Seattle’s Edomae Sushi Pioneer Shiro Kashiba
As the Heisei Era drew to a close, Shiro Kashiba received the honor of being named a Goodwill Ambassador to Spread Japanese Cuisine by Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on...
View ArticleHoops Pioneer ‘Wat’ Misaka Dies at 95
Wataru ‘Wat’ Misaka, the first non-white person to play in the Basketball Association of America (the predecessor to the National Basketball Association), died in Salt Lake City on November 20 at the...
View ArticleUW Nikkei Alumni Association Honors 5 Scholarship Winners
The Board of Directors of the University of Washington Nikkei Alumni Association (UWNAA) presented its 2019-2020 scholarship awards to five outstanding students at University of Washington. The first...
View ArticleMisato Nakamura, Judo Athlete, Olympic Medalist
In September, a judo star came to Megumi Preschool. Misato Nakamura has represented Japan as an Olympic judo competitor in Beijing, London, and Rio de Janeiro. I joined her on her first visit to the...
View ArticleDr. Hellmann to receive 2019 Fall Decoration from Japan
On November 3, 2019, the government of Japan announced that Dr. Donald C. Hellmann, Professor Emeritus of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington (UW), has...
View ArticleThe Way of the Nisei Artist: A Tribute to My Uncle, Hiroshi Kashiwagi
In 1993, I was at a long choir rehearsal in college. My friend Marcy was taking Asian American Literature that semester, and during one of the breaks I glanced over at what she was studying. The book...
View ArticleSANSEI JOURNAL: Mounds of Mystery
AS THE NIGHTS grow long and the days of 2019 dwindle, it is time for this aging boomer to tell a tall tale to mark the year’s end. The mathematics behind today’s story make it exactly 2.76 feet (0.84...
View ArticleTOUGH TOFU – Sustenance
Virtually all living creatures that we are aware of need air, water, food, and a safe place to sleep. These are the essentials that are required to sustain life as we know it. A restaurant needs eaters...
View ArticleYanaka and Arashiyama Cat Tales
On the North American Post 2019 Japan Tour, 24 travelers were set with group activities daily, but this tour was unique for having free time to connect with Japanese relatives and friends – which most...
View ArticleMONEY TALK – Time for Some New Year’s Financial Resolutions
Have you thought about your New Year’s resolutions for 2020? When many of us make these promises, we focus on ways we can improve some form of our health. We vow to get more physically healthy by going...
View ArticleJCCCW’s Omoide Story: The Last “Omedeto”
Once upon a time in America in the homes of people of Japanese ancestry, New Year’s Day was Christmas, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving and Hanukkah– all rolled into one Today, only a handful of first...
View ArticleThe Matsudaira Family of Seattle
For Japanese people, the family name Matsudaira immediately brings a connection to the Tokugawa Shogun family. Hearing that Martin “Mich” Mitsuyuki Matsudaira passed away in March 2019 at the age of...
View ArticleRECIPE: Kuri Kinton and Kouhaku Namasu
Kuri Kinton and Kouhaku Namasu Shiwasu (December, known as the busiest month of the year) has passed so quickly. Will you have Osechi in Oshogatsu (the New Year’s holiday) in 2020? Osechi is...
View ArticleVisiting Gekkeikan Okura Sake Museum in Fushimi Kyoto
During our four-day stay in Kyoto, the 2019 fall tour members visited the Fushimi area, south of the Kyoto city center. Fushimi is known as “Sake-Dokoro” meaning a place for sake production since the...
View ArticleYoemon Shinmasu, Life of My Grandfather in Seattle Vol.7
Yoemon Shinmasu, Life of My Grandfather in Seattle Vol.7 Leap to the hotel business by Ikuo Shinmasu, translated by Mina Otsuka This is a series on the life of Yoemon Shinmasu, an Issei immigrant...
View ArticleGiving with Gratitude: The Nisei Student Relocation Commemorative Fund
“They were at a picnic in New Hampshire,” says Jean Hibino. Her Nisei parents were UC Berkeley students during World War II, and though they were imprisoned at Tanforan and then Topaz, their time in...
View ArticleSANSEI JOURNAL : Summer Reverie
AS I WRITE this, it is dark and wet out. Nearly the winter solstice, it is a time best spent indoors, perhaps sharing stories of warmer days with old friends. Have I ever told you about the time I was...
View ArticleTOUGH TOFU – The Koto
For the better part of the last six plus decades, I have always thought of my father George as the primary influence on my career as a jazz pianist and a performing artist. It only made sense as dad...
View ArticleINTERVIEW: Emi Meyer, Singer-Songwriter
Opening Doors through Music & Mentors Emi Meyer, Singer-Songwriter Emi Meyer is a singer-songwriter active in Japan and the US. She is the child of a Japanese mom and American dad. Emi won the...
View ArticleYoemon Shinmasu, Life of My Grandfather in Seattle Vol.8
Yoemon Shinmasu, Life of My Grandfather in Seattle Vol.8 Sending money home and a new house by Ikuo Shinmasu, translated by Kimly Sok This is a series on the life of Yoemon Shinmasu, an Issei...
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