A Jar of Dreams by Yoshiko Uchida
"A Jar of Dreams" by Yoshiko Uchida is a poignant story set in Berkeley, California, during the Great Depression, exploring the challenges faced by a Japanese American family. The narrative centers on Rinko, a young girl grappling with her family's financial struggles and the impact of racial prejudice. Her father, Papa, is determined to turn their fortunes around by starting a laundry business with the help of a neighbor's old washing machine. However, they encounter hostility from a rival laundry owner, Wilbur J. Starr, whose actions reflect the anti-Japanese sentiment of the time, leading to confrontations that test the family's resilience.
Throughout the story, themes of identity, cultural heritage, and the pursuit of dreams emerge as Rinko navigates her feelings of embarrassment about being different and her desire to adopt American norms. The arrival of her Aunt Waka serves as a catalyst for Rinko to appreciate her Japanese roots. The narrative ultimately portrays the family's journey toward overcoming adversity, emphasizing their shared aspirations and the importance of community support. Uchida effectively brings to life the everyday experiences of Japanese Americans, highlighting their humanity and the universal struggles that transcend cultural boundaries.
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Subject Terms
A Jar of Dreams by Yoshiko Uchida
First published: 1981
Type of work: Domestic realism
Themes: Race and ethnicity
Time of work: 1935
Recommended Ages: 10-13
Locale: Berkeley, California
Principal Characters:
Rinko Tsujimura , an innocent and guileless preadolescent, torn between Japanese and American culturesPapa Tsujimura , Rinko’s father, a hardworking, honest man who wants to operate his own repair shopMama Tsujimura , Rinko’s mother, a hardworking, honest womanCalifornia Tsujimura (Cal) , Rinko’s brother, torn between going to college and reaching for a better life or simply accepting life as it isJoji Tsujimura , young, curious, and stubbornAunt Waka , a woman who wants to retain her Japanese heritageUncle Kanda , a miser but there to help when neededWilbur J. Starr , a man who holds prejudices against Japanese, cruel but easily frightenedMrs. Sugar , a kind neighborMrs. Phillips , a friendly rich womanTami , Rinko’s friend and a pushy person
The Story
Rinko and her family live in Berkeley, California, during the Depression, and they are very poor. In fact, Papa has just received news that, unless he pays his rent and utility bills, the family will be evicted. At the same meal he announces this to the family, Mama announces that her sister from Japan is coming to visit for the summer. Mama has a possible solution to the financial problems. Instead of working only on Mrs. Phillips’ laundry as she currently does, she is going to open her own laundry business right out of the basement. It is not hard to get Papa and the rest of the family excited about this; Mrs. Sugar, the kind woman who lives next door, happens to have an old, broken-down washing machine that Papa can fix and have, and the business is under way.
Yet prejudice in the form of an anti-Japanese laundry owner creates immediate problems. Wilbur J. Starr does not want “Japs” stealing his customers, and so he takes action. First, he threatens them. When that does not work, he slashes the tires on their Model T. Then, he follows them when they pick up the laundry from their customers and beats them to it the next time, removing the sacks of laundry before Papa can get there. Papa, however, speaks with the customers and arranges to pick up their laundry after Starr’s business hours. Then, one night, Starr (it is assumed) shoots their dog.
While this is happening, the family is trying to convince Cal to go to college, and they believe he is planning on that for the future when he goes off to earn some money picking pears. Yet when he returns for a weekend visit, he announces that he has decided not to attend college, as he believes that Japanese will not get good jobs even with college degrees.
In the meantime, Aunt Waka settles into the household, and Rinko is trying to understand why Aunt Waka (or anyone) can want to follow the traditional Japanese customs. Brief passages appear throughout the story indicating that Rinko is embarrassed to be different, that she wishes she were a “normal” American.
After the dog gets killed, Papa and Uncle Kanda, whom Rinko believes to be a worthless miser (she is to learn differently), agree to go and have a talk with Mr. Starr. Rinko and Joji follow and overhear the final part of the conversation. Rinko is surprised to hear the prejudiced statements of Starr but proud of how her father and Uncle Kanda stand up to him. This confrontation solves the problems with Starr; he bothers them no more. Papa decides to reach for his dream, which is to run his own repair shop. With money from Uncle Kanda, he opens one.
Uncle Kanda goes to visit Cal and convinces him to reach for his dreams (to go to college). Unfortunately, Uncle Kanda is hit by a car on the way home, suffers a severe concussion, and has to spend several days in the hospital. When he recovers sufficiently, however, he remembers a letter that Cal has sent back with him stating that Cal has decided to go to college.
Aunt Waka has now been with the family for two months and decides it is time to return to Japan. Before she goes, she persuades Rinko of the value of her Japanese heritage and leaves her at least “almost” looking forward to school, in spite of the racism she will face there.
Context
Yoshiko Uchida is a prolific and popular writer of fiction and nonfiction for children about Japanese Americans, generally offering well-behaved children who interact in a mutually supportive manner with their family and friends as they learn how to assume responsibility and gain self-confidence. In addition to her realistic fiction, she has published several collections of Japanese folktales. She handles the prejudice the Japanese Americans faced in the first half of the twentieth century in an evenhanded manner, and her two books that detail it in its most extreme form, Journey to Topaz (1971) and Journey Home (1978), both based on personal experience, offer an excellent introduction to the United States’ internment of the Japanese during World War II.
A Jar of Dreams does not deal with the historical injustice of the concentration camps. It offers a realistic portrayal of what it was like to be a Japanese American during the Depression. Sally Holmes Holtze compares the book to a television series. Such a series could help introduce today’s children to the normalcy of a Japanese family, while also revealing the various customs and some of the cultural heritage of Japanese Americans then and now. That, in fact, is the greatest strength of Uchida’s portrayals of Japanese Americans. The plots and the characterization remain on a simple level. The themes are basic and straightforward. Put it all together and one has easily understood encounters with the human condition. In the case of Uchida, the humans just happen to be Japanese Americans, displaying human desires and emotions no different from those of Americans of any other heritage.