Multi-Ethnic, Multi-Talented, Memory Maker: Miyako

Aloha, Hip Hapa Homeez.

Mele Kalikimaka and Hau’oli Makahiki Hou!

pretty pink origami and Miyako-san

Your Hip Hapa wishes you a HAPA holiday season--no matter how you choose to celebrate. And, to help you get into a festive mood, meet our featured Hip Hapa Homee for this issue, Miyako Akina Fuqua. You may recall that we interviewed her along with her sister, Sakura, four years ago here:

http://watermelonsushiworld.blogspot.com/search?q=miyako+akina+fuqua

Since then, Miyako has accomplished so much in her mixed-race world, we thought we’d give you an update:

Q: Miyako-san, do you feel any differently about your Japanese/African American identity since your 2010 interview?

A: A lot has happened since then! Since the last interview, I moved to L.A. One of my observations is that people's ideas of being "biracial" differ whether you live in a big city or a college town. Although my hometown was one of the more liberal towns in Indiana, I felt like I had to justify who I was, whereas in a city you can be whoever you want to be. Don't get me wrong. I love my hometown! But I felt boxed in sometimes because my identity was also associated with my middle school, high school, AND college experience.

Q: Tell us about your film, Barcode 
Man:

A: Barcode Man is about an atomic bomb survivor who struggles to forget his tragic past until he meets a student who not only gives him the power to move forward with his life, but to create new memories. 

In college, I was always interested in the politics of WWII, atomic bomb literature and the humanity of the aftermath of the bombing. I wanted to write a story where "new, modern, contemporary" Japan meets and collides with "old, traditional" Japan. It was fun writing two characters from different generations who share a space and grow together. I've also always wanted to see a Harajuku girl in a movie! 

Ed.’s note: google images of Harajuku girls: https://www.google.com/searchq=harajuku&espv=2&biw=1223&bih=683&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=2ol-VMGgCsrWoAS5loDYBQ&ved=0CdgQsAQ)

Last year, around this time, Barcode Man won Best Screenplay during the Monaco International Film Festival for the Angel Film Awards. In August, I found out that it progressed to the second round for the 2015 Sundance Screenwriting Labs held in January. I'll find out the results in a couple weeks. 

fabric origami

Q: What’s your new art project about?

A: I decided to start a small business making origami and felt fabric fashion/hair accessories! I've always folded and made things as a hobby growing up, and decided that this was something that I could pursue professionally. 

I wanted to find a way to relive my memories from Japan and Okinawa, focusing on culture, the vibrant sounds, food, and scenery (a lot of my work is inspired by nostalgia). The colors and designs I chose are names of foods I enjoyed as a kid and appreciate more as an adult, like: Mochi, Melon Float, Ramune, Japanese Red Bean, and Japanese Persimmon! 

Here are some links:

http://instagram.com/miyasakichan_shoppe

https://www.facebook.com/miyasakichanshoppe

Miyasakichanshoppe.etsy.com 

origami accessories

Miyako-san in origami

What a way to celebrate the holidays, Hip Hapa Homeez. Please take some time to check out these links, too:

Watermelon Sushi film

http://www.watermelonsushi.com

Watermelon Sushi on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/watermelonsushi

Hapa*Teez on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBIMaJUljjI

Hapa*Teez on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/hapateez

Hapa*Teez on Café Press

http://www.cafepress.com/hapateez

War Brides of Japan v.2 on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNSEUkT2N4E&feature=plcp

War Brides of Japan on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnJkujn1iek&feature=colike

War Brides of Japan on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/WarBridesOfJapan

Yayoi Lena Winfrey fan page on Facebook (sorry, but Your Hip Hapa can’t add any more friends to her regular profile page)

https://www.facebook.com/yayoilenawinfreyfanpage

Sexy Voices of Hollywood

https://www.facebook.com/sexyvoicesofhollywood

Twitter

https://twitter.com/watermelonsushi

Until next year and February 4, I will remain…

Your Hip Hapa, 

Yayoi

War! What Is It Good For? Absolutely, Uh, Something!

Earlier, I wrote about the tensions between Japanese in Nippon v. the J/A's (Japanese Americans) in the U.S. Even though I slammed Mr. Sulu for his snide remarks about how I pronounced my name, I didn't mean to make light of the issue of Nipponese v. J/A's. Certainly, there is much to be said about the suffering on both sides.

J/A's languished behind the barbed wire of interment camps and were separated from family and friends, lost careers, property, and--most important of all in Asian culture--face. The Japanese in Nippon, also lost face along with millions of innocent lives in Hiroshima and Nagasaki which were destroyed by American atomic bombs. My own mother, living in Tokyo at the time, often found herself racing towards a bomb shelter to avoid the constant rain of B52 bombs dropped by Americans. One day, she arrived at work only to find her office in shambles; completely demolished by bombing.

No one ever really wins a war. The devastation comes not only in the loss of lives, but also in the deeply psychological pain that often lingers following the trauma of war.

But if there's any kind of light at the end of the tunnel to be celebrated, it's the births of thousands of mixed-race babies who would've never been born had it not been for a war somewhere. So, war can be a kind of cultural bridge, too.

Who would've ever thought that an African American man from the South, whose ancestors were brought in chains from a place he has no recollection of, would end up marrying a Japanese woman whose own sad personal history made her eligible to move to America? And, who would've ever thought that a spirited and artistic Japanese woman would marry a man who should've been considered a representative of the enemy of her people?

But it happened. And, it happened to many others like my parents. It happened to Germans and Italians, too. One of my best friends in high school had a French mother and Swedish American soldier father who had met his bride while he was stationed in Europe. Another had an Austrian mother and Caucasian American father. War brides are what they called these women, but they were so much more. They were brave souls who struggled to recover from the devastation of war and, if that meant marrying a stranger from a strange land, whether or not love fit into the equation, so be it. I'm sure most of those women loved the men they ended up with, but who among us can say how we would behave romantically after losing our families, friends, countries, and even our hope.

About 3/4's of the kids I knew while our family lived at Ft. Lewis were either Japanese and black or Japanese and Caucasian, and German and black or German and Caucasian. Quite frankly, if it hadn't been for a war, I wouldn't be me.

Still, it's too bad that it takes a war to bring some folks together. Perhaps in the future, people will make an effort to not segregate into tribes and, in the words of Bob Marley, "Spread out! Spread out!"

Cool runnin's, ya'll.

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

P.S. That's me and Moms, above, with her bike in Tokyo many moons ago.