Steve Dawson is a Gosei, fifth generation Nikkei Australian, husband, father, and grandfather. He was engaged in long-term careers in the Austrailian military and foreign affairs, and his work included living, studying, and working abroad. Dawson worked professionally as a ESL/TESOL teacher and career development practitioner; he also has linguistic expertise in the Mandarin Chinese and Indonesian languages. He is now retired, and enjoys time with his family including his dog, watching movies, riding his motorbike, and learning new things.

Updated May 2024

Sydney (Syd) Haupt recently graduated from UC Santa Barbara, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Communication. She is from Pasadena, CA, and is currently serving as the joint intern between the Japanese American National Museum and Japanese American Bar Association as part of the Nikkei Community Internship. Syd is always looking for an opportunity to learn, and cannot wait to see how stories from the Japanese American community will impact her perspective. This fall, she will be pursuing her Master’s degree at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. She hopes to eventually get a PhD and spend her life conducting research that helps honor the rich diversity of communities like this one.

Updated June 2024

Alden M. Hayashi is a Sansei who was born and raised in Honolulu but now lives in Boston. After writing about science, technology, and business for more than thirty years, he has recently begun writing fiction and essays to preserve stories of the Nikkei experience. His first novel, Two Nails, One Love, was published by Black Rose Writing in 2021. His website: www.aldenmhayashi.com.

Updated May 2024

Kimi (kee-mee) Laurel Ishikawa is a retired elementary school teacher living on a New Mexico mesa with her husband and chickens (and yes, she kept her original name when marrying). She loves many things about New Mexico, including the ability to blend into a crowd of New Mexicans with similarly not-immediately-obvious ancestry, and an entire population familiar enough with Spanish words to be unfazed at the pronunciation of her name.

Updated September 2024

Karen Kawaguchi is a writer based in New York City. She was born in Tokyo to a Japanese mother and a Nisei father from Seattle. He served in the U.S. Army’s Military Intelligence Service while his family was incarcerated at Minidoka. Karen and her family moved to the U.S. in the late 1950’s, living mostly in the Chicago area. In 1967, they moved to Okinawa where she went to Kubasaki High School. She subsequently attended Wesleyan University (CT) and later lived in Washington, D.C., Dallas, and Seattle. She recently retired as an editor in educational publishing, having worked for Heinemann, Pearson, and other leading publishers. She volunteers for organizations such as Literacy Partners (adult ESL) and enjoys going to Japan Society, art museums, and botanical gardens. She feels fortunate to be able to draw deeply from the three cultures in her life: Japanese, American, and Japanese-American.

Updated June 2022

Augustinha Kazuyo Kodama is a Brazilian born in the state of São Paulo, the daughter of Japanese immigrants. She graduated in Literature and has a postgraduate degree in Environmental Management. She studied Japanese at a local school and practiced the activities related to this school curriculum. Retired, she is a mother, grandmother and writer under the pseudonym Gu Kodama. She has published two books: Ave Redentora and A Descoberta do Planeta Coco.

Updated September 2024

Lawrence Matsuda was born in the Minidoka, Idaho Concentration Camp during World War II. He has a Ph.D. in education from the University of Washington.  After retirement, he became a writer and educational consultant.

In 2010, A Cold Wind from Idaho (poetry) was published by Black Lawrence Press. In 2014, Glimpses of a Forever Foreigner was released. In 2015, Matsuda collaborated with artist, Matt Sasaki, and produced a graphic novel, Fighting for America: Nisei Soldiers. Chapter one was animated by the Seattle Channel and won a 2016 regional Emmy.  In 2016, he and Tess Gallagher collaborated on Boogie Woogie CrissCross, a book of poetry. In 2019 his novel, My Name is Not Viola, was published by Endicott and Hugh Books. In 2023, his book Shapeshifter-Minidoka Concentration Camp Legacy won one of two Honorable Mentions in the Idaho Book of the Year competition.

Profile image by Alfredo Arreguin.

Updated September 2024

Tuney-Tosheia P. McDaniels is studying the effects of precipitation through the lens of Jungian Psychology. Precipitation can impact psychological well-being throughout the world, which is also often depicted in animation.

Updated October 2024

Esperanza Harumi Murakami Giuria was born on March 3, 1990. She studied pre-school in jiushuryo; primary and secondary school at La Unión school. Married for 12 years and mother of a 10-year-old girl. A stylist by profession, she has always had a passion for writing, which is why in 2021 she won first place in the “Letters for the Bicentennial” contest organized by the Peruvian-Japanese Association. She is currently a member of the board of directors of Peru Kumamoto Kenjinkai.

Last updated September 2024

Melissa Fujiyo Okabe is a 4th generation Japanese American residing in Los Angeles, CA. She is a Real Estate Broker-Associate and certified Yoga Instructor RYT-500 with a passion for history, storytelling and connecting with her Japanese heritage and ancestral wisdom.

Last updated September 2024

Mai Omoto is a junior at Pitzer College, majoring in psychology with a minor in Japanese. She recently completed the Kizuna Nikkei Community Internship at the Rafu Shimpo. In the fall of 2024, Mai will study abroad in Japan through the Associated Kyoto Program, deepening her connection to her Japanese heritage. She aspires to pursue a Master's degree in social work and ultimately become a social worker.

Updated September 2024

Junko is an educator in Pomona, California, and a graduate of UC Riverside and Claremont Graduate University. California is home, but she has traveled extensively because her father was an air traffic controller in the Air Force, which instilled in her a fascination for travel and observing different cultures around the world. Currently, Junko is an adjunct instructor at the University of La Verne. She is married to her handsome husband Robert Elias and they have one dog, an 8 year-old pug named Nancy.

Updated August 2024

Melissa is a rising fourth-year sociology student at the University of California, Davis. She is a sansei Japanese American and is very active in the Japanese American community in Northern California. She is a member of the Japanese American Student Society at UC Davis as well as the Asian and Pacific Islander Community Coordinator at the Cross Cultural Center. When she is not working, you can find her figure skating or spending time with her friends and family (and cats)!

Updated June 2024

Chuck Tasaka was born in Midway, B.C., but he spent most of his life growing up in Greenwood, B.C., the first Japanese Canadian Internment site. Grandfather Isaburo lived in Sashima, Ehime-ken, immigrated to Portland, Oregon in 1893, then to Steveston and came with his wife Yorie to settle on Salt Spring Island in 1905.  They decided to return to Sashima permanently in 1935. Chuck’s father Arizo was born on Salt Spring Island but lived in Sashima during his youth. His mother was born in Nanaimo, B.C., but was raised in Mio-mura, Wakayama-ken. Chuck attended University of B.C. and became an elementary teacher on Vancouver Island. After retiring in 2002, Chuck has spent most of his time researching Japanese Canadian history and he is presently working on the Nikkei Legacy Park project in Greenwood.

Updated September 2024

Pam Momoko Yan is 3rd generation Japanese American, and 4th gen native Angeleno. Her maternal line hails from Hokkaido and is descendant from the Ainu. When she’s not writing or volunteering, you can find her exploring the outdoors with her pitbull or napping with her demanding cats. One of Pam’s newest hobbies is tracing her ancestry. Finding family relics is precious and each discovery is a peak into the past to those she’s never met. She hopes to learn more about her family and Nikkei culture in the years to come.

Updated September 2024