Topaz Oral History Project research files: Published articles (1920s-1980s)

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8 Th r i!:i n n o b no in spi of th f ct th t one might be living h rt! rm n n 1 ', i - s }Ui ·s 'ble h t hi' is don mor 0 less unwillingly nd th t, t cor , th same erson h rbors desire to return to Jap n. And playing both en s g in!::)t the mi dle, this person might look to the public school for the American educ tion of his offspring while, at the same time, send the child to the Japanese 1 nguage school f r th study of the Japanese language and tradition. If such a "double game" is played, it might well result in personality developments in the chil ren which are fraught with fault and inconsistencies. This may also result in their being discriminated against in the United States and, at the same time, being considered undesirable in Japan because of their American education. In bushido, a samurai with divided loyalties is considered an outcast from the samurai rank. As the saying goes, "He who runs after two hares will catch neither." Among Lessing's parables, there is one about a goose that thought that in its previous life it was a crane. So it behaved in a lordly manner, not associating with birds of its own kind. One day the goose chanced to notice that its neck was short and ugly and tried with all its might to stretch it out. But instead of becoming like a crane with a long neck, it became a crippled goose. Similarly, unless we Japanese in America are careful now, we might produce crippled Nisei like the goose in the story. We must not direct them into becoming persons of divided loyalties, acceptable neither in America nor in Japan. There is nothing wrong with a person, born and living in the United States, mastering Japanese as a foreign language. However, we must ask the question of whether it would be acceptable to Americans in general to have a Japanese person claim " I am an American" and, at the same time, be inculcated with Japanese principles of morality. (8/2/28)