Chapter 2

Acrowd of Students moves like a herd towards the pavilion, located in the heart of the campus. As they arrive, they line up with their respective classes, making sure that they are lined up as straight as a pin. The student council members call everyone to attention. They call out the morning greeting. “Stand up. Straighten up. Bow.” The students shout “good morning” in unison. Another day of SFJS is about to start.

SFJS not only provides a unique educational experience to their students, it also fosters an environment for Japanese kids where Japanese kids can be part of a community with similar culture and values. It allows students to experience the social and cultural aspects of a Japanese school and feel part of the Japanese community.

Kotone Takada, an American born Japanese, found that one of the aspects of Japanese culture integrated into SFJS’ environment were the strict rules. Since she never experienced going to school in Japan, she was sometimes surprised by the things that were taboo in SFJS. She talked about an experience she had with her friends getting caught when eating a snack during break time. She says, “the fact that we had to hide it was surprising”(Takada)

Kato, who had gone to schools in Japan before moving, found these rules familiar, and much different from the more laid-back rules in her American school. She commented on the differences between the two different school systems: “SFJS compared to American schools, It’s really strict, but I feel like compared to schools in Japan, it’s actually a lot more loose” (Kato). For her, SFJS is more of a hybrid between the two countries’ school systems. But since she was used to the stricter Japanese system, it was easier for her to adjust to the environment at SFJS.

SFJS holds various extracurricular events that are a familiar part of schools in Japan. These events range from sports day to the school play festival to the annual food bazaar.

During sports day, students are divided into teams based on their classes and compete in different sports, like dodgeball, basketball, or volleyball. When preparing for these special events, each class creates their own customized T Shirt to represent their team. Students also compete for which team has the best T-shirt design. Last year, the winning design was a shirt inspired by the Kit Kat candy bar, which phonetically in Japanese is written as Kitto Katsu (which means “we will win”). Aside from the T-shirt contests, the sports competition is equally as competitive. Teams will spend days and weeks practicing and strategizing before the competition. Takada noted how the level of competitive spirit increases as kids move to higher grade levels. “It gets pretty intense once you’re in the upper classes. You’re upper class, so you don’t want to be beaten by a freshman.” Through the sports day competition, everyone becomes closer knit and develops stronger connections with their classmates. Ryuto Tsuruoka, a current student at SFJS, mentioned that his favorite memory he had at school was sports day. Aside from winning, he thought that the opportunity to get closer to his classmates was another positive aspect of sports day. He says “It fosters our sense of community. You’re in competition with other classes within your grade and get to spend time with them”(Tsuruoka).

The Gakugeisai, the school play festival, is held near the end of the year after the students finish their final exams. Preparation for the Gakugeisai starts 3 months before, since a lot of work is required to get ready for the final performance. The story, script, costumes, and set are all created by SFJS students. Towards the end of the school year, preparation for this event becomes the focus at school for the students. Kato believes that preparing for the Gakugeisai helps students get closer to one another: “I like the Gakugeisai because my classmates collaborated together to make a full 10 minute skit.” The festival is held in late February , with each class presenting their skit to the whole school. While there is lots of anxiety building up to each performance, it is one of the most enjoyable events for students each year, because they get to share the results of their hard work with the whole community.

Cultural events like these give students a sense of the social customs of Japanese schools. Takada found that these events were unique, as they didn’t exist in her American schools. “All the events were kind of strange, but I liked the uniqueness of it all. It was kind of like an escape from American school and something different.”

Even the annual food bazaar is a different experience compared to a food sale at an American school. SFJS students are able to buy and sample different Japanese dishes provided by local Japanese restaurants. Students can buy foods ranging from fruit sandwiches, to chicken karaage, to curry rice, or Japanese snacks that are hard to find in the States.

Heritage schools like SFJS can often provide a more inclusive environment for immigrant and multicultural students that can help them to develop their social self more easily than they can in their American schools. Within the heritage community, they often feel more comfortable and confident because they are in a familiar environment with others who share a similar background and values. Many SFJS students feel that the social interactions at their American schools can be quite different. According to Takada, “Since everyone is Japanese, I feel like I can connect with people in a way that I can’t in my American school.” Takada mentions how the demographic makeup at SFJS contrasts to her predominantly White and Hispanic school. “Sometimes I’ll be the only Asian among my friends, but in SFJS we’re all Asian so race doesn’t really affect me.” However, the question is how does being in a place surrounded by those of similar heritage benefit students. One of the main benefits of everyone having the same cultural background is that it helps students find a sense of belonging that they might not have in their American school. Because of this, heritage schools can create a closer, more supportive community. Tsuruoka states,“It’s a tight knit community. Even when you don’t know everyone’s names, you’re familiar with everyone’s face to the point where you just see someone outside of school and you can say hi.” On a deeper level, Takada believes that the reason for the tight knit SFJS community also has to do with the common values Japanese people have. She says, “I think Japanese people are very focused on togetherness. As a community, we help each other without question and are supportive in a different way. It’s different to how Americans view their interactions with other people”(Takada).

Heritage schools can also help their students to build confidence and develop their personalities in a more familiar and safer environment. Kato moved from Japan to America in the 2nd grade and started attending SFJS in 4th grade. She ran and won a position on the student council in middle school and became the student council leader in her high school years. In recalling her motivation to run for student council, she said, “I couldn’t talk to people, so I really wanted to change my personality, and be able to talk in front of people” (Kato). Through her position as a student council member, she made morning announcements, facilitated school events, and even created new social events. Kato’s favorite part of being a student council member was being able to connect with more students at SFJS: “ a lot of people that I didn’t even know talked to me. It led me to meet people I didn’t know, even from different grades.” She was able to experience this opportunity because she felt comfortable taking a risk to do something new within the SFJS community, something that she wouldn’t feel confident doing at her American school. She says, “I feel like it’s more inclusive in SFJS. At least for me, I was able to talk with almost everyone”(Kato).

For immigrant kids, the transition to life in America can be a confusing undertaking. At such a young age, they are forced into an unfamiliar environment, while they are still trying to figure out who they are. SFJS helps immigrant kids transition more easily in an environment that is like Japan, while still including some aspects of the American system. Through shared cultural values and common backgrounds, SFJS can create a close community that is hard to find elsewhere. The SFJS community is like a bento box, with many different types of people(food), with a common theme, tightly and neatly packed together. With the community’s support, students are better able to adapt to their new environment and succeed.

Chapter 3

Although education and community are key reasons for heritage school enrollment, what makes them especially important for multicultural kids is how they can help foster their cultural identity. For multicultural kids in America, it is especially important, due to the dominant influence of American culture. It can be easy to lose connection with their heritage culture and lose their home country ties. Because of this dominant influence, they may feel pressured to assimilate to their new environment while ignoring the ties to their heritage culture.

According to Mary Zheng, Bridgewater State University, acculturation is defined as “the process in which an individual learns and adapts to the norms of a different culture”(Zheng). She states that this is not the same as assimilation which requires one to completely adopt those cultural norms into their own identity and life. Acculturation can have positive impacts on development of heritage youths.

Further, Jean S. Phinney, a psychology professor who conducts research on identity development, states that heritage individuals who acculturate “strive to achieve or maintain a positive social identity, thus boosting their selfesteem” (Phinney). Assimilation on the other hand may lead to cultural bereavement. Cultural bereavement, as defined by Jay Patel from the University Maryland Department of English, is a “form of psychological grief caused by the loss of one’s culture”(Patel). Through assimilation, immigrant kids risk losing their heritage cultural identity, which can lead to regret and lower self esteem.

Many of the kids in SFJS continue to hold on to their heritage values and culture as part of their identity instead of letting go of them completely. The school’s promotion of Japanese heritage in its space helps students to maintain a positive attitude and acceptance of their Japanese identity and allows students to go through a process of acculturation. Because of the school’s strong emphasis on maintaining their Japanese heritage, SFJS’ students are more likely to adapt to American cultural norms, while still maintaining their Japanese identity.

Tsuruoka expresses that SFJS provided him with a place where he can reinforce his mixed Japanese and Indian Identity, as he has the opportunity to meet other mixed people like him. He states, “I feel like a lot of people talk about identity crises with being of two different cultures. I feel like when you go to somewhere like SFJS, you don’t really feel that because there’s diversity within the community”(Tsuruoka). Because of this, he doesn’t feel as alienated from his identity. A community to find people common to you can whelp multicultural people achieve a strong sense of ethnic identity leading to a more positive sense of one’s ethnic group, which in turn is a “source of personal strength and psychological well-being”(Phinney).

How do the kids at SFJS define their identity through the acculturation process?

Many SFJS students define themselves as either Japanese or Japanese-American. Takada defines herself as Japanese American. “I feel a little disconnected with my Japanese side since I lived here for so long, and also, I haven’t actively tried to be more like Japanese.” Because she’s been living her whole life in America, she feels less connected with Japanese culture compared to other SFJS students. But she still feels the need to balance between her Japanese and American identities in her life outside of SFJS. One situation where Takada notices a difference is how families react to sleeping over at a friend’s house. She was surprised to see how other cultures’ families were more open to her staying over at a friend’s house. This is different from the reaction that many Japanese people have of not wanting to be a burden to other families. With experiences like this, Takada learned that it is important to understand how other cultures can have completely different values compared to her Japanese values. Tsuruoka adds on to this point, as he noticed the differences between the cultures. “Some aspects of Japanese culture are obscure to Americans, and some aspects of American culture are obscure to Japanese. For example, social etiquette can be very different.” He mentioned how he was surprised by his American friends who were foreign to the idea of taking their shoes off at home, a common norm in Japanese households. multicultural kids must figure out what parts of their culture they can display and what parts they conceal, so they don’t appear to look weird.

Kato, when asked the question about how she identifies, had a different perspective compared to Takada due to the fact that she lived in Japan for a majority of her life. When asked the question, she responded that she feels more Japanese. However, she mentioned that recently, she has been feeling more American. Although she identified as full Japanese when first coming to America, she started to become more connected to American culture. She says, “Few years ago, I would say I was a hundred percent Japanese, because my Japanese is a lot better than my English. But nowadays, I feel like I’m losing some of my Japanese”(Kato). With kids who immigrate to America in their childhood years, there is often a shift in how they identify themselves depending on how long they live in their new environment. Language can also play an important role in shaping one’s cultural identity. Bonny

Norton, a professor of the Department of Language and Literacy Education at British Columbia University, describes the link between a linguistic language and identity. She states that language is “theorized not only as a linguistic system, but as a social practice in which experiences are organized and identities negotiated”(Norton).

Tsuruoka agrees with this statement. In his experience, he identifies more with his Japanese and American side over his Indian side because of the difference in language proficiency. “When you don’t know the language, it’s harder to connect with the culture. If you don’t know the language, you can’t talk to people, so you can’t connect, relate, or learn as much of the culture.” Making personal connections is the most important way to associate with another culture. When they are more proficient in their heritage language, multicultural kids identify more with their heritage culture as a result. With proficient language skills, it is easier for multicultural kids to stay connected to their relatives in their home country and interact with others of the same heritage. Takada feels that SFJS has helped her in being able to communicate with her family in Japan.

She says, “If I didn’t go to SFJS I wouldn’t be able to communicate with them at all. Even though I can’t communicate everything that I want to, it’s enough to allow me to have a meaningful relationship with them”(Takada). Communication is key to developing social connections which is why language education is a key part of heritage school curriculums and a key benefit for its students. Zheng, in her study about the connection between ethnic identity and resiliency, highlights the importance of social interaction for racial/ethnic identity development. Zheng states it is because they “contribute to the individual’s understanding of cultural differences in the daily interactions they partake in with their peers’’(Zheng).

Therefore, having these social interactions can help “crystallize” one’s sense of identity.

Tsuruoka believes that being a part of multiple cultures also made him more open minded towards different groups of people.

He asserts that by experiencing different cultures, “you get a much broader view of the world and can understand and accept people’s nuances”(Tsuruoka). He believes that if he didn’t get to experience American culture, he would not have been familiar with issues like mental health or feminism. Different cultures hold different values, norms, and practices, but mono-cultural people may not be exposed to those different ways of thinking.

Aside from helping form a strong cultural identity and create a more open mind, being multilingual and multicultural has other benefits as well. Having the ability to speak multiple languages and understand multiple cultures can also create more possibilities for people coming from multicultural environments. Kato believes that with her ability to speak both Japanese and English, her future has more opportunities. She says, “Being able to speak Japanese, I have the opportunity to work in either Japan or America. I can even go to college in either country”(Kato). Multilingual and multicultural can be superpowers that help you succeed in a cosmopolitan society. With the World becoming more interconnected, the power to communicate and build bridges between nations becomes more of a necessity.