When I was five years old, our family lived in Los Angeles on 12th Avenue, near what was known as the Seinan district. Construction of the Santa Monica Freeway was being planned, and its path went right through our home. Because of this our house was condemned, and our family …
The passage and signing of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 remains the most significant event for Japanese Americans since World War II. In an unprecedented act of Congress, the U.S. government apologized for its unlawful forced removal and mass incarceration of thousands of people of Japanese ancestry during the …
How well do you know your own family? Specifically, your extended family: uncles, aunts, cousins, second cousins, great aunts, etc. Maybe it is because I am older now, but it seems my relationship with my father’s family has only grown stronger. Even my relationship to my wife’s family has developed, …
Bunkado sits both physically and metaphorically at the crossroads of Little Tokyo.
One strong characteristic that marks the Japanese culture is the constant striving to name and define everything. They have a penchant for labeling ideas, types of food, special occasions, religious ceremonies, the changing seasons, and virtually every aspect of their lives. So it is not surprising that Japanese and Japanese …
As with most people who subscribe to cable television, I suffer through an endless number of inconveniences, indignities, and monetary insults. When the signal becomes sporadic or even fails, I call and get a recording that tells me to unplug my box and let it reboot, which seems like the …
In a previous article, I highlighted the fact that the Dodgers and the Giants had three Japanese Americans on their rosters (Darwin Barney and Brandon League for the Dodgers, Travis Ishikawa for the Giants) and how, to my knowledge, this had never happened before. I also pointed out that Ishikawa …
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