Jeri Okamoto Tanaka

Jeri Okamoto Tanaka is a third-generation Japanese American whose parents were born and raised in rural Wyoming. Her writing is inspired by family history, her childhood in Colorado, Nevada, Montana, Oregon, and California, and her experiences as an adoptive mother and community volunteer. She serves on the Little Tokyo Service Center board and is the Advisor & Parent Coordinator for the China Care Bruins Youth Mentorship Program at UCLA. She resides in Los Angeles. Her writing has appeared in Adoptive Families magazine, Guidepost's Joys of Christmas, The Sun, Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review, Journal of Families with Children from China, OCA Image, UCLA Chinese Cultural Dance Dragonfly Quarterly, China Care Foundation's Care Package, and the book Kicking in the Wall: A Year of Writing Exercises, Prompts & Quotes to Help You Break Through Your Blocks and Reach Your Writing Goals.

Updated September 2015

identity en ja es pt

Nikkei Chronicles #4 — Nikkei Family: Memories, Traditions, and Values

Walk It Off: True Grit & Gaman

By Jeri Okamoto Tanaka
9 Oct 2015

“Walk it off.” When I was growing up, that was my father’s solution for almost every problem: A fight with my younger brother? Go outside. Walk it off. Got a headache or a stomach ache? Walk it off. Nervous about starting a new school? Can’t figure out your homework? Walk it off. Although I didn’t understand it then, this mantra had propelled my father through life and would one day save him and become a life lesson for me.

My Japanese American father, who once stood tall at a stocky 5'8" with broad shoulders and thick ...

food en ja es pt

Nikkei Chronicles #2 — Nikkei+ ~ Stories of Mixed Language, Traditions, Generations & Race ~

Gohan & Good Fortune -- Adopting a New Year and New Traditions

By Jeri Okamoto Tanaka
26 Nov 2013

Akemashita Omedetou.
Xin Nian Kuai Le.
Happy New Year & Auld Lang Syne.

This is how we welcome the new year in our Japanese, Chinese, and Irish American family. I am a third-generation Japanese American Sansei with roots in the Rocky Mountains. My husband’s Irish American forebears journeyed to the Pacific Northwest across the Oregon Trail and he grew up in the Los Angeles San Fernando Valley. Our two daughters are first generation Chinese Americans, who joined our family through international adoption, traveling from China to Southern California cradled in our arms. Over the years, we’ve personalized our Nikkei-plus ...

food en

Nikkei Chronicles #1 — ITADAKIMASU! A Taste of Nikkei Culture

Grandpa Tanaka's Pilgrim Stuffing

By Jeri Okamoto Tanaka
22 Nov 2012

Thanksgiving is the quintessential American holiday, but, as a young Sansei, I didn’t believe there was any connection between my Japanese family and the Mayflower pilgrims who colonized New England.

I grew up in the West in the 1960s and ’70s, often in towns without much diversity, where I didn’t feel very pilgrim-like or “American,” that is, Caucasian. I secretly longed to wear the pilgrim’s black dress and white apron with ringlets under my bonnet. Instead, looking more like Squanto and Pocahontas, I was cast as the noble “Indian” in school pageants—wearing my long hair in ...

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Discover Nikkei

Japanese migrants and their descendants

Jeri Okamoto Tanaka

Nikkei Chronicles #4 — Nikkei Family: Memories, Traditions, and Values

Nikkei Chronicles #2 — Nikkei+ ~ Stories of Mixed Language, Traditions, Generations & Race ~

Nikkei Chronicles #1 — ITADAKIMASU! A Taste of Nikkei Culture

Series this author contributes to

Nikkei Pastry Chef Spreads Yogashi in Brazil

Japanese Christians in the Sawtelle district of Los Angeles

Rosita Urano: A Young Girl Who Lived at the Temixco Hacienda During the War

Nikkei Chronicles #8 — Nikkei Heroes: Trailblazers, Role Models, and Inspirations

My Hero: Kiyoshi Kuwahara

My Name is Neal

Journal Entry #$20 a Ticket: "In 16:9 Aspect Ratio..."

Author Sarah Kuhn on Becoming the (Super)Hero of Your Own Story

George Yamaoka for the Defense: The story of a Transnational Nisei Lawyer and Businessman

Nikkei Serve their Nation in all Wars since the Spanish American War; Filipinos and Chinese Preceded Japanese

Howard Kakudo: Disney Animator Shared His Talents While Imprisoned at Poston Camp

孤独な望郷 ～ フロリダ日系移民森上助次の手紙から

第22回 池は出来た。小魚を放った。

El viaje hacia las raíces de Harumi Suenaga

Cocina Nikkei Joven

Andrés Hamamoto: cocina nikkei al calor de las brasas

インタビュー： 日本町を守る KOBO ビンコ・ビスビーさん

巨大日系移住地イグアスにせまる魔の手 ー 暗躍する「土地なし農民」

Nikkei Heroes: Trailblazers, Role Models, and Inspirations

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My Name is Neal

Journal Entry #$20 a Ticket: "In 16:9 Aspect Ratio..."

Author Sarah Kuhn on Becoming the (Super)Hero of Your Own Story

George Yamaoka for the Defense: The story of a Transnational Nisei Lawyer and Businessman

Nikkei Serve their Nation in all Wars since the Spanish American War; Filipinos and Chinese Preceded Japanese

Howard Kakudo: Disney Animator Shared His Talents While Imprisoned at Poston Camp

Tessaku

Santo Market Owners: Helen Santo

My Name is Neal

Journal Entry #Green Eggs Sold 8 Million: "Reality Bites..."

The Road to the Olympic Games

Giving with Gratitude: The Nisei Student Relocation Commemorative Fund

Silk

Chapter Two—Wheelbarrow Wars

Tessaku

Santo Market Owners: Earl Santo - Part 2

Findings from a small town archive

My Name is Neal

Journal Entry #Average Weight is 15 Pounds: "Mutant Bird..."

The Redundancy of Idiots: Part 2

Japanese Americans and the legacy of Hugh Macbeth

A Japanese Canadian Teenage Exile: The Life History of Kazuko Makihara

Part 3: Exile and Life in Post-War Japan

Silk

Chapter One—Jou Schnell: Keeping House

Ten Little Known Stories About Topaz Concentration Camp - Part 1

A Japanese Canadian Teenage Exile: The Life History of Kazuko Makihara

Part 1: Birth and Childhood until the War

“A Pacific Ocean For The Entire World”—The Panama Canal and Its Nikkei Ties to the Pacific Northwest

Nikkei Uncovered: a poetry column

What spirits whisper...

My Name is Neal

Journal Entry #4 Horsemen of the Holidays: "Stress Time..."

Tessaku

Santo Market Owners: Earl Santo - Part 1

Twelve Nisei Sank with USS Royal T. Frank Torpedoed by Japanese Submarine — Eight Nisei Survivors Also Survived Combat with 100th

A Japanese Canadian Teenage Exile: The Life History of Kazuko Makihara

Part 5: Life and Retirement with Takeshi in Canada

My Name is Neal

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The Way of the Nisei Artist: A Tribute to My Uncle, Hiroshi Kashiwagi

Dysfunction and Sacrifice as Binding Ties

My Name is Neal

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What Happens When Everyone who Experienced an Event is Gone?

My Name is Neal

Journal Entry # $45 on Average for a Get-up: "Costuming..."

Counteracting 'Invisibility' Within the JA Community

Nikkei Chronicles #8 — Nikkei Heroes: Trailblazers, Role Models, and Inspirations

孤独な望郷～フロリダ日系移民森上助次の手紙から

第22回池は出来た。小魚を放った。

インタビュー：日本町を守る KOBO ビンコ・ビスビーさん

巨大日系移住地イグアスにせまる魔の手ー暗躍する「土地なし農民」