into my life, I have noticed that a certain invisible hand has always supported me. I am not talking about the economics term of Adam Smith, the “invisible hand,” that describes the self-regulating nature of the marketplace. The invisible hand that I am mentioning here is a guiding force that opens doors for me. Help is offered to me when I am in trouble. Something leads me to the right direction, when I am lost. Opportunities are coming …
Catching Lightning in a Jar
2010年1月6日 • ドゥワイト・オキタ
When you’re a writer, everything that happens to you is a potential story you will one day write. The more awkward, wacky, horrible or wonderful the moments comprising the experience—the better. The writer’s job is to catch lightning in a jar. To honor the experience by rendering it as vividly on the page as it was lived in life. Sometimes a writer can even write about an experience he’s never had. For example, in one of my novels, I write …
Masaru Funai Chicago Lawyer
2009年12月16日 • マサル・フナイ
I am a transplant in Chicago, having arrived from Hawaii with my wife, Carolyn, in 1954 to attend Northwestern University Law School. Our children, Bryan and Shari, were both born in Chicago and we have made this city our home for the past 55 years. I have been asked a countless number of times what made me leave the Hawaiian Islands and relocate in Chicago. My short answer has always been, “You can’t eat sand and sunshine.” My real reason …