Top 40 Emiko Jean Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “If you don’t fly too high, you don’t have too far to fall.”

— Emiko Jean

2. “I don’t have an American half and a Japanese half. I am a whole person. Nobody gets to tell me if I am Japanese enough or too American.”

— Emiko Jean

3. “Originally I wanted to get to know my father. But it’s bigger than that. I came to figure out who I am, where I’m from. Finding somewhere I belong.”

— Emiko Jean

4. “Our bodies are not ornaments, they are instruments.”

— Emiko Jean

5. “There is no happily ever after. Fairy tales are bull. The end.”

— Emiko Jean

6. “I am a lean tiger in winter. Come for me. I dare you.”

— Emiko Jean

7. “Every weapon has a destiny.”

— Emiko Jean

8. “Kanji is an expression of the soul.”

— Emiko Jean

9. “But if I had know I had a daughter, I would have found a solution.” He studies me, waiting until my eyes raise to meet his. “I would have swum across the oceans. I would have scaled mountains. I would have crossed deserts. I would have found a way.”

— Emiko Jean

10. “Grief is a powerful thing, and sometimes, if it’s ignored, we can become lost in it.”

— Emiko Jean

11. “People come undone all the time, Alice. We’re all unraveling here. You’ve just done it in the most spectacular way. In fact, you could be our queen.”

— Emiko Jean

12. “Anyway, we get it. We all know what it’s like to roll with the cultural punches. Noora gets questioned about why she doesn’t wear a hijab. People wonder if Glory was adopted when she’s with her white dad. Hansani endures Mr. Apu accents – wrong country, for starters.”

— Emiko Jean

13. “If you train on all weapons, you master none.”

— Emiko Jean

14. “I am the wind. None will capture me. None will remember me. None will see me.”

— Emiko Jean

15. “I’m going to pay for that genealogy thing when I get home. Fingers crossed it shows I’m fifty percent Targaryen, thirty percent British royals, and one hundred percent Oprah’s long-lost sister.”

— Emiko Jean

16. “While I cry, Tamagotchi sleeps. He’s not much of an emotional support animal. Our relationship is distinctly one-sided. I feed him treats and he burps in my face. Such is life.”

— Emiko Jean

17. “Shout out to all the girls who apologize too much.”

— Emiko Jean

18. “A weapon tempts violence, courts bloodshed. Once you’ve beckoned death, you cannot unbeckon it.”

— Emiko Jean

19. “You mustn’t believe that. To believe something gives it weight and meaning. It taunts the gods and goddesses to turn it true.” “You are too optimistic.”

— Emiko Jean

20. “Silence is the cousin of invisibility.”

— Emiko Jean

21. “This is true freedom, to love oneself enough not to care what others think.”

— Emiko Jean

22. “You should want to be better for yourself, not for someone else.”

— Emiko Jean

23. “We wouldn’t have worked out long-term anyway. He likes girls who don’t wear makeup. I like guys who don’t tell girls what to do with their bodies.”

— Emiko Jean

24. “Not every happily-ever-after includes a man.”

— Emiko Jean

25. “It’s true that I was an average, maybe below-average, student. But is there something I am unaware of? Do you really have to abide by a set of certain rules? Do you really have to be special to be loved?”

— Emiko Jean

26. “A heart divided cannot stand.”

— Emiko Jean

27. “It seems the tighter I try to hold on, the more things slip through my fingers. It is a reminder to me of how impermanent life is.”

— Emiko Jean

28. “Forget Mount Shasta, my hometown, where the Rainbow Gatherers converge June through August to bask naked in the sun, live communally, and wear flowers in their hair. This year the summer of love is in Tokyo.”

— Emiko Jean

29. “I slip a piece of ramune candy from my dress into my mouth, letting it melt on my tongue. Sweets are a part of my fundamental essence. That and skirts with pockets. Observe how I’ve married the two.”

— Emiko Jean

30. “I know I’m not the man you or your family need me to be. But I’m on my way. I promise if you give me this chance, I’ll spend my lifetime being worthy of you. I’ve enlisted in the Air Self-Defense Force. In a few years, I’ll be an officer and can make a good income. It will be difficult, but-” I cut him off with my lips on his. No more talking. Just kissing.”

— Emiko Jean

31. “I want to understand myself. I want to put my hands in the earth and pull up roots.”

— Emiko Jean

32. “You are a world unto yourself. Build your own space. One meant uniquely for you.”

— Emiko Jean

33. “Two opinions are always better than one.” The girl smiled. “Especially when one of them is mine.”

— Emiko Jean

34. “I was foolish to believe my roots could expand past all these walls built around me. Your life can only be as big as the container you’re planted in, after all.”

— Emiko Jean

35. “In my own life, I’ve never been the leading role. I just don’t have that star power. Wasn’t born with it. I’ve always been a sidekick. My singular purpose is to bolster heroes, stay in the background, and maybe, in one big on-screen moment, sacrifice my life for the greater good.”

— Emiko Jean

36. “I have no excuse for my awful behavior. But sometimes when you’re down, you can’t help but try to pull others into the gutter with you. It’s lonely at the bottom.”

— Emiko Jean

37. “Like shortening my name, a paler skin color and a rounder eye shape would have made my life so much easier, the world so much more accessible.”

— Emiko Jean

38. “Right here and now. Her body light. Her heart happy.”

— Emiko Jean

39. “What had I pictured? That we’d run into each other’s arms? That our shared DNA would act as opposite ends of a magnet pulling us together? He is not a dad returning from deployment. I am not a child eagerly awaiting his arrival. There are no memories to anchor our relationship. He did not tuck me in at night, hold me while I raged with a fever, or cheer me on when I stole home playing softball.”

— Emiko Jean

40. “That night, it’s my turn to choose dinner. I know exactly what I want – McDonald’s. French fries and Bai Big Macs are plated and served on priceless china inlaid with golden chrysanthemums. Melon soda and chocolate shakes are dumped into crystal goblets. The whole palace smells like fried food.”

— Emiko Jean

41. “A bold silkworm has left the safety of the mulberry and parchment cradle. It inches its way toward my pinkie nail. The little chalk-colored fella is slightly hairy and fat – its rotund body reminds me of how my stomach feels every Thanksgiving. Forget the AGG and the Black Bear Diner, these suckers are really living their best lives, crunching on mulberry while being gently warmed under lights.”

— Emiko Jean

42. “He’s Christmas morning; a day at the beach; the first time I glimpsed Tamagotchi. Joy, joy, and more joy. A smile in the face of harsh realities.”

— Emiko Jean

43. “Radish, I’m so heartsick for you.”

— Emiko Jean

44. “Just remember when you’re asking what Japan wants from you, make sure you ask what you want from yourself, too. Don’t bury who you are to become who others think you should be.”

— Emiko Jean

45. “He’s young in the photo. His smile full of promise and foolish hope. The kind of grin before the world knocks your teeth out.”

— Emiko Jean

46. “Porcelain bowls faded and gathered dust. Women and men grew old, their faces lined with age. With time, all things withered. Except your spirit. The soul always remained.”

— Emiko Jean

47. “Women royals are especially scrutinized. Everything is done under a magnifying glass. You’re picked apart for the causes you support, the dresses you wear, and what sort of child you bear. I witnessed your father given choices like he was a toddler. You can have this or that, but never all of it. Your life would have been determined by the family you were born into – I didn’t want that for you. For us.”

— Emiko Jean

48. “Penny is a natural dancer. I should have known; she’s so athletic.”

— Emiko Jean