Kristen Nemoto Jay

Kristen Nemoto Jay is the editor of The Hawai‘i Herald: Hawai‘i’s Japanese American Journal. Her late grandfather, Wilbert Sanderson Holck, was a 442nd RCT veteran and, after the war ended, helped create the sister-city relationship between Bruyeres, France and Honolulu, Hawai‘i. She has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Chapman University and a master’s degree in journalism from DePaul University. Nemoto Jay was born and raised in Kailua, O‘ahu where she currently resides with her husband Aaron and baby girl named Winter.

Updated January 2023

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I Am a Rainbow! - Part 2

By Kristen Nemoto Jay
15 May 2023

Read Part 1 >> A particular dance enthusiast who joined in on one of Kanemura’s epic Instagram dance parties was the sister of someone who worked for Little, Brown and Company, a publishing group from Hachette Book Group, a leading trade publisher based in New York. She told her sister to reach out to Kanemura to see about doing a children’s book. Kanemura remembers the day he received the email, which read in the subject line “Children’s Book…” “I immediately got teary eyed and was like ‘oh my gosh, what is happening?’” be…

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I Am a Rainbow! - Part 1

By Kristen Nemoto Jay
14 May 2023

Darkness sets the stage. Costumes are prepped. Souvenirs are ready to be sold. A sold-out crowd waits anxiously for the stars of the show, Mark Kanemura and his sister Marissa, to appear. Then, as their father helps pull a fishing line to whoosh open the curtains, while a chandelier made out of cardboard boxes lifts above the stage, Kanemura appears in full costume, wearing half a white mask, a sleek black hat and cape, resembling the one and only Phantom of the opera. There’s no shortage of props, wigs, and costumes as Kanemura takes the stage in the family living room, leading in the…

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80 Years of the 442nd

By Kristen Nemoto Jay
3 Apr 2023

Some reading this may already know, but for those who don’t, I’m a proud descendent of a 442nd Regimental Combat Team veteran. Wilbert “Sandy” Holck was his name; Cannon Company was his unit. Like many who answered the call to volunteer despite the country’s hatred against those of Japanese ancestry, my grandfather—a Hapa haole, Japanese, Hawaiian man from Kaka‘ako—risked his life to fight against injustice and to prove his loyalty to a country that had initially turned its back on him and so many others. He believed in the United States before …

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American Woman: Radio DJ Becky “Mits” — A Walking contradiction Equipped With a Mic, Quick Mouth, and Comfy Crocs

By Kristen Nemoto Jay
19 Apr 2022

It’s the impression that Becky “Mits” Martin makes of her parents’ face that many — whose report cards in high school were not ideal — can relate to. She opens her hands up like a book, pretends to hold a report card that’s filled with letters other than A’s or B’s, and stares stoically down with all the seriousness of a poker player who’s lost a hand that’s yet to be revealed. With perfect comedic timing, still in stealth mode, she glances up to say: “I was the worst Asian student” with a hearty laugh. It’…

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Promised Land: A Family’s Story About Land Lost (But Saved) During Executive Order 9066 - Part 2

By Kristen Nemoto Jay
16 Mar 2022

Read Part 1 >> Saved Land When the Yoshioka family left their farm in San Jose for Utah then Colorado, they could only take what they could carry. “We didn’t have much,” said Thomas. The rest of their belongings, which included their expensive farm equipment, had to stay back at the farm. Thankfully, the Yoshioka’s had leased their land from a very generous owner named Frederick De Meza. “Mr. De Meza,” as he’s affectionately called by the Yoshioka’s, agreed to not only hold on to their farm equipment when they escaped California, but a…

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Japanese migrants and their descendants

Kristen Nemoto Jay

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

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Why not? Little Tokyo!

Notes on Hoarding

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』

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Tiempos pandémicos: teletrabajo y koden digital

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Nikkei Chronicles #12

Growing Up Nikkei: Connecting with Our Heritage

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第31回 「セツコの秘密」〜強制収容の記憶

Paul Higaki – The One Who Made It Big

Notes on Hoarding

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Part 5: New Japanese Women as Comrades — Fujinkai

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第31回「セツコの秘密」〜強制収容の記憶

第31回「セツコの秘密」〜強制収容の記憶