Clarice Satiko Aoto is the daughter of Japanese immigrants, lives in the green belt of Brasília, a fan of agribusiness and is eternally passionate about politics. Member of the Alexandre de Gusmão Rural and Cultural Association, ARCAG, which organizes the Strawberry Festival and the Guava Festival. She worked as a parliamentary advisor for 12 years and was invited by the Japanese Government to be part of the delegation for the Next Generation of Nikkeis Program in 2017. Her view of the world changed after this invitation and she increasingly wants to make dreams and small desires come true. His next step is to work as a data scientist, to create new knowledge and try to reduce the inequality that exists in the Brazilian population.

Updated October 2021

Joanna Boese works as a sensory technologist in the food and beverage industry. She lives in Auckland, New Zealand, is married and has one daughter.

Updated October 2021

Shey Dimon is Australian with Japanese heritage on her mother’s side. Shey has a zest for travel and adventure and has lived in the Philippines, United States, and Australia. Her next big move is to Japan where she hopes to reconnect with her family heritage, culture, and language.

Updated September 2021

Kelly Fleck is the editor of the Nikkei Voice, a Japanese-Canadian national newspaper. A recent graduate of Carleton University's journalism and communication program, she volunteered with the paper for years before taking on the job. Working at Nikkei Voice, Fleck has her finger on the pulse of Japanese Canadian culture and community.

Updated July 2018

Norio Umezu Hall (he/him) is a transmasculine Yonsei parent, with a father who immigrated from Japan. He loves finding new hobbies and spending time learning about the stars (both in Hollywood and the sky). When not relaxing, he is trying to make the world a better place for and with people who’ve experienced racial and gender-based violence.

Updated October 2021

Alden M. Hayashi is a Sansei who was born and raised in Honolulu but now lives in Boston. After writing about science, technology, and business for more than thirty years, he has recently begun writing fiction to preserve stories of the Nikkei experience. His first novel, Two Nails, One Love, was published by Black Rose Writing in 2021. His website: www.aldenmhayashi.com.

Updated February 2022

Antonio Kotaro Hayata was born in São Paulo and graduated from São Paulo Catholic University (PUC-SP) with an MBA in Finance from Business Administration Foundation (FIA/USP). Today, he is in Japan, working at Kyodai Remittance responsible for the Brazilian market and the Nikkei Network, and in parallel as a legal translator and interpreter. He is a Lawyer from graduation, but finance executive by choice, where he led a career almost entirely focused on financial institutions, always connected with Japan. Crazy for sports in general, especially running and soccer. After the Covid-19 Pandemic, he discovered a new passion in road biking.

Updated October 2021

Ana Claudia Higashi Suárez is 24 years old and has a bachelor's degree in Communication for Development, interested in gender and diversity issues, education and interculturality. She is of Japanese and Afro-Peruvian descent.

Last updated July 2021

Akinori Imai was born in Ola’a Hawaii and lived through World War II much in the territorial days. He lived in Honolulu for 13 years, became an electrician then went to college and became a teacher where he taught in Kona for 25 years. During that time, Akinori also started a successful electrical contracting business “Aki’s Electrical Service” and retired after nearly 25 years. Akinori at age 82 in January 2010 after his Uncle Richard’s passing (the last of his generation), Akinori decided to take up the project of recording the family’s history. To date, he has chronicalled four published family related books.

Updated September 2021

Kazue Ishii was born on February 13, 1940, to her father Tadao Ozaki and her mother Kiyoe in the Union colony, Pereira Barreto in the state of São Paulo. She married Isamu Ishii on July 2, 1966, raised four children and currently resides in the city of São Paulo with her husband Isamu. Her hobbies are reading, traveling, writing, and making haiku poems.

Updated August 2021

June Baldwin was born in 1957, Auckland, New Zealand and is the old-est child to Hiroko Hewitt (Kadowaki). After completing high school, she commenced psychiatric nursing at Carrington Hospital, Auckland. She moved to Australia in 1977, married Terry Baldwin in 1979, and became a mother to three children Talitha, Leon and Amzi. For most of her working life June has been involved as an educator with preschool and primary students and worked as a mental health carer. She has always had a passion for the “underdog” (children and adults alike). Her mother Hiroko who had a generosity of spirit towards those less fortunate than herself, was a significant influence for June, who hopes she can emulate and pass on these attributes to her own children.

Updated October 2021

Kyra Karatsu was born and raised in Santa Clarita, CA. She is currently a first-year Journalism student at College of the Canyons in Valencia, CA and hopes to transfer to a university after the completion of her AA degree. Kyra is a Japanese-German Yonsei and enjoys reading and writing about the Asian American experience.

Updated January 2021

Thoshio Katsurayama lives in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He is the director of the Associação Cultural e Literária Nikkei Bungaku Brasil. He published his first book Califórnia in 2011 and later other children's books, biographies, and novels. The book As Aventuras do Samurai Caolho published in 2017, received an honorable mention at the Maria Antonia da Costa Lobo Award – UBE RJ (União Brasileira de Escritores). His last book published by Telucazu Edições was Contos de um Velho Samurai sobre Bushido (Tales of an Old Samurai on Bushido).

Updated September 2021

Yuki Kawakami is a creative producer based in Sydney, Australia. She is interested in socially inclusive community-led projects and supporting career-pathway opportunities for young people in the arts. She is currently working as the Tertiary and Youth Programs Producer at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and is the Chair on the Board of Firstdraft. In 2019, she was assistant curator of the Gallery's major exhibition Japan supernatural and creative producer of its Sydney Festival program, Night parade of one hundred goblins. In 2017, she was awarded the Edmund Capon Fellowship to research youth engagement programs in Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. She is passionate about ethical leadership practices in mentorship and working with artists from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. (Profile photo by Felicity Jenkins, AGNSW)

Updated October 2021

Since 1961, Keiro has focused on improving the quality of life for older adults and their caregivers in the Japanese American community of Los Angeles, Orange, and Ventura counties. Keiro provides a range of culturally-sensitive programs and resources, in both English and Japanese, to meet the evolving needs of our aging community. In everything we do, we advance our mission through a person-centered, innovative, and collaborative approach. To learn more, visit keiro.org.

Updated June 2021

Sachi Kikuchi grew up in a biracial, bilingual, and bicultural household in Canada. After completing her MA in Theoretical Linguistics and a TESL certificate, she moved to Sendai, Miyagi. Four years later, Sachi returned to Canada, where she founded Kokoro Communications, which provides translation as well as Japanese and English language education, then co-founded Japanese for Nikkei with her childhood friend, Mimi.

Updated September 2021

Leon Baldwin was born in 1988, grew up in Sydney Australia and moved to Auckland, New Zealand, where he lived with his grandmother Hiroko. He is a creative writer and completed a degree in this field. His inspirations come from his love of the ocean and the cultural interest of his ancestors.

Updated October 2021

Born on July 16, 1942 in Makurazaki City, Kagoshima Prefecture. Spent time in various parts of Kagoshima Prefecture due to his father's job transfers. After graduating from the Department of Agriculture at Kagoshima University, he decided to move to Brazil, and moved there at the end of July 1966, overcoming the objections of his parents and siblings. Worked in the states of São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul. Member of the Kagoshima Prefectural Association and the local cultural association. Obtained Brazilian citizenship.

(Updated September 2021)

Troy Miyazato is a 10^th grader at California Academy of Mathematics and Science. He is a Mensa Honor Society member, and an Alzheimer's Advocate, volunteering as a Social Media Ambassador for Alzheimer's Los Angeles. Troy is also a volunteer for Go For Broke National Education Center, helping with interview transcriptions of World War II Nisei Veterans. In his free time, Troy loves to play tennis, basketball, archery and singing in the youth choir.

Updated July 2021

Mimi Okabe was born in Miyagi but immigrated to Canada with her family when she was 11-months-old. She holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of Alberta where she currently teaches. Her research interests in Nikkei identity and culture were inspired by having co-founded Japanese for Nikkei (JFN) with her osananajimi, Sachi. In JFN’s first year of business, we have served members of the global Nikkei community from Canada and the United States, Sweden, Japan, and Australia! We look forward to growing our community! Learn more about Japanese for Nikkei at www.japanesefornikkei.com!

Updated September 2021

Elysha Rei (b. 1986 Saudi Arabia) is a Japanese-Australian visual artist whose work draws on her mixed heritage and lived experiences between cultures and communities. Works in paper cutting, public art, and murals are created from personal and historical archives which embed narrative and symbolism within a Japanese design aesthetic. As a grandchild of a Japanese war bride, Rei’s affinity to Japanese culture stems from the need to preserve her maternal heritage and connect with her samurai and tea master ancestry. Drawn to Japanese design principles and elements in nature, Rei’s works feature strong patterns and motifs that stem from research into records, scientific research, and commemorating points in history.

With a desire to continually challenge her practice, artist residencies and personal travel inform an important element to her continued creative development. Since completing a Bachelor of Visual Arts in 2008, Rei has created and exhibited work, curated exhibitions, and managed cultural spaces across Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Netherlands, Thailand, and the US. 

Updated September 2021

Ana Shitara was born in São Paulo; she has a Bachelor of Letters and a Masters in Education from the University of São Paulo (USP). A mother, teacher, and lover of literature, she has lived surrounded by books for as long as she remembers. She used to tell her mother that they were her most patient friends because they would repeat the same story over and over again without getting tired. Today, she tells her children that books are great friends to help us understand who we are and to help us dream. And today's dream is to ensure that the voices of women of East Asian descent are heard, as they've had so little representation in the country where their ancestors arrived more than a century ago. She strives to make visible the invisible.

Updated September 2021

Amelia Hisami Karuka Shoji was born in Taiaçupeba, Mogi das Cruzes (SP), graduated in Business Administration from UMC-University of Mogi das Cruzes. She is currently in Japan, working at Kyodai Remittance and as a Portuguese teacher. She loves hiking and discovered meditation, a meeting with herself every morning.

Updated October 2021

John has been married to Mary Sunada for 40 years and he is a retired marine/fishery biologist for the State of California Department of Fish and Game. They have two sons, James and David. John has published a number of scientific papers relating to his research studies with the Department. He has been involved with volunteer work with the Cerritos Senior Center and the Nikkei Social Club. He is also a member of the Long Beach Coin Club. He along with his wife Mary enjoy fishing with their sons in the high Sierras.

Updated September 2020

Mary has been married for 43 years to John Sunada and they have two sons, James and David. Mary is retired from the Los Angeles Unified School District after 36 years of teaching. She is a member of the Orange County Buddhist Church, the Japanese American National Museum, and the “Go for Broke” National Education Center. Her interests are in fishing, dancing and traveling with family and friends. She has written other stories for Discover Nikkei.

Updated October 2023

Stéphane Taguchi is a lawyer graduated from the University of Brasília with a postgraduate degree from FESMPDFT. He is trying to learn Japanese with humility. She dreams of being a prosecutor.

Updated October 2021

José Yoshida Sherikawa was born in 1935 in Cañete, Perú. He has twice served as vice president of La Unión Stadium Association (Asociación Estadio La Unión, or AELU) and was a member of the group that organized the first Peruvian Nisei Symposium in 1979. A founding member of the Panamerican Nikkei Association (Asociación Panamericana Nikkei), he spoke at that symposium and at the First Panamerican Nisei Convention in Mexico. He has also participated in the Nikkei Leaders Program of the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

Updated September 2021

A Gen-Xer, Jacqueline Yoshioka-Braid was born and raised in Aotearoa New Zealand to a Japanese mother and Kiwi father. In her twenties and thirties she spent a number of years living and working in Japan where she discovered not only the roots of her Japanese family, but also the language and culture of her mother. These days, Jacky lives in Hawke’s Bay with her mother and works as an education faciliator for Massey University and dabbles in photography in her spare time.

Updated October 2021

Marina Yukawa is a writer and journalist. She was born in 1994 in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. She is Brazilian and has lived since the age of two in the city of São Paulo. She graduated in Journalism at ECA-USP in 2017; as her course conclusion work, she presented the report “Sorrisos Amarelos,"* which Editora Viseu published in book form in 2020. She is also dedicated to fiction writing and had the short stories “Setas Que Voam de Dia” ("Arrows That Fly by Day") and “Abutre” ("Vulture") selected in a contest and included in the collection “Isto Não É Direito” (double meaning: "This Isn't Right/This Isn't Law Studies"), published by IBAP [Brazilian Institute of Public Advocacy] (Editora Terra Redonda, 2021). (Photo by Artur Ivo)

* Translator's note：The title Sorrisos Amarelos: Histórias de jovens mulheres orientais no Brasil (literally, "Yellow Smiles: Stories of Young Oriental Women in Brazil") has a double meaning: "Yellow Smiles" means "forced/embarrassed smiles," while "Yellow" is also an ethnic label for East Asians (like the word "Oriental," deemed offensive in the U.S. but not in Brazil).

Updated October 2021