“How could we find out for sure?”
“I’ve already called the author of the article, Professor Hirota. He teaches Japanese history at All Japan University. He’s out of town right now, but his assistant said Professor Hirota would call me as soon as he’s back. He said the professor would probably be very interested. I’m going to ask Professor Hirota if he’ll look at your sword and see if it’s a Kannemori.”
I don’t view myself as a greedy man, but I was unemployed and the prospect of a windfall from a garage sale purchase made my spirits soar.
Junko was working on a videotape piece that gave the details of the murder I had solved, and she asked me to help make sure the chronology and facts were right. She was weaving news footage and stock pictures of Los Angeles together to illustrate the piece, which she said would take up three minutes of my twelve-minute segment. I secretly wished she would make a longer tape introduction, because the remaining nine minutes of live interview seemed like an eternity to fill.
My enthusiasm for being on camera live was waning as I thought of all the embarrassing and disastrous possibilities. Mostly, I thought I’d freeze up and sit there grinning like an idiot while the hosts asked me questions in Japanese. Finally I confessed my apprehensions to Junko.
She smiled and said, “Everyone gets nervous, but not too many people admit it, especially men. You’ll do fine. If you’d like, I’ll give you some hints.”
“Dozo,” I said, using the Japanese word for please.
“I thought you didn’t speak Japanese,” she answered.
“Dozo represents a significant chunk of my Japanese vocabulary. I know some words, but I don’t know grammar. Plus, everyone speaks so fast, I can’t even pick out the few words I know.”
Junko laughed. “When you’re beginning to learn a language, it seems like everyone is speaking really fast. It’s just that you haven’t adjusted to the rhythm of the language yet. After a while, it seems like people slow down and you can hear individual words, but it’s really because you’ve picked up an ear for a particular language.”
“You should know. You speak several languages.”
“Well, the more you learn, the easier it seems. Everyone gets English training in the Japanese school system, although English teachers are usually terrible. We learn to read and write it very well, but spoken language skills are incredibly poor. Many of our English teachers just don’t know how to speak it properly.”
“Japanese is a hard language. I’ve thought of trying to learn it, but it seems too difficult.”
“Japanese is hard, but its main problem is that it has little utility outside of Japan. English, Spanish, or French are used in many countries, so they’re much more useful than Japanese. Actually, English is incredibly hard to learn well because you have a huge vocabulary and similar words are pronounced differently. Also, you have sounds in English that we seldom use in Japanese. Spanish is popular here because its sounds are closer to Japanese and a lot easier for us to pronounce.”
“Then you’d get along in L.A. Spanish is the second language.”
“Since we’re working on a piece about the murder of a Japanese in L.A., I’m not sure I’m anxious to visit it. L.A. has a terrible reputation for safety here in Japan.”
“Well, with subway gassings and other violence Tokyo is losing its reputation for safety, too.”
Junko sighed. “Yes, I guess you’re right. Maybe there aren’t any places for safety left in this world.”
“There are, but they’re not to be found in big cities. Can I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
“When you were talking about Japanese learning English you said ‘we,’ but you made a point of telling me you were Korean when we met. Do you consider yourself Japanese?”
“That’s hard to know. Sometimes it seems like Japanese society makes a point of emphasizing I’m Korean. Koreans are often discriminated against, and it’s hard to find a good job because Koreans are often relegated to hard and dirty work. I’m an exception, but I’ve had to work twice as hard as any Japanese to make the same progress. Koreans have the reputation of being connected with Japanese organized crime and caught up in gambling, prostitution, and extortion, and some employers just won’t hire us.”
“Are Koreans involved in crime?”
Junko turned red. “Koreans are involved in greater numbers than our share of the population. Part of that is because many legitimate avenues for advancement are closed to us. But a lot of Japanese are involved in crime and Koreans seem to be treated more harshly when they’re caught.”
“That’s exactly the view of some minorities in the States. Why don’t you try to take political action or something to change things? Shake things up a bit?”
“Because in Japan, harmony is valued above all. We have radical groups on the right and on the left, but generally speaking most people are very conservative and don’t want to shake things up, as you put it. There’s also a practical reason. Japanese politics requires huge amounts of money.”
“It does in the U.S., too. But instead of seeking harmony we’re becoming increasingly factionalized. That doesn’t make it pleasant for Asians or other minority groups who can’t get a block vote together.”
“But in the U.S., your government has still made periodic efforts to correct some inequities. In Japan, the government won’t even acknowledge problems. Japan occupied Korea as a colonial power for about thirty-five years after World War I. That’s why my grandfather was brought here as a virtual slave laborer. In Korea, the Korean language was forbidden and the population was oppressed. Korean women were forced to become comfort women, which is a Japanese euphemism for prostitutes. The Japanese government has just acknowledged that practice, but they’ve never compensated the women. They said a private fund, not the government, should do that. They spent $600 million to promote the fund and collected only about half that much in donations. It was a complete farce. The history I was taught in school just didn’t chronicle the bad things the Japanese did.”
“When I grew up, they didn’t teach about the U.S. camps for Japanese-Americans during World War II, either,” I said. “Now the U.S. government has made some effort to compensate the camp inmates. But Junko, if things are so difficult for you in Japan, why do you stay?”
“Because culturally I’m Japanese. Although I was born a Korean, my native language, schooling, and much of my outlook is Japanese. It’s confusing because I also want to remain Korean. I just feel like I’m not accepted for what I am.”
“I sometimes have the same feelings back in the States.”
8
Junko asked me to return the next afternoon to help her. Before I left, Sugimoto stopped by and asked me if I’d like to have dinner the next day. I told him I would, but that I wanted to go to a typical family restaurant, not one of the fancy tourist traps. He looked a little disappointed, and it occurred to me that maybe he liked the tourist traps because he could eat at the neighborhood joints anytime. Still, on my own I wasn’t likely to find a good neighborhood restaurant, and I suppressed my urge to change my restaurant request.