Interviews

1. Giant Robot's humble beginnings

2. The birth of Giant Robot

3. Giant Robot, never a drag

4. No other magazine like Giant Robot

5. A diverse audience

6. Father in camp but learning from history books

7. Skateboarding at Manzanar

8. Giant Robot, a stepping stone for young artists

9. Japan's view on Asian American pop culture and art

Eric Nakamura

Giant Robot co-founder and publisher

Father in camp but learning from history books

Oh, just my father was in concentration camp. Again, it’s a typical Japanese American household, you don’t hear very much about it, it’s kind of quiet, so I think I read more about it in books than I have been hearing about it by my actual, my father, but in the end, he was ten, or ten years old maybe, or twelve years old in the camp so, it was a big part of his childhood, but in the end, it’s still a pretty quiet subject.

I think that, I’m glad I can read about it in books, but in the end, you know, personal experience is important and I’d like to hear more about it. It’s something that you know, I don’t even know if he wants to talk about, it’s not something that he’s angry about, but it’s also something hard for me to ask about, ‘cause I know the answers are usually quite short (laughs).

But, I think in the end, I mean, I you know, did my reading on it, and I know the history behind it. I still don’t know why it had to happen, but in the end, you know, it’s one of those things that where, it’s just a big part of our, you know, part of Japanese American history in America, so I mean, it’s my job to know about it.

imprisonment incarceration World War II World War II camps

Date: November 27, 2005

Location: California, US

Interviewer: John Esaki and Janice Tanaka

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Eric Nakamura is co-founder and publisher of Giant Robot magazine. He is a Sansei (third generation Japanese American) from Los Angeles, California who grew up in a typical Japanese American household. He attended Japanese school on Saturdays where he learned the basic traditions of Japanese culture. It also played a large role in his identification as Japanese American.

After graduating from University of California at Los Angeles in East Asian Studies, Nakamura worked at Larry Flynt Publications. While working there, he had an idea for publishing a magazine focused on Asian pop culture in the U.S. In 1994, Nakamura and co-founder Martin Wong photocopied and stapled the first edition of Giant Robot. What began as a zine with a distribution of 240 copies has grown into a full-fledged magazine with an increasingly international fan base.

Nakamura has built on the success of Giant Robot with stores in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco selling imported art goods from Japan. The stores exhibit artwork from local up-and-coming artists. There’s also a restaurant called gr/eats.

In addition to his work with Giant Robot, Nakamura also made a film called Sunsets and is involved in other projects. For his creative cultural contributions in the United States, he was honored the Award of Excellence by the Japanese American National Museum in 2006. (October 26, 2006)