Coming Around to my Japanese Roots

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Coming Around to my Japanese Roots

By Manami Saito (manamisaito_at_shaw.ca)
October 7, 2005

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Foundations of Information Science/LIBR 560
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Childhood Memories
When I was young I did not like being Japanese. I
hated being different. Specifically my pet
peeves were

• My thick black hair
• My bento-style lunches
• Speaking Japanese in public

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LEARNING THE BASICS
Despite the fact that I was not interested in my
cultural heritage I was forced to take classes
at the local Japanese school where my mother
taught.

The teachers and us at the New Years party.
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A SHIFT IN ATTITUDE
In university things began to change. I took a
first-year Japanese course which turned out to be
my favourite class. I ended up majoring in
Japanese for the rest of my undergraduate years.
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The JET Program
After finishing my degree I got a job as an ALT
(Assistant Language Teacher) on the JET (Japan
Exchange Teachers) program. I moved to Japan and
lived in Kobe city for 3 years.
Me teaching my students about the western
tradition of Halloween
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Family Reunion
My moms side of the family still lives in Japan.
I was extremely lucky to be close to my
grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.
This was taken on my grandfathers 88th birthday,
an important age in Japan.
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Precious Quality Time
The most amazing thing about my time in Japan was
getting to know my grandparents better. Now that
I spoke and understood more Japanese we could
communicate with ease.
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The Open Road
One of the many great things about my job was the
travel! I backpacked all over Japan and got to
see many wonderful sights.
Who am I kidding? I wont make it past the
driveway carrying these bags!
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There were so many amazing things to see and
discover. For example

• Local shops of Japanese tsukemono or pickles

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Glitzy department stores
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Incredible summer festivals
This is a picture of the Gion festival in Kyoto
city
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The beautiful countryside of Nara prefecture
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And nature at its simplest and most beautiful
Bamboo trees in Kyoto
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The Canadian Spy
People would often ask what it was like to look
Japanese but be a foreigner. I told them I felt
like a spy- a Canadian disguised as a Japanese
person!
Find the foreigner in this picture!
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My Teaching Career
When I returned to Canada I entered the Education
program at UBC with the ambition of becoming a
Japanese teacher and sharing my experiences in
Japan with my students.
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I became more involved with the Japanese-Canadian
community, volunteering at the Powell Street
Festival and, more recently, joining a taiko
drumming group.
Fusing the Japanese and the Canadian
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Now I feel Ive struck a good balance between
being Japanese, being Canadian and, most
importantly, just being me!
And it all comes together