a mixed plate of Japanese American news and culture
ANGEL ISLAND: IMMIGRANT GATEWAY TO AMERICA By Erika Lee and Judy Yung. (New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2010, 432 pp., $27.95, hard cover) Erika Lee and Judy Yung, both well known and respected in their own right as accomplished historians, have combined their research skills and writing talents in producing the most comprehensive and [...]
Like many other people, I was saddened by the news of William Minoru Hohri’s passing. I greatly respected his achievements in organizing the forces for Japanese American redress, and his various other contributions to racial justice in the United States. I was interested to read the various memorial tributes. One element that seemed absent from [...]
“Unless somebody records what happened, it will be gone,” explained Ansho Mas Uchima, who along with Minoru Shinmoto co-authored “Seinan, Southwest Los Angeles: Stories and Experiences from Residents of Japanese Ancestry.” For the two friends, life in Seinan before the war that mostly centered on Japanese school and church was filled with the social interaction [...]
Another year passes, and at this point, I wonder how many more years I have left. Sheer longevity seems like an absurd goal, and I am not interested in living to be 100. I’m told that natto and macha and seaweed will give me health and long life, but I am dubious about these claims, [...]
PAGES FROM THE PAST: In recognition of recent developments to restore the historic site of the Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Colony near Placerville, Nichi Bei Weekly columnist K.W. Lee files these two stories on the colony from the June 6, 1971 edition of the Sacramento Union. By K.W. LEE, Sacramento Union Staff Writer There is [...]
LOS ANGELES — Is Little Tokyo in dire straits? Bill Watanabe, executive director of the Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC) and also a member of the Little Tokyo Community Council (LTCC), doesn’t think so. “Generally speaking, I think the foot traffic and level of business seem to be going pretty well,” Watanabe said. “Evening events [...]
Let me preface this article by stating that I am not a big fan of cruises because my interests are the destinations rather than the cruise experience. However, there are many fans of cruises and if you have never taken one, it is definitely an experience not to be missed — but I think there [...]
親 (oya) means “parent.” This character consists of three parts. The top of the left side is 立 (tatsu), which means “stand.” Below that is 木 (ki), which means “a tree.” The right side is 見 (miru), which means “to see or look.” So parents are standing in a tree and looking upon their children [...]
Wakamatsu — really first?
Is the Wakamatsu colony really the first Japanese settlement in America? This question still nags some diehard skeptics, although the Gold Hill site was recognized in 1966 by the state of California as a historical landmark. Years of search by the Japanese American Citizens League for authentic data had preceded the official recognition. A key [...]