Momoko Ito Foundation

THE MOMOKO ITO
FOUNDATION

Mission

To promote cross-cultural communication and understanding through the support of a hybrid community at the intersection of Japanese, US, and other cultures.

Goals

Nurturing an online "chanpon" community that supports hybrid identities and cultures

Validating and promoting chanpon identity and culture through the dissemination of information and resources

Encouraging a worldview that embraces multiple perspectives and transcends cultural boundaries

What is "chanpon"?

Chanpon is a Japanese word meaning a mixture of disparate things. One common usage is in "Nagasaki chanpon" which is a noodle dish developed in the international port city of Nagasaki, where a mixture of ingredients (fish, vegetable, and meat) is tossed together as a topping. Among the international community in Tokyo, the word chanpon is used to describe the blending of Japanese and English (as in "it’s so oishii ne."), distinct from more mainstream forms of bilingualism which involve switching between one or the other language.

Chanpon is a celebration of the space at the intersection of cultures, where multiple viewpoints are embraced without necessarily resolving into a coherent whole. Chanpon identity means being able to navigate and embrace different cultural styles simultaneously; it means not only direct experience with multiple cultures, but being able to blend them into a unique and tasty combination. Chanpon culture is a third culture that is not wholly defined by any mainstream national cultures, but can function as a bridge between them and a source of inspiration, innovation, and cross-cultural understanding.

What is chanpon.org?

Chanpon.org is a site devoted to the mixture of Japanese culture with other cultures. While our starting point is Japanese and US culture, our goal is to expand beyond these two cultures. The site has two main components. One is a member supported community site devoted to the nurturing of an international chanpon community. The second is a public site devoted to publishing information and pursuing projects related to chanpon culture and issues in Japan-based multiliingualism and multiculturalism.

Untapped Potential: A Distributed Community of Expertise and Interest

We believe that there is a need to draw together communities and individuals that are interested in Japan/US relations, and that are currently scattered throughout Japan, the US, and elsewhere. In particular, we feel that the Japan/US bicultural community is a powerful group that can form a bridge of cultural understanding between the two countries. Scattered throughout the globe are individuals who have had experiences in both countries, and who live with cultural differences on an everyday basis, whether it is through living with a split identity, mixed marriages, raising bilingual/bicultural children, dealing with differences in diet and cuisine, or finding the language to express concepts in one or another language.

Particularly in the age of global communications, transnational corporations, and widespread international travel, there is a growing number of people that have experience and interest in both countries. The experience of bicultural individuals tends, however, to be fractured rather than integrated as they move between the two cultures; there are few opportunities for the cultures of Japan and the US to be in ongoing, close proximity. Many individuals are able to navigate both cultures, but the two contexts are still largely held separate and incommensurable. The problem is, other than small communities in places such as Tokyo, the Kansai area, Los Angeles, or New York, bicultural individuals are scattered internationally, lacking the critical mass and means to organize and pursue joint activities at a global level. Many have little day to day involvement in Japan/US issues despite their background, and despite their desire to participate in a bicultural community. Further, for those in Japan and the US that have an interest in learning more about the other country, there are few contexts where they can experience the interface between the two cultures. We feel that the collective expertise of the bicultural community is largely untapped, and should inform a broader community of interest at the intersection of Japanese and other cultures.

A New Opportunity: The Successes of Internet Communities

The other important context for our proposal is the fact that Internet technology has finally become pervasive and accessible enough in the US and Japan to enable broad based participation in online communities. Further, there are proven successes in the formation of online communities that demonstrate how the Internet can draw together people and create shared contexts for new and robust online communities. These new communities grow out of existing communities and contexts, but draw together individuals that would otherwise lack the means for developing a shared community and group identity.

Existing efforts provide models for organizing a new community of the sort that we are proposing. For example, SeniorNet is an online community for senior citizens that enables them to communicate with each other on a variety of topics as well as engage in public service projects, such as communications with high school students or building an archive of World War II memories. Other examples include Net Noir for African Americans or Planet Out for lesbians and gays. These online communities bring together people who have much in common, but may previously have lacked solidarity and community due to their geographic distribution.

Proposal: A Living Community of Cross Cultural Exchange

Given these developments, we believe that there is an opportunity to seed a grass roots movement in cross cultural exchange through an online community of bicultural understanding. The time is ripe for such an effort.

Specifically, we propose development of a web site with the following content:

Hosted discussion groups will be the core of the community. Topic areas would include:

Family topics such as issues in raising bicultural children or having a cross cultural marriage
Social and cultural topics such as women's issues, the arts, language and bilingualism, and education
Recreational topics such as humor and cuisine
Current events such as the Asian economic crisis or international politcs
Book clubs focusing on Japanese and US culture
Areas for organizing meetings, events, and projects

Real time events such as informal chats, meetings, talks, and conferences will happen on the web site as well. These would include invited speakers that are leaders or spokespersons in the area of Japan/US relations.
Special projects such as mentoring and networking projects, publications, and research

Following the example of other successful online communities, we are starting with a small group of volunteers that will define topic areas and will act as moderators and facilitators to the discussions. After the initial structure of the site is established, we will solicit members from the bicultural community at large and other interested in Japan/US relations. We plan to charge a modest membership fee in order to ensure a degree of community commitment. The members' site will cater to bicultural/multicultural, bilingualmultilingual people that have lived in Japan and other countries, and the site will support both Japanese and English in all areas. The public site will be geared towards English speakers interested in Japan and Japanese speakers interested in the US.

The overall goal of the site is to create a community that is bicultural in the sense of having the cultures of Japan, the US, and others in constant proximity. In other words, rather than translating or switching from one cultural context or another, a bicultural community truly blends and works to reconcile the two cultures. We believe that for a global citizenry, it is important to not only recognize and appreciate difference, but also to actually live with and accommodate the differences between cultures. This does not mean that all indviduals in the community need to be fully bicultural or multicultural. Rather, multiculturalism would define the identity of the community overall. The site would provide this kind of multicultural setting to support the activities and identity of those familiar with multiple cultures, as well as those from one or another of the cultures that are interested in participating in such a context. The added potential here is for a new kind of online "public" space that would be model for how new telecommunications technology could foster international understanding.

The site is currently being incubated at Neoteny, an Internet incubator corporation (see www.neoteny.com).