Rubén “Funkahuatl” Guevara

Rubén “Funkahuatl” Guevara is a native Angelino and over the past 50 years has worked as a musician, record producer, journalist, poet, film actor, playwright-performance-theater artist, teacher, and activist. He is a UCLA graduate in World Arts & Cultures and lives and works in Boyle Heights. www.tantrikfunk.net

Updated October 2014

community en

Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest III

“MERRY CHRISTMAS, MARIO-SAN”

By Rubén “Funkahuatl” Guevara
3 Oct 2016

Little Tokyo, 1989

One night, Mario Martinez, a struggling musician from Boyle Heights, was sitting in a booth at the Atomic Café in Little Tokyo when punk god Sid Vicious walked in with his entourage and ordered fried rice. Suddenly rice balls were flying through the air but no one seemed to mind or notice. It wasn’t unusual for that kind of craziness. Other punk bands would come by such as X, The Bags, The Ramones, even David Bowie and the avant-garde artist Andy Warhol once paid a visit. Even though punk music wasn’t Mario’s cup of ...

community en

Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest II

Masao and the Bronze Nightingale

By Rubén “Funkahuatl” Guevara
14 Sep 2015

Boyle Heights, 1940

“Hey Masao, where did you score those fine drapes, ese?”

“Over on Brooklyn and Soto. Manny Garcia’s uncle has a tailor shop there.”

“Órale pues, you’re lookin’ sharp, vato!”

“Thanks, Lil’ Joe, ay te watcho, catch you later, carnal!”

Yeah, Masao Imoto knew how to dress sharp alright. He was a Japanese American nisei zoot suitor, a pachuke, Japanese slang for pachuco. The older generation called them yógore “those that get dirty drinking and gambling hanging out at pool halls and picking up prostitutes.” Yeah, they were the bad boys of Boyle Heights and ...

community en

Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest

Yuriko & Carlos

By Rubén “Funkahuatl” Guevara
20 Oct 2014

Little Tokyo, 1941

As I walked toward Little Tokyo over the First Street Bridge from Boyle Heights, I felt the bracing power of the fiery sunset embrace me with more love than my own family gave me. The sky and the air filled me with hope, filled me with big dreams. My father only filled me with anger.

One day as I was leaving my job, I heard loud taiko drums and bamboo flutes wailing away outside a temple on First and Central. A group of dancers were dancing in a big circle when she suddenly appeared. She was wearing ...

Submit an article

Discover Nikkei

Japanese migrants and their descendants

Rubén “Funkahuatl” Guevara

Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest III

Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest II

Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest

Series this author contributes to

The 110th Anniversary of Japanese Immigration to Brazil: Complete Return of Santos Japanese School, Long-Awaited ‘True War End,’ Finding Ways to Live Together in Peace, Overcoming Prejudice Against Foreigners - Part 1

Japanese Canadian Internment and Family Experiences - Part 1

The Boy Who Believed That Deportation Was an Adventure

Celebrating 55 Years of Service and Self-Defence

Nikkei Uncovered: a poetry column

Theme: (open)

She keeps alive the stories of Japanese American internment

Interview with a Nikkei forager: mushroom hunting with Sayuri Shinya

Monterey Park Onigiri Shop Invites You to Come Aboard the Rice Ball Train

My Name is Neal

Journal Entry #The First in 660 B.C.: "Descendants of Gods..."

Nikkei Chronicles #8 — Nikkei Heroes: Trailblazers, Role Models, and Inspirations

Mi héroe, Don Gerardo Maruy Takayama

デカセギ・ストーリー

第三十二話 たった５ヵ月のデカセギ生活

孤独な望郷 ～ フロリダ日系移民森上助次の手紙から

第12回 強盗に襲われる

インタビュー：めぐみ保育園園長・鈴木芳美さん

Sobre a websérie NipoBrasileiros

Nikkei Heroes: Trailblazers, Role Models, and Inspirations

Get updates

Support this project

A project of the

Major support by

Nikkei Uncovered: a poetry column

Theme: (open)

She keeps alive the stories of Japanese American internment

Interview with a Nikkei forager: mushroom hunting with Sayuri Shinya

Monterey Park Onigiri Shop Invites You to Come Aboard the Rice Ball Train

My Name is Neal

Journal Entry #The First in 660 B.C.: "Descendants of Gods..."

Interview With Thomas Girst On New German Translation Of "No-No Boy"

History, Unmoored: For Yasuko-san and Keiko-San

Sansei: On Being Japanese American in a Time of Crisis

An Event Fading From Memory

Steveston Nikkei Memorial

My Name is Neal

Journal Entry #4 for the Fourth: " Where's My Hot Dog?..."

Japanese Canadian Internment and Family Experiences - Part 1

Dutch Newspapers and Nikkei Stories - Lessons from Japanese-American Incarceration and Redress from Afar

My Name is Neal

Journal Entry #1000's of Scares!: "Aaaaughhh!!!..."

Suspicious Points of Contact in Pre-World War Two Chicago: The Japanese Mutual Aid Society and Charles Yasuma Yamazaki - Part 1

Paul Takagi: A fearless Advocate

My Name is Neal

Journal Entry #10,000 + Lies: "His Pants Must be Ablaze..."

Killer Roll

Chapter Nine — Where’s Som?

Nikkei Chronicles #8 — Nikkei Heroes: Trailblazers, Role Models, and Inspirations

The ‘Mightiest Duck’ of Them All, Paul Kariya

10 Little-Known Stories About Rohwer Concentration Camp

MIS Members with Brothers Serving in Japanese Imperial Forces during WW II

Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest VI

A Reason to be Proud

Ikkyu Strong

Lawson Sakai - Part 4

Yoemon Shinmasu – My Grandfather's Life in Seattle

Part 1 – From Kamai to Seattle

Yoko Tani: the Mysterious Life of a Nikkei Actor

Tessaku

Lawson Sakai - Part 2

History Meets Hi-tech with East of the Rockies

Canadian Nikkei Artist

Norman Takeuchi - An Uneasy Harmony of Sorts

Over 800 Immigrant Japanese and Nisei Served in US Army during World War I. Road to Gain Citizenship was Long and Arduous

David Toguri: An Appreciation

My Name is Neal

Journal Entry #About 280 Miles Up: "Starry, Starry Ads..."

Windy City Nikkei: Bite-sized glimpses of Japanese American Chicago

Nikkei Uncovered: a poetry column

Holding

Killer Roll

Chapter Ten — Double Crosser

第三十二話たった５ヵ月のデカセギ生活

孤独な望郷～フロリダ日系移民森上助次の手紙から

第12回強盗に襲われる　