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Chris Komai is a freelance writer who has been involved in Little Tokyo for five decades. He was the Public Information Officer of the Japanese American National Museum for over 21 years, where he handled publicity 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. Komai also serves on the Little Tokyo Community Council Board, the Little Tokyo Public Safety Association Board and the Keiro Foundation Board. He has been a member of the Southern California Nisei Athletic Union Board for basketball and baseball for 40 years. Komai is one of the founders of the Nikkei Basketball Heritage Association (NBHA), which seeks to connect JA basketball history to the current players and their families. He earned a B.A. degree in English from the University of California at Riverside.
Yonsei living in Japan. Working as Engineering Manager for Google Maps full time, volunteering for Discover Nikkei as a technical consultant. Member emeritus of organizing committee for Copani San Fransisco 2019, and regular attendee of Copani and Kaigai Nikkeijin Taikai. Past lives include bio researcher, teaching, consumer science, startup engineering. linkedin.com/in/momoto
Fourth generation Nikkei, fluent in both English and Japanese after living in Tokyo for about 6 years. Living in Japan was an amazing experience, but it's definitely too hot during the summer. Glad to be back in CA. Now happily married to my wife that I met in Tokyo, working as an interpreter/designer, and addicted to coffee.
Chase Hastings currently assists with uploading and setting up articles at Discover Nikkei. He was drawn to Discover Nikkei by his interest in Japanese American history. He currently enjoys reading articles about Japanese-language media in Japanese diaspora communities. In his freetime you can find him drinking coffee, learning how to contra dance, or reading.
I write and currently live in the Los Angeles area with my husband. My mother was from Kamakura, my father is a New Englander of French Canadian ancestry, and I was born in Kobe and raised in SoCal, Guam, and Japan. You can read more about my writing at www.marilesperance.com. よろしくお願いします!
KATSUO HIGUCHI, a Brazilian Nisei, was born in the city of Pompéia, in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, but spent his childhood until he was 12 years old in Tupã, another city in the same state. He has lived in the capital, São Paulo, for many years, where he graduated in Law, married a Nisei, and has 3 children and 2 granddaughters. Practically his entire professional life has been focused on the area of Human Resources, where he specialized in dealing with “people”, his passion. He was an executive, director and businessman. Another passion he has always had was “writing”. Since he was young, he contributed to school and company newspapers and, sometimes, he dared to send articles to newspapers in the Japanese community of SP, which were published daily. He has been contributing to the newspaper NippoBrasil for some time now and, recently, he had the pleasure of being accepted as a Contributor to Discover Nikkei.
Aaron Caycedo-Kimura is a writer, visual artist, and teacher. He is the author of two poetry books: the full-length collection Common Grace (Beacon Press, 2022) and Ubasute, winner of the 2020 Slapering Hol Press Chapbook Competition. He is also the author and illustrator of the nonfiction book Text, Don’t Call: An Illustrated Guide to the Introverted Life (TarcherPerigee, 2017). His honors include a MacDowell Stanford Calderwood Fellowship, a Robert Pinsky Global Fellowship in Poetry, and a St. Botolph Club Foundation Emerging Artist Award in Literature. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in numerous journals and anthologies, including Beloit Poetry Journal, The Cincinnati Review, Shenandoah, RHINO, Salamander, Cave Wall, Consequence, and elsewhere. Caycedo-Kimura earned his MFA from Boston University and teaches creative writing at Trinity College.
Born in Berkeley, California 1955. Currently living in Vallejo. Paternal side Sano from Yamanashi, mother side Wada, from Fukuoka. All early 1900's.
Born in Foz do Iguaçu, western Paraná state, Brazil, he is the second son of Harry and Ligia Daijó. Married to Adriana Rodrigues Daijó for over 20 years, no children. Graduated in Law from the Bauru Law School - Toledo Educational Institution - ITE (06/24/1995), he began his professional career with the Public Prosecutor's Office of the state of São Paulo, in the District of Bauru/SP, under the guidance of Dr. Heitor Evaristo Fabricio Costa and Dr. João Costa Gomes. Postgraduate degree in Strategic Business Management (Executive MBA) - University of São Paulo - USP (08/15/2012) and also in Forest Management - Federal University of Paraná - UFPR (05/03/2019). Bachelor's degree in History from Uninter. Author of the articles "The urgency of learning the Portuguese language for Japanese immigrants in Brazil in the 1940s", published in Caderno Intersaberes (Curitiba, v. 11, n. 33, p. 37-56, 2022) and "Passages from Takahide Daijó's life correlated with Tomoo Handa's work 'The Japanese Immigrant'", published in Caderno Intersaberes (Curitiba, v. 12, n. 40, p. 6-24, 2023) - both in partnership with Prof. Dr. André Luiz Moscaleski Cavazzani. He also wrote the article "Excerpts from the diary of Japanese immigrant Takahide Daijó related to his union with Rosa Kiguti". He also has an international certification in environmental auditing by IEMA, a participant of ORCID (Connecting Research and Researchers). In the first half of the 90s, he was the guitarist and vocalist of the rock band LEXHARE and in the second half, he was president of the Progressive Party in Foz do Iguaçu. Between 2004 and 2006, together with journalists Andye Iore and Fábio Linjardi, he wrote regularly for the "anti-news" blog Factorama. In 2015, in partnership with his brother, Hedryk Genson Daijó, he published the book: "An awakening: behind the scenes of a transplant" (Editora Eureka). A businessman, Harry has been a managing partner of the company Expoagro – Exportadora Agropecuária Ltda. for 30 years. He founded the companies Expoagro SA, Iguassu Agronegócios Ltda., Rádio Foz-Lago Comunicadora Ltda. and Arte Final Cosméticos Ltda. He also founded the Association of Young Iguaçu Broadcasting Entrepreneurs (AJEIR) and the Panorama Artistic-Cultural Association. He was a partner in the SPE Construction and Incorporation of the Omoiru Building Ltda. and in the companies Riobase Mining Ltda. and Daijó & Filhos Import and Commerce Ltda. He is a partner in the companies Sysmob Technologies Ltda., Biogranos Monitor, Itoman Asset Management Ltda., Amadeus Real Estate Development Ltda. and Figueira da Foz Real Estate Development Ltda.
Julia Murakami is a Yonsei native Angeleno, the daughter of a Kibei Sansei Hibakusha father and a Shin-Issei mother. She's the Volunteer Program Manager and a Project Manager at JANM. Her most recent project is the exhibition "Transcendients: Heroes at Borders". Prior to joining the Museum staff, Julia volunteered at JANM for 17 years in a variety of capacities.
Tuney-Tosheia McDaniels is studying the effects of precipitation through the lens of Jungian Psychology. Precipitation can impact psychological well-being throughout the world, which is also often depicted in animation.
I am an oral historian, creative writer, and the Communications Writer at JANM. I earned my MA in History from California State University, Fullerton.
Karen Kawaguchi is a writer based in New York City. She was born in Tokyo to a Japanese mother and a Nisei father from Seattle. Her dad served in the U.S. Army’s Military Intelligence Service while his family was incarcerated at Minidoka. Karen and her family moved to the U.S. in the late 1950’s, living mostly in the Chicago area. In 1967, they moved to Okinawa where she went to Kubasaki High School. After attending Wesleyan University (CT), she lived in Washington, D.C., Dallas, and Seattle. She recently retired as an editor in educational publishing, having worked for Heinemann, Pearson, and other leading publishers. Karen began contributing articles to the Discover Nikkei website earlier this year, including pieces for Inspire Forward: Nikkei Heroes Under 30 and an article about the importance of preserving and sharing family history. She volunteers for Literacy Partners (adult ESL) and enjoys going to Japan Society, art museums, and botanical gardens. She feels fortunate to be able to draw deeply from the three cultures in her life: Japanese, American, and Japanese-American.
I am a Toronto and New York City-based freelance writer who covers food, agriculture and the environment for publications including The Wall Street Journal, NPR, and Civil Eats. Nancy is the co-author of The Parent’s Guide to Eating Disorders: Supporting Self-Esteem, Healthy Eating & Positive Body Image at Home. She is a 2018 Stone Barns Exchange Fellow and a certified advanced sake professional.
Alden M. Hayashi is a Sansei who was born and raised in Honolulu but now lives in Boston. After writing about science, technology, and business for more than thirty years, he has recently begun writing fiction to preserve stories of the Nikkei experience. His first novel, Two Nails, One Love, was published in September 2021. His website: www.aldenmhayashi.com.
I have established NAC-J, a non profit organization, and are engaged in communicating the history of Japanese Americans. As part of that, I made a movie "Go for Broke! Memorie of Hawaii Japanese Niseis". This movie was premiered at the 2012 Maui Film Festival. And, produced the movie "Okagesama de ~Hawaii Nikkei Women's Trajectory". This movie has been officially selected for the 2021 Hawaii International Film Festival. The revenue of the activity will be used to support Kansha Preschool run by Nisei Veterans Memorial Center of Maui. This Kansha Preschool is a preschool that conveys pride and value as a Nikkei and gratitude to Nisei.
Kyra Karatsu is a Japanese-German Yonsei who grew up about an hour from Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo -- a site that she frequently visited with her Nisei (and longtime JANM volunteer) grandmother, Mary. Kyra is a third-year college student and is majoring in Communication. In addition to school and work, she enjoys writing for Discover Nikkei and the Rafu Shimpo.
Silvia is a Brazilian Nikkei who has been a Nima-kai member since 2009. She started sharing her experiences as an exchange student in Japan on Discover Nikkei in May 2009.
Discover Nikkei Updates
Tuesday, December 9
Hosted by traci kato-kiriyama
Featuring Aaron Caycedo-Kimura, Erica Isomura, and Syd Westley
