LOS ANGELES — After a long period of stability, various nonprofit organizations in Little Tokyo have experienced significant leadership changes the past few years. Dean Matsubayashi took over at the Little Tokyo Service Center, Leslie Ito at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center and Mitchell Maki at the Go For Broke National Educational Center. […]
Digital exhibit to tell Nisei veterans’ stories
December 18, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The stories of the World War II Nisei soldiers, including heroes like Kazuo Masuda, Takejiro Higa and the late Sen. Daniel Inouye, will be highlighted in the upcoming Congressional Gold Medal Digital Exhibition, which the National Veterans Network in association with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, will develop, a statement issued by these entities said. […]
Abe’s Yasukuni-Arlington comparison draws mixed reaction in U.S.
August 21, 2014 by Leave a Comment
WASHINGTON — Tucked away in a secluded corner of the most sacred U.S. military burial ground, a small monument stands in a clearing surrounded by a copse of trees. Encircling it are rows of simple marble headstones marking the graves of 482 people including soldiers and their families. Although there is no discernible difference between […]
A social and operational — though somewhat lacking — history of the 110th and 442nd
July 24, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Going for Broke: Japanese American Soldiers in the War against Nazi Germany By James M. McCaffrey (Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press, 2013, 424 pp., $34.95, hard cover) With another book documenting the experiences of Nisei military participation during World War II, Dr. James McCaffrey’s “Going for Broke” attempts to re-narrate the perseverance, struggle, and triumph […]
Shinseki leaves Obama’s Cabinet over scandal
June 12, 2014 by Leave a Comment
WASHINGTON — Eric Shinseki, a Japanese American who served as U.S. secretary of veterans affairs, stepped down from the Cabinet post on May 30 following problems in the healthcare system for veterans, President Barack Obama said. Obama told a press conference at the White House that he has accepted an offer of resignation by Shinseki. […]
A reflection on heroism
July 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Twice Heroes: America’s Nisei Veterans of WWII and Korea Written and photographed by Tom Graves. (San Francisco: Nassau & Witherspoon, 2013, 182 pp., $45, hardcover) Tom Graves’ photobook is the product of an impressive labor of love. Graves, a San Francisco-based writer and photographer, spent 10 years collecting photos and stories of the Nisei contingent […]
Korematsu Day event honors Asian Pacific American civil rights ‘heroes’
February 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
San Francisco celebrated its third annual Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution, the first day named after an Asian American in the United States, on Jan. 27 at Herbst Theater in San Francisco. The event celebrates Fred T. Korematsu, who resisted unconstitutional laws that incarcerated nearly 120,000 people of Japanese decent during […]
An inclusive tribute to the Nisei WWII veterans
January 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment
PROUD TO SERVE: JAPANESE AMERICAN WORLD WAR II VETERANS Edited by Chris Komai (Los Angeles: Rafu Shimpo and Japanese American Living Legacy 2012, 390 pp., $29.95, paperback) This is a wonderful compilation and recognition of Nisei men and women who served in all the units besides Military Intelligence Service, 100th Battalion and the 442nd Regimental […]
Hawai‘i political icon Sen. Inouye, third in line of presidency, dies at 88
December 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment
A decorated World War II veteran, Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, died Dec. 17. He was 88. Hawai‘i’s most senior politician passed away from respiratory complications at 5:01 p.m. Eastern Standard Time at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., his office said in a statement issued Dec. 17. According to the statement, […]
Four reasons why AAPIs should oppose Prop 61
Proposition 61 is opposed by a diverse coalition of organizations representing community-based health service organizations, labor unions, patient advocates, doctors, clinics, veterans, and businesses because the flawed and deceptive measure would be bad for patients, harmful for veterans and expensive for taxpayers. The negative impact of Prop. 61 on AAPIs would be broad and deep. […]