Anime-inspired lawyer speaks on stage to children with mixed roots

Asahi Shimbun

4 days ago

Leila Kissa Kashiwakura during a rehearsal of 'Mogareta Tsubasa: Square Roots' in Tokyo in July (Miako Ichikawa)
Growing up, Leila Kissa Kashiwakura repeated the same answers to the same curious questions countless times: 'I'm not a fast runner,' 'I'm not good at English,' 'I was born and raised in Japan.'
Kashiwakura, 25, is now a lawyer taking cases that impact foreign nationals.
Her father is from Mali in West Africa, and her mother is from Japan.
In elementary school, classmates would innocently hurl hurtful words at her that they would never utter to those with the same skin color.
Even when someone refused to accept the school lunch she served, saying it was 'dirty,' Kashiwakura never spoke of the insult at home.
She did not want to sadden her parents because she already knew the stares her father had to endure in public.
In those moments, Kashiwakura and her elder brother would sit in front of the TV and pretend to be anime heroes.
She let her beloved characters live in her mind, struggled alongside them and grew stronger.
Eventually, she came to believe: 'Leila can only be Leila, and that is all I need to be.'
Kashiwakura went on to attend the Nihon University College of Art, aspiring to become an anime creator.
In her second year, she saw a news report on her phone that took her breath away: A Nigerian man had starved to death at a Japanese immigration facility.
He had gone on a hunger strike after refusing a deportation order because he didn't want to be separated from his child.
The man reminded Kashiwakura of her own father.
A sense of fear that shook her to the core did not leave her mind, even when she was laughing with friends.
She realized that the only way to process that feeling was to put herself in a position to protect others.
Kashiwakura began studying law while attending her university. She passed the bar exam when she was still in law school.
This spring, she began working as a lawyer, mainly dealing with issues faced by foreign nationals.
In Japan, there are few lawyers with a foreign heritage.
Even when Kashiwakura visits police stations or courthouses for work, few people assume she is a lawyer. She is sometimes asked to undergo bag checks.
On the other hand, some foreign clients appear visibly relieved the moment they see her.
'I have come to genuinely appreciate the way I look,' she said.
Kashiwakura feels uneasy living in a society that has given rise to the populist term 'Japanese First.'
But her feelings are more complex than simple anger. She wonders what leads people to think that way.
In her favorite manga, 'Attack on Titan,' those who are discriminated against can, in turn, become people who discriminate.
She keeps a quote from the manga close to her heart.
A father, who lost his daughter as he tries to break the cycle of hatred, says, 'At the very least, we have to get the children out of this forest.'
She continues to ask herself how people can ever break free from that cycle.
Kashiwakura cannot forget the words of a man who was granted refugee status in Japan after enduring a long struggle.
The man said delicious food tastes even better and is more enjoyable when you share it with the person next to you, rather than eating alone.
That is the kind of society she wants to help build.
Kashiwakura will play a high school student of African descent in the stage production 'Mogareta Tsubasa (Torn-away wings): Square Roots' in Tokyo on Aug. 9 and 10.
Lawyers have worked with children on the original play series since 1994.
This year's production portrays how children with foreign roots navigate life in Japan.
Through the performance, she wants to tell children struggling with their roots or nationality: 'You do not have to force yourself to find an answer. You are who you are. And that, in itself, makes you perfect.'
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For more information about the play, visit the Tokyo Bar Association's Japanese-language website.