PROJECT BACKGROUND

Since May 2020, a community of Jewpanese people and Jewpanese families all over the world began to meet virtually on the second Sunday of the month in celebration of Jewish and Asian Heritage Months. This community is currently recording their lived experiences and stories at the intersection of being Jewish and Japanese in an oral history project conducted by Carmel Tanaka called the Jewpanese Project (formerly, the JEWPANESE Oral History Project).

With a foot in both the Japanese and Jewish worlds, communities traditionally closed to diversity and with a long history of emigration and expulsion, we touch on the sensitive subject of whether Jewpanese people can really belong anywhere, touching on cultural identity, belonging, acceptance, and a future where Jewpanese no longer feel alone. Follow the journey on Instagram @JewpaneseProject!

ARE YOU JEWPANESE?

According to UrbanDictionary, Jewpanese is defined as "an individual of mixed Japanese and Jewish ancestry. There are probably like seven of them". Not only are there more than seven of us, being Jewpanese is diverse. Whether you have one parent of each, or were adopted into, or are Jewpanese by choice, you are invited to participate in the oral history project. Are you Jewpanese or have a Jewpanese family? SIGN UP to join our quarterly calls and/or to be interviewed!

PROJECT PHASES

• Phase I - Collection of Interviews: This phase was funded by Carmel Tanaka’s fellowship as an Anti-Defamation League Collaborative for Change Fellow (2022-2024), during which she collected 70+ in-person or virtual interviews across Canada, the U.S., Israel, Australia, and Japan.
  
  
• Phase II - Research/Data: As of June 2023, the Jewpanese Project became recipient of a Jews of Color Initiative research grant to aggregate data from the U.S. based interviews. As of October 2023, also became a project under the U.S. fiscal sponsorship of Mission.Earth to help with grants and donations for future phases of the project.
  
  
• Phase III - Creative Production: Future phases of this project may include a multimedia exhibition, a documentary film/series, a theatre play, etc. Thank you for your support!

PROJECT COSTS

Donations made today will help off-set the professing fees and producing merch (T-shirts, hoodies, baby onesies, hats, totes, and mugs). Additional donations will be put towards covering travel costs, sharing communal meals together while working on this project, and paying contractor honoraria. All donations are currently covering costs associated with Phases I and II of the project.

• Priority #1: $1800 to cover 5% processing fees on research grant.
• Priority #2: $1800 to print costs of our online pop-up store (especially if we don't fulfill our quotas!)

HOW TO DONATE?

There are three ways to donate to the project:

• Option #1 (traditional way): Please donate any amount via cheque, wire, etc. (not including Zelle, Venmo, etc.) payable to: Sponsor, Inc (DBA Mission.Earth), Att: Jewpanese Project, 1257 Worcester Road, Box #312, Framingham, MA 01701
  
  
• Option #2 (quick & easy way): Please donate via this platform, FundRazr. Please consider selecting "cover fees" at checkout as all donations via FundRazr are subjected to a combined 7.9% platform fee + $0.30 transaction fee. For more info, please visit: https://fundrazr.com/JewpaneseProject
  
  
• Option #3 (the fun way): Thank you to everyone who purchased swag with the Jewpanese Project logo from our pop-up online store open in March 2024. We plan to run this annually, so stay tuned! Purchases made through this online store are subjected to shipping and handling fees. For more info, please visit: https://pogo.undergroundshirts.com/collections/jewpanese-project-online-pop-up-store

Please note Mission.Earth can accept donations from anyone anywhere, but only U.S. donations will be issued tax receipts. Kindly note that the first $5,000 raised is subject to a 4.5% administrative fee by Mission.Earth (regardless of above donation options). For more info, please visit: https://www.mission.earth/ or email at harry@mission.earth

The Jewpanese Project is interested in finding a Canadian fiscal sponsor to help issue tax receipts for donations made in Canada. Please get in touch if you have any leads.