Tamiko Nimura

tnimura

Tamiko Nimura is an Asian American writer living in Tacoma, Washington. Her training in literature and American ethnic studies (MA, PhD, University of Washington) prepared her to research, document, and tell the stories of people of color. She has been writing for Discover Nikkei since 2008.

Tamiko just published her first book, Rosa Franklin: A Life in Health Care, Public Service, and Social Justice (Washington State Legislature Oral History Program, 2020). Her second book is a co-written graphic novel, titled We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration (Chin Music Press/Wing Luke Asian Museum, forthcoming February 9, 2021). She is working on a memoir called PILGRIMAGE.

Updated November 2020

identity en

For a Sister Getting Married: Senbazuru—1000 Cranes

By Tamiko Nimura
28 Jun 2013

“What are those?”

I’m staying overnight with my daughter and her friends on a field trip. My daughter’s best friend is looking at the ziploc bag of paper, sitting on the hotel bedside table.

“They’re origami cranes. You remember the story of Sadako that you read in your class this year? If you fold a thousand, you get a wish?”

“Yeah. Can I look at one?” When I nod she takes one out of the bag, carefully. “They’re cool.”

“I’m trying to fold a thousand for my sister’s wedding. It’s a Japanese American ...

food en ja es pt

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

My Log Cabin Sukiyaki Song*

By Tamiko Nimura
16 Oct 2012

1.

The comment on my blog begins, “I have found you and your sister at last.” The commenter describes herself as a childhood/young-adulthood friend of my dad’s. As far as I know, we’ve never met. But she knows my sister’s and my name, two fairly unusual names even in Japanese America. She knows that I grew up in Roseville, California. She says that she has memories of my father that she wants to share with me.

I’m slightly creeped out at first. I run through my mental Rolodex of names from my childhood: so many ...

identity en

Why Ichiro’s Departure Makes This Nikkei Girl Sad

By Tamiko Nimura
2 Aug 2012

We arrived in Seattle at about the same time, and we’re the same age. We’ve both got family ties to Japan. When he arrived, he made just about as much as I did—that is, if you didn’t count the word “million” in his salary and “hundred” in mine.

But none of this explains why Ichiro Suzuki’s sudden departure from the Mariners has hit me this hard.

*****

When I arrived in Seattle in the late 1990s, I was scared, and excited, and living all by myself for the first time. I’d moved from the San ...

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Discover Nikkei

Japanese migrants and their descendants

Tamiko Nimura

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

Series this author contributes to

Nikkei Chronicles #9—More Than a Game: Nikkei Sports

60th Anniversary: Close to the Heart

Everyone is half and double

The ins and outs of redress

Kizuna 2020: Nikkei Kindness and Solidarity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Waves of Pandemics and the Prewar Japanese Canadian Community

Writing We Hereby Refuse: 3 Things I Learned about Resistance

Toyokichi Iyenaga: Japanese Publicist in Chicago - Part 3

Tessaku

Mary Iwami - Part 2

My Name is Neal

Journal Entry #Super Hair Pro 5000: "Trimming My Vanity..."

Canadian Nikkei Artist

Miya Turnbull: The Face Behind the Mask - Part 2

一世の記録を拾い集めた男 ～加藤新一の足跡をたどって～

第８回 広島の親族は？

デカセギ・ストーリー

第三十六話 マサトシの再出発

一世の記録を拾い集めた男 ～加藤新一の足跡をたどって～

第７回 81歳で故郷広島に永眠

Ikeda, la buena familia

紆余曲折の末、リージョナル航空の機長になった藤田尚弥さん

Episode 3

Kizuna 2020: Nikkei Kindness and Solidarity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Writing We Hereby Refuse: 3 Things I Learned about Resistance

Toyokichi Iyenaga: Japanese Publicist in Chicago - Part 3

Tessaku

Mary Iwami - Part 2

My Name is Neal

Journal Entry #Super Hair Pro 5000: "Trimming My Vanity..."

Canadian Nikkei Artist

Miya Turnbull: The Face Behind the Mask - Part 2

Canadian Nikkei Artist

Miya Turnbull: The Face Behind the Mask - Part 1

Quiet Warriors

Chapter 3: Edie Horikawa

Songs of Memories of a Caregiver—A House Where the Memories of a Canadian Japanese Family Lived

Toyokichi Iyenaga: Japanese Publicist in Chicago - Part 2

Tessaku

Mary Iwami - Part 1

My Name is Neal

Journal Entry #Take 1 Dose, 20cc: "Even More Protection..."

Sacramento Area Man Goes from Concentration Camp to Role in Monument Preserving History

How fair is “Fair Enough?” Westbrook Pegler and Japanese Americans - Part 2

San Francisco J-Town’s redevelopment-era transformation

Ten Days of Cleanup

Chapter Three—The Curse of Mottainai II

From Vancouver's Powell St. to Toronto: Kay Mende’s Remarkable Life

Part 4: Life in Lemon Creek Internment Camp

Mari Sabusawa: Champion of Civil Rights

My Name is Neal

Journal Entry #Uncertain Since 1927: "I be Confused..."

One of Berkeley’s Finest: Harvey Itano and his work on Sickle Cell Anemia

Kizuna 2020: Nikkei Kindness and Solidarity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Oshogatsu—Remembering Grandpa Sonny

Inmates’ historical narratives for the layperson

Foujita Discovers the Americas: An Artist's Tour - Part 1

Executive Order 9066 and the Persecution of Japanese Immigrants in Latin America

Toyokichi Iyenaga: Japanese Publicist in Chicago - Part 1

How fair is “Fair Enough?” Westbrook Pegler and Japanese Americans - Part 1

From Vancouver's Powell St. to Toronto: Kay Mende’s Remarkable Life

Part 5: Establishing a JC Community in Toronto

Hey, Did You Call Me a Nikkei?! - Part 2

My Name is Neal

Journal Entry #535 Bipolar People: "Pessimists Plan..."

Quiet Warriors

Chapter 1: Richard Naito

The Commodification of Asian Americans

Kiku Hughes’ graphic novel Displacement addresses the intergenerational trauma of Japanese American incarceration through a story of time travel

Legacy of Vancouver Asahi revived in the life of players and their descendants

From Vancouver's Powell St. to Toronto: Kay Mende’s Remarkable Life

一世の記録を拾い集めた男～加藤新一の足跡をたどって～

第８回広島の親族は？

第三十六話　マサトシの再出発

一世の記録を拾い集めた男～加藤新一の足跡をたどって～