#kakehashi

In the Fall of 2014, a handful of young, Japanese Americans were selected to travel to their families' country of origin as part of the Kakehashi Project through the Japanese American Citizens League. A few of the students agreed to document their trip, many of them visiting Japan for the first time, to capture the sights and sounds they experienced over the course of their journey. These are a few of their stories.

Heidi Nielson, 25, University of Arizona:

I'd always wanted to go to Japan for as long as I could remember. I grew up hearing about Japan from my grandparents, mostly my grandma, who always wanted us to go someday and kept us connected to our heritage. When my grandma died, I didn’t handle it well. We were very close, and she was always a role model of strength and resilience to me, having been crippled at a young age by severe arthritis. Before she died, she left me all of her journals and asked me to write her memoir. Ten years later, I still haven’t been able to open them. I wanted to go on the trip for so many reasons, but most of all I wanted to feel closer to my grandma and to a country that she loved.

Arriving in Japan felt surreal and sometimes the trip skill feels like a dream. I got engaged the night before I left for Japan, and I kept telling my fiancé that it was like two dreams coming true at once.

My favorite day was when we arrived in Ten’ei Village. We were welcomed to Fukushima prefecture by the government, and the official made a special effort to talk to me about my great-grandparents, who emigrated from Fukushima. As we were driving to Ten’ei Village from Fukushima City, I kept marveling at the idea that I could have been looking at the same mountains and trees that my ancestors did.

On our last full day in Japan, we went to Asakusa Shrine. It was a lovely rainy day to wander around the beautiful temple. I lit a candle for my grandma there. Even though it was such a small gesture, I felt happy thinking that there was a light burning for her in Japan.

Before I left, I felt like I was just beginning to learn what it means to be Japanese American. I joined JACL before applying for the program, and I felt so proud of the history of activism in the community. It is a history that I want to carry on as a soon-to-be attorney.

I feel closer to not only my grandma, but also my whole family. When I came home, my mom, who has never been to Japan, was so excited to see and hear about everything. I brought her a lot of presents, but she was most excited when I showed her the picture of the candle I lit for my grandma. She told me that my grandma always said that when she died, she hoped she could stop in Japan before going to heaven.

Now that I’m back, my mom and I want to do more research on our roots in Japan, and I feel like I can finally start my grandma’s memoir.

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I woke up at 4am and was ready to go - I had everything packed. We got out the door a bit late but it was fine, I got to the airport with like an hour to spare. I left everyone at security and they watched as I went through. We waved goodbye and then I found my gate.The sun was coming up as we took off and it was so so so beautiful. I took a picture but it doesn't compare.

The flight to Japan was long. I tried to just sleep most of the way (I didn’t realize the movies were free lol). But it was okay. Narita was pretty fast from landing to exiting the gate. I didn’t have any trouble finding my bags and going through security and everything. I met Michiko-san right after I got out and I was the first student to arrive. 

All the people here are really cool. I love my roommates. We drove through a bit of Tokyo and it was really cool. It actually reminded me a bit of West Palm Beach.