Tamiko Nimura

“If there is joy, it is a painful joy.”

—Karen Tei Yamashita, “Konmarimasu”

I call it the camp dresser because it was made in camp. As far as we know, anyway. The camp dresser was in my Auntie Sadako’s house in a closet for years.

She and my uncle are downsizing, preparing for a move. Thanks to the help of some friends with a truck, the dresser’s now been moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to our house in Tacoma. What my auntie knows about it is that it was made in camp, but she doesn’t ...

Around the country, Japanese American Days of Remembrance are commemorated with keynote speakers, with candle lighting, with marches, and even (this year) with bystander training for allies with Densho.

At Seattle University, thanks to the efforts of a few Seattle-based volunteers, an auditorium resonates each year to the sounds of taiko drumming. Proceeds of the concert go towards scholarships for the Minidoka Pilgrimage. Several taiko groups, including RTG (Regional Taiko Group), Seattle Kokon Taiko, and Seattle University’s youth group Hidaka Taiko, participate regularly. Other community groups use booths and feature exhibits to help attendees learn about the history of ...

Happy New Year, everyone! 2018 marked a significant milestone for me—it’s been 20 years since I moved to Washington State from my home state of California. I wasn’t sure where to look for communities or events when I moved up here, and I felt pretty lonely for a while. I have come to learn about the many festivals and events that happen each year in the Seattle/Tacoma area. So I have created this guide for anyone who is moving here from out of state, or is interested in visiting the area during special events. Please feel ...

I have the museum mostly to myself today.

At the Cascadia Art Museum’s exhibit Invocation of Beauty, there are breathtaking portraits of famous figures of modernism, including the famous dancers and choreographers Martha Graham and Agnes deMille. There’s a room devoted to the members of the Seattle Camera Club, with mainly Japanese American members, and the “Tadama Class,” students of the Dutch artist Fokko Tadama. A series of striking portraits on the walls, many reprinted from silver gelatin originals. Another series of paintings, created by other familiar Seattle-area Issei names: Kenjiro Nomura, Kamekichi Tokita, Sumio Arima.

What has ...

You could say it really started with a hallway.

Next to the hondo (shrine) at the Tacoma Buddhist Temple, there’s a narrow hallway filled with framed photographs—sepia, black-and-white, panoramic shots, professional portraits. Many of them are group shots in front of the Temple itself, even in various locations. The hallway can’t be much more than 100, 120 feet long. Wood paneling runs along the bottom half of the walls, white walls along the upper half. Many of the photos are close to 80 years old, if not older. There are pictures of Japanese American youth groups, baseball ...