Entrevistas

1. The Origin of my Name (Japanese)

2. Attending Kindergarten in Panama (Japanese)

3. My father who returned by prisoner of war exchange ship (Japanese)

4. Meeting Harry for the first time (Japanese)

5. On international marriages (Japanese)

6. Masao-san (Japanese)

7. Conflicted about immigrating to America (Japanese)

8. You can’t be loyal to two countries (Japanese)

9. Respecting the will of a five-year-old daughter (Japanese)

10. Why I’m glad I immigrated to America (Japanese)

Schneider,Jean Hamako

(n. 1925) Novia de la guerra

You can’t be loyal to two countries (Japanese)

(Japanese) It was right when Nakako was born, so…it must have been around 1954, still at the beginning of when people were getting American citizenship, when everyone over here was studying for the citizenship exams and things and making a lot of noise about it. I got mine right away, really quickly. I got citizenship early on.

I told my husband that I didn’t want to lose my Japanese citizenship, and his response was that for the most part people cannot be loyal to two countries. So, he said me, “Do you want to be a real Japanese or do you want to marry me and be an American? Decide on one.” So, I thought about it, and he was right. It would be pretty impossible to hold two citizenships, to be loyal to two countries. So, after thinking about it, I concluded that if that were that case I would get an American citizenship and discard my Japanese one.

ciudadanía identidad

Fecha: January 26, 2012

Zona: California, US

Entrevista: John Esaki, Yoko Nishimura

País: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Entrevista

Jean Hamako Schneider (apellido de soltera: AMANO) nacida en 1925 en la Ciudad de Yokohama, Japón. En 1933 su padre, el famoso hombre de negocios en América Latina, Yoshitaro AMANO se lo lleva a Panamá y allí permenece durante 2 años. Su padre como permaneció en Panamá quedó atrapado por la Segunda Guerra Mundial y recién en 1942 pudo regresar a Japón con un barco de intercambio de prisioneros. En la posguerra, dado que Hamako trabajaba en la radio conoce a quien será su marido, a Harry Schneider, que era un miembro de la MIS – Military Intelligence Service, perteneciente a las fuerzas de ocupación norteamericana. En 1948 se casa con Harry y dos años después se va a vivir a los Estados Unidos como “novia de la guerra” (sensoo hanayome). Tienen una hija y luego se naturaliza norteamericana. Actualmente, vive en la ciudad de Encinitas en el Estado de California. (Setiembre de 2014)