I have always felt such a connection to Japan for obvious reasons perhaps. I am an American Japanese (third generation, sansai). When dealing with Japanese companies I have done very well communicating, socializing and conducting business with them. But I have never felt like one of them, meaning that when I am working with a client I feel right at home with them and seem to quickly connect on a business and social level, no matter what the language. In Paris when Ariel could not join me, it took me no time to blend in, socialize and thrive. But the very people I come from feel just a step removed from me.
This trip to Tokyo with Richard Taylor was to pitch our media plan to his distributors. While I should have been sleeping, each late night and early morning I was out and about with my camera, studying, interacting and trying to connect, find home.
The Japanese are friendly, clean and civilized (OK don’t jump the gun here, I am nice, I bathe and on occasion can be civilized). So was Japan home? No. It is where my Grandparents came from and I am deeply Japanese in my heritage. But I am an American. An American-Japanese but truly American. I realized that and the Japanese knew it too. I was addressed as an American and not a Japanese before I opened my mouth. It’s not rejection its recognition. So initially its who we came from but ultimately where we’ve been? Is that it? Perhaps.
So I spent the rest of my time in Japan feeling like an American tourist who has an unusually broad knowledge of the culture. Quite enjoyable and yet removed. Like a Japanese tourist in America, looks like an American Japanese but is clearly not.
Landing in California as the airplane wheels touched down I said to myself “home”.
Then I thought about my Grandfather’s last words, “America, I was Japanese in America”. I have a greater understanding of those words now.
I was American in Japan.
