a mixed plate of Japanese American news and culture
If not for a shoulder injury many moons ago, we might be watching Masaharu Morimoto swinging a baseball bat instead of deftly slicing sashimi. As a foodie, I’m thankful that he took the path of sushi and sashimi instead of besuboru. Morimoto opened his Hawai‘i outpost, Morimoto Waikiki (1775 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu, HI 96815; [...]
Editor’s Note: This is the first of a two-part series. This city was once infamous for being Pablo Escobar’s home, the notorious head of the cocaine drug cartel, until he was killed in December 1993. The murder rate was very high and no sensible American would dare visit. There were an estimated 6,500 murders in 1991 in [...]
龍 (ryu or tatsu) means “dragon,” which consists of three parts. The top left side represents a person standing, and below that represents the moon. The right side represents the form of a dragon. 神 (jin or Kami) means “God,” which consists of two parts. The left side represents a divine altar and the right [...]
The death of Gordon Hirabayashi closes the chapter on some of the heroic actions taken by three Japanese Americans during WWII. Hirabayashi, Min Yasui and Fred Korematsu were all men who challenged the government over our illegal incarceration in the courts, and their cases went up to the Supreme Court of the United States. They [...]
Editor’s Note: This is the second of a two-part series. We again traveled by taxi to the Accra suburb of Teshie to see coffin makers ply their trade. The coffins are elaborate and limited only by imagination and money. It can take up to a month to construct coffins that resemble fishes, cars, boats, cigarettes, [...]
Well, it’s the start of the new year, the Year of the Dragon. The Year of the Water Dragon, if you want to get technical, and it doesn’t officially start until Jan. 23. But it’s that time once again, that we make little promises to ourselves to change for the better; to be a better [...]
Editor’s Note: This is the first of a two-part series. Where? The lure of a fantastic low airfare offer and a chance to stay with couch surfers to save on accommodation costs hooked me, a sucker to travel anywhere I have not been before. A relatively expensive visa was required, as well as a yellow [...]
Note: This letter was sent in response to the article entitled “The astonishing history of Japanese Americans in Louisiana,” which ran in two parts in November. Dear Editor, I was sent copies of the Nichi Bei Weekly, dated Nov. 3-9, part 1 and Nov. 10-16, 2011, part 2, to our Gardens in Louisiana. I really [...]
Note: This letter was sent in response to the article entitled “The astonishing history of Japanese Americans in Louisiana,” which ran in two parts in November. Dear Editor, Thank you for including our Kohara clan in this article. We are all proud of our family in Louisiana. JD Sparks (Kohara) Pewee Valley, KY
Bend, Ore. received its name when pioneers traveled to farmlands west of the Cascades. They forded the Deschutes River at the last hospitable place before reaching their destination and would call out “Farewell, Bend” and those that stayed here gave it the full plaintive call as its name, but when the application for a post [...]
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