a mixed plate of Japanese American news and culture
LOS ANGELES — For 48 Japanese American students whose dream of acquiring an education at UCLA was cut short in February 1942, more than two months after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, their dream was finally achieved when they received honorary degrees in a traditional graduation ceremony May 15 on the UCLA campus. Nineteen of [...]
Nineteen students of Japanese descent were among those honored at San Francisco State University’s (SFSU) 109th commencement held on May 22 at Cox Stadium. More than 8,000 students — including 115 veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces — received their degrees before an audience of more than 20,000 guests. SFSU President Robert A. Corrigan said, [...]
SACRAMENTO — After almost 70 years of waiting, former Sacramento Junior College students and their next of kin completed some unfinished business at Sacramento City College. Representing the 224 Nisei that once attended, 12 of the former students and 35 of their next of kin were present to receive their honorary diplomas in accordance with AB [...]
NAHA, Japan — Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on May 23 unveiled for the first time his government’s plan to relocate a U.S. Marine base within Okinawa and apologized for his failure to make good on his earlier vow to move the military facility outside the prefecture. “We came to the conclusion that we have to [...]
In the annals of Japanese American history, a great deal of attention has been justly devoted to the four wartime “internment cases,” in which individual Nisei — Gordon Hirabayashi, Minoru Yasui, Fred Korematsu and Mitsuye Endo — challenged mass removal before the Supreme Court. In contrast, several other Nisei brought cases in the lower courts. [...]
Growing up multiethnic (a mixture of Japanese, Filipino and Spanish blood) on three continents (Asia, Europe and the U.S.) means that I feel at home in many environments; or rather, that different parts of me feel at home in different environments. It means that I am not 100 percent the child of any one country [...]
SLAM! Wrestling Kinji Shibuya, who died May 3 at the age of 88, once described his move from wrestling to acting in realistic terms that also applied to his 25 years of villainy in the ring: “You’re an ugly bugger and they wanted an Oriental villain or something like that. I was ready to oblige.” [...]
In honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, the National Park Service (NPS) has launched a “Virtual Museum” highlighting more than 200 items from Manzanar National Historic Site’s museum collection. “This is the 41st Virtual Museum that the National Park Service has created, and we’re honored to be launching it close to the 41st annual [...]
As the son of a volleyball legend, the bar for excellence has been set high for Kawika Shoji, who, on May 5, was named the 2010 American Volleyball Coaches Association Men’s Division I-II National Player of the Year. A few days later, the senior setter would go on to lead his team in winning the [...]
Fifth annual Florin Manzanar Pilgrimage A vital journey into understanding
A Pakistani American high school student from the city of Elk Grove, an adult education teacher from Berkeley, a World War II Military Intelligence Service veteran from Merced, a Nisei draft resister from Galt, and two peace activists from Davis. What could bring such a hodgepodge of people together? The Florin Manzanar Pilgrimage — a vital [...]