Naomi Hirahara
@gasagasagirlNaomi Hirahara is the author of the Edgar Award-winning Mas Arai mystery series, which features a Kibei Nisei gardener and atomic-bomb survivor who solves crimes, Officer Ellie Rush series, and now the new Leilani Santiago mysteries. A former editor of The Rafu Shimpo, she has written a number of nonfiction books on the Japanese American experience and several 12-part serials for Discover Nikkei.
Updated October 2019
Stories from This Author
A Vision Takes Root: The Legacy of Judy Nishimoto Ota and the San Pedro Firm Building
March 24, 2023 • Naomi Hirahara
I experienced an early defining moment when I was a young twenty something reporter at The Rafu Shimpo in 1986. Before that, I had lived a relatively sheltered life, graduating from South Pasadena High School and then going on to Stanford University in pristine Palo Alto. A nine-month stint in Tokyo followed in trendy neighborhoods of Kichijoji and Musashisakai. But now I was going to work six days a week in the middle of Downtown Los Angeles, Little Tokyo, adjacent to Skid …
Chapter Twelve—The Reveal
Nov. 4, 2021 • Naomi Hirahara
I was familiar with the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena. It was where my ex, Stewart, taught some art classes in a conference room which overlooked a courtyard and a Chinese garden. I was amazed when Stewart first took me there. In the middle of a large boulevard in Pasadena was a re-creation of a Chinese imperial palace. What was it doing here, of all places? I learned that it had been commissioned in the 1920s by an antiques dealer, …
Chapter Eleven—Sparkling Sea
Oct. 4, 2021 • Naomi Hirahara
I stood in front of the open storage unit, my hands on my hips. I felt like I was an Olympic athlete who had accomplished a marathon or swim relay race. All I had done was clear out a full container at EZ Storage. Well, almost cleared it out. There was still one bag in the corner. Sycamore, my daughter, was at my side, as she had been through this whole project. Today was Saturday, one day before the last …
Chapter Ten—Smell the Roses
Sept. 4, 2021 • Naomi Hirahara
I found the e-mail for my client, Ryan Stone, and began typing him a message. Dear Mr. Stone: I know that I’m two days away from my deadline to clear out your storage unit. I’m close to finishing but I regret that I’ll have to drop the project. You can imagine that attempting a project of this size during a pandemic is quite a challenge. I’m discovering that it has been a strain on me and my daughter. I know …
Chapter Nine—Hurricane Popcorn Days
Aug. 4, 2021 • Naomi Hirahara
“Mom, we need to make some hurricane popcorn.” My daughter Sycamore and I had designated Thursday our movie night. We watched animation, most recently old episodes of Dragon Ball, the Japanese version from my childhood when I was Sycamore’s age. I was amazed how all these streaming channels could resurrect old shows from the past. It was strange to see the episodes again as a mother. The protagonist, the monkey-tailed Goku, seemed too naughty at times. What was I teaching …
Chapter Eight—Zip A Dee Doo Dah
July 4, 2021 • Naomi Hirahara
I couldn’t believe it, but we could now see the back of the storage unit. Well, at least one corner. We had only five days to go before I had to completely empty it out. Next was a black box. My daughter Sycamore and I had come prepared with a box cutter and I carefully guided the blade along the center seam. We flipped open the flaps. Bubble wrap. A lot of it. Whatever was inside must be fragile. Sycamore …
Chapter Seven—No-knead Bread
June 4, 2021 • Naomi Hirahara
“Do you think this Ryan Stone is a real person?” my daughter Sycamore asked me as we took a break from her Zoom class to make some no-knead bread. This was our fourth attempt at baking bread during the pandemic. So far our previous baking adventures were failures. I miscalculated the yeast for Indian naan and ended up with enough for a second plain loaf of bread. (I gave my naan a C+ and the bread a D.) Our milk …
Chapter Six—Mikasa Man
May 4, 2021 • Naomi Hirahara
My ten-year-old daughter, Sycamore, had officially become my wing woman. Or should I say wing girl. She was definitely my top—and well, only—assistant in terms of my cleaning business, Souji RS. Every day after her Zoom classes she was ready to go to my client’s storage unit in Pasadena to see what “treasures” we could unwrap and dispose of. I had only six more days to complete my task and the container was still about halfway full. The next set …
Chapter Five—Smell of Water
April 4, 2021 • Naomi Hirahara
I only had seven days to get rid of everything in my client’s storage locker. So far, I had disposed of—no, preserved—some historic family photographs from World War II as well as given away vintage car parts to life-long friends who like to restore old vehicles. Next were dark green trash bags filled with I don’t know what. Sycamore was out of Zoom school early and accompanied me to the locker. She had already grown so much that spring of …
Chapter Four—Great Balls of Fire
March 4, 2021 • Naomi Hirahara
Now that all the miscellaneous orange packages were out of my client’s storage container, I saw something large wrapped in blue. I removed some red packages that were resting on top of it and place them in one corner of the container. The blue package was long and felt metallic. My daughter, Sycamore, stayed in the car, playing a game on her iPad as I tore at the paper. Inside was indeed something metal. In fact, three things. Pieces of what …
