Like "Mommy, should I get a Bat Mitzvah," and "Why did you marry Daddy and your first husband..." They ask me questions and make me think about and go over my life, like you're asking me questions. So they make me think of things in a different way. I always try to bring the Japanese cultural lifestyle and remind them that they're Japanese in our home. I think it’s a really important part of every person's identity, where they came from. It makes them who they are, even if they're not aware of it, of where they came from their grandparents or great grandparents, to see what people before you went through in order for you to have the life that you have. I want them to feel grateful for that. Having a rice cooker constantly filled with fresh rice on the kitchen table doesn't hurt either. Like my mom, in the morning, she puts on the rice. Then you can have it all day and you can have with your things. The food too plays a big part of it. But they definitely see themselves as Japanese Americans, with some Jewish in them. More than Jewish Americans with Japanese.
Date: April 4, 2013
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Patricia Wakida
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
Journal feed
