Murakami Yumiko, a writer and researcher of ethnic culture, has been reporting on Japanese and Asian Americans since the 1970s and has published non-fiction and other books based on her findings. We continue to speak to her about the track record and significance of her many years of reporting and research on the theme of Asian America.
Discrimination in movies
Kawai : You seem to focus particularly on the world of theater and film within the theme of "Asian America." What prompted you to do this?
Murakami: My first interest was in the portrayal of Asians and Japanese people in the history of Hollywood movies, one of the examples of cultural clashes. This started when I became acquainted with Mako Iwamatsu, who led the Asian American theater company East West Players, and he told me about discriminatory depictions in movies that I had not known about until then.
Charlie Chan, Mr. Moto, Dragon Lady - I was surprised to discover that I knew absolutely nothing about famous characters from the silver screen that everyone in America knows (and that they were played by white people), so I became engrossed in researching them. In the 1980s, unlike today, when you can watch movies without leaving your home, I would rummage through video stores to find old movies one by one, look up movie theaters and go see them, and my research took years.
Based on this research, I published Yellow Face: Portraits of Asians in Hollywood Films (1993, Asahi Shimbun Publishing). I also wrote East Meets West: Mako and Suzie's American Story (1993, Kodansha) about the first Asian American theater group in the United States, the East West Players, and its leaders, Mako Iwamatsu and his wife, Shizuko.
From Japanese to Asian
Kawai: After that, did you come to realize that not only Japanese Americans but also Asian Americans have similar histories and problems?
Murakami: Yes. I realized that Asians, who are minorities in American society, share a common history and experience, and my perspective naturally broadened from Japanese Americans to Asian immigrants in general. This was a time when "Asian American Studies" was rapidly emerging at American universities.
The 1980s saw a huge increase in Asian immigrants, with a flood of new immigrants who were different from American-born Asians. The background to this is related to the history of each Asian country, and while new communities such as Koreatown and Little Saigon were born, they also created various conflicts in American society.
I decided to research this topic thoroughly, so I applied to the Fulbright Journalist Program and was able to conduct research under Professor Yuji Ichioka at UCLA for a year from 1993 to 1994. I compiled the results of my research in a book, "Asia-Amerika: A New Wind in America" (Chuko Shinsho, 1997). This was the heyday of Asian Americans, and looking back now, I'm glad that I was able to record the atmosphere of that time in book form.
After 9/11
Murakami: After that, I became a lecturer at Keio University, but after the shock of the 9/11 attacks in 2001, I could not help but see the discriminatory words and actions against Arabs and Muslims in America as overlapping with the persecution of Japanese Americans during the war.
I was a novice when it came to Arabs and Islam, so I started studying from scratch and researched the history of portrayals of Arabs and Muslims in Hollywood movies. I was able to see America from a different perspective than Asians, and realized the importance of a multifaceted perspective.
This was published as "100 Years of Hollywood's Arab World: From Magic Lamps to Terrorists" (2007, Asahi Shimbun Publishing).
After that, due to issues with caring for my parents, I shifted my work to translation, including The Shock Doctrine (Naomi Klein, co-translated, 2011, Iwanami Shoten), Yokohama Yankee: The Helm Family's 150 Year Life Between Japan, Germany, and America (Leslie Helm, 2015, Akashi Shoten), and the children's book Dr. Herriot and the Eight Stories of Animals (James Herriot, 2012, Shueisha).
The Transformation of Japanese and Asian People
Kawai: Nowadays, a lot of books about Asian America are being published. You started paying attention to Asian America quite early on. How has the world of Asian America changed since then?
Murakami: I think there have been great changes over the past 30 years. This is always linked to the development of the global situation, so the immigration situation has changed rapidly, reflecting the economic development and political changes in Asian countries.
Asian Americans are becoming increasingly fragmented. There are fewer opportunities for Asians to come together and take action. For example, minorities who used to overwhelmingly support the Democratic Party are now increasingly becoming Republican supporters, and the issues they face are becoming more complex and diverse.
Kawai: Where do you think Japanese Americans stand among Asian Americans today? What is the consciousness of Japanese Americans as Asian Americans?
Murakami: The category and boundaries of Japanese Americans have become increasingly blurred compared to the past. Nowadays, there are many marriages between Asians or people of other races, and I think that the identities of their children and grandchildren are not just one, but are actually multiple. In today's American society, no matter what you look like, you become Japanese American the moment you voluntarily choose to "have a Japanese identity."
Kawai: How have Japanese Americans been portrayed in Hollywood and show business? Does that still continue today? Also, have Japanese Americans accepted this in any way?
Murakami: Compared to 1993, when I published Yellow Face, America today is officially equal for all races and discriminatory speech and behavior is prohibited, but on the other hand, discriminatory consciousness has retreated into the background. This year, 2024, the TV drama "SHOGUN" became a hot topic, but behind the many remarks made by Hiroyuki Sanada, it can be seen that there is still a "lack of understanding" of Japanese people, Japanese culture, and Japanese history.
However, in recent years, the world of anime culture and music that Japan has created has been spreading among young people in America. I think that the generation that learned about Japan through anime and became interested in Japanese culture will continue to grow in the future. However, on the other hand, awareness of Asian countries is generally low, and there are still many Americans who see them all as the same society, culture, and language.
In modern American society, division is progressing, and the reality is that liberals, who once led the fight against discrimination against minorities, are now being harshly criticized as "woke." In this current climate where conservatives and liberals are in direct conflict, becoming more radical and militant, Asians and Japanese people are also being tossed about in between.
Kawai: Returning to the topic of movies, when Jamie Ford's novel "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet," which centers on a Japanese-American, became a hot topic and talk of adapting it into a movie arose, I heard that it would be difficult to get a lead character of Japanese (Asian) descent in Hollywood. Do you think there is such an unspoken understanding or barrier?
Murakami: I think there are obstacles, but I think there are plenty of possibilities for making this into an indie film without being bound to a Hollywood movie. In fact, isn't that a better option right now?
Recently, I've been thinking that if a movie doesn't have a good script, excellent acting, and an interesting story, people won't watch it. I've heard that the Japanese independent film "Samurai Time Slippers" was a big hit and has been well-received overseas as well. Hollywood has a lot of restrictions in a different sense, so in the past, films about Japanese people were often tied down and unable to be made freely, and in the end, compromises were made and the films were often boring. I hope that young people will not just complain about Hollywood, but spread their wings and make more movies more freely.
The "righteous self" and the "evil other"
Kawai: In your book "100 Years of Hollywood's Arab World: From Magic Lamps to Terrorists," you write about how Arab people (society) have been perceived in America. What differences are there in terms of "prejudice" between Asians and Arabs?
Murakami: Various prejudices are expressed depending on the era and the relationship with America. There is a commonality in the perception of "others." Since the time of its colonization, America has had a history of excluding "others" and viewing them as dangerous, pitting the "righteous self" against the "evil other." Over time, this has changed to Native Americans, blacks, Asians, and Arabs. Ignorance of skin color, religion, culture, and customs can easily turn into prejudice.
Kawai: You have experience teaching about multicultural coexistence at Keio University and other institutions. What was the interest and reaction of the students?
Murakami: Young people today have no opportunities to come into contact with "others," and many of them only know their families, universities, and part-time jobs. When I gave the students the assignment to "video interview an Arab or Muslim person living in Japan," they were all hesitant at first, but they managed to find someone to interview and were interested in doing the interviews.
I think my eyes were opened by actually experiencing a different cultural world that I could not have learned through desk study alone - meeting a Syrian journalist, an Egyptian international student, an Indonesian woman, a Turkish restaurant owner, and an expert on an Arabic instrument.
Kawai: What is the significance of learning about minorities in America, such as Japanese, Asian, and Arab Americans?
Murakami: I think "minority studies" has also changed considerably since the old days. It is meaningful to learn about the history of Japanese and Asian immigrants, but we should not be confined to that alone; we must always look at global trends and the overall trends in American society. Countries that have accepted immigrants in the past, such as Sweden, Germany, the UK, and France, are struggling with the "immigration problem," which is shaking up each administration. The year 2025 will also be a year of major change for the United States, which will replace the Trump administration. The "immigration problem" is now becoming more serious around the world.
I am not an academic researcher, so rather than studying one genre in depth, I have looked around at various areas as my interests led me. In other words, I think the meaning of learning is something that each person finds for themselves.
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