Mimi – My Perspective on JA Community
June 30, 2008Growing up, I had a very loose, surface-level definition of Japanese-American culture and community. In fact, I didn’t even realize there was a distinction between “Japanese” and “Japanese-American” till college. Both my parents were born and raised in Japan, so I had a strong Japanese background (including feasting on the exquisite delicacy, natto) but they weren’t active in the local Japanese community so I had no exposure to that. In addition, there were few other Japanese students at my schools so I didn’t really have anyone with whom I could relate. I did frequent Japantown often as a kid, but it was more like shopping for new stationery items or renting anime (umm, otaku status), so I didn’t quite feel particularly drawn to the JA community back then.
This all changed in college, when I was reeled into Nikkei Student Union (NSU). Even before college, I knew that I wanted to be a part of a Japanese/Japanese-American interest organization, largely because I’ve always been interested in Japanese culture. Little did I know that NSU is a Japanese-American interest group, so many of their events are revolved around Japanese-American culture and history, of which I had no concept at the time. Everything from participating in my first Cultural night to volunteering in Little Tokyo drew me closer to that JA identity/community perspective. The people who pulled me into NSU definitely had a strong influence in showing me the value of JA culture and community. After all, they were the people with whom I eventually spent most of my time and are the people I’d say are my home away from home.
One aspect of “Japanese-American” I first grasped in college was that of nisei and yonsei. Nisei, meaning second generation Japanese American, and yonsei, meaning fourth generation Japanese American. There is definitely a large cultural gap between the generations, which I’ve observed throughout my time in NSU. I am technically a nisei, with both parents immigrated from Japan, but since I’ve never attended J-school or had any Japanese friends, I am neither fluent nor closely in touch with the motherland. Thus, I never really felt that I fit in with the nisei. However, most of my yonsei friends speak strictly English and grew up with a strong JA background (i.e., J-leagues, obon, family history in internment camps, etc.), so when they view me, they think I am fluent in Japanese (even though the extent of my Japanese language ability is colloquial conversation with my mom about “mom” things like cooking and gossip) and sometimes I find that I can’t relate to their experiences. I found that even after my epiphany of Japanese vs. JA, within the Japanese American cultural context, I discovered many more layers. I thought about these things initially after beginning my involvement in NSU, but over time, through the influence of friends and numerous NSU events, I was able to better define my identity.
The one activity (among many) which really defined my current view of the community was the Chibi-K event. Having to help plan this event for two years (first as an intern, second as co-director of the program), I was able to interact directly with community members and soon found myself holding greater meaning of the JA community than before. It wasn’t just an event; it was a method to bring families together, appreciate JA culture, and promote goodwill not just amongst JAs, but among the greater API community as well.
Now that I’ve met a number of community members/leaders, attended several events, and actively participate in NSU, I feel much more connected to the JA community. Not only is it a place of comfort and familiarity, but I’ve learned it’s also a dynamically changing community, seeking preservation of culture and tradition as well as healthy growth and diversity, goals which youth like ourselves can help accomplish.
Hi interesting blog!
I’m Bengali-American, simpler to say Asian, and I’m interested to see if all multi-ethnic people have similar search to belong, identify. So, of course, I had to read your blog. Intersting concept of layers.
Thanks for writing.
I had a question what’s J-league and Obon?
It’s really interesting that you note the demarcation between being a nissei and being a yonsei. I think being yonsei myself, I kind of assumed that all nisseis were automatically just those interned during WWII. I never really thought about the new wave of immigration from Japan that occurred post-WWII. I’m definitely fortunate that we both got a chance to not only participate in something as huge and memorable as CHIBI-K, but also had the opportunity to lead it. It’s so exciting to see how much it will grow and continue to grow in the future!
It’s cool how so many of us interns find our connection to the JA community while in college, both of us included. For you, you found it by getting involved and for me, I found it by getting it taken away. I think it’s interesting to see how two so opposite things can still have a similar effect. It’s also cool to see how such different college students with such different views of the JA community can come together into this kind of program.
I think we’ll both learn a lot through this internship! I’m really excited!
I know what you mean in your intro when you said that you didn’t know the distinction between Japanese and JA. There’s a lot of people that think that JA’s are very connected to those from Japan, when in fact JA’s and the Japanese comprise of two very different cultures. My Japanese friend, who’s only been in America for a few months, recently found out about JA internment when I mentioned it too him. He was totally unaware of JA internment in WWII and that just shows to prove the distinctions between our cultures.
mimi! nice post. So I can definitely relate since I’m shin-nisei as well. I’ve also gained so much from NSU and being part of community events like Chibi-K (which you did a superb job at co-heading), and I’ve began to understand my own identity better. I feel that shin-niseis are an important part of the JA community, and that its up to us to make sure that more shin-niseis become involved, and narrow that sense of gap people feel between generations. Im really happy that you found your own unique way of connecting to the community, and yay natto.
I feel like I say this a lot, but NSU folks being “home away from home” and accepting of all who want to identify with the JA community is exactly why I became so interested (and later, invested) in it. Our last president is a Shin-Nisei, and she brought a lot of things to NSU that are a little bit different than someone who is a yonsei would. I am really glad I got to work with her though, because coming into college I didn’t know ANYONE who was a shin-nisei. (Well, my dad was born in Japan, and at the time my American-born grandfather wasn’t a US citizen, but his citizenship was re-instated before my dad came at age 2 to california…so he doesn’t really identify as any sort of issei.)