This work is highly related to my history. My name is Aiko Urfia Rakhmi. I am an Indonesian nationality born from Indonesian parents, yet my name is a mixture of Japanese (Aiko), and Indonesian-Arabic (Urfia and Rakhmi). Aiko is not a common name for an Indonesian, it is in fact a very well known Japanese name and it is even chosen by prince Naruhito to name his beloved daughter.
"So why your name is Aiko? Are you a (half) Japanese?" Everyone always asked me throughout my life, and at the same time I have to keep repeating the same answer to everyone.
The truth is, father named me "Aiko" because I was born in Tokyo, Japan. At the time my father was posted to work in Tokyo for an overseas duty by the oil company he was working for. Then by the age of 4, me and the rest of the family returned to Indonesia. I remembered nothing of my childhood in Japan. Except for the photographs of my childhood that my father left behind. And the name that clings to me forever, my first name, Aiko.
In this project, I want to explore the meaning of being an Indonesian, a Japanese, or perhaps, being an Indonesian in Japan, or to find my "Japaneseness" by having this journey to my childhood.
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