Chris Komai

ckomai

Chris Komai is a freelance writer, who has been involved in Little Tokyo for more than four decades. He was the Public Information Officer of the Japanese American National Museum for over 21 years, where he handled public relations for the organization’s special events, exhibitions and public programs. Prior to that, Komai worked for the Japanese-English newspaper, The Rafu Shimpo, for 18 years as a sports writer, sports editor, and English editor. He still contributes articles to the newspaper and writes for Discover Nikkei on a variety of topics.

Komai was Past Board Chair for the Little Tokyo Community Council and is currently First Vice Chair. He also serves on the Little Tokyo Public Safety Association board. He has been a member of the Southern California Nisei Athletic Union Board of Directors for basketball and baseball for almost 40 years and sits on the Board of the Nikkei Basketball Heritage Association. Komai earned a B.A. degree in English from the University of California at Riverside.

Updated December 2019

business en

Pacific Bridges' Innovative Approach to Financial Services

By Chris Komai
14 Mar 2023

As a Japanese American Sansei who has trudged through every practical definition of senior citizenship, I am gratified to have been able to witness the greater acceptance of things unique to our community. While the first step in fighting institutional discrimination has been legislative and judicial, the next phase to overcome is the societal bias against our cultural traditions. As with many Sansei, I felt some embarrassment as a kid when my hakujin friends found out my family ate raw fish with hashi. Today, Japanese fare, especially sushi, is considered one of the great cuisines, and who …

food en

Nikkei Chronicles #11—Itadakimasu 3! Nikkei Food, Family, and Community

JANM Sashimi Potluck Lunches: Extended A Pre-WWII Tradition

By Chris Komai
4 Oct 2022

Most people appreciate that anyone who works for a reputable nonprofit organization is unlikely to get rich. But the intangible rewards for those who feel the satisfaction of helping to fulfill a worthwhile mission often surpass the limited monetary compensation. And if you’re lucky, you might gain access to tangible benefits unique to the Japanese American nonprofit community. As someone who worked for the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) for over 20 years, I witnessed a series of remarkable summer Nikkei grassroots benefits: the sashimi lunches. While potlucks including fresh…

sports en

Appreciating Wat Misaka

By Chris Komai
7 Feb 2022

Appropriately, as the National Basketball Association (NBA) celebrates its 75th anniversary, it included Wat Misaka as an important figure in its history. This might seem remarkable since Wataru “Wat” Misaka’s playing career consisted of only three games with the New York Knickerbockers. But Misaka’s mere presence on a roster in 1947 made him the first person of color to play in the Basketball Association of America (BAA), the predecessor to NBA, in the same calendar year that Jackie Robinson integrated Major League Baseball. Historically, because America’s long…

media en

Kikan: The Homecoming: Film Spotlights the Emotional Turmoil Japanese American Families Suffered Through During World War II

By Chris Komai
24 Sep 2021

In Kerwin Berk’s short film, Kikan: The Homecoming the most dramatic moments occur around a dining room table when no one is speaking. The Ito family, trying to absorb the loss of their only son Ken (Ken Takeda) at the end of the war in Europe, is confronted with the reality of his death when a fellow 442nd Regimental Combat Team veteran Jimmy Ibata (Ryan Takemiya) unexpectedly shows up at their home in San Francisco. As the film depicts, Ken’s dying wish is that Jimmy return an heirloom: a pocket watch. It is a request that Jimmy tries desperately to deflect and deny, …

identity en

Assembling My Grandfather’s Story, Piece by Piece

By Chris Komai
21 Jul 2021

All of my grandparents passed away before I was born. My mother Kay lost her parents to tuberculosis just as World War II began and my father Khan’s mother died in the 1930s. His father Toyosaku Komai is the only one to live into the post-war era and he died in 1950. Because of that, I never had a sense of who my grandparents were when I was growing up. However, through connections of the family business and other circumstances, I have been the recipient of information about Toyosaku from any number of resources over the years. Trying to form a picture of my grandfather’s person…

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Discover Nikkei

Japanese migrants and their descendants

Chris Komai

Nikkei Chronicles #11—Itadakimasu 3! Nikkei Food, Family, and Community

Series this author contributes to

Niki Nakayama: How a JA Angeleno Conquered the Rarefied World of Japanese Kaiseki Cuisine

The Power of Irei

Digging up Ways to Honor Her Ancestors—Kyoko Oda and Ireichō

Two Worlds: The Life and Photography of Wakaji Matsumoto

Part 1—Wakaji’s Beginnings

Narumi Ogusuku—Ubiquitous Nikkei Artist

Japanese Women in Chicago

Part 2: For Women—Nihon Fujinkai

My Name is Neal

Journal Entry #10, 18, and 1958 are Good: "Best Numbers..."

アメリカの日本語媒体

第12回 全米に行き渡るインターネットラジオ『さくらRADIO』

Book review: Beyond the Betrayal, The Memoir of a World War II Japanese American Draft Resister of Conscience

Of Inomatas and Kingis: The Story of a Remarkable Family

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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Part 2: For Women—Nihon Fujinkai

Journal Entry #10, 18, and 1958 are Good: "Best Numbers..."

Book review: Beyond the Betrayal, The Memoir of a World War II Japanese American Draft Resister of Conscience

Of Inomatas and Kingis: The Story of a Remarkable Family

Child Labor and Generational Business

Living, Dying and Passing It On — Alan Nishio Family at Ireichō

Part 1: Yone Hara

Journal Entry #Per 24 Hour Cycle: "Internet Inaction..."

A Vision Takes Root: The Legacy of Judy Nishimoto Ota and the San Pedro Firm Building

Aloha, France — Part 2

Aloha, France — Part 1

Journal Entry #At Least 4500 Years Old: "Infinite Bands..."

Pacific Bridges' Innovative Approach to Financial Services

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Los Higa, una familia con legado en la comunidad nikkei

Journal Entry #15th C. Prose: "Weapons are Bad for Me..."

Maia Harima – Distinctive Fashion Designer

Yoshie Fujiwara and Japanese Americans II: A Day at the (Olympic) Races

Our Man on the Hill: Sidney Yates — Part 1

Flight

Setsuko Moriya — Part 2

The Search for Truth: Piercing Three Layers of Deception

Finding Forgiveness: Director Stafford Arima on Bringing the Award-Winning Memoir to the Stage

When We Enable Racism

Postwar Japanese Emigration to the Dominican Republic — Part 2: The Japanese American Response

In Remembrance of the Tohoku Earthquake & Tsunami: An Interview with The Hidden Japan’s Derek Yamashita—Part 1

Seiichi Higashide — A Man With Three Homelands

Futon, Shoyu, and More: Japanese Words Incorporated into the Vocabulary of Brazil

Remembering Them—Tsuchiya Family Honors Elders Through Ireichō

Yoshie Fujiwara and Japanese Americans I: A Night at the Opera

Setsuko Moriya — Part 3

Redress: A film about the Office of Redress Administration

Journal Entry #2/14/23: "The Most Dangerous Day..."

Manzanar, Diverted: An Appreciation

Ancestry and Toxicity: Breaking Free From Old Patterns and Toxic Relationships

Surrender

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

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第12回全米に行き渡るインターネットラジオ『さくらRADIO』