We have many things to look forward to in 2021, a kind of U-turn, but on a different plane of living. The “new normal” will forever be inflected by this harrowing epidemic, unprecedented political instability and the raw social injustice brought to the heart of 2020. Like the lumbering ox that represents the Chinese zodiac […]
Let’s Talk … About thriving in the pandemic
October 22, 2020 by Leave a Comment
It was March, seven long months ago when COVID-19 was acknowledged as a pandemic. When the shutdown was announced most of us thought we could just hold our breaths, make some minor adjustments and things would get back to “normal” within a reasonable period of time. But here and now, the numbers of people contracting […]
Let’s Talk … About Tsuru for Solidarity
January 1, 2020 by Leave a Comment
In the fall of 2018, a small group of Nikkei in the Bay Area gathered to begin planning for a preliminary pilgrimage to Crystal City, Texas, a former Department of Justice camp where several of us had been held as children separated from our fathers during World War II. With the increasingly hostile and racist […]
Let’s Talk … About intentions
January 1, 2019 by Leave a Comment
As the new year approaches, many people make “resolutions” to do things better — eat healthy, exercise more, spend less money, etc. Making resolutions to start anew may be a good idea at the beginning of the year, giving you motivation and focus, but often, by the end of the year, those same resolutions can […]
Let’s Talk … About therapy
October 25, 2018 by Leave a Comment
People sometimes ask, “How do I know I need therapy?” “How do I find a therapist that will truly understand me?” There are certainly long and detailed answers to these questions, but here are some condensed thoughts that may be helpful in answering these questions. Generally, when a person is feeling that life is not […]
Let’s Talk … About remembering and speaking out
June 21, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Obon time is a time to remember loved ones who have passed away. We honor the dead with tradition and ceremony. By coming together as family and community, we have the opportunity to reflect on the lessons learned from those who are no longer with us, and we remember something about the lives they lived. […]
Let’s Talk … About standing up
February 1, 2018 by 1 Comment
I’m here in Honolulu to assist in interviewing my friend and inspiration, Mr. Hitoshi “Hank” Naito, a 93-year-young Nisei man whom I met several years ago while working on a documentary film about my family’s experience at Tule Lake, Calif. during World War II. Confronted with the so-called “loyalty questionnaire,” Hank’s Issei father had worked […]
Let’s talk … About sexual abuse #MeToo
January 1, 2018 by Leave a Comment
There is a cultural sea change taking place as each day some powerful, “successful” person is being called out for sexually abusing younger, vulnerable victims. “Strength in numbers” has led former victims to find their voice to challenge their perpetrators and the power structures that have protected and ignored the victim’s past protests and accusations. […]
Let’s talk … About secondary trauma
October 26, 2017 by Leave a Comment
If you haven’t been following the news lately, you probably have smelled the smoke and noticed the ash dust on your car window. The catastrophic fires in California’s North Bay brought tragedy to our back door. We in the U.S. have recently experienced repeated natural and man-made disasters. If you were fortunate enough to not […]
Let’s Talk About … Honoring the dead
June 22, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Obon season is upon us. It is when our Japanese American communities gather to share an ancient Buddhist tradition to honor the spirits of our ancestors. In Japan, it is a time when families return to their ancestral family homes to visit and clean their ancestors’ graves. It is thought to be the time when […]
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