Chris Komai

@ckomai

Chris Komai is a freelance writer, who has been involved in Little Tokyo for more than four decades. He was the Public Information Officer of the Japanese American National Museum for over 21 years, where he handled public relations for the organization’s special events, exhibitions and public programs. Prior to that, Komai worked for the Japanese-English newspaper, The Rafu Shimpo, for 18 years as a sports writer, sports editor, and English editor. He still contributes articles to the newspaper and writes for Discover Nikkei on a variety of topics.

Komai was Past Board Chair for the Little Tokyo Community Council and is currently First Vice Chair. He also serves on the Little Tokyo Public Safety Association board. He has been a member of the Southern California Nisei Athletic Union Board of Directors for basketball and baseball for almost 40 years and sits on the Board of the Nikkei Basketball Heritage Association. Komai earned a B.A. degree in English from the University of California at Riverside.

Updated December 2019

Stories from This Author

Stan Sakai: The Cartoonist

May 4, 2011 • Chris Komai

When Stan Sakai’s father Akio heard that his son wanted to work as an illustrator of comic books, he was, not surprisingly, skeptical. “You can’t make a living as a cartoonist,” his father told him. “Why don’t you go into accounting or computers?” In some form, this parent-child conversation has been repeated for generations. But, even Stan himself wondered, “Should I go into business?” Fortunately, for comic book lovers and fans of feudal Japan, Sakai utilized his skills as a …