a mixed plate of Japanese American news and culture
SAN JOSE — Between rainstorms, it was a perfect day for the 2010 Yu-Ai Kai Nihonmachi “Run for All Ages,” held on April 25. The three-mile run/walk began in front of the Yu-Ai Kai building in Japantown. Half an hour before the start, the throng of 510 runners/walkers of all ages, some in costume, some [...]
With the 2010 Winter Olympics less than a week away, the United States will once again set their hopes on another Japanese American figure skater to bring home a medal. Nearly 18 years after Kristi Yamaguchi won the gold, Mirai Nagasu will compete in the women’s figure skating competition at the Vancouver Games. The 16-year-old [...]
The Vancouver Olympic Games will feature four events in men’s short-track speedskating. Apolo Anton Ohno will race in all of them. Win a medal in just one, and he will have garnered the most of any American male athlete to compete in the Winter Games. Win two medals, and he will be the most decorated [...]
This weekend, when Japanese Americans tune in to watch the nation’s biggest televised sporting event, many of them will do a double take. They’ll see a New Orleans Saints linebacker dart across the screen, read the name printed above the number 55 on his jersey, and marvel to themselves, “Fujita? I didn’t know a Nikkei [...]
Judo’s highest-ranked woman, Keiko Fukuda, traveled from San Francisco to Tokyo during the last week of October to be honored at the Kodokan Judo Institute’s annual judo kata competition. The 96-year-old judoka was also honored at a reception and press event that was held two days after the competition, said filmmaker Yuriko Gamo Romer, who [...]
In films, the flame-throwing Godzilla never went quietly into the night. He went out swinging — and, many think, so has his namesake Hideki Matsui. In what many believe might be his last game in the Yankee pinstripes, Matsui went 3-for-4 with six RBIs in the clinching game of the World Series. He hit .618 [...]
Japan has lost some of its best players to the United States over the years, including Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui and Daisuke Matsuzaka. In 2009, no less than 18 Japanese players, which is perhaps the largest number ever, took the field in major leagues. However, in what might be a reversal of fortune, at least [...]
SEATTLE (Kyodo) — Seattle Mariners catcher Kenji Jojima is opting out of the final two years of his three-year, $24 million contract and will return to Japanese baseball, the club said Oct. 19. Jojima, the only Japanese-born catcher who has played in the major leagues, has decided to exercise the opt-out clause in his contract [...]
Some people around baseball might think that Don Wakamatsu puts David Copperfield and Harry Houdini to shame as far as magicians go. After all, he must be using smoke and mirrors — as well as pulling a few rabbits out of his cap — to get a team that finished with the worst record in [...]
Connect & Share