Pam Momoko Yan

@nikkei_pamu

Pam Momoko Yan is third generation Japanese American, and fourth gen native Angeleno. Her maternal line hails from Hokkaido and is descendant from the Ainu. When she’s not writing or volunteering, you can find her exploring the outdoors with her pitbull or napping with her demanding cats. One of Pam’s newest hobbies is tracing her ancestry. Finding family relics is precious and each discovery is a peak into the past to those she’s never met. She hopes to learn more about her family and Nikkei culture in the years to come.

Updated September 2024

Stories from This Author

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Nikkei Chronicles #13—Nikkei Names 2: Grace, Graça, Graciela, Megumi?

Pam, Pa-mu, Pamu-chan??

Sept. 11, 2024 • Pam Momoko Yan

When I was living in Japan, people couldn’t pronounce my name, “Pamela.” In Japanese it became Pa-me-ra. That in itself was okay, in fact, my mom still calls me that. The problem is that Pa-me-ra written out in Katakana becomes パメラ, the visual spelling which invokes thoughts of ガメラ (Gamera—the flying turtle from the Godzilla movies). Fast-forward 10+ years and I’m in college where people knew me as “Pam.” One student decided to call me “Spam.” About this same time, …

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