JEWPANESE Oral History Project

Shalom / Hajimemashite, my name is Carmel Ayala Tanaka (In Japanese, カーメル・アヤラ・田中... In Hebrew, כרמל אילה טנקה) and I am fundraising for JEWPANESE Oral History Project.

 

Since May 2020, a community of Jewpanese people and Jewpanese families worldwide began to meet virtually on the second Sunday of the month in celebration of Jewish and Asian Heritage Months. This group wants to document their lived experiences and record their stories on the intersectionality of being Jewish and Japanese.

 

With a foot in both the Japanese and Jewish worlds, communities traditionally closed to diversity and with a long history of emigration and expulsion, we touch on the sensitive subject of whether Jewpanese people can really belong anywhere, touching on cultural identity, belonging, acceptance, and a future where Jewpanese no longer feel alone. These stories have not been told previously, outside of the Jewpanese community, and will add to the understanding of issues faced by the Jewpanese community inside the Jewish community and in the world at large.

 

According to UrbanDictionary, Jewpanese is defined as "an individual of mixed Japanese and Jewish ancestry. There are probably like seven of them". Not only are there more than seven of us, being Jewpanese is diverse. Whether you have one parent of each, or were adopted into, or are Jewpanese by choice, you are invited to participate in the "JEWPANESE Oral History Project ".

 

This project is being conducted by founding member of the Jewpanese community, Carmel Tanaka. Her maternal grandparents are Holocaust survivors and her paternal grandparents are Japanese Canadians who were interned during WWII. She is the founder and executive director of JQT Vancouver, a Jewish queer trans non-profit, where she designed and conducted the "BC Jewish Queer & Trans Oral History Project". Learn more about Carmel at www.carmeltanaka.ca

 

As an ADL Collaborative for Change Fellow, Carmel has received funding to use by the end of 2022 to help support this project, specifically video equipment, travel, accommodation, interview transcribing, online exhibit curation, as well as honoraria for Carmel and interviewee participants. Read more about the ADL initiative here

 

Jewpanese people are invited to fill out THIS FORM to gauge interest of how many Jewpanese people/families would like to be interviewed and where. Carmel will map out where everyone is and determine the most cost-effective travel route with central interview regions (i.e. Vancouver --> San Francisco --> New York --> Toronto --> London --> Tel Aviv --> Tokyo). Those who fill out the form prior to Passover 2022 will have higher opportunity to be interviewed in-person. Those who fill out the form after Passover 2022 can either meet Carmel in one of her stops or she can conduct an interview with you over Zoom.

 

Funding is limited and to help with costs of this project, we have started this GoFundMe Campaign. If you are able to contribute (even donate airmiles or travel points to help Carmel get to everyone!), it will be greatly appreciated. Please share with extended family and community members!

 

Carmel's work takes place on ancestral and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlil̓w̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples. 

There will be an info session on May 8, 2022 from 10-11AM PDT. Facebook event link here