of racial fluidity was to become the hallmark of
Eaton’s later work, explored perhaps most fully and
provocatively in Heart of Hyacinth (1903), in which
an English girl insists on her Japanese identity de-
spite her Western parentage; in A Japanese Blos-
som (1906), featuring an American widow and her
Caucasian children who “become” Japanese with
the mother’s marriage to a Japanese businessman;
and in Sunny-San (1926), which turns the tables by
having the half-Japanese girl “become” American.
Although Eaton has often been dismissed by
American and Japanese critics alike as an offensive,
embarrassing imposter, she is slowly coming to be
viewed more positively as an avant-guarde author
“on the cutting edge of what we now call race
theory,” as Samina Najmi has remarked (xxxvii).
By demonstrating in novels like A Japanese Night-
ingale that individuals of mixed ancestry could
not only be beautiful, talented, and successful but
could also, in many respects, choose their race,
Eaton demonstrates that ethnicity is a malleable,
socially constructed concept that could be used for
empowerment, rather than alienation.
Bibliography
Cole, Jean Lee. The Literary Voices of Winnifred Eaton:
Redefining Ethnicity and Authenticity. New Bruns-
wick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2002.
Eaton, Winnifred. A Japanese Nightingale. Two Orien-
talist Texts, edited by Marguerite Honey and Jean
Lee Cole, 81–171. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers
University Press, 2002.
———. Me: A Book of Remembrance. With an After-
word by Linda Trinh Moser. Jackson: University
of Mississippi Press, 1997.
Najmi, Samina. Introduction. Heart of Hyacinth, by
Winnifred Eaton, v–xlvi. Seattle: University of
Washington Press, 2000.
Kay Chubbuck
Jar of Dreams, A Yoshiko Uchida (1981)
Set in the 1930s during the Great Depression, this
novel by YOSHIKO UCHIDA deals with the difficul-
ties faced by Japanese Americans due to an in-
crease of racism. At the center of the story is the
Tsujimura family. Mama and Papa were originally
born in Japan. Their three children were born in
California, far away from the traditional Japanese
culture and heritage. The children see themselves
as American, but when they look into the mirror,
they see Japanese faces.
The narrator of the story is 11-year-old Rinko
Tsujimura, who wishes she was not Japanese. She
wants to look like everybody else so that people
would not make fun of her, or yell mean things to
her, or forbid her and her best friend Tami from
swimming at the Crystal Plunge swimming pool.
She has straight black hair and skinny legs, and her
face is that of a sweet Japanese-American girl who
cannot believe in herself. Rinko’s family, however,
is full of dreams. Her father, Papa, dreams of be-
coming a mechanic. Rinko wants to be a teacher,
and her big brother, Cal, studies engineering at the
university. But these are only dreams to them, pos-
sibilities that rapidly turn into dissolutions. When
Cal tells her that no school will hire a Japanese
teacher, Rinko is disheartened because she will
never be able to live her dream. In the midst of
racism and hatred, the family slowly begins to lose
its hopes and dreams.
Surrounding the Tsujimura family are various
characters who represent different aspects of Amer-
ica. Wilbur J. Starr, owner of the Starr Laundry, in-
sults Japanese-American children as they walk past
his shop and makes violent threats against Mama’s
home laundry service. Rinko’s next-door neighbor,
Mrs. Sugar, always has a kind word to say and often
invites Rinko into her house for tea and spice cake.
Within the Japanese-American community, Uncle
Kanda, Papa’s best friend who came with him from
Japan, spends every Sunday with the Tsujimura
family. Uncle Kanda teaches the children not to
give up on their dreams despite the people who
are prejudiced against them. Aunt Waka, Mama’s
sister from Japan visiting for the summer, is not
afraid to speak her mind. She shows Rinko and her
mother that they need to draw upon their strength
in order to fight racism and pursue their dreams.
Aunt Waka also teaches Rinko that Rinko’s parents
are strong because they have preserved their heri-
tage while simultaneously learning and adapting
to another culture. Overcoming hardships andJar of Dreams, A 133