JAPANESE AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM EXHIBIT ‘FROM BENTO TO MIXED PLATE’ DEBUTS IN OKINAWA

NAHA CITY, Okinawa—The Japanese American National Museum’s traveling exhibition, From Bento to Mixed Plate: Americans of Japanese Ancestry in Multicultural Hawai`i, made its international debut at the Okinawa Prefectural Museum on Nov. 10, with Japanese and American government officials and dignitaries in attendance.

From Bento to Mixed Plate explores the evolution of Japanese American identity in Hawai`i, from the arrival of the first immigrants from Japan in 1868 (known as the gannenmono) to the initial immigration of large numbers of contract laborers (known as kanyaku imin) in 1885 to the present-day. A century ago, the first immigrants came from Okinawa to settle in Hawai`i, an anniversary marked by the state’s Okinawan Centennial Celebration. Hawaii’s multicultural setting shaped these immigrants and their lives and Japanese Americans in turn influenced life in Hawai`i.

The exhibition was a collaboration between the Japanese American National Museum and the Nikkei community in Hawai`i, led by writer Arnold Hiura, who curated the show. It premiered at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu in 1997. To prepare the exhibition for Okinawa, the National Museum recruited Makoto Arakaki, a native of Okinawa and a doctoral candidate in international relations at the University of Tsukuba, to help make the show bilingual for Japanese-reading audiences.

Attending the landmark opening was United States Ambassador to Japan Thomas S. Foley, U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye of Hawai`i, Hawai`i Lieutenant Governor Mazie Hirono and Okinawa Governor Keiichi Inamine, among many dignitaries. The National Museum was represented by Chairman of the Board of Trustees George Takei and Executive Director and President Irene Hirano. The Hawai`i United Okinawan Association, a major partner in this endeavor, was represented by Dr. Albert Miyasato. Director Yoshin Hirata spoke for the Okinawa Prefectural Museum. The project received sponsorship from All Nippon Airways and DHL.

Takei spoke formally in Japanese for the occasion and emphasized the importance of cross-cultural exchanges to create greater understanding between all people. Hirano said, “This partnership is an opportunity to strengthen past relationships and to build new friendships for the future.”

From Bento to Mixed Plate is an official event of the Hawai`i Okinawan Centennial Celebration and the only one being held outside the state. Besides From Bento to Mixed Plate, the Okinawan Prefectural Museum opened a companion exhibition titled Nikkei Imin Isseiki-ten (A Century of Nikkei Immigration). This exhibit examines the Okinawan emigrants who settled in other parts of the world.

“The Okinawan Prefectural Museum is pleased to be partnering with the Japanese American National Museum in bringing this wonderful exhibit, From Bento to Mixed Plate: Americans of Japanese Ancestry in Multicultural Hawai`i, to the people of Okinawa,” Hirata said. “We are especially pleased that Okinawa was selected to host the exhibit’s Japan and international premiere.”

Observed Miyasato, “Being able to take Bento to Okinawa is an incredible opportunity that the Japanese American National Museum could only hope would become reality. I can’t think of a more appropriate time to be sharing this exhibit with audiences in Okinawa than on the occasion of the centennial celebration.”

The exhibition derives part of its name from a tiered food container known as a bento tin in which immigrant plantation workers carried their lunches. Often, these Japanese and Okinawan workers would share their lunches with other immigrant laborers, who brought their own ethnic foods. This communal practice evolved into a “mixed plate” meal, combining popular ethnic foods such as rice, macaroni salad, teriyaki chicken and/or kalua pig and kim chee.

“The sharing of food represents a certain spirit that exists both in Hawai`i and Okinawa,” Arakaki explained. “In Okinawa especially, where the ties are so strong with the people of Hawai`i, there will be many heartwarming reunions as well as new friendships forged as a result of Bento. I think the Okinawa Prefectural Museum and the Japanese American National Museum should be commended for their efforts to bridge Hawai`i’s Aloha Spirit with Okinawa’s ‘Uchinanchu (Okinawan) Spirit,’ people-to-people, heart-to-heart.”

The single largest collection of historic objects featured in the exhibition were loaned by the Maui Okinawa Cultural Center. Many of these artifacts came from the late Roy R. Yonahara, who actively supported Maui’s Japanese and Okinawan communities. “The key point we try to make in the exhibit,” Hiura revealed, “is that in Hawai`i, ethnic groups have been allowed to perpetuate and celebrate their cultural heritage in relative freedom. We try to maintain traditional aspects of our culture. At the same time, we are citizens of America and comfortable in our uniquely ‘local,’ multiethnic way of life.”

The Japanese American National Museum’s mission is promote understanding and appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity by preserving and telling the story of Americans of Japanese ancestry. With members in all 50 states and in 16 different countries, it creates exhibitions, public programs and curriculum for a national and international audience.

From Bento to Mixed Plate will be on display at the Okinawa Prefectural Museum through Dec. 10, 2000. Exhibit hours are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily except Mondays and holidays. The Japanese American National Museum intends to tour the exhibition in other venues in Japan before returning to the Maui Arts & Cultural Center in Wailuku. Previously, the exhibit has visited the Lyman Museum in Hilo, the Kauai War Memorial Convention Hall, the National Museum in Los Angeles, and drew over 400,000 visitors while on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

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