This morning I listened to Dr. Ethan Kross in the Psychology Department at the U of Michigan. Current 2025 research and podcast interview academics suggest, “It’s important to know ourselves for Fulfillment of Purpose in our human existence. Stories of our heritage give us 50% of the tools for managing our emotions which is the key to fulfillment." Therefore, I was lucky to have been inspired to start the OMOIDE writing group in 1991with four of us, Margaret Yasuda, Chuck Kato, Del Uchida and me, meeting weekly around my kitchen table. We started with just conversations about our growing up years. I had started collecting documentation on the Japanese Experience in the Pacific Northwest 20 years earlier, but I also decided it was time to create some of our own documentation with stories and writing.
I was shocked to learn my Great Grandpa came to the USA as early as 1896. Even here on the USA west coast states our history books and education had nothing about Asian Immigration when I was in school in Oregon. Although I’m third generation and have 5th generation grandchildren, I'm still asked, “When did you come to America?” I’m thinking, “Even the Blacks are American.”
My Japanese Great Grandpa, Jitsumatsu Tsukamaki, came to America in 1896 when the Yusen Shipping Company’s Miike Maru established a trade route from Kobe to Seattle. The Japanese steamship carried to Seattle a cargo of teas, silk goods, raw silk, camphor, curios, matting, soy oil, and paper. The vessel steamed away with lumber, flour, raw cotton, heavy hardware, fish, leather, nails, beer, wire, and tobacco.
Gr Grandpa “J” was a small farmer in the northern outskirts of Hiroshima. The fact that he was educated enough to know about America, had the connections and money to acquire the passport and ticket is amazing! He was required to have a return ticket to Japan, as well as paying an agent for the passport and a western outfit of clothing. It added up to almost a whole year’s average salary.
My collecting of documentation on the Japanese Experience for the UW Suzzallo Library had started as early as 1970, which was funded by a two year grant and funding ran out. I remained on a committee Min Masuda Archival Committee, that met about once a year though the subsequent child raising years. After the girls left home, I was inspired to further get my master’s degree.
Completing a Master’s Degree in Psychosocial Nursing in 1989, my thesis was on the difference between our right and left brain. I learned that our Japanese/Asian heritage has a lot to contribute to emotional balance of the European/American left brain entrepreneurial dominant education. I also learned that we didn’t have a historical organization for our Japanese community in Seattle as other ethnic groups like the Swedish Community Center or the Polish or Hungarian communities. Therefore, I helped with establishing the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington (jcccw.org) in 2003.
It feels great to continue learning, thinking, writing and publishing that contributes to the welfare of future generations as we work on publishing OMOIDE VII for school kids around the state!!
