米国日系人市民協会会議での挨拶 2007年8月4日
在ヒューストン日本国総領事 加茂佳彦
It is my honor to be invited here to Donna’s home today and you have made me, or I should say “us” feel very flattered and proud to be honored by having this meeting called in our honor. Etsuko joins me in thanking you for your thoughtfulness and friendship.
I am a consul general of Japan and you are U.S. citizens. We are different in that sense, but I find myself to be very privileged and fortunate to have learned a lot from an amazing group of people called Japanese Americans: their past sacrifices, present successes and future aspirations. I especially appreciate our hostess, Donna Cole and your President, Professor George Hirasaki who organized this occasion.
Today I would like to talk about what I have learned from you and my expectations for you. I hope I don’t sound too arrogant or uncivilized.
The first time I met any Japanese Americans was 30 years ago when I attended Amherst College in Massachusetts. My association with them back then was weak at best. Here in Houston is the first time that I have had a chance to meet, make friends and really get to know Japanese Americans.
In this regard, I was most fortunate that during my early months in Houston the Holocaust Museum put on two photo exhibitions in collaboration with the Japanese Consulate. One featured the Japanese American regiment who liberated the Dachau concentration camp during WWII. The other was about the Japanese Schindler, Consul Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat who saved the lives of over 6,000 Jews in Lithuania during WWII.
The Holocaust Museum served as my history teacher, as well as a memory jogger for a special gathering of Japanese Americans who came to Houston from across the nation to remember and tell their stories of WWII. Among them was the incredible story of the magnificent 442. My encounter this part of history is indeed one of the most memorable highlights of my stay in Houston.
The men of the 442 made history and changed America. Their heroic deeds define the identity of Japanese Americans and will continue to do so; and it should because the most penetrating comments and convincing observations that I came across in Houston were directly or indirectly related to the 442. Let me share with you some of the stories that impressed me most.
When John Tateishi flew from San Francisco to Houston in April, 2005 to attend the JACL gathering of WWII Japanese American war veterans, he thought about the Redress Movement carried out by the Japanese American community led by Senator Daniel Inoue and himself. He spoke highly of Senator Inoue’s political acumen by advising that legislation should be pursued in Congress. Tateishi said that in advancing the movement, he stuck to his conviction that an apology from the U.S. government for the treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II should be accompanied by financial compensation. The cruelty of the loyalty test that sometimes left life-long bitterness between brothers was also acknowledged and was certainly one of the most touching episodes recounted by him.
Ambassador to be sent to represent the U.S. in Japan because many Japanese people still felt that Japanese Americans had left Japan because they failed to prevail.
U.C. Berkeley Professor Donald Takaki’s lecture at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston on American immigration was also memorable. His account of 19th century immigration to the U.S. by Irish immigrants contrasted to the immigration of Chinese convincingly explained how America’s expansion from North to South and from East to West was deeply linked to the influx of immigrants. What struck me most is the fact that until 1952 Japanese immigrants, and for that matter, all Asian immigrants were not eligible for naturalization. The first generation Japanese Americans in the internment camps during WWII were indeed legally Japanese. After all, according to Professor Takaki, the legendary bravery and second-to-none contributions of the 442 soldiers paved the way for universal naturalization.
Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norm Mineta was honored at the APAHA gala this year. He was the keynote speaker and shared with us his knowledge of how the Asia Pacific Heritage Month came to be 30 years ago when U.S. Congressman Horton from New York, not an Asian American, took the initiative to institutionalize Asian American Heritage Month. What made this white man commit himself to the Asian cause? He fought with 442 men in Italy during WWII and was enamored with their bravery. The 442s positive influence went way beyond the Japanese American community and served as an empowering force for all Asian Americans.
Honoring the 442 regiment has been done before and maybe it doesn’t cause a lot of excitement, however, the symbolism and role played by the 442nd to the Japanese American community can be compared with that of Martin Luther King, Jr. to the African American community. Museums and memorials are dedicated to them, but my point is that they deserve more.
Japanese Americans in Texas have a unique and noble obligation to educate your fellow Texans about the 442nd and the rescue of the lost battalion. Ultimately they should be given an unequivocal place of honor in U.S. history. They inspired the U.S. twice: They showed her how to fight and they helped her to become more democratic.
During the past 3 years, we have had some occasions to honor the 442: The feature film “Only the Brave” was produced by the Japanese American film makers, actors and actresses and shown in Houston and other cities in Texas. Shara Fryer made her 2006 Texas Emmy Award winning TV documentary called “Unlikely Liberators” in which she interviewed 442 vets and shed light not only on their heroic bravery, but on the hardships endured by Japanese Americans at home during WWII. TV and film actor of Star Trek fame George Takei was awarded the Sun and Star Legacy Award by the Japan America Society of Dallas/Fort Worth in 2006 for his role in promoting the Japanese American cause, including honoring the 442 soldiers. His remarks at the award dinner focused on the 442 and their story.
School classrooms across America should teach children what the 442 did and what their story is about in the same way that the civil rights movement and what happened in the 60’s is taught. To achieve this Japanese Americans need to build political influence, perhaps in a laid back manner, but determined to move in collaboration with other Asian communities, especially involving organizations like APAHA, and setting up a common agenda.
Third and fourth generation Japanese Americans are doing well in America. They are hard working, well educated and successful. Intermarriage is quite common and drives them to be assimilated into the white majority. There is nothing wrong with this, of course, but inevitably young Japanese Americans find it difficult to identify themselves as Japanese, and only as Americans.
I want Japanese Americans to do even better—to become richer and to play more important roles in the U.S. You have accomplished so much, of course, but remember that your potential is limitless. America is the epitome of free-market economy and I would like to hear of many more Japanese American success stories in corporate business like our own Donna and Glen. It is a legitimate ambition for the entire Japanese American community to produce many more Donnas and Glens or other business charismatics like Jack Welch and Michael Bloomberg.
I want Japanese Americans to retain their interest in politics and exert their political influence by running for office at the federal, state, county and city level. Despite the fact that you have already accomplished a lot with the Redress Movement, it is not over yet. You must continue to be politically active like Sandra Tanamachi’s successful and commendable efforts to change derogatory names of roads around Houston and Phillip Shinoda’s attempt to run for the Texas State Legislature from Dallas. I hope we can see more people follow suit. I hear that Senator Inoue is aspiring to establish a Japanese lobby before he retires. Other minorities, including Jews, Armenians and Poles have powerful and influential lobbies. Don’t let your small number scare you. Your Japanese heritage is quite a pedigree among Asian groups. While our unfortunate history might work against you at times, you are surely to be taken seriously. The idea of a strong Japanese American lobby is not outrageous and JACL should take this on aggressively before Senator Inoue retires.
My last message pertains to the new first generation. The latest demographics tell us that the Japanese American community has grown slightly over the years, facing a relative decline of influence in the face of rapid expansion of other Asian American communities like the Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian and so forth. Some say that there is an identity crisis among young Japanese Americans. How should the Japanese American community respond to this identity crisis? My answer is two-fold.
First, you should expand your community and make a concerted effort to recruit other Japanese Americans into your fold. Despite the recent advancement of the concept of “Asian” Americans, you should not forgo the Japanese American identity. I agree that the concept of “Asian” Americans is increasingly gaining ground and serves as an important vehicle for many people of Asian origin to advance their social agendas in contemporary America, but I believe that both identities are mutually compatible. If your identity as Japanese Americans were diluted or evaporated completely in the name of Asian Americans, you will lose out dearly.
The second idea is to collaborate with the new first generation Japanese immigrants that are steadily increasing, albeit slowly. They are people born in Japan who come to the U.S. to fulfill their professional aspirations. Some of them retain their Japanese nationality, green card holders included. Others become U.S. citizens. Green card holders should be invited to be come members of the Japanese American community. Some of them are indeed Japan’s best and brightest so this is a brain drain on Japan. I hope that the best and the brightest do spectacularly well in the U.S. and I believe that in the long run, Japan will reap huge dividends from these Japanese Americans.
The Japanese live on an island nation, and have historically avoided getting involved with foreign affairs. Japan has come this far without mastering the necessary skills to deal with foreign cultures, peoples and conflicts. Japanese Americans on the other hand are adventurers among the Japanese. Your spirit of positive activism, the ability and willingness to take risks are some salient qualities that the Japanese should acquire and nurture as a nation. The new first generation Japanese Americans bring themselves to the U.S. to achieve their full potential. Their experiences, like those of Japanese Americans already here, could take on meaning for the entire Japanese nation. In my view, among all different groups of Japanese people, they are the hard core people with whom you work together and help each other. Embrace these newcomers into your Japanese American community. In return you will get new blood and brains, as well. Everyone wins.
Thank you for your kind attention to my ideas this afternoon, and thank you, Donna, for your gracious hospitality.