Interviews

1. What Nikkei means to her

2. Fitting in to both sides of her family

3. Hapa Haole

4. Daughters want to identify with their cultures

5. Culture is an important part of one's identity

6. Writing a novel on the 442nd

7. Not many Japanese Jews

Francesca Yukari Biller

Jewish Japanese American journalist

Culture is an important part of one's identity

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.

culture food hapa Japanese racially mixed people

Date: April 4, 2013

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Patricia Wakida

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Francesca Biller was born in Hawai'i and raised in Southern California to a Jewish father and Japanese American mother.

She is an award winning investigative journalist, political satirist, author, and social commentator for print, radio, and television. With a background of Japanese and Jewish, she writes about her interesting background in both an introspective and humorous way and her work has been published for The Huffington Post, CNN, The Los Angeles Times, The Jewish Journal of Los Angeles, and many other publications. Awards include The Edward R. Murrow award, two Golden Mike awards, and four Society of Professional Journalists awards for Excellence in Journalism.

Biller is currently writing three books, the first a novel about the 442nd Infantry set in Hawaii, the second a compilation of humorous essays about growing up as a Japanese Jew in Los Angeles during the 1970s, and the third a Lifestyle book about how a diet of Hawaiian, Japanese, and Jewish food keeps her family healthy and happy. She is also currently on a national radio tour discussing her humorous take on politics, pop culture, and families. (August 2013)

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