As I grew up, I was continually to suffer hardships in different realms of life - in my family, in my relationship to Japanese society and in my way of living at large in the latter half of the twentieth century.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
My life was very Japanese.
I grew up in Japan. It's my first memories of life are Japan.
My generation in Japan lived in limbo. We dreamed between two worlds.
As I grew older, I came to feel more responsible for any hardship or trouble my career caused my family.
When I left the U.S. for the first time, I spent my first year abroad in Japan. That culture shock and abundance of new stimuli combined with a lack of guidance forced me to develop my own approaches to learning and juggling.
Growing up, I lived a moderate lifestyle with my family.
I had a very turbulent and painful childhood, like many people. I left for college when I was 16 years old and up until that point I'd lived in five different family configurations. Each one ended or changed through a death or some terrible loss.
I was born into a very important family in Japan. My grandfather was a descendant of the Emperor, and we were very wealthy.
The hardships that I encountered in the past will help me succeed in the future.
I was fortunate to live for 3 years in another country, and although we lived in an American compound, still as a young adolescent I did venture into the world of the Japanese with great interest and enjoyment. But many Americans never left that safe and familiar life among their own people.