American in a Foreign Motherland
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This album documents my first meeting as an adult with my Japanese uncle, as well as our "pilgrimage" back to our family's furusato in Wakayama. Though my mother is Japanese, I was only able to go to Japan twice while growing up, so once I started college, I took Japanese classes, became a major, and ended up going to Japan twice in two years to visit my mother's home country. I'm so happy to have had the opportunity to visit these places-- though I'm still decidedly an American, I feel a stronger connection to my mom, and to my own roots, because of my visits to Japan.
You can read a full-length article about my reconnecting with my uncle in the journal section of Discover Nikkei!
Slides in this album |
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Ohaka mairi with Uncle HideharuDuring my first day with my uncle, we went to visit my grandparents' graves. This was my first time to do ohaka mairi (the ritual involved with visiting the grave of one's ancestors) and I was secretly overjoyed that my uncle let me participate.
Monnier - Photo 01 |
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My grandparents' graveThis is the grave from the front. The circular, flower-shaped emblem in the middle is the Nakaji family crest. Before this trip, I had no idea that any part of my family had a crest.
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The grave againWe cleaned the stone with water and a sponge, lit candles (in the two lanterns) and incense, and gave two bouquets of fresh flowers. And then we prayed.
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TsutenkakuIn front of the Tsutenkaku (the "Tower Reaching Heaven"), one of Osaka's famous landmarks, after a katsu dinner.
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Hideharu's familyMy uncle with his family: wife Junko and daughters Hinano and Nanami (4 and 5 at the time). The crooked thumbs up that Hinano is giving here is a family inside joke. They make the gesture at each other and say, "Ii yo!" ("it's okay!").
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Old photos of my motherOn one of my first nights at his house, my uncle brought out these old photo albums and I was able to see pictures of my mom as a kid for the first time ever. She's the girl in both of these photos. The boy in the photo on the …
Monnier - Photo 06 |
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Old photo of my great aunt and my motherI found this picture in a box of my uncle's old things. The woman on the right is my mother just after coming to the United States (in her early 20s--close to my age!). And the woman on the left is Kisaye Sato, my great aunt who has always been …
Monnier - Photo 07 |
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With my uncle and cousins at the aquariumWe went to the Osaka Aquarium (called the Kaiyukan) during my first visit. This is still one of my favorite photos of me with the cousins.
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Off to Wakayama!This is the first in the series of photos from my visit with my uncle to Wakayama in the spring of my year in Japan. Here, he's getting off at the JR stop in Kushimoto, where we'll be staying for the next few days.
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TaijimaOne of the first sights I saw in Wakayama. This island is called Taijima (or Red Snapper Island) because of its fish-like shape. I think it looks more like a Goldfish cracker.
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Relatives' neighborhoodAfter we arrived at the house we would be staying at for the next few days (with my grandfather's brother's wife), we borrowed Hideharu's cousin's car to tour the area. This is where the car was parked, by a kind of man-made inlet leading to the sea.
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Neighborhood againSame place, new angle.
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First relative of the tripMe with my grandfather's brother's wife. She let us stay at her house for a couple of nights and on my last day at the house, she searched around for a while and came back with a handkerchief. "Sorry it's not much," she said.
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ButsudanMy auntie's butsudan. The man in the photo in the center is my grandfather's brother (this is the family that is supposedly 1/4 Turkish).
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The Wakayama coastRock formation on the coast. I wish I remembered what it was called, but supposedly it's famous in the area.
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More relativesCousins of my grandfather.
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Still more relativesWith my mom's cousin (front row, white vest) and her family.
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Whaling villageThis part of Japan is supposedly well-known for whaling. We saw a (retired, docked) whaling boat and visited a whale park (like a very small Sea World).
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Whaling boatI don't know whether or not whaling still happens here, but it seemed like a huge part of the town's identity.
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Whaling boat againIn certain parts of this area, I felt like I was back home in LA, in San Pedro, near the harbor.
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Pilot whalePerforming pilot whale at the whale park.
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Flags at the Turkish MuseumOne of my biggest surprises during my trip to Japan was the discovery that our family is (supposedly) part Turkish, descended from one of the surviving sailors stranded in Wakayama after a shipwreck in the late 1800s. Wanting to teach me about our history, Uncle Hideharu brought me to this …
Monnier - Photo 22 |
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Friendship tapestryHanging at the Turkish Museum.
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Ottoman period costumeClothing common at the time of the shipwreck.
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Replica of the ErtugrulA replica of the ship that wrecked on the reef off the island of Oshima in 1890.
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Turkish sailorsI don't know the significance of these particular sailors. I took the photo because one of the men (third from the right) looked bizarrely like photos of my ojii-san from a distance.
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Monnier - Photo 27 |
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Turkish gifts to JapanGifts given from Turkey to Japan, including a few new medals. At the museum, these gifts took up two cases like this one and extended onto the wall outside the cases. More recent gifts include a soccer jersey signed by the national team.
Monnier - Photo 28 |
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Site of the Ertugrul crashThe museum opens up in the back to an outlook onto these cliffs. A plaque stands on the railing explaining to guests that this is the location of the shipwreck that brought the Turkish sailors, and later this museum, to Oshima.
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This is where it happened!My uncle points at our location on a map of Kushimoto (the town in Wakayama that includes the island of Oshima).
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Turkish MonumentAfter the museum, Uncle Hideharu and I walked around Oshima, stopping here, at the Turkish Monument to take more photos in commemoration of the Turkish roots I never knew I had.
Monnier - Photo 31 |
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One last look at the view from OshimaBefore leaving Oshima, I had to stop to take some last photos of the beautiful, rugged coastline. Though this was my first time to the Nakaji furusato, the beach girl in me felt at home in this environment.
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Osaka awaitsBack in Osaka, I'm happy to see my cousins again. I know that when they're old enough, their dad will want to make the same trip with them.
Monnier - Photo 33 |
American in a Foreign Motherland
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