Description
- Abstract:
- Roger Nozaki, who grew up in the Chicago area, is the son of Japanese immigrants who arrived in the U.S. in the 1950s; he speaks with deep respect for his parents' resilience and values, expressing a strong desire for his children to understand their grandparents' lives. His eldest son, Samuel, is a 28-year-old software engineer, who often reflects on the unique timeline of their family's history. Jacob Nozaki, 26, works as a consultant and has academically engaged with his identity, even creating an online repository of family photos and letters for a college thesis project. The youngest, 24-year-old Margaret, currently works as a behavior tech. This collaborative oral history explores the Nozaki family's transition from post-war Japan to the United States and the subsequent evolution of their Japanese American identity. A central theme is the discovery of "The Nozaki Letters," a collection of old correspondence between Roger's parents that was translated by the Japanese American National Museum, revealing romantic details and the difficult legal processes of 1950s immigration. The family also discusses uncovering long-held secrets, such as a complex adoption history and a complex legal situation involving a Tokyo condominium that forced them to cross-reference their known history with official Japanese family registers. Throughout the conversation, the siblings reflect on the challenges of maintaining a cultural identity while growing up in the relatively monocultural environment of New England, contrasting those experiences with the greater diversity and cultural connection they found later in life.
Citation
"Interview with the Nozaki Family"
Nuibari Digital Archive.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:zssukbkj/
Relations
Collection:
-
Nuibari Digital Archive
This is a collection of items comprising the Nuibari, a digital space created by Claire Inouye Rothstein '26 for individuals of Japanese ancestry to share stories centered on conversation, memory, and the many ways identity takes shape over time. These …...