Workshop for People with Ancestral Roots in Okinawa

Saturday, August 17, 2024
2:00 PM 4:00 PM 14:00 16:00

J-Sei 1285 66th Street Emeryville, CA, 94608 United States (map)

Google Calendar ICS

We warmly invite you to the second in a series of three events about the Okinawan Diaspora.

Organized by the Beyond the Fence Collective
Hosted by J-Sei and sponsored by the Northern California Okinawa Kenjin-Kai

Okinawan Migration to the United States
Saturday, August 17, 2024
2-4pm PT

J-Sei
1285 66th Street, Emeryville, CA
In Person only

What does it mean for Japanese Americans to have ancestors from Okinawa? How is it different from the histories and experiences of other Japanese Americans? This workshop is for people with at least one family member/ancestor (e.g., parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, etc.) from Okinawa, specifically welcoming people of all ages who don't know much about Japanese or Okinawan cultures, languages, and histories; people of multiple ancestries; and people who identify with multiple marginalized communities (in terms of ability, sexuality, gender, etc.).

Moderated by Jane H. Yamashiro, the goal of this workshop is for participants to have the space to think more critically and deeply about what their Okinawan heritage means to them. Participants will have time to reflect on their backgrounds, ask questions, share thoughts, and learn about the experiences and perspectives of others.

Jane H. Yamashiro is a sociologist whose comparative and transnational work on race and ethnicity, culture, globalization, migration, diaspora, and identity sits at the intersection of Asian American and Asian Studies. She has previously been a Visiting Scholar at USC's Center for Japanese Religions and Culture and the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, and has taught at colleges and universities in the U.S. and Japan, most recently including Mills College, Loyola Marymount University and Mount Tamalpais College (formerly Patten University at San Quentin). She holds a B.A. from the University of California at San Diego and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. While conducting research in Japan, Dr. Yamashiro has been funded by the East-West Center and the Crown Prince Akihito Scholarship, and has been a visiting researcher at the University of Tokyo and Sophia University. Dr. Yamashiro's first book, Redefining Japaneseness: Japanese Americans in the Ancestral Homeland, was published in 2017. She is currently writing a book that examines the varied ways that Okinawans in the continental United States identify and think about their Okinawanness.