Nikkei Chronicles #4—Nikkei Family: Memories, Traditions, and Values
Nikkei family roles and traditions are unique because they have evolved over many generations, based on various social, political, and cultural experiences in the country they migrated to.
Discover Nikkei collected stories from around the world related to the topic of Nikkei Family, including the stories that tell how your family has influenced who you are, and allow us to understand your perspectives on what family is. This series introduces these stories.
For this series, we asked our Nima-kai to vote for their favorite stories and our editorial committee to pick their favorites.
Here are the selected favorite stories.
Editorial Committee’s Selections:
- ENGLISH:
Walk It Off: True Grit & Gaman
By Jeri Okamoto Tanaka
Don’t Worry Be Hapa
By Kimiko Medlock
- JAPANESE:
History of My Grandmother – Things I Learned About Her Life This Summer Just Before I Turned 20 –
By Dan Kawawaki
- SPANISH:
Father’s Adventures
By Marta Marenco
- PORTUGUESE:
My Life, Our Life: The Present, The Past, And The Future
By Kiyomi Nakanishi Yamada
Nima-kai selection:
- 23 stars:
A Letter to My Parents
By Mary Sunada
Stories from this series
Growing between mergers
Aug. 4, 2015 • Elvi Del Rosario Tamia Leiva Pizarro
When people see me, they don't believe me when I tell them that I have Japanese ancestry. Since I was a child and saw my oba 's eyes, I saw them different, strange. She has “Chinese” eyes, but she is dark. My mother is whiter but has “drawn” eyes, well, a little. Sometimes they called her “Chinese.” At home I grew up keeping in mind that on my mom's side we are of Japanese descent and on my dad's side …
Discovering a Family Connection in JANM's Collection
July 28, 2015 • Lynn Yamasaki
Jack Yamasaki, my father’s uncle, is someone I only have the faintest memories of seeing on occasion and visiting during holidays. I always knew he was an artist though, because I’ve been surrounded by his artwork my entire life—drawings and paintings by “Uncle Jack” have always hung on the walls of my parents’ and grandmother’s homes. Looking back, his artwork was probably my earliest exposure to art as a child. A few decades later, I find myself fortunate enough to …
Don’t Worry Be Hapa
July 24, 2015 • Kimiko Medlock
My sisters and I all have the same dry humor and vertically conservative height, but that’s about where our obvious similarities end. We all have the same Sansei Okinawan mother and Southern-ish Florida father, but we’re often told that we don’t look alike. I might describe our general connection growing up with our “Japanese-ness” as tenuous at best. We ate rice with every meal and never failed to bring gifts to friends’ houses. But then we also heard Pidgin and …
Sugi Kiriyama, A Typical Issei Woman
July 8, 2015 • Iku Kiriyama
Issei are identified with similar characteristics that Nisei would concur: came to this country with no English skills, no money, dreams of success and possibly returning to Japan. They were hard-working, endured racism and physical abuse, lived through the Great Depression and the injustice of the World War II concentration camps, and bore hardships for the sake of their children, the Nisei, born here in the United States. The Issei woman was all the above, plus being the smiling, doting …
Taste of Okinawa
July 1, 2015 • Cathy Haruka Uechi
Crackle! The sound of deep-frying on the stovetop fills the house as my mom prepares her authentic andagi, our family’s favorite snack. Andagi is basically an Okinawan donut: flour, sugar, and eggs. They’re deep-fried to a golden crisp and doughy on the inside with just the right amount of sweetness—not too much, not too little, just perfect. My childhood is full of fond memories of my mom standing by the stove making andagi, or as my family called them, sata …
Grandfather’s Gift
June 25, 2015 • Brandon Shindo
There is something unique about being in the presence of one’s Nisei grandparents. Maybe it is their years of life experiences, simply their wisdom, and/or their understanding how you feel when no one else does; but, whatever it may be, they are more than just individuals who allow you to have all the sweets you can possibly consume. They are teachers of cultural values. As I close my eyes, it seems like it was only yesterday, at the age of …