Misa Murohashi
Misa Murohashi is General Manager of North American Post Publishing and Editor-in-Chief of The North American Post. Since graduating from Sophia University, Tokyo, with a BA in Business Administration, Misa has been in the content publishing industry for over twenty years. She later earned a master’s degree in Urban Planning from the University of Washington, Seattle, where she studied community development in Seattle’s International District for her thesis. The research taught her Japanese American history, and her interests in it brought her to her current position in 2017.
Updated October 2021
Stories from This Author
Shinji Maeda, One-eyed Pilot, to Fly Around the World
July 28, 2021 • Misa Murohashi
Shinji Maeda, founder of Aero Zypangu Project who calls himself a “one-eyed pilot,” departed for his around-the-world flight on May 1st. This mission is to inspire people with his message, “Nothing is impossible.” NAP interviewed him just before his departure from Seattle. He enthusiastically shared the message of his mission. * * * * * One-Eyed Pilot Shinji Maeda is a Shin-Issei who is active in our community as founder and president of Aero Zypangu Project, a 501c3 non-profit organization …
The history of Japanese literature in Seattle after the Seattle Tanka Club's 100th anniversary
March 11, 2020 • Misa Murohashi
The Seattle Tanka Society was founded in 1919 as the Kayo-kai, led by Tanaka Ashijo, a native of Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture. Seattle was known as a "cultural immigrant town" due to the literary influence of Japanese immigrants. In 1906, the first literary group, the Shako-kai (haiku), was formed, and other groups such as the Bungaku-kai (literature, founded in 1909) and the Coast-kai (tanka, founded in 1910) were soon formed. The Kayo-kai appears to have been one of the groups …
Interview: Yoshimi Suzuki, Director of Megumi Nursery School
July 10, 2019 • Misa Murohashi
I want to create an environment for early childhood education where children can learn Japanese common sense and manners, such as being considerate of others' feelings and respecting elders, as a matter of course. Yoshimi Suzuki Moved to Seattle and welcomed by my grandparents "I came to Seattle at the age of 14 without being able to speak any English, but my first generation Japanese grandparents welcomed me," says Yoshimi Suzuki, principal of Megumi Nursery School. Her lovely smile and …
History of Gekkeikan Sake - from Kyoto to America
Jan. 1, 2019 • Misa Murohashi
“During the New Year holiday season, Maneki and Nikko Low served Sake and relish free of charge to all who stopped by. They decorated the table with a large one-foot carp especially shipped from Japan, salted and broiled, along with the specially cooked traditional Japanese New Year dishes and Chinese dishes. This made one forget he was abroad. Paying tips to the maids, we had them play the shamisen and sing Okesa bushi or other popular songs. Such was the …
Getting to Know Seattle's Japantown: During and After the War
July 19, 2018 • Megumi Matsuzaki , Mao Osumi , Misa Murohashi
Prewar Edition >> A symbol of Seattle's minority culture The International District is located south of downtown Seattle. Japantown remains in one corner of the district. At its peak before the war, around 8,500 Japanese immigrants lived and ran businesses there. However, after the start of the Pacific War, a presidential decree led to all Japanese residents being repatriated to internment camps. Following on from our previous article, which introduced Japantown before the war , here we trace the changes …
Getting to Know Seattle's Japantown - Prewar Edition
July 18, 2018 • Megumi Matsuzaki , Mao Osumi , Misa Murohashi
There are festivals, public baths, kabuki, and "little Japan" The International District is located south of downtown Seattle. In one corner of the district remains Japantown. At its peak before the war, around 8,500 Japanese immigrants lived and ran businesses there. An intern from the North American Post Agency traces the origins of Japanese immigration to Seattle, the glorious era, and the vestiges that remain today. History of Japanese immigration dating back to the 1880s Did you know that Seattle …
Memorial service held for Issei found in forgotten Queen Anne graves
March 16, 2018 • Misa Murohashi
Early Japanese immigrants rest in untended graves atop Queen Anne Hill in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. Last December 24, two Buddhist priests from the Koya-san Shingon sect visited the graves from the Bay Area in California to hold a memorial service. Consul General Yoichiro Yamada, Sushi Chef Shiro Kashiba and others rounded out a group of about 10 people who attended the service. “For some reason, I felt a sense of mission when I heard about these early Japanese immigrants who …
