Coke with green tea? In Japan? Say it ain’t so!

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Coca Cola just introduced Coke with Green Tea in Japan.Consumer culture in Japan is where you’ll see the collision of Asian and American tastes. More than in the U.S., Japan is where East mashes West. You can get shrimp Filet-o-Fish sandwiches at McDonald’s, or pizza with seaweed or squid, and spaghetti with salty plum sauce.

So I supposes I shouldn’t be dismayed at the new Coca-Cola flavor, Green Tea Coke. After all, here in the states there seems to be a growiing market for almost anything with green tea added, from soap and shampoos to Lipton Ice Tea and Starbucks’ Matcha Latte.

But Coke with green tea?

I’m not much of a Coke fan (Pepsi’s the choice if I have a cola at all), so I don’t care that much about the purity of the soft drink. But it seems heresy to put green tea into the syrupy sweetness. Can you even taste the subtle bitterness?

This fits right in with conversations I’ve had recently with (non-Asian) co-workers about Lipton’s green tea flavored ice tea. I pointed out that Asians don’t sweeten their tea. Continue reading →

Turning Japanese (again): A question of identity

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The Asakawa family circa 1960 in Hokkaido, Japan: (from left) George, Gary, Gil and Junko (stranger in front).

I was born in Japan, so I can say this with a straight face: I’m becoming a born-again Japanese, and it’s kinda fun.

For years now, Erin and I have thought of ourselves as Asian American first, and Japanese American second. Mostly, it’s because we’re interested in and feel a kinship with other Asian Americans, whether their heritage is Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Thai, Hmong, Indian, Filipino, whatever. We certainly have immersed ourselves in the local Asian American Pacific Islander community, through being involved in events such as the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival, the AAPI Heritage Month Community celebration, the (now defunct) Aurora Asian Film Festival, Miss Asian American Colorado Leadership Program, Asian American Journalists Association and others. Erin spent six months last year serving as editor of the feisty little local pan-Asian magazine, Asian Avenue.

It’s wonderful to feel a part of a larger community within which we share lots of cultural values and appreciate the various cuisines. We’ve become friends with and learned about Asians across many borders, and generations from immigrant gens to very Americanized.

It’s also partly because the Japanese community in Denver is small, and insular, and tribal, and … well, small. It’s not like LA or San Francisco or Seattle or New York, where there are lots and lots of JAs to hang with, as well as tons more AAPIs in general. We just felt too constricted sometimes by the local community.

But lately, I’ve found myself being among Japanese, and enjoying it. Continue reading →

KFC TV commercial portrays Asians as foreigners with accents

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When I posted the video yesterday, of a 1970s Calgon commercial that showed Asian Americans in a stereotypical role as laundry shop owners who used an “ancient Chinese secret” to get clothes cleaner, it was an homage to an earlier era when such stereotypes in pop culture were commonplace. I didn’t expect that one day after Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month ended, I’d be alerted to a new commercial that uses a fresher stereotype that still portrays us as foreigners.

The TV commercial for KFC’s new “Kentucky Grilled Chicken” shows a bunch of people paired up, arguing whether they like fried or grilled chicken better. You can now have both in the same bucket, KFC announces. The problem is, of the quick flashes of people, there are whites and blacks, young people and older, and… two Asian men dressed as sushi chefs, with their “hachimaki” headbands, hapi coats and aprons.

At first glance, they look like they’re wearing martial arts “gi” (the loose-fitting fighting clothes), which would have made it even worse.

What’s worse, is that these two dudes, who may or may not actually be Japanese, speak in Japanese accents. Continue reading →

Miss Asian American Colorado Leadership Program: not a typical a “beauty pageant”

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Erika Tanaka won the crown as Miss Asian American Colorado 2009.Congratulations to Erika Tanaka, the young Japanese and Vietnamese American woman who won the second annual Miss Asian American Colorado Leadership Program‘s Finale Show last night. The tiara was there, along with the glitz and glamor.

But there was no swimsuit competition, and no one mentioned “world peace.”

This is no ordinary beauty pageant.

The program is all about leadership and community service — the inner beauty that the 17 contestants all displayed on the stage (yes, it’s a cliche, but these woman all have inner beauty, in spades). Erin and I were impressed with all of the contestants when they shared their community service projects, and also impressed with many of their talent segments.

Our favorites included what might be expected performances for this kind of event: Abhinetri Ramaswani’s singing on a lovely, hypnotic Indian classical song, accompanied by a musician on tablas; Lana Nguyen’s performance of a melancholy Vietnamese folksong.

But we also enjoyed the performances that showed the “American” side of these Asian American women: Giane Morris’ self-penned rock song (complete with a full electric band backing her) about the death of her brother; several spoken word performances including Nguyen Nguyen’s passionate poem about her identity, “Beautiful Things”; and several hip-hop dance routines, including a very cool, intricately choreographed duet by Laila Nguyen.

There were several non-traditional talents displayed in an entertaining way, including cooking pad Thai, making lotus flowers out of colored napkins, and most notably, a demonstration of the sport of curling (really). Continue reading →

An enduring Asian stereotype in a 1970s TV commercial

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“Ancient Chinese secret, huh?”

In honor of the final day of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I wanted to share an iconic classic television commercial. I grew up with the accusing tone of the white woman who catches the affable Asian laundry owner in a lie, ringing in my head.

The TV commercial was for Calgon water softener, and the scene is in a Chinese laundry shop, run by “Mr. Lee.” Here’s the quite accurate description of the 30-second flash of Asian stereotype from the YouTube page that features the video: Continue reading →