Nima-kai
Nima-kai Search
Chiana Fujiwara is a fifth-generation Japanese American, fifth-generation Mexican American, and second-generation Chinese American college student from the Los Angeles area majoring in both Psychology and Criminology at the University of California, Irvine. Having strong connections to Japanese American Internment during World War II, she has since developed a passion for further researching the stories of her family as well as the general period and its impacts at large. Other hobbies include ancient Chinese poetry, traveling, and exploring new coffee shops.
Ana Karina Martinez Lorenzo is a graduate of the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana with a degree in History, with an interest in Japanese immigration and military history. She has researched the Japanese internment camps in the U.S. and participated in academic colloquia on migration, allowing her to delve deeper into topics related to Japanese history and culture. She is passionate about historical outreach and seeks to contribute to knowledge about the history of the Nikkei community through research and writing.
I am an Australian who won a scholarship to America in 1998 from the Australian War Memorial. I interviewed 23 Nisei who served in the Pacific War of WWII in their role in ATIS Allied Translator and Interpreter Sector of Military Intelligence Service. I am writing a book about those wonderful men who helped save Australia and shortened the war. I would like to contact any descendants of those in that category to add more data to my narrative. Please contact me by my email andrewbode@tpg.com.au or my cell phone 0401421945
The Japanese American Veterans Association, Inc. (JAVA), is a fraternal and educational organization. JAVA works to honor and preserve the memory of Japanese Americans who served during World War II while many of their families and friends were imprisoned in America’s concentration camps at the direction of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Most notable are those who valiantly served in the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and Military Intelligence Service. JAVA uses lessons learned from the past to foster patriotism, loyalty, and honor today. We conduct educational outreach programs that emphasize the contributions of Japanese American war veterans by giving speeches, and participating in discussion panels for civic, religious, military and educational groups. As part of our educational mission, JAVA offers academic scholarships. We also honor and remember the Japanese Americans who served in the US military during World War II by sponsoring and participating in Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and other civic activities honoring veterans.
My interest in Japanese Americans during World War II began in 1994 when I met someone who had a lost an uncle who was in the 442, and I was shown the movie "Go for Broke." I'm a writer, journalist, photographer, playwright and filmmaker. In 2001, I was at the JANM researching for a novel about Japanese Americans' letters to soldiers during World War II, when the librarians brought me the huge "Crusaders' Scrapbook." The cards and letters that I found there inspired me to write the play, "Bits of Paradise," about the women's movement led by Yuri Kochiyama (then known as "Mary Nakahara") during their unjust incarceration. I produced and directed the play at The Marsh Theater in San Francisco in 2008, and Yuri came to our opening night with her friend, Ruth Ishizaki, who was actually one of the girls who put that scrapbook together. After the play closed, I began shooting with professional crews a documentary about Yuri, her Crusaders, and the brave soldiers--who all embarked on a morale-boosting letter-writing campaign until the end of the war. The film has been stalled for 3 years due to lack of funding which would enable us to start editing and finish the film. The working title is "What did you do in the War, Mama?: Kochiyama's Crusaders." In 2016, someone gifted me with a used, but good computer which has allowed me to post clips on YouTube. We continue to look forward to the day when the film can be finished and released.
Curator at World War II Japanese American Internment Museum located in McGehee AR, USA. This museum is an Interpretive Center for the Jerome and Rohwer Internment Camps during WWII.
Discover Nikkei Updates
Tuesday, December 9
Hosted by traci kato-kiriyama
Featuring Aaron Caycedo-Kimura, Erica Isomura, and Syd Westley
