*Sansei *Born in Toronto *Grandparents are from Shiga and Kumamoto kens* Families were interned in Kaslo, Bayfarm and on a Manitoba beet farm * Lived in Sendai, Japan from 1994 to 2004 * Teacher in Brampton, ON * Aikidoka * Writer for the Nikkei Voice for close to 20 years * Writer of "Canadian Nikkei series" which aims at preserving Canadian Nikkei stories. Future of the community? It depends on how successful we are in engaging our youth. The University of Victoria's (BC) Landscapes of Injustice project is a good one.... gambatte kudasai!

A Japanese who lives in Los Angeles. Project manager for the Discover Nikkei Web site at the Japanese American National Museum.

I’m a Yonsei, occasional artist and writer, and full-time Digital Program Manager at the Japanese American National Museum. I was born in Los Angeles and have lived in Southern California almost my entire life. I am fluent in English, can understand about 80% of conversational Japanese, and don’t know any Spanish or Portuguese (although after having worked on Discover Nikkei for so long, would like to learn someday). I love working in Little Tokyo and living in Gardena. Both areas give me wonderful access to Japanese/Nikkei food, community, and culture. I bowl in a Nikkei league once a week, and spend my free time eating, sleeping, playing on my phone and computer, rooting for the Dodgers, watching TV and reading, spending time with family and friends, and traveling. I love working on Discover Nikkei and learning about so many different Nikkei experiences around the world!

The largest museum in the United States dedicated to sharing the experience of Americans of Japanese ancestry as an integral part of U.S. history. Visit janm.org to learn more about our exhibitions, public programs, and projects.

My name is Mitch Homma. I’m a sansei who grew up and still resides in Southern California. In addition to working as a software and aerospace engineer for a small Chantilly, Virginia based company, my interests include Japanese history and Christianity in Japan. In my spare time, I work on publishing some family items that I believe are important to history and hope it inspires other to do the same. I contribute to three different Discover Nikkei albums which are based on my family’s photo albums, documents, and stories. My current albums contain items from Amache and Heart Mountain Internment Camps as well as Gardena Valley Baptist Church, which 4 generations of family attended. The Amache and Heart Mountain albums are being updated as I come across related photos while still searching through hundreds of photos in boxes. I am also working on two other albums which may be published in the future. Both albums are based on recently uncovered photos and documents. One collection is based on Christianity in Japan (1890-1930) and the pre-WWII Southern California Japanese Christian Federation of churches. The second documents my 2008 trip back to Japan and Amache to see my family history first hand. This album includes pre-WWII and today’s photos of my family’s sites, Japan relatives, and finally my father and his sibling’s emotional closure when visiting Amache during JANM’s Enduring Communities Conference field trip.

I write and currently live in the Los Angeles area with my husband. My mother was from Kamakura, my father is a New Englander of French Canadian ancestry, and I was born in Kobe and raised in SoCal, Guam, and Japan. You can read more about my writing at www.marilesperance.com. よろしくお願いします!

Chris Komai is a freelance writer who has been involved in Little Tokyo for five decades. He was the Public Information Officer of the Japanese American National Museum for over 21 years, where he handled publicity 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. Komai also serves on the Little Tokyo Community Council Board, the Little Tokyo Public Safety Association Board and the Keiro Foundation Board. He has been a member of the Southern California Nisei Athletic Union Board for basketball and baseball for 40 years. Komai is one of the founders of the Nikkei Basketball Heritage Association (NBHA), which seeks to connect JA basketball history to the current players and their families. He earned a B.A. degree in English from the University of California at Riverside.

FRANK ABE is co-editor with Floyd Cheung of a new Penguin Classics anthology, THE LITERATURE OF JAPANESE AMERICAN INCARCERATION. He is lead author of a graphic novel, WE HEREBY REFUSE: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration, a Finalist in Creative Nonfiction for the Washington State Book Award. He won an American Book Award as co-editor of JOHN OKADA: The Life & Rediscovered Work of the Author of No-No Boy, in which he authored the first-ever biography of Okada and traced the origins of his novel. He wrote and directed the award-winning PBS documentary CONSCIENCE AND THE CONSTITUTION and helped organize the first-ever “Day of Remembrance.”

Born in Berkeley, California 1955. Currently living in Vallejo. Paternal side Sano from Yamanashi, mother side Wada, from Fukuoka. All early 1900's. 

I was born in Tokyo. I work as a tour guide for Brazilian and Portuguese customers. I love flowers, especially the beautiful Jacaranda flowers. My dream is to go to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Of course, I'll be rooting for Samurai Japan!