By Diana Narasaki Trujillo
By Diana Narasaki Trujillo Izzy is a unique blend of several cultures as she explains, “Mom is full Japanese American, and my dad is a mix of Guatemalan, Spanish, Syrian, and Lebanese. I grew up feeling more connected to my Japanese American side—something my mom laughingly says my dad should get credit for, since she used to call him “the Asian one”—that connection really came from him”.
Izzy adds, “My mom grew up in the San Jose area, with her family originally from Fresno, but she didn’t take part in many JA activities growing up. My dad, on the other hand, grew up in San Francisco and was much more in tune with the JA community, events, and places. It was actually his idea for me to attend Lotus Preschool in San Jose’s Japantown.”
Going to Lotus was the springboard of everything and over the years had participated in nearly every activity Japantown had to offer. In contrast, she attended predominantly Hispanic public schools—and speaks Spanish. Izzy commented that there are a lot of Hispanic people
who can look somewhat Asian, so (laughingly) “…they just assumed I was one of them. I was never treated differently, so I didn’t have to think much about being ‘different.’ I remember a group of kids at school who didn’t realize I was Asian for the longest time.”
Every New Year’s, Izzy and her family celebrates with mochitsuki and always make the traditional foods—black beans, mochi soup—” I absolutely loved mochi growing up. We’d go to the mochitsuki in San
Jose and then head to Fresno for New Year’s Day. I ate so much mochi that I think I ate half my body weight.”
Growing up around Japantown meant volunteering at many of the festivals. She went to Lotus Preschool, joined Girl Scouts through both
Wesley United and San Jose Betsuin, participated in Jr. YBA, and played By Diana Narasaki Trujillo CYS sports: basketball, bowling, golf, and judo. “I performed odori on stage at age eight and played taiko for about nine years, until I was eighteen.”
Izzy went on to say that most of friends were mixed ethnicities— whether they were from preschool, public school, or Japantown—so she never felt like the “odd man out.” When people did ask about her ethnicity, she usually simplified her answer to half Japanese- half Guatemalan because “listing everything takes a while, and people are always surprised by how many different backgrounds I have”.
Not surprisingly, she got her first job in Japantown almost by accident. Right before junior year, she walked
into the manju shop, Shuei-do, to ask if they were hiring, and they happened to need someone. “I worked there for the last two years of high school, and now I’m back again. Later, Lotus asked if I needed a job, and I ended up working there too. Now I split my time—two days a week at the manju shop and two days at Lotus Preschool.”
“When I started working at Lotus about two years ago and took a few child-development courses, my career path became clear”. Even though her dad passed away right before she started Lotus as a young child, it seems like her path was shaped by him from the very beginning.
