Lost and Found

I found Velina Hasu Houston's Kokoro to be deeply poignant and touching. The main character, Yasako Yamashita, is presented with harsh issues that she must either choose to confront or forget. Half a world away from the place that she considers to be home, she finds that her husband is cheating on her with an Americanized Japanese woman, and that she is unable to voice her opinions on a day to day basis. She cannot protect her daughter from the taunts and bullying of other children, and cannot make her opinions heard. The only way that she finds comfort is in the traditions and beliefs of her past; the double-suicide is the only way that she knows to find peace in a life fraught with indignities and infidelities.

I found the plight of Evelyn to be very thought-provoking as well. As person of mixed racial identity, she does not quite know where to belong. Yasako's allegiance is clearly with Japan, but Evelyn is both Japanese and American. Because she looks more white, she chooses that identity rather tha identifying herself as Japanese. Unlike Yasako--and unlike the Nisei--Evelyn has the choice to assimilate. But even she cannot deny her Japanese heritage; Yasako's attempt at suicide raises the question of identity in Evelyn. On the one hand, Evelyn is raised by the American system of morality; on the other, she can sympathize with Japanese values as well. Her identity is split as well, between American and Japanese. She is torn between adhering to the American penal system and the Japanese traditions of honor; this is symbolized by the little rust cup that she eventually brings to Yasako.

All in all, I found Houston's play to be thoughtful and thought-provoking. I felt like I could relate to both Yasako and Evelyn for their conflicts of culture. Having an unhyphenated social identity is a luxury that is denied to Yasako as an immigrant and Evelyn as a second generation immigrant of mixed race.