Bobby Okinaka
@bokinakaBobby lives in the Japanese island of Shikoku where he is a member of a local government program to revitalize the countryside. His projects are an oral history program of the town of Niyodogawa and trials to improve soil health using wood chips, microorganisms and compost. Prior to moving to the countryside, he lived in Tokyo for 12 years. He is originally from Los Angeles, CA. He writes about life in Japan on his blog: www.slowinjapan.com.
Updated July 2021
Stories from This Author
A Nikkei in Japan
Aug. 9, 2021 • Bobby Okinaka
I am an American ex-pat who has been living in Japan for the past 12 years. First, if you didn’t already know, an ex-pat is someone who is living and working in another country. Ex-pats are not necessarily immigrants, but many have taken the deep dive and have adopted their country of choice in everything except for citizenship status. Full disclosure, this is my fourth time to live in Japan. I was born here on an American military base to …
I called my grandmother "Oba-chan"
Jan. 23, 2009 • Bobby Okinaka
I called my grandmother "Oba-chan." It is the Japanese word for "grandmother." She was born somewhere in California just before the First World War. Her parents arrived in America by a ship from Japan. My brother remembers her once showing a sepia-toned photo of a Japanese man wearing an American soldier's uniform of that time period. Was he drafted into the U.S. Army for the war? We'll never know the answer to that question because Oba-chan isn't around to answer …
Discover Nikkei in Brazil - Celebrating the Centennial of Japanese Immigration
Oct. 16, 2008 • Bobby Okinaka
2008 marks the centennial of Japanese immigration to Brazil. On June 18, 1908, 793 people aboard the Kasato-maru arrived at the port of Santos to start a new life in a new land. For the 1.5 million Brazilians of Japanese ancestry today, the Kasato-maru is their Mayflower and a symbol of their history and identity. The centennial was celebrated both in Brazil and Japan. In Brazil, Japanese culture was literally paraded down the streets as part of Carnaval. Dancers dressed …
My Nisei Week, Our Nisei Week
Aug. 28, 2008 • Bobby Okinaka
Saturday, August 16On Saturday morning I arrived early at the Japanese American National Museum. Yonezawa-san was already there. He is the president of the Miyagi Kenjinkai. Miyagi Prefecture is famous throughout Japan for the Tanabata Festival in Sendai. On the seventh day of the seventh month, the streets of Sendai are lined with colorful decorations called fukinagashi. Yonezawa-san and the Miyagi Kenjinkai made five fukinagashi that we were going to use to decorate the central hall of the museum. The …
Nikkei Parents’ Day
Aug. 13, 2008 • Bobby Okinaka
Nikkei in Los Angeles recognized Parents’ Day on July 27 with a ceremony honoring the 2008 Parents of the Year at the George and Sakaye Aratani Japan America Theatre in Little Tokyo. This year the honor was bestowed upon two families, Kaname and Kuriyo Inaba of Northridge and Haruo and Takako Yamashiro of Gardena. Both families were recognized not only for being role models as parents but for their commitment to community service as well. Local children participated in the …
La Vida Sake: Supporters sip for the Little Tokyo Service Center
May 28, 2008 • Bobby Okinaka
Normally automobiles and alcoholic beverages don’t mix, but at the “La Vida Sake” fundraiser event, the cars were parked and the sake helped raise money for the Little Tokyo Service Center. “La Vida Sake” was a sake and food tasting event held at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, CA on May 22, 2008. DID YOU KNOW? In Japan, the word “sake” refers to all types of alcoholic beverages. The correct term for what we know as “sake” is …
Their Pride - Filmmaker documents the story of Black Japanese in Georgia
May 15, 2008 • Bobby Okinaka
Yohei Suzuki is a 30-year old documentary filmmaker based in New York, NY. In 2006, he produced and directed Our Pride: The Spirits of Black Japanese in Georgia, a documentary about families where the father is Black and the mother is Japanese and their children are both. The story touches upon bi-racial identity in a culture that is almost exclusively Black; a perspective that has rarely been touched before. The documentary has screened at several film festivals including the Asian …
Glenn Kaino - Interview with an Artist
April 6, 2008 • Bobby Okinaka
Glenn Kaino (b. 1972) is one of the artists whose work is on display in the One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now exhibition at the Japanese American National Museum (the exhibition runs until May 4, 2008). His installation entitled “Graft” features two stuffed animals, one a salmon masquerading in shark skin, the other a pig cloaked in a cow’s hide. Simply wearing a mask is not a strong enough metaphor for social identity; here Kaino demonstrates the sometimes …
The Okinawan Wives Club
Feb. 22, 2008 • Bobby Okinaka
A few years ago, I came up with an idea to make a documentary about overseas Okinawan communities. I wanted to show that Okinawans left their island home for places all over the globe, but no matter where they went, the migrants took their culture and traditions with them. I created a plan to visit places where Okinawans settled in Peru, Hawaii, Los Angeles, CA and Jacksonville, NC. That’s right, a tiny little place called Jacksonville. For my documentary, I …
Memories of New Year's Celebrations
Jan. 2, 2008 • Bobby Okinaka
Happy New Year! What makes this holiday so special is the chance to start over again. But before looking forward, it’s nice to take a quick look back. I thought about how I spent New Year’s in the past. As a kid, I would be allowed to stay up late and our family would watch the countdown to midnight on television. I don’t recall doing anything more special than that. Then, when I was 14, our family moved to Japan. …
