Japanese Culture Stereotype
Kannichiwa. Watashiwa, Kimiyama Alice desu.
Hello. My name is Alice Kimiyama.
I am a Japanese American.
Emphasis, on a American.
I know, it's hard at first to realize it
I usually get the "Hey, you're Chinese, right?"
You are instantly Chinese since that's the largest Asian country.
It's the almond eyes
And how I must only see half the world when I smile...
It's no use
I can't change the minds
Of 303,824,646 people
And no,
Just because I'm asian
Doesn't mean that I
Memorized how many people there are in the United States
I looked it up on CIA World Factbook like a
Normal
American
Teenager
Would do.
It does not mean
I'm the smartest kid in your classroom.
I have trouble with all sorts of subjects
Especially the one with
Graphing hexagons and
Constructing nonagons with
Numbers and letters scrambled into
This fusion of complete nonsense...
Just because I'm asian
Does not mean that I
Speak the language fluently
Cook and eat rice everyday
I do not wear a kimono
When I'm at home.
I don't know every anime or manga
That's out and about there
Or go to a Buddist temple on the weekend.
I'm Christian, sorry.
Just because I'm Japanese,
Doesn't mean that I am
A ninja, samurai, or geisha.
I'm not a harajuku girl
Dressing in Gothic Lolita with neon colored hair
Just because I'm asian,
Means squat
When it comes to living by the code
Of that culture.
I'm a flat out
All American girl
With a background ethnicity
of a Japanese heritage.
But that's all people gaze upon when they see me
To them, I am not Irish or German
Which I am
I could be eating potatoes and brats everyday
You're just fortunate that I did take Japanese
Because as a young girl I found interest in it
Lucky
That I wanted to take karate for a year, but decided
Hey, it's not what it's cracked up to be.
I don't walk up to you, saying
"Hey, you're African, right?
Hey, you're English, right?
You're Mexican, right?"
I don't because you could
Be an American like me.
Or you could be from Norway, France
Jamaica, Chili,
Indonesia, Kazakhstan,
Australia, New Zealand; anywhere.
I know you feel my pain
When people keep asking you.
You may be joking with me, but I get fed up.
I'm tired of the whole,
"Asians are smart"
or
"Asians are far more superior"
It may sound like gold,
But that gold weighs me down.
I don't need that expectation floating amongst me.
I want the expectation of being me, Alice.
And as my great grandma from Japan would say,
"Domo arigato gozai masu."
Thank you very much.
Hello. My name is Alice Kimiyama.
I am a Japanese American.
Emphasis, on a American.
I know, it's hard at first to realize it
I usually get the "Hey, you're Chinese, right?"
You are instantly Chinese since that's the largest Asian country.
It's the almond eyes
And how I must only see half the world when I smile...
It's no use
I can't change the minds
Of 303,824,646 people
And no,
Just because I'm asian
Doesn't mean that I
Memorized how many people there are in the United States
I looked it up on CIA World Factbook like a
Normal
American
Teenager
Would do.
It does not mean
I'm the smartest kid in your classroom.
I have trouble with all sorts of subjects
Especially the one with
Graphing hexagons and
Constructing nonagons with
Numbers and letters scrambled into
This fusion of complete nonsense...
Just because I'm asian
Does not mean that I
Speak the language fluently
Cook and eat rice everyday
I do not wear a kimono
When I'm at home.
I don't know every anime or manga
That's out and about there
Or go to a Buddist temple on the weekend.
I'm Christian, sorry.
Just because I'm Japanese,
Doesn't mean that I am
A ninja, samurai, or geisha.
I'm not a harajuku girl
Dressing in Gothic Lolita with neon colored hair
Just because I'm asian,
Means squat
When it comes to living by the code
Of that culture.
I'm a flat out
All American girl
With a background ethnicity
of a Japanese heritage.
But that's all people gaze upon when they see me
To them, I am not Irish or German
Which I am
I could be eating potatoes and brats everyday
You're just fortunate that I did take Japanese
Because as a young girl I found interest in it
Lucky
That I wanted to take karate for a year, but decided
Hey, it's not what it's cracked up to be.
I don't walk up to you, saying
"Hey, you're African, right?
Hey, you're English, right?
You're Mexican, right?"
I don't because you could
Be an American like me.
Or you could be from Norway, France
Jamaica, Chili,
Indonesia, Kazakhstan,
Australia, New Zealand; anywhere.
I know you feel my pain
When people keep asking you.
You may be joking with me, but I get fed up.
I'm tired of the whole,
"Asians are smart"
or
"Asians are far more superior"
It may sound like gold,
But that gold weighs me down.
I don't need that expectation floating amongst me.
I want the expectation of being me, Alice.
And as my great grandma from Japan would say,
"Domo arigato gozai masu."
Thank you very much.