Issei
30(+1) Day Song Challenge Day 21: “A Song You Like with a Person’s Name in the Title”
So I guess the challenge’s format is back to songs with certain elements in the title. I actually think that these topics are fun. It makes you realize how many songs you like that actually have those certain elements in the title. It’s fun because I always end up with songs that I have to dig up somewhat deeper to actually find the songs I think are exceptional. Today was no exception. I was surprised that I didn’t think of today’s song choice sooner. It’s actually one of those songs I was impressed with on the first listen. I was really into learning history back then, so it really made sense. The song is Kenji by Fort Minor.
As an Indonesian, my national history lessons in school teaches me about Japan. Of course, since the Japs have conquered Indonesia and Indonesia’s independence is really tied to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the 6th and the 9th of August 1945. But obviously, learning national history only gives you one piece of the story of what happens in our world. I was really intrigued about finding out how the civilians live during the war. Not just the civilians in my own country, but also the countries that have crossed paths in my national history, so that includes Japan.
I read some information and sad stories about the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki through mangas and articles. But, that was really all that I know about Japanese history during World War II. Until I came across this one rap song called Kenji. When I read the title, I wasn’t really expecting an all-out story about Mike Shinoda’s grandfather as a first-generation Japanese immigrant (issei). But when I listened to it, I was intrigued. Little me finally realized that war takes a toll on everyone, and you can never really pinpoint anyone as the bad guy or the good guy based on their nationality.
So there are three narrations in this song that were placed as the intro, an interlude, and the song's outro. Mike’s dad narrated the intro. He said:
“My father came from Japan in 1905. He was fifteen when he immigrated from Japan. He, he, he worked until he was able to buy, to actually build a store.”
The first part of the song was really about Mike describing the kind of man his grandfather was. The narrative talks about how Kenji is just an ordinary man (Ken was not a soldier, he was just a man with a family who owned a store in LA). He was even described as a man accustomed to western culture, just by his food choice (That day, he crawled out of bed like he always did, bacon and eggs with wife and kids). The narrative then continues to picture a scene of World War II where everyone was suddenly afraid of the Axis alliance (Everybody was afraid of the Germans, afraid of the Japs — But most of all, afraid of a homeland attack). The situation is bad for Kenji and the rest of the Japanese immigrants back then since the other people living in the United States don’t really trust them anymore.
The situation worsens after the Pearl Harbor bombing (Right there, front-page news three weeks before 1932, Pearl Harbor’s been bombed and “The Japs are Coming”). The bombing led President Fraklin D. Roosevelt to order Japanese-Americans to be sent to internment camps (And just like he guessed, the president said, “The evil Japanese in our home country would be locked away.”). The narrative then described how awful the move was for the Japanese immigrants. Kenji and his family were sent to live in Manzanar, and he tried his best to give hope to his kids that they will leave that place someday.
The interlude is narrated by Mike’s aunt. She said:
“Yeah, soon as war broke out, the FBI came and they just come through the house and you have to come. All the Japanese have to go. They took Mr. Ni. The people couldn’t understand why they had to take him because he’s an innocent laborer.”
After the interlude, Mike’s narrative was then sent to how life is like in Manzanar (So now, they’re in a town with soldiers surrounding them — Every day, every night, looked down at them from watchtowers up on the wall). Kenji was described as a soft-hearted man (Ken couldn’t really hate them at all, they were just doing their job). He even made a garden to grow veggies and fruits to give to the soldiers (He had a little garden, vegetables and fruits he gave to the troops in a basket his wife made).
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It was a tough time for the Japanese-Americans (Prisoners of war in their own damn country, what for?). Nobody is sure if they would ever live a normal life again after the war is over (He wondered if he’d live it down if and when they were free). It was said that the only choice to leave the camp was to join the US Army. Personally, I think this part is the saddest of this song’s narrative.
The only way out was joining the army
And supposedly some men went out for the army, signed on
And ended up flying to Japan with a bomb
That fifteen kiloton blast put an end to the war pretty fast
The Japanese-Americans that end up joining the army were forced to kill their own people in the end. To make things even worse, the casualties even include women and children. I mean, duh, two cities were blown up.
After the war ended, the people in the camps were set free. They were excited to go back to their homes, right? But home is not exactly a pretty sight.
And what they saw made him feel so alone
These people had trashed every room
Smashed in the windows and bashed in the doors
Written on the walls and the flood, “Japs not welcome, anymore!”
I kid you not. These next lines make me want to cry. Yes, people, the war takes a toll on everyone.
And Kenji dropped both of his bags at his sides and just stood outside
He looked at his wife without words to say
She looked back at him, wiping tears away
And said, “Someday, we’ll be okay. Someday”
The song ends with Mike’s father’s and Mike’s aunt’s voices. But the story was already tragic, just from Mike’s last verses. Man, I can’t even form the words to react to this story other than repeating that war takes a toll on everyone. But the reason I really love this song is how it shows us hope, too. Even at the worst times, people like Kenji existed back then. Sharing fruits and veggies. Trying to understand the people he’s supposed to despise the most. And Kenji’s wife who reassures her broken-hearted husband by these simple few words.
“Someday, we’ll be okay. Someday.”
— Nathania S. Alexandra, 2021
