Stuff contributed by gilasakawa

Nikkei View

Tokyo’s Second Olympics Will Be Forever Remembered for Its Unique Circumstances

Gil Asakawa

As I write this, the “2020” Tokyo Olympic Games are just two weeks away. It’s the second time the summer games have been held in Japan. I was a kid living in Japan when Tokyo hosted its first Olympics, from October 10-24, 1964.

Kizuna 2020: Nikkei Kindness and Solidarity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Dreaming of travel to Japan

Gil Asakawa

During the last week of October, there was a lot on my mind, including Covid-19 and the ongoing pandemic, and of course the November U.S. elections. But I also found myself at a moment in time, looking back one year that week to a 2019 family trip to Japan, and …

Nikkei View

We Are Not Free tells the JA incarceration story through a different perspective

Gil Asakawa

During the Coronavirus pandemic, we’ve all gotten used to staying home every evening – no parties, dinners at restaurants, movie nights, concerts. Just a lot of plopping down on the couch to see what’s available on demand via cable, Netflix, Amazon Prime, or other streaming source that brings entertainment to …

Kizuna 2020: Nikkei Kindness and Solidarity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Food for thought — and sheltering at home

Gil Asakawa


Nikkei View

I've heard "Go back where you came from" too often

Gil Asakawa

I was driving on the highway one night some years back between Denver and Boulder, when I got harassed by a couple of young white guys who were tailgating me, probably in their teens or early 20s at the most. When I pulled off at an exit they followed me …

Nikkei View

Traveling to Japan With a Loved One Who Has Dementia

Gil Asakawa

My mom has suffered from worsening dementia for years, and when my brothers and I saw increasing signs that she would no longer be able to live by herself, we moved her into a Memory Care Center nearby.

Nikkei View

When Family Caregiving Isn’t Enough for Your Parent

Gil Asakawa

My brother Glenn and I moved my mom from her house in Lafayette, Colorado, last month to live in a memory care facility nearby. She’s had dementia for a long time, and it’s gotten noticeably worse for the past couple of years. I’m still sorting through how it felt to …

Nikkei View

Rock and Roll and Ramen: Lessons in Appropriation vs Appreciation

Gil Asakawa

My friends (and anyone who follows my social media “food porn” photos) know that I’m a snob about Japanese food. I have strong opinions on the best tonkatsu fried pork cutlets, real vs. fake sushi and Japanese restaurants staffed by non-Japanese who can’t pronounce menu items correctly. And, because I …

Nikkei View

A Salute to Our JA Veterans

Gil Asakawa

When the word “veterans” comes up in conversations within the Japanese American community, I suspect most of the time the image the word conjures is a picture of Nisei soldiers of the 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team fighting during World War II.

Nikkei View

On writing about the JA community

Gil Asakawa

I started my writing career as a music critic and became a journalist with jobs at various mainstream media newspapers and later, websites, and wasn’t much concerned with covering the Japanese, Japanese American, or Asian American Pacific Islander communities or issues.

Login or Register to join our Nima-kai

About

Gil Asakawa is a Sansei journalist, blogger, and online content and social media expert who lives in the Denver area with a Yonsei wife and two cats. He blogs about JA and Asian American topics at www.nikkeiview.com and he authored "Being Japanese American" in 2004.

Nikkei interests

  • family stories
  • festival/matsuri
  • Japanese/Nikkei food
  • Japantowns
  • taiko
  • pop culture

Get updates

Sign up for email updates

Journal feed
Events feed
Comments feed

Support this project

Discover Nikkei

Discover Nikkei is a place to connect with others and share the Nikkei experience. To continue to sustain and grow this project, we need your help!

Ways to help >>

A project of the Japanese American National Museum


The Nippon Foundation