As a popular theme in Asian American authors’ works, Asian immigrants of the first few generations in the United States, haunted by their ancestral homeland, still cling to their home traditions. This paper
examines the ties and tensions between four generations of a Japanese
American family, as well as the theme of their quest for the ancestral
homeland, in Julie Shigekuni’s A Bridge between Us. Settling down in
the New World under the influences of their home culture, most of the
major characters in the book feel more or less nostalgic for their roots.
But their yearning for the spiritual and cultural home in Japan is dubious,for they also strive to leave their Japanese heritage behind in order to assimilate into American society.