tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1583743673821215068.post9140798021272492187..comments2012-01-30T12:08:11.592-08:00Comments on Life Interrupting Life: It Takes a Village… 10.06.11Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01353062713212345092noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1583743673821215068.post-5055635284488592342011-10-11T22:21:11.234-07:002011-10-11T22:21:11.234-07:00I just had a conversation with my wife about what ...I just had a conversation with my wife about what it means to be Japanese. Although we often treat it as a simple question, 'Are you (insert race, religion, nationaliry or creed here)' is often complicated. So many people think that we are born one way, and that we will always be that way. To say you are Jewish or Japanese to most people means that you were born ethnically Japanese or Jewish. But you can be culturaly Japanese, or religiously Jewish, or legally American.<br />There is so much more to identity than ethnicity or race. Being raised in America, this concept seemed so obvious because there is no such thing as being Ethinically American. We all tend to give both our ethnicity and cultural identities when asked. I'm Italian-American, African-American, Native American, Muslim-American, Asian-American.<br />But after living in a VERY homogenous society like Japan, I've realized that there are a great many societies in the world that feel your racial identity, your cultural identity, and your legal identity are the same. There is no reason for most people to say "I'm Japanese-Japanese" (meaning they're both ethnically and cluturaly Japanese) So to them there is only the question of are you Japanese or are you not. Being African-Japanese or Korean-Japanese is not a concept that makes sense to many people.<br />Anyway, I've rambled on and written half of a blog entry that I'm sure I'll post on my own site sometime so I'll just end with: Good luck with aliyah, Liz!!Ring of Firehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18324423343613646940noreply@blogger.com