Nikkei Chronicles #2—Nikkei+: Stories of Mixed Language, Traditions, Generations & Race
Being Nikkei is inherently a state of mixed traditions and cultures. For many Nikkei communities and families around the world, it is common to use both chopsticks and forks; mix Japanese words with Spanish; or celebrate the New Year’s Eve countdown with champagne and Oshogatsu with ozoni and other Japanese traditions.
This series introduces stories explore how Nikkei around the world perceive and experience being multiracial, multinational, multilingual, and multigenerational.
Each piece submitted to the Nikkei+ anthology was eligible for selection as our readers’ favorites.
Here are their favorite stories in each language.
- English:
Diary of a Mad Hapa Judo Girl
By Chanda Ishisaka - Japanese:
Kokichi-san
By Laura Honda-Hasegawa - Spanish:
The Mabuyá or the Earthquake that Brings Good Luck: Some Traditions of my Oba that are now memories of my childhood
By Milagros Tsukayama Shinzato - Portuguese:
The Candle That Burns Out
By Eduardo Goo Nakashima
Stories from this series
Kokichi-san
Nov. 4, 2013 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
I’ve loved reading since I was little and would find myself drawn to characters in each story. The powerful “Momotaro” and peculiar White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, to name a few. They were all adorable characters. Once I entered middle school and high school, I was surprised by the complex personality of Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights. I also encountered a lot of interesting protagonists in Brazilian and Portuguese literature which I majored in college. But the person I’ve been …
Memory Says
Oct. 31, 2013 • Roxzana Sudo
Nearly every year my husband remembers that we got married on October the 24, 1998. We did not. Stereotypes aside, I, as the woman, and hence the one with the better memory, know for a fact that it was October the 17th, 1998, as I did nearly everything for the wedding. This is not something to be proud of; it is my biggest indictment. And it was my biggest mistake on all cultural fronts—I will get to that. I remember …
Snapshots from a Nikkei/Filipina Album
Oct. 28, 2013 • Tamiko Nimura
“Your mother is Filipina?” my friend’s mom asks me. She’s Filipina, too. She shakes her head, and smiles, not unkindly. “You look more Japanese.” * * * * * My first and last name are Japanese. None of my names are Filipina. But then there’s the color of my skin, which in the Pacific Northwest is “a nice tan.” I know how to make turón, lumpia, and adobo. I can make chicken teriyaki “from scratch,” with a closely guarded family …
A Hapa Girl In Vietnam
Oct. 24, 2013 • Tani Mitsui Brown
I’m currently carrying out a Fulbright English Teaching Fellowship in Northern Vietnam. When I sit down to meals with my students, they are always surprised at my skill with chopsticks. I try to explain to them in broken Vietnamese: cha tôi là người Mỹ gốc Phi, mẹ tôi là Mỹ gốc Nhật. My father is African-American. My mother is Japanese-American. I’ve been using chopsticks since the day I was born. This always draws a wide-eyed smile of exhilaration across my …
My Laborious, Glorious, and Ultimately Futile Self-Education
Oct. 22, 2013 • Nicholas Braun
Most Nikkei have the luxury of being brought up with the tradition of our fatherland. To be taught the meaning of Obon by your parents, a Buddhist priest, or both. To be read stories as a young child of a boy sprung up from peaches, tongueless sparrows. Or, if your parents were well read, to hear the fable of a young master from Tokyo known as Botchan bring a Machiavellian red shirted devil from the boondocks down with a well …
“Shokuiku” activities at Nijiya Market Thinking about the future of shokuiku activities that pass on the Japanese food culture in America
Oct. 18, 2013 • Asami Goto
Opening of Japanese Supermarket in San DiegoToday, we can find Japanese food in some supermarkets across America. In big cities, it’s not so difficult to get different kinds of Japanese food such as Japanese seafood, meat, seasonings and snacks. Especially if you go to a Nikkei supermarket, you can find a whole variety of food products – the exact things that you can get in Japan. Nijiya Market is one of the Nikkei supermarkets in America, which has expanded its …