Crossing the Bridge
Maya Yoder
Walking through the small gates of the local middle school that served as our weekend campus, I entered San Francisco Japanese School (SFJS) for the last time. I bowed at the teachers greeting the students at the front gate. It still didn’t feel real that this was my last day of attending SFJS. No more cramming for the kanji test in the morning or staying up until 3am to finish my essays. No more exchanging my bento with my friends or fooling around with them during break time.
When moving from their home country to a new country, immigrant kids can struggle adjusting to their new environment. Learning a completely new language is already difficult enough.
without any way to ease in. On the other hand, multicultural kids, kids of multicultural backgrounds, can also struggle with feeling connected to their heritage culture, as they spend more of their formative years in their new country. This situation can cause many of them to develop an identity crisis based on their confusion about habits and values influenced by their heritage culture. With constant confrontation between the mainstream culture and traditional culture, immigrant and multicultural kids can feel lost. Heritage schools like SFJS can provide a place for multicultural students that allow them to celebrate their culture and develop a stronger sense of cultural identity.
What is SFJS?
Heritage schools, defined by the California Department of Education (CDE), are “Schools and programs that operate outside of compulsory education to offer instruction in the culture, traditions, or history, and language of a country other than the United States” (“Heritage Schools”). The CDE has requirements for what heritage schools must offer, like education in a foreign language, education of tradition/culture, and even culturally enriching activities.
SFJS is a Japanese heritage school in the Bay Area with classes held every Saturday. It was founded in 1968 and was created to help Japanese kids in the Bay Area to “grow into active players in the international society”(SFJS Website) as well as prepare those who intend to go back to Japan to continue their Japanese curriculum education. SFJS follows a similar system to schools in Japan. The curriculum uses textbooks approved by the Japanese Ministry of Education and all classes are taught in Japanese. Class periods are divided into Japanese language, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. The Social Studies classes generally focus more on Japanese culture and have more of an international perspective. The Japanese classes are much more comprehensive.
Subjects like Math and Science may have commonalities with the American curriculum but are taught with different tools and methods. Even though there are similarities with American schools, SFJS uses a Japanese approach in developing their students’ knowledge, thinking, and problem solving skills.
SFJS tries to provide the same amount of teaching and knowledge to their students as if they were going to school in Japan. The curriculum can be difficult for its students to manage in addition to their compulsory classes at their American schools. But because of SFJS’ authentic approach, their students can get the benefit of a truly Japanese educational and cultural experience through the school.
Embracing Culture and Community
SFJS not only provides a unique educational experience to their students, it also fosters an
environment for Japanese kids where Japanese kids can be part of a community with similar culture and values. It allows students to experience the social and cultural aspects of a Japanese school and feel part of the Japanese community.
Kotone Takada, an American born Japanese, found that one of the aspects of Japanese culture integrated into SFJS’ environment were the strict rules. Since she never experienced going to school in Japan, she was surprised by the things that were taboo in SFJS. She talked about an experience she had with her friends getting caught when eating a snack during break time. She says, “the fact that we had to hide it was surprising”(Takada)
Aloha Kato, a recent graduate from SFJS, found these rules familiar to the schools she attended in Japan. She also found them different from the more laidback rules in her American school. She commented on the differences between the two school systems: “SFJS compared to American schools, It’s really strict, but I feel like compared to schools in Japan, it’s actually a lot more loose” (Kato). For her, SFJS is more of a hybrid between the two countries’ school systems. But since she was used to the stricter Japanese system, it was easier for her to adjust to the environment at SFJS.
SFJS holds various
extracurricular events that are a familiar part of schools in Japan. These events range from sports day to the school play festival to the annual food bazaar. During sports day, students are divided into teams based on their classes and compete in different sports, like dodge ball, basketball, or volleyball. Teams will spend days and weeks practicing and strategizing before the competition. Takada noted how the level of competitive spirit increases as kids move to higher grade levels. “It gets pretty intense once you’re in the upper classes. You’re upper class, so you don’t want to be beaten by a freshman.” Through the sports day competition, everyone becomes closer knit and develops stronger connections with their classmates. Ryuto Tsuruoka, a current student at SFJS, mentioned that he thought that the opportunity to get closer to his classmates was an important aspect of sports day. He says “It fosters our sense of community. You’re in competition with other classes within your grade and get to
spend time with them”.
The Gakugeisai, the school play festival, is held near the end of the year after the students finish their final exams. Preparation for the Gakugeisai starts 3 months before, since a lot of work is required to get ready for the final performance. The story, script, costumes, and set are all created by SFJS students. Towards the end of the school year, preparation for this event becomes the focus at school for the students. Kato believes that preparing for the Gakugeisai helps students get closer to one another: “I like the Gakugeisai because my classmates collaborated together to make a full 10 minute skit.” While there is lots of anxiety building up to each performance, it is one of the most enjoyable events for students each year, because they get to share the results of their hard work with the whole community. Cultural events like these give students a sense of the social customs of Japanese schools. Takada found that these events were unique, as they didn’t exist in her American schools. “All the events were kind of strange, but I liked the uniqueness of it all.”
Takada’s Graduation Uniform“All the events were kind of strange, but I liked the uniqueness of it all.Kotone Takada, 17
Heritage schools like SFJS can often provide a more inclusive environment for immigrant and multicultural students that can help them to develop their social self more easily than they can in their American schools. Within the heritage community, they often feel more comfortable and confident because they are in a familiar environment with others who share a similar background and values. Many SFJS students feel that the social interactions at their American schools can be quite different.
According to Takada, “Since everyone is Japanese, I feel like I can connect with people in a way that I can’t in my American school.” A
Even when you don’ t know everyone’ s names, you ’re familiar with everyone s face to the point where you just see someone outside of school and you can say hi.
benefit of everyone having the same cultural background is that it helps students find a sense of belonging that they might not have in their American school. Because of this, heritage schools can create a closer, more supportive community. Tsuruoka states,“It’s a tight knit community. Even when you don’t know everyone’s names, you’re familiar with everyone’s face to the point where you just see someone outside of school and you can say hi.” On a deeper level, Takada believes that the reason for the tight knit SFJS community also has to do with the common values Japanese people have. She says, “I think Japanese people are very focused on togetherness. As a community, we help each other without question and are supportive in a different way. It’s different to how Americans view their interactions with other people.”
Acculturation and Language
Although education and community are key reasons for heritage school enrollment, what makes them especially important for multicultural kids is how they can help foster their cultural identity. For multicultural kids in America, it can be easy to lose connection with their heritage culture and lose their home country ties. Many of the kids in
SFJS continue to hold on to their heritage values and culture as part of their identity instead of letting go of them completely. The school’s promotion of Japanese heritage in its space helps students to maintain a positive attitude and acceptance of their Japanese identity and allows students to go through a process of acculturation.
According to Mary Zheng, Bridgewater State University, acculturation is defined as “the process in which an individual learns and adapts to the norms of a different culture.” She states that this is not the same as assimilation which requires one to completely adopt those cultural norms into their own identity and life. Acculturation can have positive impacts on development of heritage youths. Further, Jean S. Phinney, a psychology professor who conducts research on identity development, states that heritage individuals who acculturate “strive to achieve or maintain a positive social identity, thus boosting their self-esteem.” Assimilation on the other hand may lead to cultural bereavement. Cultural bereavement, as defined by Jay Patel from the University Maryland Department of English, is a “form of psychological grief caused by the loss of one’s culture.” Through assimilation, immigrant kids risk losing their heritage cultural identity, which can lead to regret and lower self esteem.
Tsuruoka expresses that SFJS provided him with a place where he can reinforce his mixed Japanese and Indian Identity, as he has the opportunity to meet other mixed people like him. He states, “I feel like a lot of people talk about identity crises with being of two different cultures. I feel like when you go to somewhere like SFJS, you don’t really feel that because there’s diversity within the community.” A community to find people common to you can help multicultural
people achieve a strong sense of ethnic identity leading to a more positive sense of one’s ethnic group. How do the kids at SFJS define their identity through the acculturation process? Many SFJS students define themselves as either Japanese or JapaneseAmerican. Kato, when asked the question, responded that she feels more Japanese. However, she mentioned that recently, she has been feeling more American. Although she identified as full Japanese when first coming to America, she started to become more connected to American culture. She says, “Few years ago, I would say I was a hundred percent Japanese, because my Japanese is a lot better than my English. But nowadays, I feel like I’m losing some of my Japanese”(Kato). With kids who immigrate to America in their childhood years, there is often a shift in how they identify themselves depending on how long they live in their new environment. Language can also play an important role in shaping one’s cultural identity. Bonny Norton, a professor of the Department of Language and Literacy Education at British Columbia University, describes the link between a linguistic language and identity. She states that language is “theorized not only as a linguistic system,
Being able to speak Japanese, I have the opportunity to work in either Japan or America. I can even go to college in either country
but as a social practice in which experiences are organized and identities negotiated.” When they are more proficient in their heritage language, multicultural kids identify more with their heritage culture as a result. With proficient language skills, it is easier for multicultural kids to stay connected to their relatives in their home country and interact with others of the same heritage. Takada feels that SFJS has helped her in being able to communicate with her family in Japan. She says, “If I didn’t go to SFJS I wouldn’t be able to communicate with them at all. Even though I can’t communicate everything that I want to, it’s enough to allow me to have a meaningful relationship with them”(Takada). Communication is key to developing social connections which is why language education is a key part of heritage school curriculums and a key benefit for its students. Aside from helping form a strong cultural identity and create a more open mind, being multilingual and multicultural has other benefits as well. Having the ability to speak multiple languages and understand multiple
cultures can also create more possibilities for people coming from multicultural environments. Kato believes that with her ability to speak both Japanese and English, her future has more opportunities. She says, “Being able to speak Japanese, I have the opportunity to work in either Japan or America. I can even go to college in either country”(Kato). Multilingual and multicultural can be superpowers that help you succeed in a cosmopolitan society. With the World becoming more interconnected, the power to communicate and build bridges between nations becomes more of a necessity.
Cross the Bridge
SFJS has an official school song in which the lyrics emphasize the importance of meeting and creating connections through a bridge to the world. The chorus repeats the lines “いつか世界の架 け橋に、 ” (Nakamura), “one day, on a bridge to the world”. The lyrics are especially meaningful to SFJS students because of how SFJS acts like a bridge for their journey of cultural identity. Whether they are coming from Japan to live in America, or they are American born wanting to stay connected to their Japanese roots, SFJS provides a bridge for students to cross in support of their cultural journey.
Bento Box
Aloha Kato, 17
