“All I Asking for Is My Body” by Milton Murayama

March 9,2008 iwonka

The first thing that I’ve noticed about this reading was its similarity to the “Nisei Daughter”. Especially the part in chapter 16, where Oyama’s family finds out about the bombarding of Pearl Harbor and Tosh asks his father to destroy the Japanese flag and hide all of the Japanese books. I remembered that Monica’s family did exactly the same thing in order to disguise their ties to Japan and protect themselves from being viewed as Japanese allies. Another thing that I found to be very similar was the initial reaction of both families when they found out about the Japanese attack. At first none of them wanted to believe in what was happening and they couldn’t understand how Japan could do such a horrible and foolish thing. They felt ashamed and betrayed by a country that some of them once called “home”. I cannot even imagine how difficult it had to be for them, especially for the young Nisei, who didn’t understand Japan’s politics. I remember how confused and torn apart Kiyoshi was about the whole situation. He didn’t know on whose side he was supposed to be on. He even asked his teacher if the Nisei should fight for America in the war. I’ve also noticed how mad he was on Japan and for being Japanese: “…don’t do anything that’d bring shame to Japanese race, don’t be a rotten apple and spoil the whole barrel. What chance have I got, me, a single apple getting slammed by a barrelful of rottenness? Even if I tried deliberately, every day of my life, I wouldn’t be able to produce one-thousandth of the massive shame of Pearl Harbor.” Then again when he talks to his teacher: “ You know, you’ve always said, ‘Be proud you’re Japanese. Never bring shame to the Japanese race.’ What if they, all of them bring shame to me? What about me? I feel ashamed I’m Japanese. I feel a shame I can never erase, and here I haven’t done a single bad thing”   

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5 Comments Add your own

• 1. Nikki  |  March 9,2008 at 10:43 am

  I agree with everything you wrote about in your blog because I write about the same things. I thought it was interesting that in every text we have read about Japanese internment camps, the Japanese were stunned that Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and were ashamed of it. The Japanese living in America were now lost because they realize that they were now the enemy. For the Japanese, the world turned upsidedown and nothing would be the same for them. I think this is sad. These people had to burn their Japanese possessions that probably meant the world to them. I just think it is sad.

• 2. anna597  |  March 9,2008 at 9:32 pm

  I agree with your entry and I too noticed the great shame and sadness that Kiyoshi felt. It must be terrible to feel betrayed by your own country, especially when people of other races begin to look down on you because of your ancestry. Even though HE did nothing wrong, he would still face the consequences of the actions of his countrymen. I think this has a lot to do with the idea that Japanese put the importance of the whole over the welfare of the individual. So just because a few people thought that the attack would benefit Japan, an entire country of people had to suffer for their actions.

• 3. Tessa  |  March 16,2008 at 2:59 pm

  Sone’s Nisei Daughter and Muryama’s “All I asking for is My Body” are two very similar books in that they both consist of events that occured during the attack on Pearl Harbro. Although different view points (male and female), they each spoke of the harships and confusion of being a Nisei and not feeling as thought they “belong”. Not quite Japanese, but not quite American.

• 4. martink852  |  March 16,2008 at 9:50 pm

  I also agree with your blog, just like everyone else! I wrote about many similar things in my blog. It was apparent how related Nisei Daughter was to this text and I think that it opened our eyes that it wasn’t just Sone’s family that had to do all of these things after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but many others. The most similar thing that i felt stood out to me as a reader was when she had to destroy their japanese belongings. i feel so bad that they have to be ashamed of their culture because they were going to get punished for it. Overall, great ideas in your blog and i agree with all of them!

• 5. leahk05  |  March 20,2008 at 11:34 am

  I agree with you and what you wrote in your blog. The whole idea of “shame” really shines in both of these pieces. The part that I found interesting though was in Tosh’s family, they were so quick to burn their Japanese belongings. It didn’t mention much about their attachment to these pieces. Yet in Sone’s experience, her whole family dreads this. They wait a little bit to burn their things, unlike Tosh’s family, and attempt to hide some of their things (i.e. a doll). It’s unfortunate that these individuals had to burn their own possessions just to prove how American they were. And yet, they were still “punished” for being Japanese regardless of what they did.

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