Comments for NCI Program's Weblog

Comment on Fiona – Attention! Issues! by jmh12219

jmh12219 — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:54:49 +0000

It has been an amazing experience to have the opportunity to listen to Diane, Warren, Jtown voice, and may others who are passionate about the community. I keep thinking about Fiona’s question as its been consistently asked for the past six weeks. I think a place that will cater to the numerous interests of the community, while also serving as a way to bridge the generation gap; hmm…possibly a rec center? I know that’s something that has been consistently coming up, but I think it could be an important resource to bring the community together. San Jose doesn’t have a rec center, but the Buddhist church as served as a home for scouts, kendo, judo, japanese school, some of the CYS (Community Youth Service) activities, and different senior activities. Growing up it served as a way to keep the youth coming into j-town; we’d eat dinner in j-town and then go to scouts on wednesday’s or friday’s and then we’d go get dessert after; we were always in the area. Just a random example, sorry for the long comment =)

Comment on One issue that has been brought to my attention by the Nikkei Community Internship Program (Tristan). by fmpotter

fmpotter — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 05:16:15 +0000

“If 3D thinks that Starbucks and Subway are what young JAs want, they’re not going to let a few organizations with confusing acronyms stop them from giving it to the kids.” Lol, sir. Lol.

Ahem, but anyway, I liked your post a lot, mostly because I agree with a lot of your points and it’s always nice to have your own opinions validated by others. I always feel conflicted when we talk about development in JTown, because lately I’ve been leaning toward a more economic ideology: why can’t we just do what we can to bring more money into Little Tokyo? And how can we possibly “preserve” the “character” of a neighborhood that has been and will always be undergoing changes? I think that I or any Korean has as much right as any to operate a business in JTown.

Anecdotally, I would like to conclude: I cajoled my friends into visiting me for lunch one day. I took them to the all-night ramen place on 2nd and I took them to Yogurtland. They LOVED YogurtLand. In fact, they will probably visit Little Tokyo again for YogurtLand. And then, maybe they will visit the ramen place or some other Japanese/Japanese-owned restaurant, too.

Comment on Tristn – Hey hey, it’s the JA by ncikatie

ncikatie — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 21:12:24 +0000

I hope that you don’t always feel “conscious of being an outsider” within the larger JA community! After starting college and leaving my hometown, I struggled with that idea as well, questioning if I was fit to be included in the community. After a certain point, I stopped trying to put myself into the mold of the “typical” JA (and if this year’s NCI interns is any indication, that “typical” isn’t so typical) and embraced all of my unique experiences. I finally came to the conclusion that within the JA community, there is room for me to define my own place in the community. I hope that your NCI experience helps you to feel more comfortable in the larger community!!

Comment on David – My JA Experience by ncikatie

ncikatie — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:57:06 +0000

I’m glad that NSU has been able to provide you with the experiences and opportunities you were looking for!! I had no idea that you grew up without much of an association w/the JA community. I think I always assume that when people are from places like LA and SF, they have more of an opportunity to interact w/all sorts of cultures, including the JA community. Anyways, I am super excited to be working with you this summer and next year!

Comment on Mimi – My Perspective on JA Community by ncikatie

ncikatie — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:10:30 +0000

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.)

Comment on Katie – My JA community by jmh12219

jmh12219 — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:15:20 +0000

Like Nate commented above, I think it’s interesting how you had the opportunity to study abroad and experienced how Italians perceived you as Japanese American.

Like you also noted in your blog about how “nobody really spoke Japanese, but [they] all knew what shoyu and gohan were.” I think those Japanese words and phrases are a huge comfort zone for many of us. During my first year of college, I’d go eat with my Filipino friends at a Japanese or Chinese restaurant. I would ask them to pass the “shoyu” and they would always respond with “show you what?”

Comment on Megan – what the JA community means to me by jmh12219

jmh12219 — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 22:55:08 +0000

From reading some of the other comments for this post and along with everyone’s blogs, it’s interesting to see what an impact moving away from home has been for many of us. Whether we all of a sudden see a change in the number of Japanese that surround us in our every day life or become more involved with new activities we used to take for granted. Especially for you and others who have left the state for school or came to California for school. I think that’s awesome that you have the opportunity to go to school in another state and learn new things.

Comment on Nate Imai – JA community by ncikatie

ncikatie — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 20:39:33 +0000

GOing off of what Kristin said, I think that a lot of young people of color seek out friends that share their same ethnicity/culture/background at some point or another because growing up in American culture a lot of times all you see are white and black people in the media, etc. It’s tough to grow up and have TV tell you that you don’t look like “normal” people, even tougher when your daily life affirms this message. I worry about what that does to kids’ self-images, and I got to thinking about how I grew up without most of those issues. I think that in my case it came from the love and acceptance that both sides of my family treated me with. I am glad that you have found a place where you feel comfortable and accepted!

Comment on Wendy – JA community by ekobayashi

ekobayashi — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 19:24:39 +0000

Hi wendy, I think your post is interesting because I can really relate to half of it and can’t relate to the other half. I grew up where there were a lot of shin-niseis so growing up I always felt Japanese, but at the same time my high school had about 10 Japanese people so at the same time I felt being the odd one out. It’s only very recently that I’ve began to understand what it means to be part of the JA community, and one of the main reasons for that is through involvement. I’m excited im up north with you for the internship, and I know we’ll both learn a lot more about our community together.

Comment on LiAnn – What the Japanese American community means to me by ekobayashi

ekobayashi — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 19:12:00 +0000

Hi LiAnn. Im really glad you decided to become part of NSU, and even more glad that you were able to gain from the experience. I think everyone approaches NSU and the JA community for different reasons, but the important thing is the opportunity to make that unique connection. I definitely agree when you talk about the continuous learning process, and I know you’ll grow even more. And you were great as a cohead last year, yay nice job.