Guy Aoki
Guy Aoki was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, and graduated from Occidental College in Los Angeles. A pop music critic, he worked as a Los Angeles Times reporter, was a researcher and mixing producer for Casey Kasem’s “American Top 40,” and for 17 years wrote syndicated pop music radio shows for Dick Clark including “The U.S. Music Survey.” Between 1992 and 2017, the Yonsei co-wrote the Rafu Shimpo's “Into the Next Stage,” the longest-running column focusing on Asian Americans and the media. In 1992, he co-founded Media Action Network for Asian American (MANAA), the first Asian American watchdog organization.
Updated February 2024
Stories from This Author
Alan Nishio—The Fighter Who Kept Defying the Odds
Feb. 26, 2024 • Guy Aoki
The first time I realized Alan Nishio’s health was in decline was on November 19, 2022 when I attended the funeral of beloved NCRR co-founder Jim Matsuoka in Whittier. According to those gathered, Alan had “vowed” he would be there to pay tribute to his colleague, with whom he worked at Cal State Long Beach for some 30 years. But Alan had suffered a health setback and had to remain at home. We used to laugh whenever he and Jim …
Marvel Comics’ New Editor-in-Chief Once Pretended to be Japanese
Dec. 29, 2017 • Guy Aoki
OK, now I’ve heard everything. It’s enough that for the past few years, we’ve had to grit our teeth over white and black actors playing characters originally written as Asian in movies: Emma Stone as Allison Ng in “Aloha,” Scarlet Johansson as Motoko Kusanagi in “Ghost in the Shell,” Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One in “Dr. Strange,” Chiwetel Ejiofor as Venkat Kapoor and Mackenzie Davis as Mindy Park in “The Martian.” (Can I stop now? I want to throw …
