Transending Land, Sea, and time,

This Story comes from me, Damian Chavez, but it’s larger than I am. It’s about a food item that brought me overseas to meet friends, new and old, who would change my life forever, on some of the wildest adventures I’ve ever had the pleasure of undertaking. Now let’s begin!!!!!

Musubi, as proud as it is simple.

I wouldn’t know what I was in for, and I was probably the most nervous I had ever been in my whole life. Imagine being 16 years old and traveling over the ocean to an isolated body of land surrounded by the sea … BY YOURSELF NO LESS. That’s where I found myself traveling to a video-game tournament that would actually change the course of my late teens. But between friends and shared meals of food items like the Musubi, I hold so dear. I would discover not just camaraderie, but also found family and profound history in bite-sized form.

Analysis: Earthie, Salty but Free

This tiny story that I’ve used as a framework to tell you all about my introduction to the food item spam musubi is just but a single page in the narratives that this food item has been involved in and encompassed in the many years that it his been around, and a piece of Hawaiian resident culture. It’s honestly about community, about family, and unity. Musubi is an item that comes from the intermingling of cultures during what most in the world would know as a time of great xenophobia. The ideology of the US vs the THEM was extremely strong during this period, and Japan as a country was not exempt from this, having been the party committed to the action of Pearl Harbor. Musubi, as a practice, is a means of mending old scars, a food item that but for a brief moment, brings people together of any age.

Some themes that I would argue embody the essence of the musubi are those of unity, affordability, accessibility, and, most importantly, Memory. Unity is paramount among friends and among family. These small food items are but a small reprieve in our otherwise rather stressful lives, but a reminder not only to allow yourself a momentary break but to be able to invite another to share in this momentary respite as the trials of any day wash over. Affordability and accessibility go hand in hand in the lens of musubi there cheap made of simple materials able to be made and stored in mass but are almost guaranteed to be fresh being in almost very small market or convenience store I found often that students and children all ages even those unit university age all find this item as a common food item they go to when needing a meal.

Memory is something that I take very seriously and think it’s one of humanity’s greatest triumphs over other living creatures on this planet. The musubi isn’t spectacular; it’s simple and mundane by nature of its ingredients, but it’s a gateway to truly profound memory. My brief time in hawaii was made by the events and moments with the people who made me feel at home while i was there but i cant think of a moment during that time there were musubi wasnt in our plan frame work or in someones hand or mouth during the entire stay their they didnt make these moments special but they bring an essence to each memory that I cant forget.

Authenticity is actually an important part of the musubi. There is a very debated history for it, whether it finds its origins in Japan or Korea, whether it had more components or was simplified down when it first arrived in Hawaii. Not to mention the fact that it has become a state specialty near overnight and has no such dominance in any asian country today, making it almost completely unique and culturally significant in the Hawaiian Islands. This is something that many would argue for hours over, but I think that misses the point of it all. It’s a food item that defies adversity, transcends both race and culture, and defies political borders to bring people together, man and woman, siblings and friends. And for me, the family I found and got to choose for myself, it’s not a massive meal like a holiday ham that brings the family together; it’s a hand-held fast meal that brings together the small moments that make every day a beautiful day. A small bite-sized food that I believe truly represents the American ideals of life, liberty, and freedom to the pursuit of our own happiness.