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| "Shikata Ga Nai/It has to be endured" |
Our last Cultural Feast field trip for 2023 focused on Japanese culture. As with Chinese culture, we had to limit our scope because there is so much to explore about Japanese culture or its storied history. Poignantly though, there are only three Japantowns left in the US, all in California - San Francisco, San Jose and Los Angeles.
We hesitated between San Francisco and San Jose. San Francisco's Japantown is larger and has malls filled with quintessential Japanese items, while San Jose's Japantown has retained more traditional stores. What tipped the scale was the Japanese American Museum in San Jose - they were happy to arrange a tour for our group. Initially we hesitated since our group was nearing 40 people and they could only guarantee docent availability a couple of months ahead, but it turned out to be fine.
Stop #1: Japanese American Museum San Jose
Our tour was scheduled for 10am, which is before the museum's regular opening hour of 12pm. This was ideal since our group could focus on the exhibits without worrying about disturbing others. A nice side effect is that we could park in the museum's parking lot; otherwise we would have had to pay for street parking after 10am. That said, there is free street parking a few blocks away.
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| Japanese American Museum SJ (535 N. Fifth Street) |
We were especially looking forward to the Barracks Room exhibit - a recreation of a family's lodging at the Tule Lake camp. From a photo essay, "“The barracks were hastily constructed and the wood was untreated.. As the wood aged, the floorboards spread which created a gap. The frequent dust storms would cause sand and dirt to come streaming through the gaps and it would get into all of your belongings...Void of any insulation, the barracks quickly cooled. Without coal for the stove and without blankets or bedding, all seven of us spent the night huddled together on the floor for warmth."
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| Credit: Japanese American Museum San Jose |
The museum also describes the contributions of Japanese towards the agricultural economy. A KQED article describes, "..before World War II, the area around San Jose was dotted with hundreds of Japanese farms growing vegetables for local and regional markets.. Japanese sent to camps in 1942 had to liquidate everything they couldn't carry with them.. (they) left $22 million of crops in the ground across California."
Stop #2: Japantown Landmarks
Still, they endured, and they returned. Japantown San Jose has various landmarks with inscriptions encapsulating Japanese resilience. Unfortunately it was raining the day we visited, but we had planned a scavenger hunt for them, including the Nikkei Lantern. If your students are familiar with WWII history, ask them to look closely: " Etched in the bend of the lantern is”February 19, 1942,” the date Executive Order 9066 was signed. This bend symbolizes the profound stress and dislocations imposed upon Japanese Americans during internment."
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| Nikkei Lantern: photo credit Japantown San Jose |
Stop #3: Heinlenville Park
Docents at the museum had suggested Heinlenville Park (200 E Santa Clara St) for our group to relax and have lunch. Not only is it a quiet place to relax for lunch after the tour, it has informational plaques and art that tie back to Heinlenville's history as a former Chinatown, and its entwined history with Japantown.
#4. Shuei-Do Manju
While the students relaxed, some parents went over to Shuei-Do Ma\nju (217 Jackson Street) to pick up some manju that we had pre-ordered. Manju are stuffed rice flour cakes, and Shuei-Do Manju has excellent credentials because they served the Emperor of Japan on his last visit. They post the flavors of the week on their Facebook page, and to guarantee availability, it's recommended to call ahead to reserve. For an explanation on manju vs mochi, see this SakuraCo page. The following menu picture may help you decide, but it's still a hard choice because everything we tried was delicious. 😋
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| Shuei-Do Manju menu |
#5. Nijiya San Jose
Another option for lunch was bento boxes at Nijiya San Jose (240 Jackson St). We are so blessed in the Bay Area because we have several ethnic markets to choose from.
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| Credit: Japanese Snack Reviews |
We had earlier reached out to Nijiya's manager for suggestions on bento boxes for our field trip, and they had replied, "If you happen to stop by at our store after the Japanese American Museum, I would recommend some rice balls (onigiri), some snack, and some ramune drink to go with for lunch at the park. We also have pre-packaged lunch boxes (bento), side dishes (sozai) and sushi if your students are familiar with Japanese foods. "
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| Nijiya bento box (photo credit: Yelp) |
Bonus: Nichi Bei Bussan
We hadn't scheduled this formally because younger students would have been tired after the tour, but we recommend stopping in at Nichi Bei Bussan (140 Jackson St). Owner Arlene has wonderful stories to share: she was born in the Topaz internment camp, her brother had been born in the Tanforan holding center and her father had taken the only private footage available of internment conditions. She is happy to describe Japanese culture or the immigration experience - we hope she will write them down sometime.
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| Nichi Bei Bussan, photo credit NBstore.com |
Speaking of memoirs, we highly recommend the following books:
Recommended for middle/high school
Journey to Topaz, by Yoshiko Uchida (also the sequel, Journey Home)
Recommended for elementary school
Our current culture tends to embrace pleasure - we know about Cherry Blossom festivals, and perhaps some others like Obon and Nikkei Matsuri. But we shy away from pain, which is why books like the above are important. Besides being firsthand narratives of Japanese culture and history, they bear testimony of a culture that endured pain. We recommend the above in particular because they show grace and forgiveness. True, Japanese history has had dark stains (Lord willing, we will cover another perspective of WWII experience with future Cultural Feasts including Philippines and Vietnam). However, we hope the books and experiences above will help us remember that we are all sinners in need of God, and with Christ we can forgive and be free.
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