Yoshimi Kawashima
@ylkawashimaYoshimi Kawashima is currently a sophomore at University of California, Los Angeles, majoring in East Asian Studies, with a concentration in Japan. She is also the current secretary for UCLA's Nikkei Student Union and wants to familiarize herself with the Japanese American culture and community.
Updated August 2009
Stories from This Author
GIDRA: The Voice of the Asian American Movement
Jan. 12, 2012 • Yoshimi Kawashima
Barefoot Journalism. A three-headed Japanese monster. Youth struggling to define themselves in a society still healing itself yet turning its judgmental eyes upon victims. What relationship could these three entities possibly share? In April 1969 a group of students at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) founded a newspaper dubbed Gidra, a monthly publication that took a radically progressive political position. These five students—Mike Murase, Dinora Gil, Laura Ho, Colin Watanabe, and Tracy Okida—desired a visual media that would …
Japanese American Activism: Where Does It Stand Today?
Jan. 5, 2012 • Yoshimi Kawashima , Nikkei Student Union at UCLA
When we think about Japanese American activism we may immediately think of the iconic 1980s Redress Movement. But what about JA activism today? Glenn Omatsu defines JA Activism as “not simply a set of beliefs or a series of actions; more accurately, it is a way of living. It is practicing militant humility in transforming society while transforming ourselves.” Rather than defining JA Activism as what it is today, delineating this entity by a set time period, we should address …
Celebrating the 30 Year Legacy of the Nikkei Student Union at UCLA
Dec. 29, 2011 • Yoshimi Kawashima , Nikkei Student Union at UCLA
A room erupts in a roar of laughter, a well-prepared yet spontaneous meeting of the Nikkei Student Union. This joyous gathering is a typical event every Tuesday at 6PM on the UCLA campus, bringing together students who share a common interest—the Japanese American culture. Whether it is the rich history, delicious food, ikemen idols, nostalgic J-league basketball, or just a place to make new friends, NSU becomes a home away from home for students searching for their niche in college. …
42nd Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage: The Passage of Time
Sept. 7, 2011 • Yoshimi Kawashima
The dust stirred gently in the opaque light of the rising sun, drifting along the near empty road. Eyes still drowsy from the four-hour trip, mind still struggling to awake from rising with the dawn light, we finally reached the parking lot which would lead to the Manzanar National Historic Site—my second time at the annual Manzanar Pilgrimage since my freshman year at UCLA. When I went to my first Manzanar Pilgrimage in April 2009, I had absolutely no idea …
Intertwining a People's History and a People's Identity: An Intern's Reflections
Nov. 30, 2009 • Yoshimi Kawashima
When I first applied for the George and Sakaye Community Internship through the UCLA Asian American Studies Center I felt it important to expand my horizons and further delve into the history and current conditions of the Japanese American community. However, the Japanese American National Museum was a daunting choice. Though many aspects of it caught my interest—housing the Japanese American legacy, making accessible artifacts and works of contemporary artists, passing on the personal accounts of knowledgeable docents—I was apprehensive …
Conceiving the Notion of “Japanese” through Language
Nov. 2, 2009 • Yoshimi Kawashima
Entertainment and media are meant to appeal to a wide audience and superficially anime are just that: they're cartoons. Some of them are ridiculously cheesy; some are so easily predictable it’s almost laughable. But oftentimes it is the whimsical and seemingly impractical things our imaginations whip up that reveal the subtle hints about a culture; and that satire brings to light facets of a culture that we tend to overlook. At first I brushed off these animations as just a …
The Next Generation: The UCLA Nikkei Student Union
Oct. 12, 2009 • Yoshimi Kawashima
Aside from all the great events that were offered and the memories created in the Nikkei Student Union during my freshman year, I will never forget what ran across my mind when I attended the first meeting: I have never seen SO MANY Nikkei before in my life. Established in 1981, the Nikkei Student Union (NSU) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a student group that places emphasis on raising awareness about the Japanese American culture. Though …
Don Nakanishi: The Roots of an Asian American Studies Visionary
Sept. 23, 2009 • Yoshimi Kawashima
After 20 years as director of the University of California, Los Angeles’ Asian American Studies Center (AASC), Professor Don Nakanishi retired from his tenure in July 2009. A dedicated and visionary leader, Professor Nakanishi has made instrumental changes in making the AASC flourish into the nation’s premier research center in its field. Advancing the Asian American Studies (AAS) field in breadth and depth, Don Nakanishi has proven himself as a distinguished scholar, teacher and activist for Asian Americans. Receiving his …
A Token of Remembrance: Passing It On by Yuri Kochiyama
Sept. 7, 2009 • Yoshimi Kawashima
In 1998, then seventy-seven year old Yuri Kochiyama began writing her memoir, after years of contemplating what to leave her grandchildren in remembrance of their family’s heritage. Whatever path they, or anyone who reads this memoir, choose to take, Yuri believes that, at the very least, one should be aware of their history. “To live a life without losing faith in God, my fellowmen, and my country…To love everyone; to never know the meaning of hate, or have one enemy…An …
How Japanese is Japanese-American?
Aug. 26, 2009 • Yoshimi Kawashima
Are you Japanese? Do you speak Japanese? You look Japanese. Isn't your name Japanese? These are questions that I have heard all of my life, and at times I felt that they tried too hard to constrict me into a nice neat mold. I felt like the abstract block trying to fit into the perfectly round hole, and with each response I gave, I felt as though the mold laid out for me was one that I could never fit …
