Suburban life suits Japanese-Americans

As suburban residents shop for sushi, imbibe izakaya-style and go mad for manga, it's easy to forget that not so long ago many local Japanese-Americans felt compelled to downplay their cultural identity.

Most of the first wave of Japanese-Americans to arrive in Chicago came directly from West Coast internment camps where they were confined during World War II.

And if internment taught Japanese-Americans anything, it was that being different could cost you your home, your livelihood -- your freedom.

"Certainly the experience of being pulled out of your home and relocating hundreds of miles away, forcibly, would make you a little cautious," said Karen Kanemoto of the Japanese American Service Committee, which was formed in 1946 to help Japanese-Americans who left the internment camps and relocated to Chicago.

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"My own feeling is that it made them want to blend in more, to not stick out so much." Kanemoto said.

Before the war, about 300 Japanese-Americans lived in Chicago. By war's end, that number had swelled to more than 20,000, making Chicago the most popular destination for re-settlers, according to the Encyclopedia of Chicago.

The War Relocation Authority opened a resettlement office in Chicago, and the city's wartime economy provided the jobs that offered a ticket out of the internment camps.

As well, "after a point in time Chicago was viewed as more of a friendly environment than the former residences in the West Coast, where decades and decades of hostility were pointed at them," said Bill Yoshino, the Midwest director of the Japanese American Citizens League.

Still, though Chicago offered a more hospitable environment, the Japanese-Americans who arrived in the area typically focused more on fitting in than preserving their cultural heritage.

"The second generation (of Japanese-American immigrants), a lot don't speak the language because they wanted to be more American to be more successful in society," said Kiyo Shirataki, who organizes the annual Japan Festival in Arlington Heights, set for this weekend. "The third generation #8230; not all, but some, have interest in the culture, such as taking dancing lessons."

Naperville resident Michelle LeBlanc, for example, never learned to speak more than a few phrases of Japanese, despite her Japanese roots. At the time, she said, it wasn't "socially acceptable to teach your children Japanese from birth.

"When my mom got here, it was right when the Japanese were let out of the internment camps," LeBlanc said. "She was like, 'Let's see how we can hide you.' "

LeBlanc opened the Naperville Cultural Center in 2005, in part to redress the lack of cultural support for Japanese-Americans in the suburbs. The center offers a number of cultural events, activities and lessons, including Japanese language lessons and popular classes in Japanese cartooning.

Suburban roots

Far from hiding, Japanese-Americans in the suburbs today celebrate their culture -- and share it with Americans who have no Japanese roots.

This weekend, the annual Japan Festival, featuring traditional Japanese dance, martial arts, drumming, food and entertainment, will take place at the Forest View Educational Center in Arlington Heights.

What started more than 25 years ago as a small celebration of the new Japanese garden display at the Chicago Botanic Garden has grown into an event that attracts thousands to the Northwest suburbs.

Originally, the crowd consisted mostly of Japanese-Americans.

But in recent years, organizers say, it has become only about half Japanese.

The annual festival is a particularly visible expression of the strong Japanese-American presence in the northwest suburbs.

Of the 27,700 residents of Japanese descent living in Illinois, 16,100 live in suburban Cook County and the surrounding collar counties, according to Census 2000 figures.

While 17,400 people of Japanese descent live in Cook County, just 7,100 live in Chicago.

Japanese businesses, too, have gravitated to the suburbs. Of the 408 corporate members of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Chicago, 52 are in Schaumburg, more than any other city, including Chicago.

And the Arlington Heights-based Mitsuwa Marketplace, the largest Japanese grocery store in the Midwest, also has made the Northwest suburbs a destination spot for people in search of authentic Japanese experiences and goods.

"The suburbs are a very comfortable place," said Mundelein resident Mitsukuni Baba, executive director of the Japan America Society of Chicago. "Many Japanese people, particularly families, prefer to live in the suburbs #8230; . For Japanese-Americans, this is their community. Their country."