Nikkei Chronicles #8—Nikkei Heroes: Trailblazers, Role Models, and Inspirations
The word “hero” can mean different things to different people. For this series, we have explored the idea of a Nikkei hero and what it means to a variety of people. Who is your hero? What is their story? How have they influenced your Nikkei identity or your connection to your Nikkei heritage?
We solicited stories from May to September of 2019, and voting closed on November 15, 2019. We received 32 stories (16 English; 2 Japanese; 11 Spanish; and 3 Portuguese) from individuals in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Peru, and the United States.
Here are the selected favorite stories by our Editorial Committee and the Nima-kai.
Editorial Committee’s Favorites
- ENGLISH:
Mine Okubo
By Edna Horiuchi - JAPANESE:
My Roots—The Legacy of Matsugoro Ohto
By Naori Shiraishi - SPANISH:
My Hero: Kiyoshi Kuwahara
By Fuyiko Kuwahara - PORTUGUESE:
Miyoko Fujisaka, 95 years old – Our Heroine
By Iraci Megumi Nagoshi
Nima-kai selection:
- 48 stars:
My Father Was A Tule Lake Resister
By Keiko Moriyama
Stories from this series
My hero, Don Gerardo Maruy Takayama
July 17, 2019 • Roberto Oshiro Teruya
I was reading the Discover Nikkei call, in Crónicas Nikkeis, it was about Nikkei heroes, the first thing that came to mind was the image of Don Gerardo Maruy Takayama, my admiration for him made me write an article about him on my blog . I acquired this affection from my father, he told me many things about him, I was amazed to listen to him because he was a bit sparse, but in his stories his eyes shone with …
Bill Hosokawa: Out of the Frying Pan
June 25, 2019 • Michael Hosokawa
He sat in his special chair, a blanket covered his knees, the sun warming him. Around him lay the ruins of five newspapers. His morning task was complete now, he had checked on the world. He wanted to see how newspapers covered the same stories. At the end of a remarkable career, he was still the ultimate journalist. Bill Hosokawa was in the ninth decade of life, his 70th as a journalist. Shortly, he would move to Seattle to live …
Second Hand War Stories
June 5, 2019 • Margaret Edith Chiseko Ginoza , Otis Wright Ginoza
In the 17 years I was able to spend with my grandfather, Herbert Seijin Ginoza, he rarely told me about himself. Most stories I heard were told second hand, by my father or great-aunts and uncles. But the stories I heard, I remembered. He would have been reluctant to be called a hero, but to me, that’s what these stories made him. When he died, I worried that his stories would die too. That’s why, one afternoon in the middle …
The ‘Mightiest Duck’ of Them All, Paul Kariya
May 31, 2019 • Jonathan Eto
ANAHEIM, Calif. — In 1992, Walt Disney Pictures released the first in a trilogy of sports comedy/drama films called, The Mighty Ducks. A year later, Disney founded the NHL franchise team The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. With its inception at the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, the team selected their first ever pick, a young talented Japanese Canadian from North Vancouver, B.C., Paul Kariya. He was fourth overall in the draft and playing for the University of Maine. This would queue the …
Brief story of my idol
May 27, 2019 • Marta Marenco
I met George Chinen when I was beginning my adolescence. He had been born on the ship in which his family was traveling to Argentina, while it was already sailing within the shelf of Argentine territory, for which he was declared an Argentine citizen. His father was Shigeo Chinen, a prominent member of the Japanese community, from Okinawa, who became president of that association, with very powerful social and political connections. His intense social life related him to figures from …
My Hero: Setsutaro Hasegawa
May 23, 2019 • Andrew Hasegawa
By the time I was born in the early 1960s, the long shadow of World War Two was starting to fade. The 1950s and ’60s saw wave after wave of immigrants arrive in Australia but almost no Asians or Japanese. The white Australia policy still prevailed and if the colour of my skin was anything to go by it succeeded, however I still had my Japanese name. My father was born Raymond Taro Hasegawa, son of Leo Takeshi Hasegawa and …