‘J-Life Project’ Puts JA Youth in Focus
Two Yonsei best friends travel across the country to find out what’s on the minds of today’s JA high school and college kids.
Yonsei Eric Yamamoto, 21, may be an ideal conduit for today’s Japanese American youth. He likes hip-hop music, fast cars, and fusion cuisine. He also keeps his shoes on in his Sansei parents’ home and has never tried a traditional Japanese New Year’s dinner.
Sound familiar?
Raised in Los Angeles and currently attending the Art Institute of Chicago, Yamamoto didn’t think much of his JA roots while living in diverse Southern California. But after a move four years ago to the Windy City where Asian Americans are much smaller in number, Yamamoto suddenly felt like a minority for the first time.
Now Yamamoto, an aspiring film student, and his best friend Kirk Iwasaki, 22, are collaborating on the “J-Life Project,” a documentary that aims to delve deeper into what today’s JA youth across the country are all about. What they’ve discovered is that a shared history binds them and the issues of community and identity are almost always at the forefront.
“It’s up to us to tell our stories … our stories are just as important,” said Yamamoto. “We are not the same as the older generations but we are JAs. It’s important to know the past but we need to know the future.”
“The word has spread and people are really interested in the project. The youth that I’ve spoken to say ‘Cool, I’m glad that people are doing stuff on us,’” said Iwasaki. “The Yonsei are different and we need to recognize this.”
The “J-L.I.F.E. (Lifestyle, Image, Friendships/Families, and Experiences) Project” began as a class assignment after Iwasaki, also a native of Los Angeles and now a senior at Albion College in Michigan, proposed the idea to his professor. Far from being a wholesale definition of Japanese America, Iwasaki and Yamamoto stress that JA youth lifestyles and interests are the focus of this project.
With school funds and donations from family and friends, Iwasaki and Yamamoto have spent several weeks crisscrossing the country to interview youth at community events and trendy hangouts. In addition to metropolitan areas in Southern and Northern California, the two have visited Chicago, New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia. Interviews were also conducted with people from Seattle and Hawaii.
What Yamamoto and Iwasaki discovered was that JA youth from coast to coast share a lot of similarities whether it was hanging out at the hottest hangouts, attending Buddhist church events, or taking in a JA basketball league game. In the end it was all about the community.
“Our strongest link is the community. Networking is keeping the community strong and this project is combining the community on a national scale,” said Iwasaki. “JAs are increasingly more mainstream but what makes us unique is our community, the idea of ‘six degrees of separation.’”
“It’s important to know the community and understand it,” said Yamamoto but added, “it’s also important to experience a diverse community.”
The “J-Life Project” also shines a light on the diversity within the JA community from the Yonsei, the Shin-Issei and Shin-Nisei, and the Hapas. Interviewees ranged from die-hard AA Studies students who enjoy a more activist role in the community to those youth whose only community exposure is playing in the JA basketball leagues.
The issues discussed by the JA youth run a wide gamut from outmarriage rates and intermarriage, political participation, to the model minority myth. But in the end all issues boiled down to the single most prevalent topic: identity.
“For the youth it’s about identity. For me, it’s all about identity,” said Yamamoto.
As with most young people, concern for the future and what might be in store for them was also on their minds.
“This generation in general is not worried about the past; they are concerned about what’s happening now,” said Iwasaki, who believes his generation has not experienced overt discrimination like the earlier generations had to deal with. “The older generation should know that we’re at the next stage of JA history. It’s time to move forward.”
Although the World War II internment experience plays a huge role in JA history, the youth believe current issues and concerns need to also take on a larger role in the community. JAs need to look at pressing issues like the discrimination faced by today’s Arab and Muslim American community.
“Internment is important but don’t dwell in the past,” said Yamamoto. “We need to move forward.”
The “J-Life Project” is scheduled to be completed in May and Iwasaki and Yamamoto hope the documentary will be used in classrooms and by various organizations. Film distribution may be in the future but both Iwasaki and Yamamoto say the experience of working on the project has been one to remember.
“I’m less self-absorbed and more conscious about the future,” said Yamamoto about his experience. “I now have stories to tell. This documentary will be great for our children.”
“I’ve met some great people and I’ve learned about the differences and similarities between JAs on a national scale,” said Iwasaki. “It’s nice to know that other people are doing the same things across the country.”
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