Troy Ishikawa

momiji

Troy Ishikawa is an Interculturalist whose process training and consulting practice specializes in problem solving cultural differences in behaviors, norms, and values. His practice concentrates in deconstructing logic sequences for cross-cultural transferability and culture equivalencies. He is also a writer and gives presentations of his family history and stories that pertain to the Nikkei experience. He is a member of the Kagoshima Heritage Club, enjoys global travel, hiking, learning, and cooking ethnic and pan-Asian cuisines.

Updated October 2011

identity en

Nikkei Chronicles #3—Nikkei Names: Taro, John, Juan, João?

My name has Asia covered: From Asia Minor to Japan

By Troy Ishikawa
20 Aug 2014

What is in a name? Is your name unique? Have you developed your identity around your name? Were you named after a relative, a movie star, or a song title…? Do you happen to have a surname that is also shared by a famous person? These questions and more usually come to mind when thinking about your name. As most Nikkei, you probably have encountered multiple mispronunciations of your surname, myself included. I can relate to the “butchering” of the mispronunciation of my last name, Ishikawa. The worst examples come over the telephone by telemarketers. If they can’t pr…

food en

Nikkei Chronicles #1—ITADAKIMASU! A Taste of Nikkei Culture

Three Generations of Japanese American Cooks and Food: From Grandma to daughter to grandson

By Troy Ishikawa
5 Jul 2012

What does your family call Thanksgiving stuffing? In our family, stuffing was called dressing. This food and cooking story entails a tradition that goes back three generations from my maternal grandma, Suye Sakoda to her daughter, Edna Ishikawa, and to me, Troy Ishikawa. Do good cooks run in your family? I hope so, because good cooking must be in our blood! Having just said that, my mom was not always a quintessential cook. She developed her skills over the decades. Not surprisingly, she eventually built a career as a professional caterer and personal chef from the early-1960s to 2002. (So…

identity en

It began with a laugh and ended with a laugh: My interview with Frank Chuman

By Troy Ishikawa
26 Dec 2011

I always liked interviewing people. I learned so much more than I could ever imagine, whether for an informational interview or for graduate school research. Most of the interviews I did in the past, I was contextualized to that person and hopefully that person also knew a little something about me, and hence the interviews came easy and flowed. Fortunately, this would also include my latest interview featuring Frank F. Chuman. Frank befriended me through Tim Asamen, the newsletter editor for the Kagoshima Heritage Club. Tim introduced me to Frank via email addresses because he knew our im…

community en

Coming of Age in San Francisco’s Nihonmachi: How My Parents Met, Married, and Moved - Part 3 of 3

By Troy Ishikawa
8 Dec 2011

Read Part 2 >> 7. Edna Ishikawa Edna (née Sakoda) Ishikawa was born in Soledad, California, in 1920. She moved to “the city” in 1938 upon graduating from Gonzales High School in Gonzales, California, to follow her older sister, Fumiye. Actually auntie Fumiye lived in either Palo Alto or Los Gatos working for a white family. Edna worked as a secretary. These types of jobs were “opportunities” for young women from the farms and rural communities to move to large urban cities and meet other like-minded people. The pay probably wasn’t grea…

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Coming of Age in San Francisco’s Nihonmachi: How My Parents Met, Married, and Moved - Part 2 of 3

By Troy Ishikawa
1 Dec 2011

Read Part 1 >> 4. Friendships Most of dad’s really close friends during those years were other kibeis. There was a close bond and camaraderie between these men. They shared similar hardships and lives: heavy Japanese accents, youth, energy, vitality, under-employment, etc. The Great Depression shaped many of these men’s attitudes, life perspectives, and relationships. They probably were raised in other prefectures in Japan. The Japanese government propaganda machine was in full swing during the early 1930s. The Japanese government pushed kibeis to return back to the …

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Japanese migrants and their descendants

Troy Ishikawa

Nikkei Chronicles #3—Nikkei Names: Taro, John, Juan, João?

Nikkei Chronicles #1—ITADAKIMASU! A Taste of Nikkei Culture

Series this author contributes to

Tad Nakamura’s Art and Activism

Nikkei Chronicles #5—Nikkei-go: The Language of Family, Community, and Culture

The Chuo Gakuen School: The Seeds of Prestige for the Japanese Community in Mexico

Nikkei Chronicles #3—Nikkei Names: Taro, John, Juan, João?

The Child of a Thousand Generations

Postwar Japanese Emigration to the Dominican Republic — Part 1: A Tragic Tale

Ansel Adams and Born Free and Equal: Another View

10th Annual Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest

Aftershocks

My Name is Neal

Journal Entry #5 Laws: "Rules of the Road..."

The Ironies of the Japanese Canadian Internment History: Part 2—Discovering Japanese Canadian History

“Postales nikkei”: correspondencia generacional

書評：和泉真澄『日系カナダ人の移動と運動―知られざる日本人の越境生活史』

1992年渡米、目標は「アカデミー賞」— 俳優の井上英治さん

Kizuna 2020: Nikkei Kindness and Solidarity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Tiempos pandémicos: teletrabajo y koden digital

Kizuna 2020: Nikkei Kindness and Solidarity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 e os heróis anônimos

香川県海外移民の父：今雪真一の情熱と功績

第３部：金子正則知事の南米訪問とその主な見解

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Ansel Adams and Born Free and Equal: Another View

Aftershocks

Journal Entry #5 Laws: "Rules of the Road..."

The Ironies of the Japanese Canadian Internment History: Part 2—Discovering Japanese Canadian History

The Ironies of the Japanese Canadian Internment History: Part 1—My Family’s Life in Greenwood

Unlocking Memories

Uka Sake: Closing the Circle on a Trans-Pacific Rice-Growing Legacy

A Sansei Selective Service Story

The Last Days of The Dandy Lion

Journal Entry #Size 42-44: "Casual Commentary..."

Chapter 2—Role Reversal

Big Band Music is My Jam

Surrender — Part 3

I Am a Rainbow! - Part 1

Interview with Emi Sasagawa, Author of Atomweight

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An excerpt from Unforgotten Voices from Heart Mountain: As American As Apple Pie—Yellowstone - Part 1

Chapter 12 (Part 2): Nisei Education in Japanese Schools

Part 5: New Japanese Women as Comrades — Fujinkai

The legacy of Toyo Takata, Who Captured the Voice of Japanese Canadians

Bay Area Woman Turns Love of Softball into Coaching Career

Navigating With(out) Instruments: traci kato-kiriyama’s art for love, hope, and healing

Mom Was Young Once, Too!

One Thousand Cranes

A Miraculous Family Gathering: Wasuke Hirota’s Mixed-Race Descendants Celebrate at Ireichō

Journal Entry #Between 0-5 Toes: "Extreme Extremities..."

A Partial and Personal Timeline of Asian American Men on Stage and Screen

Fujima Kansuma — To Dance, to Live, to Persevere

Part 6: Across the Pacific

Chapter 12 (Part 1): Nisei Education in Japanese Schools

Journal Entry #Term First Used in 1860's: "I'm Speechless..."

History Lessons with Professor Masumi Izumi — Part 3: Postwar Community Revitalization and Redress Movement

A Day of Remembrance at JANM

Part 3: For Mothers and Children—Haha No Kai

Color

Journal Entry #Even Just 1 Would Help: "Save Us!..."

Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest – Voice Actor Mayumi Saco Reads Aloud a Winning Story

Another Willard Scott Moment

Bertram Akira Tsunematsu

Paul Takagi: A Centenary Remembrance

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