Entrevistas

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

Yamashiro,Michelle

Okinawense estadounidense cuyos padres son de Perú.

Reflections on childhood

I grew up going to schools were it was really diverse, so I think I felt…I really didn’t feel like an outsider in elementary school or middle school because everyone was so different. It’s like nothing special, everyone has differences.

I’ve always been able to hang out with both Shin folks. So my mom worked at an office where there was a lot of Shin folks coming in.

It wasn’t until college that I really understood the differences between each identity, I was just like...well these are different friends I hang out with. But in college I learned more about...that’s the first time I actually learned about the incarceration camps, it was the first time I learned about Spam musubi and chili rice. So it was like a whole new education for me to learn about these different identities and these different folks that walked through life.

I think going to Okinawa when I was so young and meeting other Nikkei Okinawan folks from all different parts of the country and the world, that was something that I always felt like…well if there’s common ground then we’re still community, then we’re still family.

comunidades generaciones inmigración japoneses americanos okinawenses posguerra shin-nisei Estados Unidos Segunda Guerra Mundial

Fecha: August 30, 2018

Zona: California, US

Entrevista: Sharon Yamato

País: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Entrevista

Creció en Gardena, California. Sus padres se mudaron a los Estados Unidos desde Lima, Perú, donde crecieron en la comunidad peruana japonesa y okinawense. Gracias a este ambiente diverso, estuvo expuesta a una mezcla de diferentes tradiciones culturales. Ella está involucrada con la Asociación de América de Okinawa y ha visitado Okinawa y Perú.

Recibió sus credenciales de enseñanza, pero cuando recibió una oportunidad en el Instituto Cultural Japonés del Valle de Gardena (ICJVG), decidió hacer trabajos sin ánimo de lucro y ahora es voluntaria en ICJVG y la Asociación de Okinawa de América. (Agosto 2018)