Is Japan in My DNA?
1/15/2023
As I took a walk today, I came across a man walking a dog that looked like a miniature Shibu inu (a Japanese dog breed). So, I asked him. He said she was just a small Shibu inu he got in Japan. It turned out he had lived in Kanazawa for 10 years. What a surprise after I just returned from there a month ago.
I was so excited to talk with him. I gave his dog, Sakura, pets and we shared favorite locations in Kanazawa, such as restaurants and gardens. Curio is a little café I loved, with the best hot chocolate anywhere. He told me about a great onsen community close to Kanazawa in Yuwaka, Japan.
Then as I continued my walk with a little springier step, I smiled to myself and felt wonderful about talking with someone who knows Japan and could talk about places I know. Suddenly, it occurred to me I felt Japan in my bones and in my flesh. It is a part of me, a place more like home than anywhere else I’ve lived and been, but still not home to me as some know home.
On this trip to Japan I noticed how in between I am there. I became aware of and felt the interstitial cultural space that is referred to in the definition of Third Culture Kids. Although Japan is a part of me because I spent growing up years in Japan, I’m not Japanese and the culture really isn’t in my DNA. After all, my parents were U.S. Americans. My realization brought on an odd feeling of being a part of somewhere, yet not really being a part of it. So now I have a new question, how can I feel Japan in my bones, yet it not be in my DNA or is it? Something else to explore about myself.