I grew up a dual national. I was born in Japan but my mother is an American citizen so she reported my birth abroad (see also: Wikipedia). The United States uses the jus sanguinis—meaning “right of blood”—principle to determine nationality so because my mother was a US citizen, she could …
Today [May 10, 2014] was the third annual Sakura Matsuri at Brookline High School. For the past two years, The Genki Spark and the Brookline High School Japanese Program have presented this small community-oriented matsuri at the high school. The first year it was two hours long. Last year Karen …
I've been meaning to write something to answer Define American's call for stories. In light of founder Jose Antonio Vargas's arrest yesterday (on July 15, 2414) I thought now would be a good time. Jose was detained by the US government when he tried to board a flight to California at …
So, I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I’ve paid virtually no attention to the immigration debate because I didn’t think it had anything to do with me. My mom’s parents emigrated from Okinawa to Hawaii before it was even a state, but they did so legally. My dad also …
Since today (October 11, 2013) is National Coming Out Day, I thought I’d take a page from the MTPC “I Am” project and share with you that not only am I Japanese-Okinawan-American, a lover of noodles & sweets, an avid crafter, and obsessed with purple—I’m also bisexual.
I’m catching up on Hawaii Five-0 and just watched James Saito’s masterful performance in Ho'onani Makuakane, where he plays a former internee of the Honouliuli Internment Camp. I was surprised to see that the show had decided to take on this topic for the 72nd anniversary of Pearl Harbor (which …
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