Allison Haramoto

Allison Haramoto is executive editor of the Pacific Citizen, the national newspaper of the Japanese American Citizens League. She can be reached at pc@pacificcitizen.org.

Updated August 2019

business en

Kizuna 2020: Nikkei Kindness and Solidarity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Clothing for All Generations

  • By Allison Haramoto
  • 9 Feb 2021

As small businesses across the U.S. struggle to stay afloat in the midst of the current pandemic and economic down-turn, Alec Nakashima is extremely grateful that his clothing company, Akashi-Kama, has been able to adapt to this “moment in time” and survive — giving him the opportunity to help his community and look toward 2021 with the anticipation of better days ahead.

Nakashima launched Akashi-Kama online in May 2019, offering designs that blend the beauty of the Japanese aesthetic with an American influence. Each piece, designed by Nakashima and featuring fabrics sourced from Japan, is inspired by Nakashima’s own ...

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war en

Edison Uno - Redress Hero, a Minority of One

  • By Allison Haramoto
  • 18 Oct 2019

The National JACL Convention held in 1978 in Salt Lake City, Utah, at the Little America Hotel — where this year’s National JACL Convention was held from July 31-Aug. 4 — is where the Redress Movement really took shape.

It took 10 years of dedicated effort before the passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which allowed redress for those people of Japanese descent who were forcibly removed from their West Coast homes and unjustly incarcerated in American concentration camps during World War II.

Many younger JACL members do not know much about the history behind the Redress Movement.

The ...

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culture en

Akashi-Kama

  • By Allison Haramoto
  • 18 Sep 2019

Kakehashi Project alum Alec Nakashima designs his new sustainable clothing collection with direct inspiration from his memories of Japan.

To say that Alec Nakashima experienced a true “aha” moment in Japan is an understatement.

While on his first trip there in 2018 as a member of the Kakehashi Project — a program sponsored by the Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and coordinated by the JACL and the Japan International Coordination Center that allows young Asian Americans to travel to Japan to gain a greater understanding of Japanese culture and history — Nakashima was instantly drawn to the country’s beauty and cultural ...

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