Stuff contributed by riodan
Panama Hotel
Rio Imamura
New York Times Best Seller Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet was a Christmas gift from my daughter. The author Jamie Ford autographed and wrote: “Rio, inspiration comes from life and good books. Keep writing” and an actual size “Do Not Disturb (reading)” book marker attached, jutting half …
Revisiting Little Tokyo / Japanese American National Museum
Rio Imamura
On my recent trip to Little Tokyo branch library in Los Angeles, notices for two fund-raising campaigns were posted—one to build a Ryoma Sakamoto statute and the other to save Bunichi Kagawa’s poem epitaph.
Van Nuys Japanese Garden
Rio Imamura
It seemed like a step down. Back then, the Valley was a big oven with nothing in it, a great sea of nothing, an ocean with no ships and at night, if you went out there, were very few lights. —Robert Redford on moving to Van Nuys …
Congressional Gold Medal Moment To Share
Rio Imamura
On November 2, 2011, the long awaited Congressional Gold Medal (CGM) presentation to hundreds of Japanese-American veterans who collectively fought bravely during WW II was held in Washington D.C. Amid the applause of many well-wishers and families, the ceremony was met with much fanfare, many speeches, including the keynote speech …
Frank and Nevelo Yasuda, Alaskan Mining Hall of Fame
Rio Imamura
“We stayed six months cumulatively in Point Barrow, Alaska for scientific research,” said an unexpected message from my San Diego Japanese friends.