Gil Asakawa
@gilasakawaGil Asakawa escreve sobre cultura pop e política a partir de uma perspectiva asiático-americana e nipo-americana em seu blog, www.nikkeiview.com. Ele e seu sócio também fundaram o www.visualizAsian.com, em que conduzem entrevistas ao vivo com notáveis asiático-americanos das Ilhas do Pacífico. É o autor de Being Japanese American (Stone Bridge Press, 2004) e trabalhou na presidência do conselho editorial do Pacific Citizen por sete anos como membro do conselho nacional JACL.
Atualizado em novembro de 2009
Stories from This Author
Os alunos que protestam pelo currículo de história do ensino médio também estão lutando pelos JAs
22 de Dezembro de 2014 • Gil Asakawa
Cresci como parte de uma geração que encontrou a nossa voz colectiva em protesto, pelos direitos civis dos afro-americanos, contra a guerra no Vietname, e para defender os direitos das mulheres e LGBT e os estudos asiático-americanos. Os estudantes universitários têm estado na vanguarda de muitos desses movimentos sociais. O Comitê de Coordenação Estudantil Não-Violenta foi uma pedra angular do movimento pelos direitos civis. Estudantes universitários lideraram o movimento pela liberdade de expressão na Universidade da Califórnia em Berkeley, e …
Se você tem essas coisas, você deve ser JA
10 de Dezembro de 2014 • Gil Asakawa
Todos os nipo-americanos que conheço têm diversas maneiras de mostrar suas raízes culturais. Pode não ser evidente quando você os conhece, mas os sinais estão aí, em suas casas. Quando eu era criança e morava no Japão, nunca me ocorreu que as coisas em nossa casa eram... bem, japonesas. E quando nos mudamos para os EUA, levamos muitas coisas conosco: biombos, pequenas obras de arte, bonecas, louças, cerâmicas, pauzinhos e utensílios de cozinha e muito mais. Depois que nos mudamos …
Growing Up with Stinky, Slimy, Altogether Wonderful Japanese Food
9 de Julho de 2014 • Gil Asakawa
I’m a foodie. Everyone knows this. I write about food, I take photos of food everywhere I dine, I love to cook, and I love food from everywhere. One of my personal rules has always been if someone, somewhere in the world eats it, I’m willing to try it…at least once. So I’ve had chocolate covered ants. Fried grubs. The meat of some strange animals that you wouldn’t think humans ought to eat, like rattlesnake brats. In a way, I …
Godzilla, the world’s most famous Japanese American
13 de Junho de 2014 • Gil Asakawa
Although Hollywood has been making monster movies since the original 1933 King Kong, the monster with the most staying power and screen incarnations didn’t come out of California, but from Tokyo. Godzilla is back with another cinematic reboot produced by Hollywood featuring the usual array of mega-special effects, including a digitized monster instead of a man in a monster suit. Whether costumed or computer-generated, Godzilla is the most famous Japanese American in the world. He’s starred in 28 movies, stomping …
Why Asian Americans hate hearing “Where are you from?”
11 de Abril de 2014 • Gil Asakawa
This has been a good week for sometimes contentious but bracing conversations on Facebook. The latest one started when I posted a link to an excellent Forbes article by Ruchika Tulshyan titled “‘Where Are You From?’ And Other Big Networking Racial Faux Pas” The article raises the oft-aired complaint by Asian Americans that asking “Where are you from?” (sometimes linked to the even more irritating “You speak English so well…”) is a social, racial no-no. I certainly can’t argue with …
When JAs say “camp” they’re not talking about summer camp
17 de Março de 2014 • Gil Asakawa
It’s a rite of greeting among older Japanese Americans. I’ve seen it happen over and over—one JA is introduced to another, and if they’re old enough, the first question they ask of each other is, “what camp were you at?” We all know that “camp” in the context of Japanese Americans has nothing to do with summer camp. These people are not being nostalgic about singing “Kumbaya” around the campfire, hopping along in potato sack races (maybe it would be …
Seeing “Snow Falling on Cedars” on Pearl Harbor Day underscored its message
19 de Fevereiro de 2014 • Gil Asakawa
Many Japanese Americans who’ve grown up since World War II—myself included—dreaded December 7 every year. As kids (and sometimes as adults) we’ve been taunted with hateful calls to “Go home, Jap!,” “Go back where you came from!,” and the classic, “Remember Pearl Harbor!” As if we could forget. The war happened decades ago, and as Japanese Americans we had nothing to do with the attack on the U.S. military on Hawaii that sparked America’s entry into WWII. Hell, today, most …
Nagomi Visit introduces Japanese culture to visitors through home-cooked meals
29 de Janeiro de 2014 • Gil Asakawa
There’s no getting around it: one of the most reliable ways to generate international friendship and cultural understanding is through the stomach. Diversity in dining is a reflection of an evolving society. Just think of a typical American culinary palette of the 1950s: Pot roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, spinach boiled to drab green mush, creamed corn. Your plate was all white and tan, with maybe a green highlight or two (it helped if you had an iceberg lettuce salad on …
The Ai Kuwabara Trio Project brought a delicious taste of Japanese jazz to Denver
6 de Janeiro de 2014 • Gil Asakawa
We recently were privileged to enjoy a concert of contemporary jazz by a vibrant young group from Japan, the Ai Kuwabara Trio Project. Simply put, the combo rocked the joint at the King Center for the Performing Arts at the Auraria campus. The auditorium was full for the free performance, and I bet everyone there were blown away. Pianist Kuwabara is impossibly young for such an astonishingly assured and accomplished musician and composer. She’s a mere 23 years old, but …
“Hawaii Five-0” airs powerful episode about Pearl Harbor & imprisonment of Japanese Americans during WWII
13 de Dezembro de 2013 • Gil Asakawa
We’re fans of the CBS series “Hawaii Five-0” for lots of reasons, including the fact that it’s a showcase for Asian and Pacific Islander actors such as Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park, and the entertaining “bromance” relationship between Steve McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin) and Danny “Danno” Williams (Scott Caan). I always loved the original series that ran from 1968-1980, and think it’s great that this reboot uses pretty much the same arrangement for the theme song, and even uses quick-cut …
