Maya Kochiyama
@mkochiyamaMaya Kochiyama is a yonsei/gosei Japanese American from Torrance, CA. She is currently entering her third year at UC Berkeley as an Integrative Biology major. This summer, through the Nikkei Community Internship, she is the Discover Nikkei intern at the Japanese American National Museum.
Updated July 2011
Stories from This Author
"Samurai Among Panthers: Richard Aoki, On Race, Resistance, and a Paradoxical Life" by Diane C. Fujino
Dec. 17, 2012 • Maya Kochiyama
Best known for his dedication to the Black Panther Party, his leadership in the Asian American Movement as one of the founding members of the Asian American Political Alliance, and as a pivotal figure in the Third World Liberation Front, Richard Aoki was one of a kind. Diane Fujino’s book, Samurai Among Panthers: Richard Aoki, On Race, Resistance, and a Paradoxical Life, explores the passionate, revolutionary, and often complex life of Bay Area activist Richard Aoki. In an interview earlier …
A Tree Cannot Survive Without Its Roots
Feb. 8, 2012 • Maya Kochiyama
The person I am today is not necessarily who I will be tomorrow. With each new experience I gain, each lesson I learn, I am constantly growing and evolving, redefining my identity in this world. But the person I have become is deeply defined by my roots. These are the roots that my great great grandparents planted in American soil when they immigrated from Japan that have dug deeper with each new generation, Issei, Nisei, Sansei, Yonsei, and Gosei. Unyielding, …
A Heart Without Boundaries - Part 3
Aug. 24, 2011 • Maya Kochiyama
Read Part 2 >>In December 1960, looking for a bigger home for their six kids, Yuri and Bill moved their family out to a new housing project in Harlem, New York, the epicenter of the newly emerging Civil Rights Movement. As Yuri expressed in the documentary, Passion for Justice, “the Movement is contagious and awesome because the people in it are the spirit of the Movement,” (Yuri Kochiyama: Passion for Justice, 2005) she slowly immersed herself into the movement as …
A Heart Without Boundaries - Part 2
Aug. 17, 2011 • Maya Kochiyama
Read Part 1 >>Her life drastically changed the day Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. In President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s infamous words, “a date which will live in infamy.”From that point, she started to question her cultural identity and how the government and the rest of America perceived her. “Before the war, I was seeing America with American eyes. What happened to Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor made me see the world and America with entirely new eyes—Japanese American …
A Heart Without Boundaries - Part 1
Aug. 10, 2011 • Maya Kochiyama
This is a paper that I wrote for my Intro to Asian American Studies class at UC Berkeley in Fall of 2010. When given the topic: Placing a Biography in the Context of History, I decided to write a biography about my grandma. I have edited this paper slightly to bring it up to date and fit more into the context of Discover Nikkei. * * * * * Yuri Kochiyama, my grandmother, is a 2nd generation Japanese American woman …
An Unforgettable Beginning
Aug. 4, 2011 • Maya Kochiyama
First of all, I would like to thank my awesome supervisors at the Japanese American National Museum, Vicky Murakami-Tsuda and Yoko Nishimura, as well as all of the warm and friendly staff and volunteers that I’ve gotten the pleasure to meet. I also want to thank Stacy Toyota, the SoCal NCI coordinator this year, all those who helped run this incredible NCI program, and my fellow intern family. I have absolutely loved being part of the Nikkei Community Internship this …
Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute: At the Heart of South Bay’s Japanese American Community
July 6, 2011 • Maya Kochiyama
The Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute (GVJCI) is a non-profit community organization in Gardena, CA that caters to the Japanese American community in the South Bay of LA. Their mission is to “serve the needs of the local Japanese American community through educational, cultural, and social programs that share the Japanese and Japanese American cultural heritage.” Classes and programs are offered to participants ranging in age from children to seniors, where you can learn how to become a kendo master, …
