Interviews

1. General reasons why people left Japan for Peru

2. Great grandfather Asato was a sumo wrestler

3. Grandfather loved to tell her stories of her great-grandfather Arakaki

4. Prosecution of Japanese Peruvians during the war

5. Where parents went to school in Peru

6. Parents leaving Peru to move to California

7. Reflections on childhood

8. Okinawan cultural appreciation

9. Prejudice against Okinawans from mainland folks

10. Okinawan Americans

11. Parents identification as Peruvian Okinawan

12. On Nikkei identity

13. Japanese values that she aligns with

14. American values she aligns with

15. Working together in Okinawa using three languages

Michelle Yamashiro

Okinawan American whose parents are from Peru.

Okinawan Americans

The whole headquarters of the Okinawa Association of America is located in Gardena, so that’s for the entire country. So it is smaller, but there are pretty big pockets I think. Texas is a big pocket of Okinawan Americans, I want to say Utah is another big pocket too. And so I think here we’re so much more spread out and that makes it so difficult to take all of our energies and move it towards something bigger, whatever we want to create. Whereas in Peru, everything is so centralized and localized in the Okinawan stadium, or in Okinawan project that it’s easier for them to mobilize. So I think that’s one big difference, just space.

California communities Japanese prefectural associations Okinawa Association of America (organization) Okinawans Peru Texas United States Utah

Date: Aug 30, 2018

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Sharon Yamato

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

Interviewee Bio

Grew up in Gardena, California. Her parents moved to the United States from Lima, Peru where they grew up in the Japanese and Okinawan Peruvian community. Because of this diverse background, she was exposed to a mixing of different cultural traditions. She is involved with the Okinawa Association of America and has visited Okinawa and Peru.

She received her teaching credentials but with an opportunity at the Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute (GVJCI), she turned to non-profit work and is a volunteer at GVJCI and the Okinawa Association of America. (August 2018)

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