Koji Steven Sakai

Walt Disney once said, “Of all of our inventions for mass communication, pictures still speak the most universally understood language.” Pictures tell a story that even the best writer’s words could never fully describe. That’s saying a lot coming from a writer.

I wanted to “tell” the story of Japanese Americans. Here are my top 10 iconic pictures that tell my story.

#10: Japanese American Baseball

African Americans weren’t the only group of people excluded from playing in organized sports. Most people of color couldn’t play on high school teams or professional leagues. The Japanese Americans ...

Kendee Yamaguchi is the Executive Director of the Washington State Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs. She was a director in the Office of Management and Administration at the White House. Prior to her appointment to the Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs, she worked in the Office of Public Liaison on the signing of the executive order establishing the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. She has experience working as a television executive for one of the world’s largest networks and as a staff member in the Legislature. More recently, she worked as an ...

Marilyn Tokuda has been working for East West Players (EWP) since 2002 and is the organizations first Arts Education Director. She was one of the founding members of COLD TOFU, the first Asian American comedy group and served as its Artistic Director for six years. Marilyn also works with Oku & Associates in diversity training with Fortune 500 companies as well as representing East West Players on the Asian Pacific American Media Coalition (APAMC) which meets with television networks on an ongoing basis to evaluate the visibility and portrayals of Asian Pacific Americans in the media. Recently, she and Guy Aoki ...

Being that my mother is from Japan, I feel a connection to that country that many Japanese Americans do not. So when the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster hit in March, I felt it in my gut. I was worried not only about my relatives but also friends and strangers alike. At home, I made it point to take another look at my family’s earthquake disaster plan and make sure we all knew what to do. However, after only seven months, life has returned to normal for me.

That’s why when when I watched The Tsunami and the Cherry ...

In California, January 30 was officially Fred Korematsu Day. It is important to honor and remember Korematsu but I believe it is also a time to look back at some of the other Japanese Americans (JAs) who also fought for the rights of not just JAs but all Americans.

Unfortunately, Japanese American women don’t get enough credit for their contributions to the civil rights movement. I want to change that. So I created a list of five JA women activists that I think everyone should know:

Yuri Kochiyama

Kochiyama is most well-known for cradling Malcolm X’s head in ...