Interviews
Testing assumptions of Japanese scholars
You know, I was kind of concerned about the Japanese scholars studying the Japanese American experience, and trying to caution them to be careful about the assumptions underlying their framework. And I think it’s very important that they do these studies because they can tell you a lot from their perspective.
But, I was saying to them, for us it’s a matter of perspective and a matter of getting our own perspective on our own identity. And I says, “If you were looking for answers to the question of your own identity, would you start out with, suppose, Ruth Benedict’s Chrysanthemum and the Sword?” I said, “That was done during the wartime with a very eminent anthropologist interviewing Japanese Americans about the Japanese identity.” And I says, “If you really wanted to get a line on your own identity, would you start out with a book like that?” I says, “It’s important for you to look at that book, but I’d certainly start out from your own perspective.” I says, “Your experiences in Japan and your scholarship training have various kinds of assumptions, so that if you’re studying the immigrant population of the Japanese all over the world, then test your own assumptions.”
Date: January 7, 2004
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Art Hansen
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum.
Explore More Videos
Nihongo gakko - Preserving Japanese culture (Spanish)
(b. 1969) Former president of Centro Nikkei Argentino.
Not wanting to stand out as a foreigner
Sansei Japanese American living in Japan and Kendo practioner
Have compassion for all of humanity
(b. 1923) Nisei from Washington. Resisted draft during WWII.
Identity crisis (Spanish)
(b. 1969) Former president of Centro Nikkei Argentino.
Never sang Enka outside the family
(b. 1981) Enka Singer
Both Japanese and American identities though Japanese dance
(1918-2023) Nisei Japanese kabuki dancer
Results of being more American than Japanese
(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist
Trying to convey the meaning of the songs
(b. 1981) Enka Singer
Internship on a Native American reservation in Arizona
(b.1952) Master drummer, artistic director of the Taiko Center of the Pacific
Different tension between East Coast and Los Angeles
Japanese American Creative designer living in Japan
Japanese musical education
(b.1943) Shin-issei grand master of taiko; founded San Francisco Taiko Dojo in 1968.
Rewards of teaching
(b. 1924) Political scientist, educator, and administrator from Hawai`i
