Elizabeth Melsom Okamoto
Basic BackgroundÂ
1996 Born in England and raised in Australia Mixed parentage Japanese Australian.
I just finished university, I decided to take a gap year to travel a bit before I started work. The main place I wanted to visit was Japan. The reason why I chose Japan is mainly because I wanted to improve my language skills. Which I actually have not done very much of, at all, but itâs been very rewarding in other ways.ă
Knowing that everyone has a different upbringing, how is it like growing up in Australia being half and half?
For me it has never really an important part of my identity, being Japanese. Like maybe in primary school, every now and then people pointed out that I was Asian, but I definitely never felt Asian. Melbourne is such a multi cultural city and so by High School, a lot of my friends were Asian Australians.Â
It was never a big deal. I never really felt all that Japanese.Â
When I was younger, my Australian dad was mainly bringing us up, my Japanese mom worked really long hours and because of that I pretty much got only an Australian influence in my life. We didnât really eat Japanese food, obviously I never learnt Japanese, or partake in any Japanese traditions, or anything like that. I was very much an Australian child.
Iâm not too sure why it was like that, if she [my mum] made the decision to bring us up like that. She has said to me before that she made the decision to not teach us Japanese because she thought it might hold us back from some future opportunities in Australia if we become too Japanese. But she only told me that recently, so I donât know if she is trying to justify her decision now, to a certain extent. I know that she wanted me to have as many opportunities as possible as an Australian. For me, now, it is a little bit disappointing that I was never exposed to my cultural identity when I was younger.Â
How do you feel now that you are finally in Japan?Â
Itâs been more rewarding than I thought it would be. I never thought it would make me think differently about who I was, or anything like that. I understand my mum a lot more and her mannerisms, her character, because I see so much of that in the Japanese people I know here.Â
Itâs been eye opening in that sense. I do feel comfortable here, more than I thought it would. Obviously I am still an outsider, Japanese people donât see me as a Japanese in any way, and I donât either. Despite that I still feel like I belong here in a way, as cheesy as it sounds.Â
Do you feel a sense of belonging in Japan and Australia, both ways? Did you have a âI donât belong here!â moment anywhere?
Iâm not patriotic about Australia at all. I donât resent Australia, but Iâm not proud to be Australian for a lot of historical reasons I am not going to go into. I never thought I didnât belong in that country, but it was just never an important part of who I am.Â
Never felt conflicted about nationality?Â
Not really, no, it was never really an important part of my identity. Iâve always wanted to travel and live overseas. My nationality has never really played a part of my life. I donât feel sentimental towards Australia. Â
Iâm not confused, Iâm not in a conflict with myself. Rather I am figuring out how I feel about everything, living in Japan, and itâs not the easiest thing to put into words yet.Â
Does this conversation make you feel� haha
I am open to talk about these things, I just donât know if I am clear headed in how I feel about all of it. So I am working through how I feel about being Australian, Japanese. If you asked these same questions 6 months ago I would have said ânah I am Australian. I donât see myself as Japanese at all.âÂ
I donât feel like Iâm fighting, but Iâm learning. I have never felt the need to take any action about being Japanese in my life. I didnât have to make any decisions based on my ethnicity or anything like that.
Now that I have been here for a while and I have seen myself, not necessarily more Japanese, but I do understand that part of myself a bit more. Itâs still a work in progress.
Is there âwhat ifâs?â
Yeah! I would love to live in Japan, but because of the language barrier, I donât think Iâll ever be accepted as Japanese. Iâm sure you can empathize with that [Chiharu]. Iâll always be something of an expat living in Japan. Unless I could nail the language I think thatâs all Iâll ever be. Iâll stand out regardless. I wonât be able to conform that easily in a Japanese society. Having said that I would love to come back to Japan to live here, if the opportunities arise.Â
What are the perks of living in Japan?
Itâs just nice to be in a country that is so different from what I have been brought up in, and yet I feel really comfortable. Almost the sense of itâs okay, I donât want to say entitlement, to be who I am [being half Japanese], but I know I wouldnât feel as confident living overseas by myself if it wasnât in Japan. Itâs so different, but itâs comfortable, itâs easy, it makes sense.Â
Any positive or negative side to living in Australia?
I am super lucky to live in Australia, I have had a privileged upbringing. Mostly itâs been really positive. But obviously Australia is isolated from the rest of the world, I donât love that aspect of it. Australia is a massive country but also an island, itâs not part of Asia, not part of Europe or America, itâs kind of its own continent in Oceania. Because of that, you have to make an effort to learn about the world. You need to read about it or watch a documentary in order to educate yourself, or you donât really learn that much about the world otherwise. Iâve always been curious about traveling and the other countries, so that has been a draw back in Australia.Â
You mention that where you are from is very multicultural. Would you say that Japan is multicultural as well?
Melbourne is very multicultural, and some of the other major cities in Australia are multicultural as well. I wouldn't say thatâs true of the whole of Victoria, but my experience is that Australia is very multicultural because Melbourne is where I have always lived. Japan, I donât think is as multicultural. If you are a foreigner, you get stared at, so you might start to feel like there may not be as many foreigners here. Even though Iâm half Japanese, I look more caucasian than Asian, and so I get stared at like a foreigner.Â
Do you think you would stand out in other parts of the world?Â
I have done a bit of travelling around Asia, but I havenât really been to that many other western countries in Europe or America, so I donât really know yet. My impression is that I wouldnât stand out as much, but I might be naive.Â
Do you see yourself staying in Japan long term?
No plans yet. Itâs hard, my career has set me in Australia for the near future, but I donât want that to be my forever. I would like to live overseas. Iâd like to live in Japan because I see it as something doable for me with my citizenship here. But I think I would be happy to live in any other country as well. I definitely donât want to live in Australia my whole life.Â
Do you think you think you can define home right now?
Home is Melbourne because thatâs where my family, my partner, my friends are, and my whole life. At the same time I donât feel that attached to Australia. Iâm also really happy when Iâm overseas, I can see myself building something I guess, even if it seems ambitious now. I could make it home. This is the first time I have lived overseas, so I canât really say for sure, but thatâs the feeling I get.Â
What is your plan after Japan?
Well, yeah. I have to go back and work in 8 monthsâ time in corporate law as a graduate. This is the first time I will work in this industry, seriously, full time. So for a year and a half Iâll be stuck (no i shouldnât say that *laughs*) I will be stationed in Melbourne.  After that Iâm hoping that I can move to another location so I will be grabbing whatever opportunity I can take. But no concrete plans yet, I definitely need to have a lot of discussions with people when I get home. Â















