Gwen Muranaka
Gwen Muranaka, Senior Editor, has been with The Rafu Shimpo since 2001. Prior to that, she worked in Tokyo at the Japan Times where she still contributes the weekly cartoon “Noodles.” She attended UCLA where she received a BA in English literature and also studied one year at Waseda University. Muranaka started in community newspapers as assistant editor at the Pacific Citizen.
Updated March 2021
Stories from This Author
J-town Beat: A Bowl Of Katsudon
April 8, 2019 • Gwen Muranaka
There are some annoyances to spending most days in Little Tokyo: the traffic, the constant construction, the overflow of hipsters and homeless. But one reason I’m grateful to work here in J-Town is definitely the food. Most days, since we’re busy on deadline, we eat in our office, but once a week we treat ourselves to a lunch at a local restaurant. There are so many great choices. Old favorites like Suehiro, TOT and Kouraku or newer places like Chinchikurin …
CHANGING MINDS ON MENTAL HEALTH - Young Nikkei lead the way in new initiative on mental health at 341 FSN
Feb. 25, 2019 • Gwen Muranaka
“Part of our mission is to spread the idea that mental health is something applicable to everybody,” says Ty Tanioka of Changing Tides, a new organization now hosting an art exhibition at 341 FSN in Little Tokyo. “Mental health is something that everyone can practice. Everyone deals with stress in their everyday life on an everyday scale.” At the opening on Feb. 9, the small space on First Street was packed with people who came to see the works of …
A Balancing Act - Tales of Clamor is daring examination of redress era in intimate setting
Feb. 18, 2019 • Gwen Muranaka
In the first moment of Tales of Clamor, Kennedy Kabasares, dressed as a Japanese immigrant, clambers up two cloth silks. Suspended in air, he rises and falls, over and over, as government agents try to pull him down. There are moments of grace and peril, noise and quiet, and catharsis in the production at the Aratani Black Box, the inaugural show for this intimate setting. Just walking through the backstage area to the seating is a new experience. The audience, …
Family Quest - Part 2: Searching for Kimiko
April 16, 2018 • Gwen Muranaka
Read Part 1 >> Joy and sorrow as a son reunites with his biological mother after more than six decades. To my family both new and old … Last summer, Terry Weber sat down at the computer in his North Torrance home to write a letter to the family of Kimiko, his birth mother, who gave him up for adoption in Japan when he was two months old. He writes: “Now that I know the circumstances of my being adopted, …
Family Quest - Part 1: Searching For Tetsu
April 9, 2018 • Gwen Muranaka
From Kashiwa, Japan to North Torrance, a remarkable 30-year quest to reconnect and find lost family. Naoko Shimamura and Terry Weber were meant to find each other. It just took more than 30 years. How the cousins were reunited is a tale of luck and good fortune, but also a story of remarkable tenacity. Of how family is lost and then found. A journey that spans from Kashiwa, Japan to a typical Japanese American home in North Torrance. Ultimately it …
Treasure Hunters: Takachizu on Los Angeles Street seeks to record community memories and mementos.
Nov. 10, 2016 • Gwen Muranaka
Walking into the Vida Group Building on South Los Angeles Street, I couldn’t help but sense the ghosts of the past. In the grey building next door, paperboys rolled up copies of the day’s newspaper and hopped on bikes, Mrs. Hotta welcomed visitors into the lobby while reporters took smoke breaks on the street. Rafu has moved twice since that time, but the memories remain powerful. The neighboring Vida building is now home to Takachizu (translation: treasure map), a gathering space for …
Noodles: Obon Time
Aug. 15, 2014 • Gwen Muranaka
Gwen Muranaka’s weekly cartoon “Noodles” appears in The Japan Times, and occasionally in The Rafu Shimpo. The cartoons feature a Japanese American woman and her dog, presenting a Nikkei view of life in Japan. In this cartoon, they enjoy their local Obon. *This article was originally published on The Rafu Shimpo on July 16 2014.
OCHAZUKE: New Year, Same Old Name
Jan. 14, 2014 • Gwen Muranaka
A little belated, but shinnen akemashite omedeto! Of course, here in the JA community, January 1 is only the beginning of the New Year’s season, with many community organizations hosting shinnenkai parties that will keep folks busy well into next month and beyond. For New Year’s Day we went to Eric’s cousins’ home in San Gabriel and enjoyed a feast of nishime, accompanied by toasts of warm sake. This unseasonably warm winter we’ve been experiencing didn’t change my yearning for …
A Bittersweet Tribute - Plaza in Little Tokyo dedicated for Mikawaya's Frances Hashimoto
Dec. 10, 2012 • Gwen Muranaka
It was a bittersweet gathering that took place on Thursday, November 19, 2012 for the dedication of Frances K. Hashimoto Plaza in Little Tokyo. Hashimoto, CEO of Mikawaya USA and a fixture in Little Tokyo, passed away on November 4 of lung cancer. Less than two weeks since her passing, her absence at the street dedication was keenly felt. City workers installed the signs for Frances Hashimoto Plaza, on East Second and Azusa streets, as more than 200 guests gathered …
Noodles: Jan … Ken … Pon!
July 27, 2012 • Gwen Muranaka
Gwen Muranaka’s weekly cartoon “Noodles” appears in The Japan Times, and occasionally in The Rafu Shimpo. The cartoons feature a Japanese American woman and her dog, presenting a Nikkei view of life in Japan. In this cartoon, they play the game "Jan...Ken...Pon" *This comic was originally published in The Japan Times on June 14, 2012.
