Call Me Okaasan: Adventures in Multicultural Mothering. A Global Anthology
Suzanne Kamata
Expat Women's Interview with Suzanne
Expat Women: Suzanne, Call Me Okaasan is a collection of essays from women around the world on the topic of multicultural mothering. As an American mother living in Japan, tell us about your own, personal experiences as a multicultural mother.
Suzanne: I grew up as a white kid in a very white town in the Midwest of the United States. I was pretty much oblivious to whatever difficulties the minority kids might have had. As the mother of biracial, bicultural children who are clearly in the minority here in rural Japan, I have become a lot more sensitive to those issues.
I have always been interested in social justice, but being the mother of a child with disabilities and of children who are in part, at least, of a different culture, has turned me into something of an advocate. Having half-Japanese kids has also changed my feelings about Japan, for which I have had a love/hate relationship. I try harder to focus on what I like about this country.
Also, when I came to Japan I had to rethink a lot of my assumptions about motherhood. As I write in my introduction, I was absolutely not going to sleep with my children. Japanese women do, but it seemed kind of perverse to me. After I had kids, however, it was a lot easier to sleep right next to them than getting up in the middle of the night. Actually, my kids, who are now nine, were in my bed last night, although they now have their own room!
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Expat Women: Why do you think a book like this is necessary now? |
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Suzanne: Multiculturalism is a trendy idea. However, with the election of a biracial president in the United States and the changing demographics of the U.S. - my birth country, and other countries around the world,I think it is here to stay.
In the past, people of different backgrounds did their best to blend into their environments. For example, white parents would adopt babies from Korea and then bring them up "white". Or immigrant parents would refuse to speak their native language so that their children would fit into the dominant culture. There are a number of books, including memoirs, novels and anthologies on these kinds of families. I have read quite a few, trying to get a grip on what my children are going through as half-Caucasian/half-Japanese kids in rural Japan, but I could not find much from the parents' point of view. I realized that the idea of bringing up multicultural children with a sense of two or more cultures is rather new; therefore, very little writing has been published on the topic and there needs to be more! |
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Expat Women: Why did you choose the anthology format? |
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Suzanne: You might say that I am a compulsive anthologist. I am into narratives like Imelda Marcos was into shoes.When I became an expatriate in Japan, I compiled a collection of expatriate stories, and when I found out that my daughter was deaf, I put together a literary collection on raising children with special needs.
Call Me Okaasan is an extension of my interests and concerns. Numerous dissertations are being written on multiculturalism and practical books are available for families like mine, but I love to read personal essays because when I read these essays, I feel like I am among friends. |
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Expat Women: Which story touched you the deepest? |
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Suzanne: That is a hard question to answer. All of these essays resonated with me deeply, and I love each and every one for different reasons. The one that makes me cry every time I read it, is "Like the Lotus" by Leza Lowitz, about adopting a Japanese toddler from an orphanage. The one that I related to most personally was probably Devorah Lifshutz's "Promises to Myself." Like Devorah, I had to give up my dream of raising my child in my native language. (I am raising my daughter in Japanese and Japanese Sign Language.) |
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Expat Women: What sources of information are out there to help global mothers cope with their big adventures? |
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Expat Women: What is next for you as an author, as a mother and as a woman? |
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| Suzanne: I am working on my second novel, which is about a bicultural family in Japan. I am also working on some stories for children and young adults. I am hoping to learn to let go of my kids and let them have more autonomy. In Japan, kids often live with their parents until marriage and beyond, but I am hoping that mine will feel free enough to pursue their dreams. And as a woman, I hope to continue to pursue my own dreams of making this world a better place through my writing and other activities. |
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| Expat Women: Thank you very much Suzanne and we wish you every success with your new book! |
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| Suzanne Kamata is the author of the novel, Losing Kei, and a picture book, Playing For Papa, both of which concern bicultural families. She is also the editor of two previous anthologies: The Broken Bridge: Fiction from Expatriates in Literary Japan; and Love You To Pieces: Creative Writers on Raising a Child with Special Needs. Suzanne is also currently fiction editor of Literary Mama. Born and raised in Michigan and most recently from South Carolina, she now lives in rural Japan with her Japanese husband and bicultural twins. |
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