create & buy custom products at Zazzle
I’ve been having fun with Zazzle, creating some t-shirts that you’ll probably find me wearing around town. They are mostly Okinawan or Japanese-themed. Of course, I do this mostly for my own amusement. But if you find them cool, even better! I’m still working on additional designs, but the initial batch is available now.
Before people get all up in arms over the “Japride” design, let me give you the background. And, just for the record, Hubby is Japanese — and this was his idea! It’s all in the name of good fun and, of course, not meant to be derogatory or racist in the least bit. 
So, here’s the story…
You don’t have to drive very far on the H-1 freeway before you see a large vinyl-cut sticker declaring the ethnicity of the driver emblazoned across rear windows of cars and trucks. Hawaiian, Samoan, Chamorro, etc. I remarked that Asians are sorely under-represented in this new trend. Where is the love? Where is the pride?
This sparked a lively discussion with my (Japanese) husband. Then, he exclaimed: “Japride!”
If you spell it “Japride,” it can be taken to read: “Jap Pride” or “Jap Ride.” Either of which is pretty appropriate. Think: Japanese rice rockets (suped-up Hondas and Toyotas with loud mufflers and dropped suspensions)
Could this be the beginning of a new phenomenon? Japanese from all over proclaiming their Japanese pride! Come on, you know you want one.
I love the design, but that word “Jap” carries a long history of hurt with it. I agree that when we use it ourselves, a lot (if not all) of the sting is taken out of it; still, I was never able to get myself to use it, as my classmates did, referring to our Japanese language classes as “Jap One” and “Jap Two.”
Perhaps this is the kind of thing that will help me let go of the negativity. I admit that it doesn’t bother me at ALL to imagine it on the bodies or automobiles of others. I just don’t know if I could wear it myself.
Although that baby tee would look really good on me.
Very nice sis!…good job!…
in regards to “japride”, to each his own. if you take it the wrong way then it’s your problem.
I love the shaka shisa! Woo but $21 is a lot to pay for a coffee mug!
I think i might save up for a shirt, its so cool
Eh, I choose to read it as Ja Pride. Dunno what it means but I like it.
@joo:
Really? If someone takes “kike,” “nigger,” “spic,” “faggot,” or “wop” the wrong way, is it his or her problem, too? Labels are only as powerful as we allow them to be, it is true. However, when those labels have been used in marginalizing, persecuting, and minimizing other human beings, they carry a certain amount of cultural baggage with them, whether we want to acknowledge this or not.
It was easy to put Japanese Americans behind barbed wire during the second World War because they looked different, spoke differently, and worshiped differently from Americans of European descent. Labeling them “Jap” made it even easier. Never mind that these were tax-paying, business-owning, property-holding, English-speaking citizens: They were Japs, so it was okay.
I’ve been lucky. I haven’t had to deal with that kind of hate. I’ve seen others, though, have to go through it. If I’m tentative about my accepting of what used to be a hateful word, sure, I guess that’s “my problem,” but does it change your attitude at all to consider that it isn’t on my own behalf that I’m wary? It’s on behalf of those Americans who lost property, loved ones, and their own freedom because it was so easy to give them a label, rather than treat them with the same dignity all humans are entitled to, even in times of war.
The 442nd wasn’t the most decorated American unit in the war only because its men were such loyal soldiers. A great deal of that was anchored in the belief these young men (whose parents were behind those barbed wire fences on American soil) had that they had something to prove to their own fellow citizens.
It’s easy just to say that if someone has a problem with “Jap” it is his own problem. Sure, I’ll go along with that. But do not merely dismiss my countrymen’s pain with such an easy wave of your hand: Please consider that a lot of blood has been shed because of that word “Jap.”
By the way: I did say that I hope that maybe the embracing of the word, in combination with “pride” and worn by Americans of Japanese descent, would take the sting out of the word. Good luck, Donna!
Thank you scrivener…my mom’s family lost their farm and home during the war, because they were Japanese. I totally appreciate your thoughts and comments concerning this topic. It is for this reason, that I hesitate to start producing any of these items. With that said, I am very proud to be both Japanese and American. I do my best to represent both in my life (I’m a Japanese American Veteran). I hope I haven’t offended anyone with this idea, but it was an outlet to “represent” and have fun with it!
Hubs I’m sure you didn’t offend anyone…I thought it was a nice idea…I think you should wear one…LOL
Me, I will wait for the “OkiDokie” Uchinanchu pride shirts…