Description
Book SynopsisThis entertaining compendium is a celebration of Japanese American history and heritage. While detailing favorite foods, customs, words, games, and holidays, it explores the painful history of immigration and WWII internment, with suggestions for connecting to your Japanese American community and passing on traditions across generations and into intermarried families. This revised edition has fresh interviews with Japanese Americans about their life experiences and explores contemporary Japanese pop culture like anime and J-pop, with information on traveling to visit your Japanese roots and lists of resources on the Web and social media. Gil Asakawa lives in Denver, Colorado, and is a nationally known journalist, editor, author, speaker, and blogger focusing on Japanese and Asian American issues.
Trade Review"Being Japanese American is a superb guide to avoiding breaches of tact around Japanese friends, family, or visitors, regardless of one's own ethnic heritage or background, and is also chock-full of helpful ways to embrace, preserve, and treasure one's cultural identity." -- Midwest Book Review "Offers a great opportunity for JAs to process their feelings and experiences in relationship to other JAs who, through their stories and photos, share empathy and understanding." -- Asian Reporter "Teens who want to know a little more about contemporary Japanese American culture beyond all the history books about the World War II internment experience will find great information here..." -- Voice of Youth Advocates, April 2005 Issue "A must-read book that will delight you with its humor and amuse you with its insights; for non-Asian, a must-read book if you're curious about what makes Japanese Americans tick." -- John Tateishi, National Executive Director, Japanese American Citizens League "Part history, part photo album, part cultural document, part memoir, part language lesson, even part cookbook, Being Japanese American is an entertaining primer on many aspects of the Japanese American experience." -- BookDragon "A lighthearted view into the unique lingo, idiosyncrasies and nuances of Japanese American life." -- DiscoverNikkei.org
Table of ContentsContents (1st Edition) Introduction vii Part I: JAs Yesterday 1 Where Did We Come From? Paving the way • Here to stay • The camps • Fighting for a place in society • Speaking out • Redress 2 Memories of Home Games • Crafting a culture • Musical roots • Spiritual roots 3 Customs Turning Japanese • The gift of giving • Celebrations • The rules of death • Rules of etiquette • Values—good and bad 4 Food What’s “authentic” Japanese food? • Ramen • Rice • JA specialties • Mochi and the special foods of New Year • Mochi madness • Recipes you can try 5 Language Typically Japanese—and therefore JA • Growing up in a bilingual household • It’s my name; please don’t mangle it • Learning Japanese Part II: JAs Today 6 It’s Hip to Be Japanese! The power of anime • The man in the lizard suit • Ameri-kana • Hai! Karate • The sporting life • J-pop and the sound of young Japan • On the silver screen • JA lit • On the cutting edge 7 JA Communities Japantowns • Community organizations • Community without J-towns • Church life, newspapers, and the Wonder Years • Nikkei, not just JA • Japanese Canadians, eh 8 Scrapbooking Your History Photos, postcards, and other memorabilia • Climbing the Japanese family tree • Immigration records • Researching internment history • Recording your family history • Preserving your family’s legacy 9 Homeward Bound Strangers in a familiar land • Ways to go • Getting young people to Japan • Tips for your trip Part III: JAs Tomorrow 10 APA, Not Just JA Pan-Asian, not pan-Oriental • Rugs are Oriental; we’re Asian • The rise of Yellow Power • A better tomorrow for APAs on screen • An apology at last • Our work’s not done • Building bridges in a post-/ world Part IV: Resources Organizations • Sites about Japan • Japanese culture • Genealogy • Hapa issues • Internment resources • JA/Nikkei/APA sites • Shopping • Travel to Japan • Books • Films and videos Index
