Discover Nikkei is JANM’s community-based web project sharing stories and the experiences of Nikkei around the world. “Nima” are members of the Discover Nikkei online community. Hailing from all around the world, they each bring unique experiences and perspectives to the site’s rich archive of stories.

Nima Voices is an interview series where we uplift our Nima through brief, but enlightening, interviews. In the tenth episode, Denver-based author Gil Asakawa will be interviewed by guest host Nancy Matsumoto, a freelance writer and editor who covers agroecology, food and drink, the arts, and Japanese/Japanese American culture. They will chat about Gil’s newly released book, Tabemasho! Let’s Eat!: A Tasty History of Japanese Food in America, his participation in Discover Nikkei’s multilingual food program, and more!

Read Gil’s articles on Discover Nikkei before tuning in for this live interview and Q&A on Tuesday, October 25, 2022 at 5 p.m. (PDT) on the Discover Nikkei YouTube channel or on Facebook. Log into your YouTube or Facebook account to post questions for the Q&A!

Gil Asakawa is a journalist, editor, author, and blogger who covers Japan, Japanese American and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) culture and social justice issues in blogs, articles, and social media. He is a nationally-known speaker, panelist, and expert on Japanese American and Asian American history and identity. He’s the author of Being Japanese American (Stone Bridge Press). Gil has been contributing articles to Discover Nikkei since 2009. He moderated Discover Nikkei’s “What Is Nikkei Food?” program in February 2022, and will be serving as moderator of the upcoming conversation with Nikkei chefs from Brazil, Peru, and the United States—stay tuned for details!

Nancy Matsumoto is a freelance writer and editor who covers agroecology, food and drink, the arts, and Japanese and Japanese American culture. She has been a contributor to The Wall Street Journal, Time, People, The Toronto Globe and Mail, Civil Eats, NPR’s The Salt, TheAtlantic.com, and the online Densho Encyclopedia of the Japanese American Incarceration, among other publications. Her book, Exploring the World of Japanese Craft Sake: Rice, Water, Earth, was published in May 2022. Another of her books, By the Shore of Lake Michigan, an English-language translation of Japanese tanka poetry written by her grandparents, is forthcoming from UCLA’s Asian American Studies Press. Nancy has been contributing articles to Discover Nikkei since 2009.