2022 Spring (Identity in Japan)

Spring 2022

Foreward

I never imagined that when I first joined Uprizine, I would be handed this legacy. Uprizine has always been about invoking passion into others to discuss important issues surrounding the different adversities and social issues that affect humanity all over the world. The never-ending need to discuss certain conflicting ideals of certain social issues has pushed Uprizine to continue to present a variety of topics of dialogue between different groups of people not only within Temple University Japan, but also all those who take the time to read and analyze the various passages and art pieces that have been included within our publication. Each semester, the club has attempted to choose a theme that would inspire others to share their own experiences as well as the experiences of others in such a way that certain issues that would otherwise be ignored and neglected would be thrust into the spotlight. A larger overarching goal of the clubs has been to encourage diversity, equity, and the equality of others by shining a light on issues of social justice and intersectional feminism through the use of this publication. As a result, when I was eventually handed this legacy, I wanted to honor Uprizine’s ideals. However, because this is my first zine as editor in chief, I wanted to make it personal to me.

Personally, I’ve always struggled with my identity because it wasn’t just my perception of myself that influenced and affected my day-to-day life, but the perception of others of me as well. It is how others perceive us and how that perception manifests itself in action that has an emotional and physical

impact on us. Knowing that the Temple University Japan Campus is full of people from diverse backgrounds who have all struggled with their identity and how they are perceived by others, I wanted everyone to share their experiences and struggles in order to begin a discussion about how identity and perception can impact people in a variety of ways. Only when we understand this impact will we be able to empathize with others and begin the discussion about how exactly how others perceive us has caused us to have certain negative experiences during our lifetime. These kinds of encounters are especially noticeable when living in a foreign country where the culture and people are vastly different from one’s own.

Japan, in particular, is a very homogeneous country where identity often gets lost in the mix. Is there a tendency for female issues, LGBTQIA+ issues, and foreign issues to be overlooked because of the need for everyone to be the same, and by failing to recognize the differences of minority groups within Japan and their struggles as a result of their minority identity, it becomes difficult to acknowledge that struggle. When there is no discussion or acknowledgement of the relationship between identity perception and action, it is more difficult to understand how we can improve how the combination of all three and their relationships impact the lives of various groups. Overall, my hope is that the scene will spark a discussion about identity and how it relates to the struggles that each individual person faces not only in Japan, but also in other countries.

Ayaka Dowdy, Editor-in-chief

“since idk what title can I write so I write this :)”

Some short words from ME

“btw this is going to say something about English in Japan I know it’s very messy and I’m sorry about that is because my brain is messy as well as I am writing this piece”

In October 2014, the airplane’s wheels just scratched the asphalt of the runway of the airport in Nagoya (I have forgotten the name of the airport so ya :)). That was the first time ever in Japan, totally new, and sometimes to be mysterious (idk y). After me and my family reached a random hotel in Nagoya, my mum and the hotel receptionist were struggling to communicate with each other because on that time they didn’t know each other’s language (btw my mum had learned Japanese literally decades ago but she has forgotten what she learned decades ago and thus she struggles to communicate with a random local and needs to rely a translator. Ok back to the text). Before that I had heard a lot of tourists were struggling to communicate with Japanese locals since they don’t know English well. Thus, I always boast that my English will be “Big in Japan” since my command of English is not really good in my home country which is in Malaysia. But when I come to Japan, since they literally don’t speak a single a word of English in their daily life. But why can’t they have a good command of English? And is it true that using a different language will affect its identity in Japan?

First and foremost, we must look at how the Japanese government views English education. From past to present, the attitude towards English education in Japan is up and down, from using English as a medium to giving up English and picking back English but slowly throwing

-Hongbin Law

it away. Literally everyone in Japan will know about this historical event by the Meiji Emperor. This guy feels that the only way to get Japan stronger is to westernize, so he literally westernizes everything including food, culture and language. Not just modernizing the economy, living standards and the military in Japan. That brought the widespread use of English in Japan and some of the people had a feeling that English will eventually replace Japanese to be the lingua franca in Japan. Which feels hmm, kinda good. When you finished reading that last paragraph, you guys might think that hooray, I’m not going to learn Japanese in order to communicate with them when I am travelling in Japan. Heh, things got worse when the enactment of Meiji Constitution in 1889. BOOM! The nationalism soared in Japan and suddenly the national anthem just played in your head, and you have forgotten any English words, and you will be ashamed when you learn English. But don’t worry, the nationalism in Japan had gone down again when the United States occupied Japan and rebuilt it to prevent communism from soaring in Japan. At that time, English in Japan is just like saying “Hi I’m back, do you guys miss me?” And the host of the Olympics in Japan in 1964, the Japanese government felt that time to improve citizens' English. But it rarely does any effect to improve it. The old school teaching method rarely made Japanese students learn any useful English and they needed to rely on translators to tell their stories to the world. But don’t forget that the economic boom in the 60s also made nationalism soar again and everyone plays the national anthem in their brains. (Please fast forward when you’re reading this) No one wants to learn English, keep calm and speak Japanese.

But during this era of globalization (pre-covid era), people from all the world started to get to know about Japan's long story and learns Japanese, and also more and more Japanese are getting fluent in English without diminishing their identity as Japanese. This is a good start for everyone in the world who are interested in Japanese and Japanese people getting to know each other. So, in the foreseeable future, Japan will be more linguistically more globalized and to be more tolerant. (Just a simple write and my essay might be out of topic)

Here are some experiences of I in Japan as a tourist years ago. As I found out that the English proficiency in Japan is not really bad as like cannot speak a single word of English. Some of the people that I met are relatively fluent in English, it is just because they are afraid to speak out on what they learn in school. But after reading some materials, there are still some parts of English education in Japan and the attitude towards the identity of being a Japanese hinders the proficiency of English of the majority of the Japanese. A lot of countries have a strong nationalism and the identity of themselves, they are still trying to connect the world in English by using bi-lingual education. For example, Taiwan is transitioning into a bi-lingual education system to boost the proficiency of English among students in Taiwan. The attitude towards identity is not only based on what language you speak, but it is based on the traditional culture that you practice such as celebrating traditional festivals and so-on, like the Peranakan culture in Malaysia and Singapore, most of them speak English or Malay as their first language but they are practicing traditional Chinese culture, and even merge with some other cultures such as the Nyonya delicacies. So, there is still a different mindset for the

Japanese nationalist to realize, and also knowing another language lets your ideas and thoughts spread even faster.

So ya, these are my words for me to submit it to Uprizine, hope you guys enjoy it and don’t ban my essay which might be out of topic. (Please check before publish) Hope fellow readers who have successfully reach here to expand your knowledge and read from a different perspective. See ya!

-Mili Joy Matthias

Stand out

- Biki Balami

- Biki Balami

A night in the city

- Biki Balami

“I Don’t Belong Here”.

I am sure I am not the only one to have thought they did not belong somewhere whether it be due to my skin color, gender, or the language I speak. There are several reasons for someone not feeling like they belong. Personally, I have never truly felt like I did not belong somewhere as everywhere I went in my life, I was usually accepted flaws and all. It is not matter about who I was or what I was because everyone around me was different too. As I had never truly experienced the feeling of being an outsider within a community I felt connected to, it shocked me when I had decided to move to Japan and I finally experienced the feeling of “I don’t belong here. So how did I get to this point.

To begin, I came to Japan a year and a half ago in 2021 of which I was only at the beginning of my journey here in Japan. Being half Japanese and never having lived in Japan I thaught that this would be the point in my life where I would be embrace my Japanese culture and community

and it along would embrace me as well. However, this innocent thoughts of a sense of belonging was soon crushed after I had more experiences in Japan. Initially, it was not too obvious. I got the occasional strong stare of someone in restaurants, on the train, or on the side walk. These things were expected because I was brown and Japan is a very homogeneous country so to see someone of my complection walk around was probably not very normal and was somewhat shocking to see. Nevertheless, within the second month that I had been in Japan is when I started to feel that it became slightly more obvious as those around me and who I considered my friends to see me as an outsider. Within the first semesters that I had at Temple, I was fully online due to the Coronavirus situation. As a result, the only community that I had access to were those within my dorm. Everyone was Japanese and I felt like I could connect to them because of our shared cultural background. However, no matter how much we had in common I noticed that they would never regard me as someone who is Japanese. I see that sometimes they keep me out of certain conversations or activities because they feel that I would not like

it because I am not 100% Japanese and I would never be able to understand them at that level.

While many of my Japanese friends regarded me as an outsider, it was never just them either. My family as well has a tendency to keep me out or push me away because they feel that I will never be able to understand in a deeper level when it comes to being a Japanese person. They do not think that I suffer from the same expectation that they are being held at due to the fact that I am an outsider. It hurt the most when those who are supposed to be so close to you are the ones who tend to push you away even though you feel as if you belong.

Additionally, this feeling of “I do not belong here” also has manifested on a nation wide level due to the fact hat there are rules that physically make half children become the outsider that they do not want to be. As many of those who live within Japan know, once a child with dual nationality (Only Japanese national) are required to choose which nationality they will use for the rest of their lives. Japan does not allow those with dual citizenship to continue to have Japanese

citizenship once they turn the age of 21, they must choose one. Many of which choose the other citizenship. Nevertheless, while this rule is not 100% enforced the fact that it still exists can make someone feel as if the country that they identify with or have a connection to does not feel the same way.

All of these experiences here in Japan has made me feel as an outsider. I never truly feel connected to everyone of my Japanese friends at my dorm or family as they never truly see me in the same way. The community that I wanted and looked forward to getting to know when I came to Japan did not meet the expectations and fantasy that I had in my head. I understand that I will never truly be able to fit in here or be accepted as Japanese here. Overall, the feeling of “I don’t belong here” will forever resonate with me, but it will never discourage me from being here and I hope that it does not discourage others either. We do belong here and we should not let anyone else tell us any different.

-Ayaka Dowdy

Endnote

Every story that was shared an art piece that was drawn for the scene reflects a different experience for each person. This does not mean that the experiences of these individuals are isolated and unique to that person. The point of this scene was to inspire a discussion between identity and how that relates to the struggles of others living here in Japan. Many of the experiences of the women who participated in this scene could be similar to the experiences of those with an LGBTQ I a plus community and it is that connection of identity and struggle that we hope would inspire a discussion between the two groups knowing that this issue is intersectional. However, it is important to acknowledge that these sorts of issues are not just prevalent within Japan it happens in every country all over the world no matter where one lives identity is a huge part of everyone’s experience. It is imperative that we continue to acknowledge identity and perception of others as a contributing factor to our experiences in life and how we move forward together as a group to improve the world that we live in.

Credits

Contributions

Editor in Chief/Leader - Ayaka Dowdy

Sub leader - Bethany Kennedy

Zine Designer - Biki Balami

Translation - Biki Balami

Written Works

Hongbin Law

Saurav Shrestha

Ayaka Dowdy

Artworks

Biki Balami

Naomi Sinai

Mili Joy Matthias

Special Thanks

Angelyn Labadan

Prof. Kyle Cleveland

Prof. Sarajean Hassanali

TUJ OSS