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Issei: The Shadow Generation Will Kaku
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My Issei grandmother, Yana, died when I was just twelve years old. Because of a language barrier and because of her frail health toward the end of her life, I unfortunately have only faint memories of her. I do remember how she laughed when she saw my brother and I playing in her yard, the delightful smells that permeated throughout her house from her freshly made manju and mochi, and how she thoughtfully selected from the fresh fish catch from Mr. Sugimoto’s van, the well-known Japanese seafood grocer who used to make deliveries to her Palo Alto home.
With her passing came an end to my connection with the Issei generation as my grandfather had passed away
Yana Kaku
decades earlier at the Tule Lake Segregation Center. Much of what I have learned about my grandmother and the Issei generation has been from my relatives and from reading books such as “Issei: The Shadow Generation” by Tsukasa Matsueda. As Mr. Matsueda remarked at the JAMsj/Yu-Ai Kai book signing event held on May 20th, “To many, the Issei remain a shadowy people of the past.” Matsueda writes that many people “do not seem to fully understand how strong, patient, and resilient the Issei were, as they persevered through endless suffering and difficulties. Many of the Nissei seem not to understand how their own basic characteristics and personalities were shaped by their Issei parents.”
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But, Matsueda also says that there are some people who are finally beginning to understand the extent of the Issei contribution. “Many people have called me after reading my book, “ he told me, “and some of the Nissei women cry when they think about their Issei parents and the kuro (hardship) that they went through."
Matsueda recounts the resilience of his own Issei mother who raised three young children after Matsueda’s father died. “I remember how hard she worked and how she would tell me stories while I was at her side as she made a living ironing shirts for one cent per shirt.”
Matsueda feels that the Issei’s success and strength of character fueled the determination to succeed in subsequent generations, but there is a difference. “It seems to me that today’s drive to succeed is based on maintaining materialism. My mother, and other Issei, believed that once you do succeed that you should try to help people or do something for the community. That’s a big reason why I became a teacher.” |
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One chapter of the book, “Starting Over,” touches deeply into my grandmother’s history. Matsueda writes, that a “sense of shock, confusion, fear, and doubt besieged them when the war ended.” Many of the Issei faced their prospects of starting over with the often-heard phrase, “Endure (gaman seyo).” My grandmother returned to an economically devastated, war-torn Japan from Tule Lake and my Aunt Sue told me how Yana “hid precious dollars in the lining of our clothes, in various possessions, and even in the urn that carried my father’s ashes.” She instructed my uncle and my father to buy brand new American watches before they left for Japan, which they promptly sold when they arrived, much to their chagrin. “She always said that we must gaman,” my aunt told me recently, “she was not well-educated but she was smart |
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My grandmother and her children leave for Japan after Tule Lake |
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about life and knew what it took to survive.”
This characteristic is true for many of the “The Shadow Generation.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Do you have personal stories to tell about the Issei generation? You can send your stories to me at will_kaku@yahoo.com or at the JAMsj address. We will publish your story, or excerpts, in our newsletter and/or our website. |
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