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.

Japanese values that she aligns with

I definitely think mottainai is a big one. Just because it’s so accessible, it’s very digestible in terms of just not being wasteful and just being respectful of the earth and of the resources that we do have. I think it’s very easy for someone to understand, a young person to understand. It’s reduce, reuse, recycle. I think that’s an easier one.

I define enryo, self-restraint, in a particular way. I think of it as not just taking the last piece of food so that you don’t look bad, but more so you…thinking about the other person at the table with you, did they have a chance to try it, did they have a chance to taste it. So I’d like to pass that on too.

I think the idea of kansha, or gratitude, is really important because I associate that a lot with relationships with people, so just being very grateful – even if it’s your parents making…or if I’m ever to make a meal for my child and they were to say “thank you for this meal,” I think even that gratitude is something that I would like them to learn and appreciate too.

aesthetics enryo (values) identity metaphysics mottainai (phrase) psychology theory of knowledge values

Date: August 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)