Momo Yashima
Momo was born in New York City. Her family moved to Los Angeles when she was 5. Her parents, artists Mitsu and Taro Yashima wrote award winning childrens books (3-time winner of Caldecott Honors) and her brother was the award winning actor, Mako.
After attending Cal State University at Los Angeles and dancing at the University of Southern California, Momo returned to New York to study acting at the neighborhood Playhouse under the direction of Sanford Meisner. She toured the South doing dinner theater, before returning to Los Angeles. She worked with the Music Center’s Improvisational Theater Project, headed by Gordon Davidson, and East West Players, doing over 25 shows. She recently worked with NY’s Pan Asian Repertory Company and LA’s downtown Company of Angels. Although Momo works from time to time in Hollywood, the work with the Resisters has been a 6 year project that has brought her the most satisfaction and joy. Due to this, Momo plans to continue making educational films on Japanese America.
P.S. Momo is the only one in her family who never won ANY awards.
Updated July 2012
Stories from This Author
MOMO: In Her Own Words
July 6, 2012 • Momo Yashima
I’ve never done anything like making a documentary but somehow I was able to visualize things in my head, capture it on film, and figure out how to edit it. I could see what I wanted—maybe because I had grown up with artwork all around me at home; maybe because I was invited to watch dailies with John Korty, the director of Farewell to Manzanar, while working on the film. The subject of the camps made me angry. In my …
