[EN] As our community’s physical presence begins to wane in terms of ethnic enclaves serving as regional cultural hubs, Discover Nikkei acts as a virtual J-town to both keep us connected through our collective history and, through story, allow us to build relationships transcending generation, language, and locale. With each visit I end up spending hours reading, listening, and learning from a kindred lot.

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JAMsj is honored to partner with Discover Nikkei to spread the news about the Japanese American community-at-large. Discover Nikkei is an excellent resource that provides unique and exciting testimonials about our culture and history. One section of Discover Nikkei that is especially interesting is the Nikkei Album. This multimedia community within a community focuses on the mastery of online storytelling as a unique visual tool. It is fascinating to explore the family and community stories. This directly aligns with the JAMsj mission to collect, preserve, and share Japanese American history, culture, and art.

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[EN] Our favorite thing about Discover Nikkei is the Taiko Group Database. It is a fantastic resource for connecting taiko groups from all over the world with each other, and it is the only one of its kind! Being a part of the database makes us feel like we are really part of a bigger, international taiko community, and it enables us to learn about and contact our fellow taiko players from across the globe.

Check out their Taiko Groups page >>

We really like the all the information on the Discover Nikkei site. The stories that are contributed through the different themes that have been suggested have been entertaining and brought back many memories, especially the Itadakimasu! series. the part of the site that we use the most, and our favorite part of the site, has been the Community Events listings. It really is exciting to see how much is going on in the Nikkei community. Thanks so much for creating and keeping this site going for the Nikkei community.

[ES] Sin dudas, Discover Nikkei une a las distintas comunidades nikkei en el mundo. A través de ella podemos conocer a personas e instituciones que se unen a través del valor agregado en común que es el "ser nikkei": la cultura del país de nacimiento y residencia potenciado con la cultura de nuestros ancestros del Japón. A través de DN, el CNA puede unirse con otras comunidades nikkei y difundir su labor.

[EN] Undoubtedly, Discover Nikkei unites different Nikkei communities around the world. Through it, we are able to know people and institutions, united by the common added value of what is “being Nikkei”—the culture of the country of birth and residence strengthened with the culture of our Japanese ancestors. Through DN, CNA can unite with other Nikkei communities and spread their work.

My favorite thing about Discover Nikkei is the articles people contribute to. These articles make me feel more involved in what is going on in the Japanese and Japanese American community. They also help me understand the many social issues people of Japanese ancestry face today no matter if they’re living in the United States, Canada, South America, or in Japan. Discover Nikkei makes me feel one step closer to my Japanese and Japanese American heritage and culture. I am glad there are sites like Discover Nikkei that exist.

Thanks to my mother, I have always had a deep appreciation for my Japanese heritage, but growing up, I had very little contact with the Japanese American community. I went through junior high and high school with only one friend of Japanese descent. My Japanese heritage was something that we mostly celebrated at home through food, music, traditions, and stories. It wasn’t until college that I met and mingled with other Asians from various parts of the world, including some of Japanese ancestry. After grad school, however, I found myself once again with little access to the Japanese community.

I am new to Discover Nikkei, and what a discovery it is! It’s so wonderful to be able to look into the lives of Nikkei through the articles, albums, and interviews. I am happy and honored to have some of my cartoons shared here, adding to the conversation. Although I’m still learning how to navigate the site to take full advantage of what it has to offer, it already makes me feel closer to my heritage.

Check out his cartoon series >>

[EN] There have been many times in my life when I have felt like no one could possibly understand the struggles I have encountered as a 1.5 generation Japanese American. However, I have been able to find comfort in knowing that other Nikkei around the world also struggle with similar and unique issues of identity, culture, and language.

Discover Nikkei is not simply a digital platform for journal articles, photo albums, or video interviews—it is a warm, resilient, and supportive community of Nikkei that I sincerely hope will be available for future generations to come.

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I love that Discover Nikkei is about Nikkei around the world and not just the United States or North America. I feel that the distance between the Nikkei communities narrows with a website like Discover Nikkei. I can’t read all the posts in Spanish and Portuguese unless they are translated, but I can still follow the photo albums.

I also appreciate the in-depth articles that are featured on the site. One that was especially helpful was a seven-part series on City View Hospital and Japanese hospitals of California, written by Dr. Troy Tashiro Kaji. As I have co-written a book based on oral histories of Japanese American camp doctors, I found Dr. Kaji’s series so informative and illuminating. There’s nothing out there on the Internet that offers such comprehensive information, so thank you, Discover Nikkei!

Read her article on Discover Nikkei >>

[EN] As a Nisei, I have always felt proud to be an American of Japanese descent. I had the best of both worlds as a Nisei growing up in Los Angeles. However, there was an element of curiosity and mystery about my parents’ background knowing they had a completely different upbringing in a foreign land. They emigrated from Okinawa so that added another layer of curiosity—I came to understand in my early teens that Okinawa’s history and culture were different from those of mainland Japan.

I was fluent in Japanese as a child, but regrettably, my Japanese speaking skills have diminished over the years. Consequently, the ability to carry in-depth conversations with older family members regarding their childhood, wartime experiences, views on cultural differences, and so forth were impeded by the language barrier. All the more reason I value the content on Discover Nikkei. The personal anecdotes and amazing stories that span a breadth of topics all contributed by people from around the world help “fill in the gap,” and in a way, make up for the conversations I could have with members of my own family.

Discover Nikkei, as a dedicated digital library for the Nikkei community, is a wonderful resource for education and enrichment. The interviews, articles, and videos are true gems as I gain so much from them—more than I could ever gain from reading history books alone. Let’s keep Discover Nikkei going!

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[EN] Japanese culture develops itself in many countries around the world. Its descendants are important agents of this.

The relevance I see in projects such as Discover Nikkei is to reveal and spread stories that allow the understanding and comparison of this development.

In some stories, we can totally identify ourselves with a Nikkei who lives in another country. In others, we are able to see the difference of one’s reaction facing a similar situation. In both cases, there is a great opportunity to understand our own daily life.

“Nikkei Names” section is a good example of this cultural exchange. Even better, it is done in a very natural way—therefore, Nikkeis usually have long talks about their names.

I hope Discover Nikkei project keeps on its development and being a reference to the Nikkeis of the future.

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[PT] A cultura japonesa se desenvolve em outros países pelo mundo. Os descendentes são importantes agentes desse fato.

A importância que enxergo em projetos como o Discover Nikkei é revelar e divulgar histórias que permitem entender e comparar esse desenvolvimento.

Em algumas histórias, podemos nos identificar totalmente com um nikkei que vive em outro país. Em outras, podemos ver a diferença de reação diante da mesma situação. Em ambos os casos, a oportunidade de compreensão de nosso próprio cotidiano é muito grande.

A seção “Nomes Nikkeis” é um bom exemplo desse intercâmbio cultural. Melhor, é feito de uma maneira muito natural – afinal, os nikkeis costumam conversar muito sobre seus nomes. Espero que o projeto Discover Nikkei continue se desenvolvendo e seja referência para os nikkeis do futuro.

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[EN]
Those who have influenced my life have left a major legacy. Nowadays, with my children all grown up, I realize with sadness that I’ve passed on to them practically nothing of that legacy. That’s when I found Discover Nikkei, where I can leave a record of those memories that have marked the path of my life. I’m very grateful to the Discover Nikkei staff, who have both moved me and given me much joy.

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[PT] Grande foi o legado das pessoas que tiveram influência em minha vida. Hoje, com meus filhos criados, percebo com tristeza que não passei praticamente nada desse legado para eles. Foi então que conheci o Discover Nikkei, onde posso deixar registradas as lembranças que marcaram a trajetória de minha vida. Sou muito grata à equipe do Discover Nikkei que me tem proporcionado muitas alegrias e emoções.

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