Tamiko Nimura
@tnimuraTamiko 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). She is working on a memoir called PILGRIMAGE.
Updated November 2020
Stories from This Author
A Seasonal Guide to Seattle/Tacoma Area Japanese American Events
Jan. 10, 2019 • Tamiko Nimura
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 …
The Artist’s Memory: Soichi Sunami and Japanese American Photography
Dec. 11, 2018 • Tamiko Nimura
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 …
Notes from a Hallway: Learning from the History of the Tacoma Buddhist Temple
Nov. 16, 2018 • Tamiko Nimura
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 …
On "Giving Back"
Oct. 16, 2018 • Tamiko Nimura
On October 7th, I was asked to share a story on “what inspires me to give back” to a public event hosted by WILLO (Women’s Intergenerational Living Legacy Organization). WILLO is a Tacoma nonprofit organization devoted to sharing stories across generations and cultures, hoping to inspire the next generation of girls and women. Their events are free and occur once or twice each year. This essay is an adapted version of my talk. It’s 2014 and I am walking up …
A Cup of Water: JA Generations and Practicing Sansei Hope From The Middle
Sept. 4, 2018 • Tamiko Nimura
My car radio, usually turned to a news station, has been tuned to a classical music station for months. I don’t avoid the news, but I have had to figure out when to listen to the news, and to protect myself carefully. For the first time in my life—and I know I am fortunate here—I’ve had multiple physical panic attacks since the last presidential inauguration. I think back to November 2016, seeing camp history revisited on current news and feeling …
On “Family Separation” in 2018: One Sansei Atlas of Displacement and Mass Incarceration
Aug. 21, 2018 • Tamiko Nimura
As a Sansei, I've been exploring the issue of “family separation,” given the multiple ways that families are being separated due to unjust border policy, travel bans, and mass incarceration. I'm currently writing a family memoir that responds to (and includes passages from) my Nisei father’s unpublished memoir of his wartime imprisonment in Tule Lake. The following is a draft from one of the sections of the memoir. * * * * * 1. I Go Back To My Grandfather, …
What We Save, How We Save, How We Love: On Family and Community Archives
June 26, 2018 • Tamiko Nimura
I’ve been thinking about what we save. I’ve been looking through one of my oldest auntie’s scrapbooks. Because I know that it will also fall apart eventually, I asked Densho to digitize what would be useful for others historically, so you too can see some of the scrapbook pages here. Like many Nisei women, she kept a scrapbook of mementoes of her life. Not scrapbooks so much as we know them now, with a million accessories and special papers and …
Digging into Japanese American Farming History on Vashon Island, Washington
May 7, 2018 • Tamiko Nimura
Like many Sansei, I have agricultural roots. My father’s family worked as sharecroppers during the Depression. My aunties have told stories of harvest time, of the youngest auntie running away to read a book in the orchards. As for me, I grew up in California’s Central Valley and have been spoiled by an abundance of fresh produce for most of my life. Boxes of Satsuma mandarins each November. Flats of yellow and white peaches, baskets of strawberries just minutes from …
Beyond the Panama Hotel: More Sites Related to Japanese American History in Washington State
April 11, 2018 • Tamiko Nimura
In the Pacific Northwest, there are a couple of famous sites related to Japanese American history, such as Seattle’s Panama Hotel (made famous by Jamie Ford’s novel Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet), where Japanese Americans stored their belongings during their mass incarceration. Locals from Seattle may know about the Aki Sogabe murals in Pike Place Market, a tribute to the Japanese American farmers of the state. And then there is Bainbridge Island’s beautiful National Parks monument, Nidoto …
Objects Waiting to Speak: Starting to Tell the Japanese American History of Fife, Washington
March 20, 2018 • Tamiko Nimura
The Fife History Museum is a converted midcentury home, awaiting its next stage of storytelling—but it’s a place filled with objects waiting to speak. “I had no idea just how big the Japanese community of Fife-Auburn-Kent was until I began working for the historical society,” says Julie Watts, the museum’s director. “I look at our Japanese artifacts and files and think, ‘I have got to figure out how to transform what we have into compelling, emotional stories that will enlighten the …
