Growing Up Nikkei
It was hard to be Japanese when
my sister and I were growing up.
Back then, few Japanese people lived in Edmonton, so there was little opportunity or reason to speak Japanese.
The only stores selling tofu were in Chinatown.
A trip to a Japanese restaurant meant teppan yaki and a knife-juggling cook.
Godzilla was the only Japanese movie available, and it was dubbed (badly!) into English.
Long-distance telephone calls were expensive.
Japanese newspapers and magazines arrived weeks after they were published.
Forget about Japanese-language radio and television. The cost of international travel was prohibitive.
My father grew daikon (white radish), gobo (burdock root) and shungiku (chrysanthemum leaves) in our garden. My mother would do her best to make many kinds of Japanese food with the few materials available, like gyoza and ramen. We said, "Itadakimasu" before every meal and "Gochisosama" when we were finished eating. Gohan (rice) was the usual accompaniment to everything and Sundays were niku manju (steamed meat dumpling) days. We always took off our shoes at the genkan (front door) before coming inside. Things were otherwise pretty much Canadian around the house. We grew up not knowing anything about Japanese traditions like Oshogatsu (New Year's), Seijin no hi (Coming-of-Age Day), Hina Matsuri (Doll Festival), Hana-mi (cherry blossom viewing), Kodomo no hi (Children's Day), Tanabata (Star Festival), Obon (The Festival of the Dead), Shichi-go-san (Seven-Five-Three Festival), and so on.
Nowadays, advances in technology and changing public taste make it easier to be a Japanese person outside of Japan. In Canada, restaurants serving all kinds of Japanese cuisine have become commonplace, and a number of Japanese foods are available at neighbourhood stores -- any Loblaws or Safeway sells tofu and ramen. NHK television is available by satellite broadcast, and shows can be videotaped for those without dishes. Current Japanese newspapers and magazines can be read on the Internet. Japanese anime (animation) is hugely popular, and Japanese films are shown in mainstream theatres (Godzilla is still around, but now as a summer blockbuster). Taiko (Japanese drumming) is also enjoyed by many. Compared to the past, it seems that now there is a little bit of Japan wherever one goes in the world. Futurists say that Asian eyes will even be fashionable in the coming decades!
http://va.apanet.org/cgi-bin/lwgate.cgi/TIES-TALK/ Ties Talk Message Archive http://runker_room.tripod.com/tiestalk/tiestalk.htm See -- or rather, read -- you online!
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