S2E11 Blending Traditions Japanese American Holiday Customs and Unforgotten Voices

Celebrate the holidays through a Japanese American lens! 🎄🥢 From quirky Christmas traditions in Japan to the rich flavors of New Year’s osechi, this episode uncovers the meaning behind festive rituals. Featuring moving performances from "Unforgotten Voices From Heart Mountain: An Oral History of the Incarceration," co-authored by Joanne Oppenheim and Nancy Matsumoto, and the diary of Stanley Hayami, we honor resilience, gift‑giving in hard times, and the enduring legacy of the Japanese Americans.

Season 2 returns this February—don’t miss it!

For more information about the Japanese American National Museum, please visit our website at www.janm.org. 

CREDITS

The music was created by Jalen Blank

Additional Music by Maksym Malko and  Ievgen Poltavskyi from Pixabay

Written by Koji Steven Sakai

Hosts: Michelle Malazaki and Koji Steven Sakai

Edited by Koji Steven Sakai

Produced by Koji Steven Sakai in conjunction with the Japanese American National Museum

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

0:00

Michelle, what did you think about Christmas as a child in Japan? Did you guys even celebrate Christmas? We do, of course. It's the commercial money making time for the economy. My parents are Christians, so they met at church youth group. So I've been always Christian, I guess. And we did celebrate Christmas. Um, we had little Christmas tree, but not inside the house, but outside the house, because my mom doesn't want to. But we had the actual tree, the little pine tree. So we used to decorate and it was like way before decorating for Christmas got popular, so I don't know. At first my neighbors are like, ah, what's going on with the lights on at night? But now I think a lot of people decorate for no reasons. People in Japan are not Christians. It's like 3% of the population. Any misconceptions about Christmas in America? Well, I think people in Japan think Christmas in America is to eat Kentucky Fried Chicken. Do you know why that is? Because they have great commercials. Oh my gosh, they look so amazing on commercial. And I think it does taste better in Japan. But I don't know that I think that's what people do. Like buy Christmas Cake and Kentucky Fried Chicken and have those for Christmas Eve. What is Christmas cake? Christmas cake is like a strawberry shortcake. That's not Christmas cake. But. But that's what they say. Christmas cake. And when I was young, Christmas cake was like the thing to describe a maiden who cannot get married by 25, age 25. So you know, up to 24, 25, it's the prime price. And after 25th there's like not much value. Like 26 is half price off. That's what it was like. My mom's like, you're gonna be a Christmas cake if you don't get married by 25. Interesting, interesting. Do people give gifts at Christmas time in Japan? Of course, of course. But I think usually couples, they give Christmas gifts to each other. And also my parents used to give me this boot. Just one boot filled with snacks like cookies and chocolate and candy. Inside the boot? Yeah, just the boot. Yeah, like a red Santa boot. Okay. And it's filled with candy. Did Santa visit you in Japan? Of course. Um, I mean, we are Christians. I'm like, mom, dad, we don't have a chimney. And I think Santa comes through chimney. And I was, like, really worried. And then they're like, are we gonna have the bathroom window open just a smidge for Santa to come in? Haha. That's funny. Welcome to season two, episode number 11 of the Japanese America Podcast, the podcast where we explore the blend of Japanese and American cultures, history and traditions, as well as all the quirky and wonderful things in between. My name is Michelle and I'm one of your hosts. And I'm the other host, Koji. Koji. Any exciting holiday plans? Exciting? No. Uh. Just more. Just hanging out with the family for all the holidays. And I think we're playing baseball somewhere, but, uh. But we're always playing baseball, so I don't know if that's exciting, but we're playing in a in a, like, a showcase. What about you? Any exciting holiday plans? Uh, no. Christmas. Uh, we used to go to church until Covid, but now we don't go to church. We are terrible Christians. What about for New Year's Day? You guys don't do osechi or anything, right? Uh, I only buy osechi the items that I like. What's your favorite osechi item? Um, I like the temaki egg omelette. Yeah, my sister makes them, and she's like, oh, it's so easy to make. But I'm too lazy to make them. My favorite is the kurikinton. Oh. So good. Because it's like a and it's gold. Right. So that means money money money money. Yeah. That's what that's what we need is money. Yeah. My mom always made sure we eat mame. Uh, mame. Not money. Mame. The. kuromame. The black. What do they represent? Long life or health. Is it. Or is it health? No. My mom said, is you gonna be mame mame moshi. And she with mum? I don't know. Mummy. Mummy. Um. Like diligent. Diligent. Oh, interesting. Okay. Yeah. Interesting. So she wanted me to eat mame. She's like eat more, eat more. That sounds like a very Japanese thing to do. All right. With Christmas and New Year's right around the corner, we wanted to talk about holidays and the camps. For this holiday episode, we are sharing excerpts from Unforgotten Voices An Oral History of Incarceration, a powerful collection of firsthand memories from Heart Mountain, Wyoming, where Japanese Americans were imprisoned during World War Two. These stories capture the bitterness reality of Christmas behind barbed wire, anonymous gifts from church groups longing for home on the West Coast, and a quiet tension as loved ones left to serve in the US military. We asked actor Bryan Takahashi and Cara mitsuko to help bring their stories to life. Bryan Takahashi, actor, writer and director, starred as young Mr. Miyagi in Cobra Kai and appears in Blue Eyed Samurai, Outer Range, and Ikigai. He produced stage shows, web series and now leads media strategy for major studios, collaborating with legends like Sam Raimi and Clint Eastwood. Big new projects are on the way in 2026. Cara is an actress producer from Northern California. Her incisive and passionate nature has allowed her to work on many different sets in different capacities, always seeking out new learning experiences. She originated the lead role in Luis Valdez's play Valley of the heart. She then broke into TV with the fiery role of Sarah on Amazon Studios. The Man in the High Castle. She's also a founding member of the collective The Film kind. The first excerpt comes from a 2004 interview between Norman Mineta, then US Secretary of Transportation, and author Joanne F Oppenheim, recorded on October 14th. That winter, a new song was playing on the radio, White Christmas, I guess, for the Soldiers in the Pacific. It was a song of longing, dreaming of a white Christmas and home. We didn't have to dream it was right outside our doorsteps. But we didn't let that frozen waistline go to waste. That winter, the scouts helped with digging out the baseball field between the upper and lower block. Volunteers flooded the fields and they became ice skating rinks. I remember I wrote to my sister in Chicago and told her they made a pond. So next thing I know, she sent me a pair of ice skates. I loved ice skating. That was just a real thrill. Now, I used to always get kidded because of my ice skates. There are two types. The racing skates that had a long nose to them and mine were figure skates. They had those little saw teeth on the front end. So kids always used to tease me about them. Normie's got figure skates. But I was very proud of those figure skates. And I loved ice skating. The second excerpt comes from Babe Martoglio, who spoke with Joanne F Oppenheim in an interview recorded on July 25th, 2006. Our theme song for the pep Squad dance was White Christmas. Of course, that was a popular new song from the movie Holiday Inn. We went up to cut fresh trees so we could flock them all white for the dance. One of my friend's father had a big truck and a Japanese man working for him. So he sent his driver with us to help us to drive the truck and help us load the trees. I think his name was Tojo. He was from Heart Mountain. Anyway, on the way home, there was a place called the Green Lantern, and they always had homemade ice cream. And we never went by there without stopping and getting some ice cream cones. And the door, the screen door was pushed open so we couldn't see the sign that said No Japanese allowed. So we went in there and the man who owned the place started after this Japanese guy with a knife, because he had lost a son in the South Pacific. He was very emotional and all of us tried to stop him, and we ran out very definitely without our ice cream cones. The next two stories are drawn from the diary of teenager Stanley Hayami. The first entry is from December 24th and 25th, 1942, written while he was incarcerated at Heart Mountain. The second comes later during the time serving with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Both excerpts are part of the Hayami family papers housed at the Japanese American National Museum. Doggone it! Yesterday was my birthday and I didn't even know it. Today I was saying that I'll be two years more before I sign up for the draft. When Sats says. What do you mean? You're 17 now. So I'm 17 now. I don't feel like it. I mean, I don't feel grown up like some people who are 17. Some are already out in the Pacific or someplace fighting. Yesterday night, I got a Christmas present from someone I didn't even know from a lady named miss C.W. Evans, who lives way over in Menominee, Michigan. I got the present via the Sunday school. A lot of other kids got presents, too. Walter, George and Tomo. Their presents came from all over the country. Walt's came from New York. Tomo's came from New Mexico, and George's came from Minnesota. Besides the presents, everybody in the camp under 19 get their present, whether they go to Sunday school or not. All the presents were sent by the Presbyterian Union Church. I really think it was a fine gesture. I'm going to write to that lady as soon as I can at about 7:00. I went to our mess hall Christmas party. It was lots of fun. We played some games, one of which I had to eat crackers and then whistle. I couldn't even eat one of the five crackers. After the games and entertainment, Santa Claus came much to the delight and happiness of the kids. George's little sister, Sachi, was so scared when she saw Santa that she cried. Masao and Tadao and some other little kids went up to shake hands with Santa and get some candy and nuts from him. They looked as if they were in a trance. They came back holding their packages and looking intently at it. Then they showed them to everyone. Then they dragged out big boxes filled with presents for everybody. I didn't expect much this Xmas and instead I had about the most fun I ever had. Dear Sach. Here it is just about Xmas again. Sure, it's gonna be a sad one. Every one of us spread all over. I'm still in the middle of my bivouac. It's pretty rugged. I guess this is nothing to what Frank will be going through shortly. Hope nothing happens to him. Thanks for your interesting letter. It boosted my morale quite a bit. I was feeling pretty low that day. I won't be able to get you anything this Xmas, as I have to have enough money to go on my furlough. I hope I can get to New York on a pass from Meade, because I don't think I have time to go to Heart Mountain and New York at the same time. Merry Christmas and happy New Year, Stan! P.s. best thing I could wish for as Xmas present is for the war to end. P P.s. stop talking about food in your letters. Here I am on bivouac, starving. And you write about sukiyaki and shrimp tempura. I get so hungry out here that I eat anything. This morning I even ate two mess kits full of oatmeal, plus four slices of bread and two scoops of scrambled egg. Last night I was so hungry I went through the mess line three times. I would have went again, only they ran out of food. If I go to New York, How about taking me to Miyako to eat. What stands out to you in these stories, Koji? What stands out to me in these stories? Just the tragedy of being at these camps during, you know, during the holidays. I mean, it's just it must have been a very bittersweet time for a lot of these, uh, a lot of these folks having to be locked up, but also trying to make the best of it. And I think that when I listen to these stories, when I hear these stories, and when I read these kinds of stories, they remind me about how resilient the Japanese American community was, that even though everything was kind of crappy, that instead of feeling sorry for themselves, they really did try to make the best of it. And they really tried to do and just try to have as normal of a the holidays as humanly possible. What about you when you hear the stories or read these stories? What stands out to you? Well, when I was growing up, birthday Christmas is like our very, very important. And the one of the excerpts. One kid forgot his birthday. That was yesterday. Oh my gosh. Because, uh, I don't know if it's this circumstance. I guess you just, like, try to forget about days or. I don't know that. That is so sad. They probably didn't want to make a, you know, make it harder for everybody. If you sell, if you don't, if you don't have to celebrate your birthday, then it just means that no one has to do anything special for you probably is what I imagine. Oh, like very Japanese. Very Japanese. Yeah. I'm like, I feel so bad for these kids that had to go through. And at the same time, I'm so grateful that we live in the time that we do not forget, we overdo for birthdays, for kids. Holidays too. I mean. Yeah, holidays too. One of the things that brought up was, uh, and we've had talked about this and we actually heard from it in one of the previous episodes. One of the most powerful moments of when I worked at the, uh, at the museum full time was when the it was a Quakers program where, um, one of the Japanese Americans. He's older now, but when he was young, he got a book for for Christmas, and it was the only present he got that year. He got that book, and he brought it to the museum for this program, and he wanted to give it back as a thank you for. And he kept it all these years to, to give it back. And I remember thinking about how, how powerful that was that, you know, for a lot of these Japanese American kids, you know, this was the I mean, they didn't get they didn't get Christmas presents necessarily. They didn't get all the things that our kids get this one book, because this was the only thing he got was super meaningful that he even kept it. You know what, 60 years. And it was it was such an important thing that he he treasured it. And sometimes I wish my kid could have that kind of experience in that, you know, so he could appreciate and and know what he, what he has and which he can't now because he has everything. These stories really remind me that joy is very powerful. Yeah. What do you mean by that? One of the excerpts said he wasn't expecting much. And then the present were given to everybody because especially because he wasn't expecting anything. And he received something for Christmas. That little joy counted much more weight. Way more than, you know, kids nowadays getting something. It was just like he wasn't expecting anything and he was just living in that despair. And actually, one of the things I remember when my son was young, I mean, he's 14 now, but when he was 6 or 7, I mean, we would get so many presents from all these people and the family and everywhere. And I remember we would, uh. And for his birthday as well, we would open presents one every week or something, because I just felt like if he just opened all of them, it just felt like he didn't appreciate what he had. And when he opened it one at a time, you know, we made him write thank you letters and whatever, but it was just something that he could appreciate. And I think that, you know, one of the things when I read these is just like, you're right, it's it's when you get one present or when you're not even expecting a present, it means a lot more. The other thing I was gonna say was this Stanley Hayami, uh, diary. I mean, it's if you ever get a chance to read this, this is one of the most important things the museum has this diary from this kid, and he wrote it while in camp, and then he wrote it while he was, um, in the 442. And he ends up dying in the, in the 442. And it's a really powerful diary where you really get a sense of like kind of the tragedy because he was a teenager during camp and you get you kind of hear the tragedy of him being a teenager in camp and all that, and then all the 442 stuff. It's just a really, really powerful diary. You know, one of the things that I always think about when I think about the Hayami diary is if there was a fire at the museum and there's only like, you know, there are certain things that we would save, we would try to save. And the diary would be one of those things, because it's such an important artifact for kind of what happened because their first person there, maybe one day we'll read all of them or we'll have we'll have some of them on, uh, on the, on the podcast. And also, he went to war when he was 17. Yeah. He was a kid still. Yeah. Yeah. Like almost 17 is still a kid. And he had to go to the war. That's as a mother of 20 year old living at home, that's like, oh my gosh, what how would mother feel? And then they oh, the parents, the mothers, they learn English so they could write letters to their kids and they could read the letters coming from the war area. Yeah. All those things that really I don't have. I can't imagine how much pain they had to go through. Reading Stanley's diary and hearing of those battles. You know, it was very humbling. I mean, I think we've talked about this as well before, but when I thought of when I was growing up and I thought of the 442 guys, I thought of them as like these, you know, super hero G.I. Joe, seven feet tall men, you know, just because you hear these amazing stories about all these kind of crazy things that they did. And then you see pictures or you read stories from, you know, the 17 year old and you realize that they were just they were like little kids, you know, and you just realized they were like normal people. And then you and then you start to see the tragedy of of all these people dying and, you know, and or getting hurt or coming back, not the same. And you just kind of realize that it was it was crazy. And you're right, as a parent, you know, even more so. I mean, to have to like, it's one thing for me to go and fight and whatever, because, you know, ultimately, I mean, especially before I had a kid, it didn't mean anything. But now it's much harder. And that's why when I coach baseball and when the kids are kind of talking about war and kind of having fun with it, I'm always like, hey, I'm not fighting in the war anymore. You know, like, the only person that's fighting in the war are you guys. So you guys, you know, you guys got to think a little bit about what's going on in the world and making sure that, you know, you guys aren't fighting because, like, no one wants a 46 year old dude fighting or else, you know, things are totally bad. The war is going really bad for us. If if I'm fighting in the war. My joint. And then the story about this girl with the Japanese driver helping her pick up the Christmas tree or something. They usually stop this at this ice cream place, and the owner of the ice cream parlor came out with a knife to, like, harm the Japanese driver. That is awful. I mean, it was awful that his son got killed. But at the same time, if you you know, you it's not this guy who killed his son, but he still came out and, like, come after a Japanese person, a Japanese looking person. That is awful, that, you know, people discriminate against their look because he's Japanese American, not Japanese. Japanese. Who killed his son? Yeah, but I mean, even a Japanese Japanese person didn't kill his son. No, I mean, not him. Somebody else did. And then also, I'm sure this guy who killed his son didn't want to kill him. But it was an order to kill any Americans. Yeah. I mean, it's war. War is war. War is terrible. It's kind of crazy. I've had this conversation with my son about how, you know, like before, they didn't like Japanese Americans or Japanese people. And even in the 80s, when Japan was powerful and they were buying up all the land and golf courses or whatever, you know, like that, it was like it was hard to be Japanese. And that's why, you know, I was telling him, sometimes I like I have to look twice when I look at Dodger uniforms, and they have Japanese writing on the back of it, and I'm like, and then people who aren't Japanese or Asian are wearing it. It's kind of it blows my mind sometimes because, you know, there was a time when being Japanese at all. Japanese American, Japanese, whatever was bad. Like, you didn't want to advertise it, you know, like, even like, I mean, even my my son was like, what about with Asians? And I was like, no, I would go to my friends houses with their grandparents who were from Korea or from Taiwan or China, and they hated me, you know, like I remember not being allowed in the house. Oh my God, Because of World War two, what Japanese people did in World War two. And I understood I wasn't upset about it, but I was just I understood, but, you know, that's something that my son never has to go through. And it's, it's it's crazy when you see, like Ohtani or Yamamoto and you see these guys in the uniforms and you see like, people who aren't Japanese wearing their uniforms and with Japanese writing on it, not like just, you know, Yamamoto or something in English letters. So it's really powerful. And then, you know, you think about this experience with the, with the ice cream cones and you think, you know, it was so like, you know, you couldn't go to places. You had to be careful about where you're going. And, you know, and you had to be careful about who saw you because you never know. Right? Somebody could get could have gotten killed by like, their child or friend could get killed by a Japanese person during the war, and now they're going to try to kill you. And also like that during that Christmas or right after Christmas, they were allowed. They were there was an announcement they were allowed to go back. But like, um, I think the um Hayami they were was it Hayami? Yeah. They were. Yeah. Um, yeah. They were like, uh, the father was like, well, they are the one who put us here, and now they want us to go, but we're not leaving till we are ready to go. Crazy. And then, like, they were hearing that, um, in West Coast, it's still not safe to go back and but they are like, oh, we're gonna close the school. No more school for you guys. Bye bye. I mean, as a kid, maybe I don't have to go to school. That's great. But. Michelle, as we head into the new year, what's one wish you'd send out to the world? Well, I hope, especially as a parent, because I don't think nobody will send me to war. I'm gonna be very. I'm gonna send you to war, Michelle. I'm gonna be useless. Well, yeah, especially as a parent. I hope that there will be no circumstances that we had to send our kids to fight for no reason. That is so wrong. So I want that peace. That's a great wish. And I wish that as well. I mean, I think that one of the things I wish for also is I think our country is in a kind of a weird, weird place. And I just wish that we could all kind of. I mean, this sounds cliche and trite, but I wish we could get along. You know, I wish we could just kind of figure it out and be a country again. I just feel like there's kind of two countries sometimes, and that, um, I just wish we could all kind of be together. And, you know, that's one of the reasons why I, I like this podcast. I like kind of what the museum does is it talks about something in the past and how we could be better. And I think that that's something that's important to me is that we could be better. We could always be better, you know? And I don't bring these things up to say, oh, America sucks or something. It's more about how America could be what they, yeah, improve. And, you know, and just because it's criticism of something that's happened in the past doesn't mean that I don't love the country that like just just like with anybody I love, I could see the not so great things and still love it and still hope that we could be all better. Maybe we should drink more Coca-Cola, because that's what I saw in Japan on commercials. People are drinking this black liquid and frolicking with the Mexican looking people, black people, white people all dancing in the rain. I'm like, oh my God. So if you drink Coca-Cola, you will be. We will all get along. Is that what I'm hearing? Yeah, that's what I that's what I saw. Although Coca-Cola in Japan is different than Coca-Cola in America. Oh, was I catfished? I mean, Coca-Cola in Japan is much better tasting. I think it's the water maybe that they mixed with. No, I think it's the sugar. Like the type of sugar that they use. I think in America it's more high fructose, so it's sweeter. The American Coca-Cola is always sweeter than like Mexican Coca-Cola or Japanese or European. I think the Americans are just it's so, so sweet. It's hard to drink sometimes I think. I gotta start looking into it so I could force people to drink Coca-Cola and make it all better for everyone. I think the Coca-Cola company would be really excited that their commercial works so well. All right. Thank you to Joanne Oppenheim for generously sharing these excerpts with us Unforgotten Voices from Heart mountain is available for purchase on Amazon, the Kindle edition, and in paperback through the Japanese American National Museum Store. And thank all of you for listening to our podcast. We are deeply grateful for your continued support and enthusiasm for the Japanese America Podcast. Your engagement, feedback and passion inspires us to keep sharing stories and perspectives that bridge cultures and bring people together. Thank you for being part of our community and for tuning in to each episode. We're excited to continue this journey with you, exploring the rich and diverse tapestry of Japanese American experiences. Stay tuned for more exciting content, and don't hesitate to share your thoughts and ideas. This podcast is a program of the Japanese American National Museum. The museum's mission is to promote understanding and appreciation of America's ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Japanese American experience. We'd love it if you'd rate, review, and subscribe to our podcast. It really helps us grow. We're taking a well-earned break next month, but we'll be back in February with season three. Stay tuned. All right. Bye, everybody. Bye. Happy new year. Happy new year.