Cathy Haruka Uechi
@haruka08Cathy Uechi is a volunteer at the Japanese American National Museum and a contributing writer for Discover Nikkei. She is a Nisei, born in Boyle Heights and raised in the Valley, to parents who hailed from Okinawa. She enjoys exploring LA’s food scene whether it be the latest hotspot or a “mom and pop” establishment off the beaten path. Cathy is a graduate of the University of California, Irvine.
Updated September 2014
Stories from This Author
The Journey to Discovery
Oct. 16, 2015 • Cathy Haruka Uechi
Melinda Yamane Crawford has forged a path to merge her personal endeavors of family discovery while helping others do the same. As a member of the Santa Barbara County Genealogical Society, Melinda had the resources, insight, and passion to co-found the Nikkei Genealogical Society specifically for the Japanese American community. Like all immigrant stories, the Nikkei experience is varied in rich but complicated history. It’s akin to putting together a large puzzle with pieces representing timelines, geography, marriages, births, social …
Random Awesomeness Brought to You by Random Ninjas!
Aug. 7, 2015 • Cathy Haruka Uechi
Ninjas? Check! Fetching tunes? Check! Insanely talented musicians? Check! Taiko drums? Why not? So goes the story of Random Ninjas, an LA-based band that plays a mixed bag of pop, jazz, metal, and rock music. The fusion is anything but normal, but oh so captivating. With their whimsical lyrics and delightfully unconventional blend of instruments, the end result is pure entertainment. The taiko drums, a keytar, and stellar vocals all help to increase the cool factor. The band represents the …
Taste of Okinawa
July 1, 2015 • Cathy Haruka Uechi
Crackle! The sound of deep-frying on the stovetop fills the house as my mom prepares her authentic andagi, our family’s favorite snack. Andagi is basically an Okinawan donut: flour, sugar, and eggs. They’re deep-fried to a golden crisp and doughy on the inside with just the right amount of sweetness—not too much, not too little, just perfect. My childhood is full of fond memories of my mom standing by the stove making andagi, or as my family called them, sata …
Honor and Sacrifice: Revealing Roy Matsumoto’s Story
April 24, 2015 • Cathy Haruka Uechi
Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. They are found in our local communities, schools, and workplaces. And sometimes their stories make it to the six o’clock news while others remain under a blanket of anonymity and secrecy, buried from public knowledge. Roy Matsumoto’s story was hidden under such a blanket for 50 years as ordered by the U.S. government. Now, Roy’s secret missions as a World War II soldier and linguist in the U.S. Army’s Military Intelligence Service (MIS) …
Film: Reiko's Hina Dolls
Feb. 27, 2015 • Cathy Haruka Uechi
“It’s 1935. A Japanese family making their start in Canada receives a special gift from the country they left behind—a beautiful set of Hina dolls.” And so begins Reiko’s Hina Dolls, written and directed by Komaki Matsui. Matsui, who was born and raised in Aichi prefecture in Japan, began her career as a writer. She landed a position as a magazine editor soon after graduating from university in Japan. It was during this time that Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine …
Internment: A Passion Project
Jan. 22, 2015 • Cathy Haruka Uechi
There is a script floating around Hollywood with Japanese Americans as central characters and the desolate landscape of an American concentration camp as the setting. Much has been documented about the wrongful incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 forcing all Japanese Americans to forcibly removed from their homes on the West Coast. Now, thanks to playwright, screenwriter, and actor Phinneas Kiyomura, a captivating look into the day-to-day challenges of …
City Girls: The Nisei Social World in Los Angeles, 1920-1950
Sept. 17, 2014 • Cathy Haruka Uechi
In City Girls: The Nisei Social World in Los Angeles, 1920-1950, author Professor Valerie Matsumoto has opened a time capsule in the vaults of American history, zeroing in on the lives of Nisei women in Los Angeles and their exploits of club and community involvements spanning three decades—prewar, World War II, and postwar. City Girls chronicles the Nisei women’s roles as “markers of family respectability” and visible community representatives during a time replete with pervasive social and economic barriers. The …
Maceo: East Beats Meets West
Aug. 5, 2014 • Cathy Haruka Uechi
Maceo Hernandez is aptly nicknamed, “The Demon Drummer of East LA.” His story is one of identity, perseverance, and the blending of two cultures, while the heart-pounding beats of the taiko drum take center stage. Born in East LA to an activist mother, Barbara Hernandez, Maceo had a chance encounter with taiko drums at a wedding reception. Barbara, an activist during the Chicano Civil Rights Movement, was a friend of Japanese American activist, Yuri Mary Kochiyama. It was at Yuri’s …
