Growing Up Japanese

I’m of mixed ancestry. I’m not a “pureblood.” My dad is English, my mom is half Japanese and half American. So that makes me one-fourth Japanese blood. Even though I’m only 25% Japanese, my mom was raised in Japan and with a strong Japanese culture and upbringing, which means I’m raised with a strong Japanese culture, too.

Jei, me and my cousin Kai in Japan

Growing up Japanese is the most fun culture I’ve ever experienced. The food that my grandmother and mother cook is absolutely amazing and unique. Japanese food is very unique in the sense that it doesn’t fill you up, but it takes your hunger away. It’s not good for digestion to overeat and the Japanese have a saying “hara hachi bu,” which means to eat until your belly is only 80% full. The Japanese also take great pleasure in their food. They eat small portions of many different things on lots of pretty small plates and savor the experience of eating good food.

My Japanese breakfast

Ramen is one of my favorites. It’s the very best in Kyushu, Japan. That’s where tonkotsu ramen comes from.

Yakiniku…it was the best ever

Our household is very Japanese. We take off our shoes before entering the house. My mom is very clean and Japanese in her ways. My mom is Japanese in her spiritual beliefs and embraces more than one way of looking at the world and encourages us to do the same. Harmony and order are huge values in Japan, and definitely big values in our home. The Japanese culture is obsessed with something called “mono no aware,” or the awareness of the fleeting nature of life or the impermanence of things. It’s all about treasuring the present moment and all that kind of stuff because time goes by fast, everything is temporary and nothing lasts. So you have to appreciate it all.

Peace is so important and a huge cultural value in Japan

Hiroshima Peace Park, 1000 origami cranes stand for Peace

Koi in Nagasaki, Japan

These koi were hungry

The Japanese take death and ancestors very seriously. When we go to Japan, we always go to the cemetery to clean the graves, burn incense and offer sake and prayers to the dead.

Me at my great grandmother’s grave offering a prayer

Offering incense and prayer with my grandmother for her ancestors

Me and Kai at the cemetery

Japanese culture is also incredibly interesting, especially all the stories of ancient Samurai and legendary swordsman. Japan had some of the best soldiers in history, making very rich history of all the clans and shogun. Japan was huge in its Edo period, which was the time of the Tokugawa shogunate, between 1603 and 1868. Japan was thought to be invincible because it was not successfully invaded by the Mongols. The divine wind, or kamikaze, stopped the Mongols twice! This theory was later disproved when Japan surrendered in World War II to the Americans.

Where my mom grew up in Iwakuni, which is near Hiroshima, there are old homes of Samurai and statues of the feudal lords. During the Edo period, Iwakuni was on of the feudal domains of Japan. There is so much lore and history there. Iwakuni is also famous for the Kintai Bridge, or Kintai-kyo, which is a historical wooden arch bridge that was built in 1673. It has five wooden arches and goes over the Nishiki river, right at the foot of the mountain-top castle, Iwakuni Castle.

Statue of a real Japanese Samurai in Iwakuni

Me on Kintai Bridge

Kintai Bridge

Japan is one of the oldest countries in the world. It has countless historic sites, some of which I have visited. I’ve been to Kintai bridge, Hiroshima Peace Park, Nagasaki, and even to see some of the old Samurai homes in Iwakuni. I’ve visited temples and shrines. I visited We even got to see a Shinto wedding. Japan also has an almost unrivaled media culture, creating anime and more media trends than almost any other country. Japan is now a very cooperative nation, being on friendly terms with America, Britain, and many other countries. Japan is truly one of a kind and I love it.