bokinaka

Kōchi, Japan

Nima since 2007

Stuff contributed by bokinaka

A Nikkei in Japan

Bobby Okinaka


I called my grandmother "Oba-chan"

Bobby Okinaka

I called my grandmother "Oba-chan." It is the Japanese word for "grandmother." She was born somewhere in California just before the First World War. Her parents arrived in America by a ship from Japan. My brother remembers her once showing a sepia-toned photo of a Japanese man wearing an American …

Early Sawtelle Stories

community history
bokinaka

West Los Angeles is a relatively new urban area. When the UCLA campus in Westwood opened in 1929, the area boomed. Dirt roads and empty fields became newly-paved roads and …

Discover Nikkei in Brazil - Celebrating the Centennial of Japanese Immigration

Bobby Okinaka

2008 marks the centennial of Japanese immigration to Brazil. On June 18, 1908, 793 people aboard the Kasato-maru arrived at the port of Santos to start a new life in a new land. For the 1.5 million Brazilians of Japanese ancestry today, the Kasato-maru is their Mayflower and a symbol …

My Nisei Week, Our Nisei Week

Bobby Okinaka

Saturday, August 16On Saturday morning I arrived early at the Japanese American National Museum. Yonezawa-san was already there. He is the president of the Miyagi Kenjinkai. Miyagi Prefecture is famous throughout Japan for the Tanabata Festival in Sendai. On the seventh day of the seventh month, the streets of Sendai …

Nikkei Parents’ Day

Bobby Okinaka

Nikkei in Los Angeles recognized Parents’ Day on July 27 with a ceremony honoring the 2008 Parents of the Year at the George and Sakaye Aratani Japan America Theatre in Little Tokyo. This year the honor was bestowed upon two families, Kaname and Kuriyo Inaba of Northridge and Haruo and …

Frank Endo - Amache photos

family history
bokinaka

These are photos of Amache from the albums of Frank Endo of Gardena, California. You can read an autobiographical essay of Frank's life on Discover Nikkei. click here to …

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About

Lived in Los Angeles and Tokyo. Now in Kochi prefecture, Japan.

Nikkei interests

  • community history

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