Tim Asamen is the coordinator of the Japanese American Gallery, a permanent exhibit in the Imperial Valley Pioneers Museum. His grandparents, Zentaro and Eda Asamen, emigrated from Kami Ijuin-mura, Kagoshima Prefecture, in 1919 and settled in Westmorland, California, where Tim resides. He joined the Kagoshima Heritage Club in 1994, serving as president (1999-2002) and as the club's newsletter editor (2001-2011).

Updated August 2013

The Japanese Peruvian Association (Asociación Peruano Japonesa, APJ) is a nonprofit organization that brings together and represents Japanese citizens who live in Peru and their descendants, as well as their institutions.

Updated May 2009

Edna Hiromi Ogihara Cardoso was born in the interior of the State of São Paulo. She is married and has one daughter. A graduate of FAUUSP [School of Architecture and Urban Planning of the University of São Paulo], she is a volunteer handicraft teacher. Watercolor is her hobby and she writes whenever inspiration strikes.

Updated October 2020

Mika Akemi Chan is a Japanese Chinese American who was born and raised in San Francisco. She currently attends Seattle University where she is studying marketing with a minor in sociology. She grew up in San Francisco Nihonmachi where she participated in activities including teaching Bon Odori, BCSF (Buddhist Church Of San Francisco) girl scouts, and playing Asian league basketball. After she graduates, she hopes to pursue a career that leverages her passion for marketing and social work.

Updated August 2020

George Doi was born in Royston, a small logging community on Vancouver Island. At the age of 9 he and his family were uprooted and moved to Bay Farm, a remote internment camp where they remained for 4 years. When the camp closed, George, a 14 year old boy, started work in the logging camps to help support his parents and 9 siblings. Later he joined the British Columbia Forest Service, working in many Ranger Districts in the Kootenays. From a Deputy Forest Ranger he first won the position of Forestry Operations Supervisor in the Vancouver Forest Region, and later that of Fire Prevention Coordinator. Upon retirement he is forever seeking knowledge and busy pursuing things he missed doing in his younger days.

Updated November 2020

Born in Toronto, Dr. Jonathan Eto is a Sansei Japanese Canadian that works professionally as a chiropractor in Mississauga, Canada. He volunteers his time by actively taking photos and writing articles for the Nikkei Voice and as the team chiropractor for the OHL Mississauga Steelheads.

Updated June 2019

Spencer Fujimoto is a fifth generation Japanese American pro skateboarder and now company owner of El Señor. His great grandmother and grandfather were born on a Kauai plantation. His grandfather was in the 442nd RCT and a Mormon and his grandmother was illegally imprisoned at Tule Lake internment camp. Spencer moved out of New York City to live in Honolulu where he enjoys living as one of the Asian majority. 

Updated November 2020

Mike Furutani has been playing California Nikkei baseball for over 25 years, originally for the San Fernando JA Community Center Aces (Crescent Bay Optimist League) and later with the Lodi JACL, San Francisco Hawks and currently the Fresno Sansei. He lives in Salinas CA with his wife (Kay) and 4 dogs (Kali, Kenzo, Kozmo and Kona).

Updated October 2020

Javier García Wong-Kit is a journalist, professor, and director of Otros Tiempos magazine. Author of Tentaciones narrativas (Redactum, 2014) and De mis cuarenta (ebook, 2021), he writes for Kaikan, the magazine of the Japanese Peruvian Association.

Updated April 2022

 Enrique Higa is a Sansei (third-generation or grandchild of Japanese immigrants) from Peru. He is a journalist and Lima correspondent for International Press, a Spanish-language weekly paper published in Japan. He is also a co-editor and writer for Kaikan magazine, published by the Japanese-Peruvian Association.

Updated July 2024

Lynne Higashigawa was born and raised in Orange County, CA. She grew up playing basketball with the VFW Organization. Over the years, she has volunteered with basketball camps and other extracurricular activities throughout Southern California. She attended Chapman University where she received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology. After graduating, she began working as a behavior technician with children and young adults with Autism. She then received her master’s degree in Applied Behavior Analysis from National University and is currently pursuing a career in this field.

Updated November 2020

Luis Iguchi Iguchi was born in Lima in 1940. He was a contributor to Perú Shimpo and Prensa Nikkei. He also wrote for magazines such as Nikko, Superación, Puente and El Nisei. He served as president of the Club Nisei Jauja in 1958 and was a founding member of Jauja N° 1 Fire Brigade in 1959. He passed away on November 7, 2023.

Updated December 2023

Kate Iio was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. Her father was born in Japan, her mother was born in Taiwan, and has an older sister, and two dogs. She graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2019 and is currently teaching English in Japan through the JET Program.

Updated July 2019

Daijiro (Don) Kanase is an active-duty infantry soldier in the U.S. Army. He currently lives in his hometown in Los Angeles as a research fellow at RAND Corp, Santa Monica. He is an avid kendo and judo practitioner. He holds an M.A. in military operations from the School of Advanced Military Studies at Fort Leavenworth, KS, and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY.

Updated April 2020

Ken Kikkawa is the youngest of Robert and Alice Kikkawa’s four children. He resides in Altadena, CA and has been married to Karen (Takesako) Kikkawa for 29 years. They have a 21-year old son, Kendall, who attends UC Berkeley and a 19-year old daughter, Kyla, who attends Washington University in St. Louis.

Updated November 2020

Robert “Lefty” Kikkawa is an 88-year old Nisei from Gardena, CA and has lived in Pasadena, CA for nearly 75 years. He was interned at Gila, AZ and Tule Lake, CA during World War II. He served in the U.S. Army for two years and spent his professional career in the automotive industry. For 65 years, he was married to his beloved Alice - the best wife, mother and grandmother that a man can have. They have 4 children: Debbie (Kubota), Sharon (Lee), Don and Ken. Robert and Alice co-founded the Pasadena Bruins in 1972.

Updated November 2020

Michael Kodama was the boys soccer coach at John Burroughs High School for over 30 years. He has been involved with soccer at the high school, club and recreational levels. He is a member of the United Soccer Coaches Association and was a Board Member of the Southern California High School Soccer Coaches Association. Professionally, he has taught at USC, Cal Poly Pomona, University of California and at UCLA. He is an Urban Planner who has worked with a number of communities throughout Southern California and the United States. 

Updated November 2020

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

Born on New Year's Day in 1935 (Showa 10). Graduated from the Faculty of Economics at Osaka Prefecture University in 1958 (Showa 33). In the same year, he joined Toshiba Radiation (now Canon Medical). In 1967, he became general manager of the company's Brazilian distributor. From 1970, he worked for medical companies such as GE in the United States. After retiring, he lived in Canada and joined the Toronto Masters Swimming Club in 2005. He won a silver medal and a bronze medal at the World Masters Swimming Championships held in Russia in 2015. He is aiming to win a gold medal at the World Masters Games Kansai tournament to be held in Japan in 2021.

(Updated August 2020)

Born in Hikone, Shiga Prefecture in 1947. After graduating from Osaka Institute of Technology, he worked at Uchiki Metal Works. He then joined Matsumiya Chemical, run by his older brother, where he remains to this day. In 2014, following the release of the film "Vancouver's Asahi," he began researching Matsumiya Shoten, run by his grandfather, and Vancouver Asahi. In March 2017, he published "Matsumiya Shoten and the Vancouver Asahi Army" (Sunrise Publishing), which was selected for the 20th Japan Self-Publishing Culture Award . Since then, he has continued to research Vancouver Asahi and Canadian immigration.

(Updated August 2020)

Matthew Saito is currently a third year student at Loyola Marymount University, majoring in Finance and minoring in Philosophy, with an emphasis in Business Law. He plans to go to law school to work in either the civil rights or business law field. Currently, he's the Nikkei Community Internship (NCI) intern for the Japanese American Bar Association and the Japanese American National Museum. NCI is an internship program designed to allow interns to make their mark in the Japanese American community through their work in impactful projects, meeting of community leaders, and sharpening of professional skills. As an intern, he hopes to help the Japanese American community and gain the skills to make positive change within it in his future career.

Updated July 2020

Yobun Shima was born and raised in post-war Kyoto and later worked for an international shipping company in Tokyo. His grandparents and three sons began moving to Canada around 1907. His father was born in Vancouver in 1914. By the 1930s, with the exception of one son who chose to remain in Canada, the family gradually returned to Japan.

When Yobun retired from his work, he started to research the Vancouver Asahi baseball team after discovering that his uncle Shoichi was one of the first original players of the team. The team was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003 and BC Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. Yobun continues to track down unclaimed medalists of the team in cooperation with the BC Sports Hall of Fame, families of Asahi players, and other interested parties.

Updated August 2024

John has been married to Mary Sunada for 40 years and he is a retired marine/fishery biologist for the State of California Department of Fish and Game. They have two sons, James and David. John has published a number of scientific papers relating to his research studies with the Department. He has been involved with volunteer work with the Cerritos Senior Center and the Nikkei Social Club. He is also a member of the Long Beach Coin Club. He along with his wife Mary enjoy fishing with their sons in the high Sierras.

Updated September 2020

Mary has been married to John Sunada for 44 years. They have two sons, James and David. Mary retired from the Los Angeles United School District after 36 years of teaching. She is a member of the Orange County Buddhist Church, Japanese American National Museum and the “Go for Broke” National Education Cent1er. Her interests are getting together with family and friends to fish, to dance, to travel and to dine. She has written many stories at DiscoverNikkei.org

Updated October 2024

An 8th grade student at Mirasou Academy. Started swimming at age 7 and participated in various Nikkei championships. Currently a member of the Pinheiros team. Her hobbies are swimming, dancing and anime.

(Updated November 2020)

Michael Goro Takeuchi is a longtime journalist based in Santa Barbara, California. In addition to features appearing in publications like the Huntington Frontiers Magazine, the Rafu Shimpo, and Nichi Bei Weekly, his proudest journalistic achievement was penning a weekly sports column in the Santa Barbara News-Press for 17 consecutive years without a miss. He is currently in a race with himself to see which of the two novels he is writing finishes first.

Updated April 2022

Michael Tanouye retired in 2018 from a wide-ranging 47-year career in the arts, sciences, and management for several well-known companies. A highlight was developing a total quality assurance program at U.S. Borax in the 1990s. He lives in Santa Monica with his wife Hildyne. In retirement, he is raising his cooking game, and also takes classes at Santa Monica College in subjects he never took during his 1970s Cal State Dominguez Hills days.

Updated October 2020