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Untangling an Israeli Japanese Heritage

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BYUtv’s How I Got There Israel episode.

When Maya Suzuki was reading casting calls on the app “Backstage,” she had no idea about the life changing journey that was ahead for her and her teen son, Leo!

I was looking for small dance gigs for my son, who loves to dance,” she told Jewlish.com. “I saw that there was a new travel series casting opportunity which he qualified for agewise, I applied without thinking too much about it–I had no idea we would play such a big part in this!”

The Israeli/Japanese mother/son duo, who live in New Jersey, went on to be cast for BYUtv’s new immigrant legacy travel series, “How I Got Here.” In each well crafted episode, young adults accompany their parents back to their country of origin on a 10-day incredible trip, discussing their family history while enjoying stunning views, local cuisine and the culture.

We feel really honored being involved in this series, we are full of gratitude towards the production for choosing us and especially for the wonderful crew who helped us tell our life story with so much respect,” she said.

Maya’s Story

Maya, whose grandmother was from Kibbutz Ginosar, was born in Japan and was raised in Israel.

My father was from Japan and went to Israel to work in a volunteering program on my grandmother’s kibbutz–that’s how he met my mother,” she explained. Sadly, after several years of being together, her parents separated.

The arguments were ultimately cultural differences. I think they both wanted to be understood and they both failed to do so.”

An independent Maya left Israel when she was 18 years old, leaving her friends and family members to wonder when she was coming back.

I opted out of serving the army and moved to Japan to live with my sister, who just had twins to help out. On my first week of moving there, I met my husband who already lived in U.S., but was visiting his family. We started our relationship immediately and after a year, at 19, I emigrated to the U.S. to live with him.”

In the episode, Maya returns to Israel for the first time since she left, so that Leo could meet his Israeli family, and get more of an understanding of his roots.

I was excited and nervous!” she enthused. “Since I avoided visiting Israel for so long, I was worried people would find it annoying that I finally came back, with a film crew. But once we got there, I was overwhelmed with warm nostalgic feelings. I didn’t care if I would be judged, I was just happy to be there.”

Leo’s Story

Going to Israel gave Maya’s son Leo a new perspective of how his mother spent her childhood. “Physically experiencing the air, the people, the food— all her stories seem to make sense once I was there,” he said.

Understanding Leo’s Israeli roots was important to him; he was much more familiar with his Japanese background.

“It was definitely an eye-opening experience seeing a culture so different from my own!” he added. “Clarifying my own identity was a great way to tell myself that a piece of me came from Israel, and that I would always have a place there.”

Israeli Food

Of course, Maya missed the many tasty items one finds in Israel. “The thing I missed the most is a good shawarma in a baguette and fresh mushroom bourekas!”

In several fun scenes, the two visit an open air market and eat shakshuka.

It was actually my first time in that market–Leo was so excited to try all the street food,” Maya exclaimed. “And this was the first time he got to do that on this trip!”

Leo was equally excited with all the delicious dishes he experienced. “The market was very welcoming. Not just the vendors, but the people around us, including the cute stray cats! The food was amazing! My personal favorites were the shawarma and the Moroccan donuts. They were the best donuts I’ve ever had. Ever!”

In another scene, the dynamic duo eat shakshuka on the boat. “This was great to do with him, since I always talk about how special it was for me growing up,” Maya said.

Leo felt a bit more challenged by the boat’s community way of eating. Eating shakshuka on the boat was a very unique and somewhat uncomfortable experience for me because I had trouble sharing food with others, eating with my hands, and sitting on the water-soaked nets. But the peaceful atmosphere made it worth it.”

Maya and Leo also loved the sushi-eating experience in Israel.

The sushi was surprisingly good! There were very unique dishes we have never seen, but we ordered the basics— salmon, tuna, yellowtail, etc. We normally don’t think highly of sushi made by non-Japanese sushi chefs and try to avoid them in the US, but we were very impressed with the high quality in that Israeli restaurant.

We probably will skip the strawberry sushi in the future though!” Leo quipped.

Watching The Episode

Back in the U.S., the two look forward to future trips to Israel. Maya continues her Israeli traditions by cooking baked chicken on Friday nights for her family. “That was my favorite dish at our dining hall on Friday nights growing up.”

While the mother/son duo were “very nervous” watching their episode, they were thrilled with the results.

We are not professional actors but regular people who don’t understand how to portray ourselves in a way that would be best on camera,” said Maya. “We didn’t know how it would come out! But we are all very happy with the outcome and feel good about the edits.”

BYUtv is free to stream on their app and website, https://www.byutv.org/how-i-got-here

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