hap·a
ˈhäpə,ˈhapə/
noun
US
- a person who is partially of Asian or Pacific Islander descent.
I am third generation Japanese on my mother's side and am going to be starting this project by researching this side of my family first. Besides learning more about my grandparent's time in the Japanese Internment Camps I would like to learn more about their childhood and where my family comes from in Japan.
Over the course of this project I am hoping to accomplish a wide variety of goals. I am sure over time they will evolve or change. Most importantly I want this to be more than just a simple family tree. I want it to show my family's experiences, emotions and personality so I can keep their memory alive through another medium. I am hoping that having these stories can bring my family closer together and give us all a deeper understanding of where we came from.
This week I focused on gathering family names and starting a family tree. I signed up for a free trial on Ancestry.com and got started.
Registration for the website was fairly easy but looking up family members wasn't quite as simple as I'd expected. Since many of my Japanese family members have both a Japanese and English name it made the search process a little harder. Also, I found that many of the documents with my great-grandparents names had misspellings. Luckily by talking to my family and doing some research I was able to find more information.
The best part of Ancestry.com is that you can find specific documents verifying each family member's identity. Then you can save them into each person's profile. Before you know it you have so many leads that you don't even know where to start!
So far I was able to find immigration and boat records for all four of my great-grandparents on my Japanese side. I was also able to find documentation of their time in Japanese internment camps and my grandfather's time served in the United States army. Unfortunately from there I hit a dead end. Ancestry.com does not have a program in Japan so I am not able to search history that happened before they arrived in the United States.
Below is the start of my family tree. By the end I hope to have a physical one with photos that I can hang in my house.
My family at my graduation from CSU Chico in 2008
Me and my family 1995
This week I focused on gathering family names and starting a family tree. I signed up for a free trial on Ancestry.com and got started.
Registration for the website was fairly easy but looking up family members wasn't quite as simple as I'd expected. Since many of my Japanese family members have both a Japanese and English name it made the search process a little harder. Also, I found that many of the documents with my great-grandparents names had misspellings. Luckily by talking to my family and doing some research I was able to find more information.
The best part of Ancestry.com is that you can find specific documents verifying each family member's identity. Then you can save them into each person's profile. Before you know it you have so many leads that you don't even know where to start!
So far I was able to find immigration and boat records for all four of my great-grandparents on my Japanese side. I was also able to find documentation of their time in Japanese internment camps and my grandfather's time served in the United States army. Unfortunately from there I hit a dead end. Ancestry.com does not have a program in Japan so I am not able to search history that happened before they arrived in the United States.
Below is the start of my family tree. By the end I hope to have a physical one with photos that I can hang in my house.
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My family tree on the Kihara side. I was not able to search any further than my great-grandparents.
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My family tree on the Irvine side. As you can see I was able to get a lot further. I was able to find the first family members that came to the United States from England.
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Wow! I can totally see your excitement for this project in the way you write about it and the time you have already invested into the project. I cannot wait to learn more about your families triumphs and struggles!
ReplyDeleteYou are doing a great job of the family tree. You remind me to think my grandfather. He has a family book. It's like a 300 pages book. I forget the details, just remember there are a lot of names on it and how the relationship of everyone. It is a ancient book, and it still goes on. You are doing a meaningful thing : )
ReplyDeleteI love it! You did a great job on your family tree and all your pictures. Family trees are great to have so you can share with your future children about your roots. Maybe you will find out interesting exciting things in your family that you can pass on as you continue your project. I want to learn more about your families history, struggles, and accomplishments. Thank you for sharing your amazing project.
ReplyDeleteYour blog looks so professional! Did your grandparent experience the Japanese Internment Camps? I learned about the time and visited the California State Museum to learn more about it when I took a sociology class at Sac City college. I had mixed emotions because I had a deep prejudice that Japan was perpetrator for its 36 years of colonization over Korea. And they have never apologized about the past history. But during the time, lots of Japanese Americans were expelled from their places and had a tough time in camps. Powerless citizens were victims of war regardless of their nationality and ethnicity. In addition, they finally elicited apology from the U.S. government and were compensated for the time. I was impressed at their persistent endeavors and the American government's determination. I hope the Korean government and the Japanese government will reach a desirable reconciliation someday.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that you mention that because when I lived in Korea I actually had a few students tell me that they hated Japanese people. I had not known about the tension between the two countries until I had moved there. Though it was shocking to hear my students say those things I think it provided a good starting point for conversations about prejudice and stereotypes.
DeleteKorea and Japan have a very tumultuous past and many Korean people suffered without any acknowledgement and apology. It was not until very recently that Comfort Women were even spoken of. I hope that someday the two countries can find peace and understanding.
How cool, I love everything about history and family history. Have you done the DNA test from ancestry? I got one for Christmas and found the results to be pretty interesting, I even got to add a lot more to my ancestry tree (leaves). I am excited to learn more about your family history, as I do not know much about Japan or people of Japanese descent (culturally speaking). I read something regarding Miss Japan and them calling her a name because she was was only half Japanese and how much criticism she received. Can hapa be used in a derogatory way? or is it just a term? Also I am wondering if you had any family members in the horrendous Japanese Internment camps?
ReplyDeleteYes both of my mother's parents were in Japanese internment camps. I will have a few blog entries about their experience before, during and after the camps.
DeleteI have only heard about Hapa being used as a way to embrace being biracial. There is even a coffee table book that has photos of lots of different Hapa people.
I did hear about Miss Japan and I think a big part of that is the lack of cultural diversity in Japan. Unlike here there really aren't many people from different races. Pretty much everyone is Japanese or a foreigner.
It reminds me of a friend that I have from Brazil. He is full blood Japanese but was born and raised in Brazil. He said that he finds it very difficult because people don't accept him on either side. In Brazil people refuse to say that he is Brazilian. In their eyes he is Japanese. But when he visits family in Japan they say, no you are Brazilian.
I think that his experience is very common and I have even experienced that to some extent. There is a need for people to be able to label and define what a person is. So many people have asked me if I feel more Japanese or more white. To me it seems so weird that someone would ask me that because I feel like I shouldn't have to choose.
Mandy,
ReplyDeleteI am so excited for you that you are doing this! I myself have always wanted to do this. I do not personally know my biological father, though I know his name and where he lives. I know on my moms side, I am pretty much a mut: dutch, Native American, Irish, etc. However, I am pretty sure it is more narrowed on his side. Because of this, and my health issues, I have always wanted to complete one of these so I can get more information about my 'other family'.
I am excited to see how this works out for you and the ins and outs of ancestry.com. I am hoping that watching you do it, will help me feel less overwhelmed by it.
I join the class in declaring this to be an exciting and enlightening adventure. I hope to learn more about how your grandparents recovered from internment camps and how ancestry informs your current identity. I also am enjoying hearing about the investigation process that you are undertaking. Can't wait to read more!
ReplyDeleteWow - Love the family tree idea! Your blog looks awesome and you are gonna have a blast uncovering your family roots and history.
ReplyDeleteI always wanted to do this as well. In the time of my great-grandparents, and prior, the town/village that they lived in, no one really kept records. For that reason, I don't know how far I would be able to trace my family history.
Can't wait to read your next post!