Yesterday I asked the group about the items their parents saved in their garages/houses, and the responses I received back were often amusing, familiar, spot-on to my own experiences and also deeply touching. Thank you to all of you who shared. My fictional garage is now overflowing with stuff from real-life JA homes. (Imagine a garage stuffed with all the stuff that you all listed! Can you say fire hazard?) I typed up the list, and it came out to two and ½ pages of stuff, single-spaced. Reading the list on paper (as opposed to the computer or off a phone) allowed me to see the list from a wider lens. Individually, each comment revealed Nisei parents who could be seen as chronic pack rats, hoarders and folks who just couldn’t throw anything away. (Much to the frustration of their kids and grandkids.) But as a group, I started to see many common threads and realized that this goes much deeper. What they saved and left behind reveals a whole lot about who they were. And what they couldn’t say out loud is speaking to us now in the things they stored in the garage and spare bedrooms throughout the house. Based on the over 50 comments I received, I’d like to share some of the common themes I saw, and what I think they’re saying to us. (Please feel free to add in your own observations.) 1. MOTTAINAI (“Don’t be wasteful.”) It’s real. And it runs really, really deep. This idea of not wasting and therefore saving most everything came to us from Japan, and was carried over by the Issei, who passed it on to their Nisei children. And boy, did the Nisei ever get the message! Based on the comments, “Mottainai” must have been really pounded in to them, and for good reasons. Every step of their journey—through the Depression, the war years in camp, the very tough years after-camp trying to rebuild their lives, community and raising families—required this “Mottainai” mentality in order to survive. So in order to save stuff, you need stuff to save the stuff in. Like tofu containers, styrofoam trays, recycled Ziploc bags, Cool Whip containers (with lids), take-out containers (with lids), Marie Callenders pie tins, paper and plastic bags, cardboard boxes, etc.) 2. MAINTAINING THEIR TIES TO JAPAN & JAPANESE CULTURE Despite being told after the War to assimilate and become 200% American (and therefore forgo everything about being Japanese), they still, by what they saved, placed a strong value on who they were/are as JAPANESE Americans. This was revealed through the saving of Japanese dolls, kimonos, fancy tea and sake sets, lacquer ware, Japanese books, movies and records, Japanese dishes and the Japanese stuff that their Issei parents saved. 3. SAVING FOR A RAINY DAY The Nisei, by hiding their money in odd places around the house, seem to be saying, “You never know when we’re going to need it, so we better have some cash ready around the house—just in case. (The problem here, of course, is if they could actually remember where they hid it!) This I think goes back to the frugality they needed to survive. Plus, losing everything and then having their bank accounts frozen just before being hauled off to camp could also explain why they may want to have some extra cash stashed around the house—just in case they couldn’t get to their money in the bank. 4. FAMILY WAS/IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO THEM The fact that they saved stuff given to them from their parents, their kids and grandkids tells me how much they valued and truly loved their families, and so often put them and their needs ahead of their own. They didn’t need fancy, so they kept the brand new pajamas given to them at Christmas in their original box only to be used if they should have to stay overnight in the hospital. They didn’t need expensive, so that fancy bar of scented soap stayed wrapped and stored away. But as one responder said, what they did need was take-out containers (with lids) so they could send their kids and grandkids home with the famous JA take-home plate, packed with so much love that you could still taste it the next day. Taking care of their families—this is what mattered to them. You could see it in the family photos. In the tools they kept, and the things they saved. “You never know when you might need it.” And the day would come (maybe years later) when you would need it, and there they were, item in hand, there for us, as always.
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 04:34:23 +0000