Vince Ota

Japanese American Creative designer living in Japan

Little contact with Asians growing up on the east coast Spending summers in Los Angeles Japanese Americans brought up to deny their roots Being multicultural before it was “in” Moving to and living in Japan The reason to stay in Japan after his third year Being a Japanese American in Japan Never being Japanese Japan as my home Different tension between East Coast and Los Angeles A stereotype of Japanese Americans Main differences between Japanese and Japanese Americans

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Vince Ota, (Sansei on his mother’s side, Yonsei on his father’s), was born in New Hampshire. From there, he and his family lived in several cities throughout the United States and also lived in London before finally settling in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Growing up in a small town in Maryland, Vince did not have much contact with other Asian Americans, except during the summers he spent in Los Angeles with relatives. He describes his upbringing as “pretty White American.” Vince eventually moved to southern California where he attended community college and the California Institute of the Arts. He worked as a creative designer and lived in Los Angeles for seven years until moving to Japan. Vince has lived in Japan since 1996 and plans to stay. At the time of the interview, he was working as a creative designer. (September 12, 2003)

east coast FindingHome food identity Washington D.C. Los Angeles new year's oshogatsu multi cultural multi racial religion immigration Japan migration gaijin home discrimination racism japanese americans stereotype japanese american