Nisei Daughter

The shocking fact of life referred to in this chapter’s title is Sone’s discovery that she is “a Japanese” (3). Up until the age of 6, when her parents tell her that she is of Japanese ethnicity like them and, as a result, ought to attend Japanese school, Sone thinks that she is “a Yankee, because after all I had been born on Occidental and Main Street” (18-19). Sone bursts into tears at the thought of going to Japanese school and thinks that having dual nationality is “freakish,” like “being born with two heads” (19).

Before the conversation, when they announce the family’s nationality, Sone had never seen her parents as Japanese, even though “they had almond eyes and they spoke Japanese to us” (5). That was only normal to her.

Sone’s father, Mr. Itoi, is from Tochigi-ken prefecture and studied law in Tokyo. He practiced law for a few years until he came to Seattle, a place that teemed with “promise and opportunities” (5). However, once in the US and barely scraping by, Sone’s father gives up his dream of continuing his law studies in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His thoughts turn to marriage.

Sone’s maternal grandfather, Nagashima, a congregational church minister from Tochigi-ken prefecture, arrives in the United States with his three daughters, including Sone’s mother, Benko.