Catherine Jo Ishino
Since 1992, and after attending the 50th Commemoration of the incarceration of over 18,000 Japanese Americans in Poston, Arizona with her Nisei parents, aunts and uncles, Catherine Jo Ishino has been researching, writing, lecturing, and creating video oral histories and installations about their experiences during World War Two. Ishino also taught design for 25 years at York University and the University of Minnesota with her research focus on the Western stereotyping of East Asian design. Before her academic career, she worked in the TV news industry for 14 years, serving as the Art Director of The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour at PBS, Creative Director and Consultant for independent video productions, and Lead Artist at CNN.
For more information, please visit: her website, portfoilo, vimeo.
Updated September 2023
Stories from This Author
A Last Hurrah?: Kogawa’s Newest Poetry Collection, From the Lost and Found Department Set to be Kogawa’s Last Book
April 26, 2024 • Catherine Jo Ishino
At 88, author and activist Joy Kogawa proclaim sher latest book of poetry, From the Lost and Found Department: new and selected poems, to be her “last hurrah, thanks be.” And if it turns out to be her final one (though I’m told she’s still writing articles…) inadvertently, she may propel the next generation of Nikkei poets further along and to follow in her wake. With her nearly 60 years of publishing, Kogawa has consistently written about life as a postwar …
Osaka Troupe Karakoro Brings Author Joy Kogawa’s Book to Life
Feb. 14, 2024 • Catherine Jo Ishino
“May the world be safe, may the world be kind, may the world forever be our home.” —Joy Kogawa, Naomi’s Tree This refrain was sung by Karakoro, a performing art troupe from Osaka, during their musical Naomi’s Tree, based on the 2008 children’s book by Joy Kogawa. Presented 15 years later, the troupe left the Toronto audience in a state of awe and wonder at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre on Aug. 17, 2023. The sentiments expressed were a fitting …
David Mura’s Work Continues to Push Readers to Question the World
Sept. 22, 2023 • Catherine Jo Ishino
Turning Japanese: Memoirs of a Sansei (1991) I first encountered David Mura’s writing in his memoir, Turning Japanese, over 30 years ago. Likely spotting a review in the New York Times’ “Most Notable Books of Year” list, which stated, “A journey of discovery by a poet and third-generation Japanese American who explores the sense of difference that haunts him both at home and in Japan.” I identified with Mura’s experience, having twice lived and travelled extensively throughout Japan with my Nisei parents. …
