Born in Japan

Sometimes I think about how strange it is that I was born in Japan and spent six years of my childhood there, speaking Japanese and going to a Japanese kindergarten. The reason I use the word strange is  because although I return to Japan often to visit my father, I feel a sort of disconnect to that time. Mostly because I can no longer speak Japanese, so now when I go back I feel like an outsider, whereas the childhood me was able to communicate and be a part of everything. When I remember playing with friends or going to school there is no verbal memory because the me of today cannot understand the Japanese that was spoken to the me of back then. Does that make sense? See, very strange. Looking back at photos from that time there it's funny to me how Japanese my childhood looks and how much it changed when I left and moved to the United States. But the culture and my experiences there still influence me heavily today, and that is why I think my final major project this year ended up being inspired by all the things I absorbed as a little girl living in Japan. 

Wearing a kimono on Girls Day, aged 4

my brother wearing a kyonshi (terrifying hopping vampire) mask on his head

My brother wearing a Kappa mask and feet

My brother and I ringing the bells at the jinja (temple) we lived next to.

my name in Japanese