Reddit reviews Being Japanese American: A JA Sourcebook for Nikkei, Hapa . . . & Their Friends

I'm going to go slightly YTA. Not because you don't want to name your child with a Japanese name, but because you're judging her "Japaneseness" in the process. My husband is half-Japanese, so I am drawing a bit from what I've learned from him.

For Japanese-Americans, there has been SUCH a push to integrate that so much of the cultural identity was lost. After WW2, Japanese-Americans tried to become as "white" as possible -- there were hundreds of Japantowns throughout the US and now there are enough to count on one hand. Second and third generations were told not to learn or speak Japanese. So on and so forth. So for many Japanese-Americans, there may not be strong ties to Japan. But there is a strong tie to being *Japanese-American* and language can be a way to reinforce that -- along with the unique traditions that have developed in America.

Additionally, there's a really weird dichotomy in being half-Asian where you are never Asian enough to be considered "full Asian." My husband was literally raised in Japan by his Japanese mother, but now that he's an adult in America who speaks perfect English he is often shunned by Asians because he's half-white.

I think it's important to remember that a multi-racial person's identity is what THEY choose it to be. Your wife can identify as Black. Your wife can identify as Japanese. Your wife can identify as JA, as Asian, as American, as multiracial.... and she has the power to decide when, where and how she expresses these identities. And no one has the right to tell her she's right or wrong in these expressions.

I would highly recommend this book! It's an awesome one that I picked up at the Japanese American Museum of San Jose, which I would also highly recommend.