Narrative of Black Woman in Tokyo: Finding Place; Making Space
By Jasmine Mitchell ‘21, JFOU Fellow 2021-2023
Every year Oberlin Shansi holds an extensive orientation for fellows ahead of our departure to our respective sites. During this orientation, there are many sessions, training, activities, and panels to help us prepare for our careers and lives abroad. The session that stuck out the most to me was our discussion about culture shock. I had never heard of this phenomenon before but listened acutely as I had done in the other sessions prior. As Ted, Deputy Director of Oberlin Shansi, detailed the 4 stages of culture shock to us and tips to mitigate the challenges in each stage, I paid close attention. In my head, however, I thought:
“I’ve been to Japan before. I know Japanese. I understand a lot more about the culture and daily life than someone coming here for the first time… this culture shock thing probably doesn’t apply to me”. Looking back a year later, I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Despite all the care and attention to detail in discussion and topics during our orientation, nothing could have really prepared me for living in Japan. Since moving to Tokyo in August, I have struggled a lot with my identity here. As a Black woman in Tokyo, I was overwhelmed by being a spectacle every time I stepped outside my apartment door. The stares on the train points from small children, and even murmurs of amazement at my existence were exhausting. I just wanted to be and not exist in a constant gaze anytime I left my apartment.
After a month or so of the paralyzing feeling that my skin color brought me to Japan, I reflected on the ways I navigated non-Black spaces in the past to help guide me in my new life in Japan. I realized that finding community and purpose outside of my job have always been driving forces in my life to feel seen, heard, and valued as a Black woman. After extensive research into various organizations here in Japan that support African Diasporic communities I came across the Black Public Service Greek Letter Organization; Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Tokyo Alumnae Chapter. In the Black community, the Nine Black sororities and fraternities, also known as the “Divine Nine”, rest at the core of Black culture and have long promoted education and service to uplift the Black community. As I continued my research into the Tokyo Chapters’ public service work with Black military and civilian communities in Japan, as well as service to the numerous issues facing the Japanese community, my interest in joining such an illustrious organization peaked. After undergoing several months-long initiation processes after applying for membership, I was initiated into Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated through the Tokyo Alumnae Chapter in April 2022. With tears of joy as I was officially extended membership into the organization, I was even more thankful to be a part of a community of Black women to help support and uplift me as we all navigate space living in Japan.
Since joining the organization, I have been able to reconnect myself with Black culture in a way that I never imagined possible living in Japan. Most recently, I attended a festival celebrating Juneteenth; commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans on June 19th, 1865. I hadn’t realized the ways that the absence of a sense of community had left me feeling like there was a void in my life here in Tokyo. Not only in fostering community but also in building community. As an organization in my short time as a member, we have hosted food drives for Second Harvest Japan, raised money for Ukrainian refugees, raised awareness about human trafficking in Japan, and so much more. Looking back also a year into living in Japan, I am proud of myself for navigating space as a Black woman in Japan. I am, most importantly, thankful to those before me who saw the importance of establishing organizations that support and uplift Black expats and military personnel in Japan. Because of them, and the community I have been able to forge, I feel like I can call Japan home. I feel like I have purpose again.
