Byron Fija, who knows nothing about his American father and little about his Okinawan mother, now works to preserve Uchinaguchi, a native language in Okinawa, after having overcome an identity crisis.
"Uchinaguchi comprises my identity itself," said Fija, 45, who refers to himself as an American-Uchinanchu (American-Okinawan) instead of American-Japanese.
"I want to preserve the language our ancestors have left us," he said, explaining that few young people speak it today and it could become extinct if no efforts are made.