“I’ll do my best. Does he do the same type of work as you?”

“No the work he does is decorative, not functional. The British and
Japanese pottery tradition is more conservative than the Continent’s where there
has always been an abstract tradition. Knapper’s doing well here, however. There
is a good market for what he does; he’s becoming quite successful.”

“What do the Japanese think of us? What is their war memory?”

“Never comes up. The Japanese have put it all behind them. Right now
they’re gung ho for anything American:Periodically throughout their history, the
Japanese have opened the door to foreign influences, assimilated them, then shut
the door, refining what they adopted and making it their own. They might do that
again. For now, we’re part of a club they want to join — they make no distinction
between us and Americans; they don’t even know what a Canadian is. The
Japanese aren’t so kind to members of clubs they don’t want to join, however:
Koreans, Chinese, Philippinos, and they are definitely unkind to the children of
mixed marriages, especially to girls whose fathers were black American
servicemen. But they love it when favoured foreigners genuinely like them and
love their culture. In other words, the Japanese are just like everybody. If you like
them, they’ll treat you well.”

“What about your children, yours and Yoshimi’s?”

“We have thought about that. While children of mixed marriages have
trouble growing up in Japan, if they come to Japan once they’re grown they enjoy
an advantage from already being half Japanese. Some of the most popular rock
stars today have that background:they are part of the group, but they are exotic
too. We might have to leave Japan someday, then come back. Did I tell you
Yoshimi is pregnant?”

“She is? When is she due?”

“In about four months.”

“Doesn’t show.”

“Not yet.”

“Congratulations!”

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21

Japanby Morley Evans

November 21, 2000