Elaine Ikoma Ko
Elaine Ikoma Ko is the former Executive Director of the Hokubei Hochi Foundation, a nonprofit that helps The North American Post, Seattle’s Japanese community newspaper. She is a member of the U.S.-Japan Council, an alumnus of the Japanese American Leadership Delegation (JALD) to Japan, and leads spring and autumn group tours to Japan.
Updated April 2021
Stories from This Author
Bruce Miyahara — “OG-San” Marries Food Passion with Service — Part 2
Aug. 3, 2023 • Elaine Ikoma Ko
Read Part 1 >> Decades later, can you tell us how you made a seemingly radical move into food interests and cooking? I’ve always enjoyed cooking and food! Even in Boy Scouts, with the Seattle Buddhist Church Troop 252, I loved cooking on camping trips. It was pretty simple stuff… “Minute Rice,” shoyu (soy sauce)-and-sugar hot dogs, and canned tuna fish! At one point, I wanted to get more serious about cooking. One day, my wife Dana noticed that chef …
Bruce Miyahara — “OG-San” Marries Food Passion with Service — Part 1
Aug. 2, 2023 • Elaine Ikoma Ko
Seattle’s Bruce Miyahara has reignited a new passion in his retirement when most people ride off into the sunset. Bruce’s Seattle roots have taken him from being the first director of the International District Community Health Center to, decades later, becoming a passionate volunteer cook at Seattle’s Kamonegi restaurant. Today, he has inspired a pay-it-forward “Rice for All Collective” project to help community elders secure healthy Asian-inspired meals. The “OG-San,” his social media moniker, is from “ojiisan,” which in Japanese, …
Mercedes Luna: Thriving Within Her Rich Heritage - Part 2
Jan. 31, 2023 • Elaine Ikoma Ko
Read Part 1 >> Your father passed away in 2011 and left a huge legacy. Tell us about him. My father, Douglas Luna, grew up an Army brat, moving constantly due to his stepfather’s military career. Dad lived in 13 different places, eventually returning to Seattle to complete his education at Franklin High School before deciding to enlist in the Air Force and serve in Vietnam. When he came back, he had seen so many of his friends perish or …
Mercedes Luna: Thriving Within Her Rich Heritage - Part 1
Jan. 30, 2023 • Elaine Ikoma Ko
Mercedes Luna has come full circle, returning to work for the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience, which she visited as a child with her father. Her example shows how a young person can proudly embrace and thrive in a rich cultural heritage. * * * * * Let’s learn a bit about your heritage — your maternal side is Japanese and your paternal side is primarily Filipino and Native American. Yes, I am fourth-generation Japanese American (Yonsei) …
J. Kenji López-Alt: Seattle's Famous Japanese American Cooking Star — Part 2
Oct. 11, 2022 • Elaine Ikoma Ko
Read Part 1 >> Over the years, you really delved into the science behind cooking as in your two cookbooks— is that due to you and your family’s scientific background? Has that been a perfect confluence of your two passions – science and cooking? Whenever we had family dinners, with my dad being a geneticist and my grandfather being a chemist, where both of them were there, the conversation would be all about science. I became familiar with the language …
J. Kenji López-Alt: Seattle's Famous Japanese American Cooking Star — Part 1
Oct. 10, 2022 • Elaine Ikoma Ko
James “Kenji” López-Alt, Japanese American chef and expert food writer, is arguably the world’s most famous celebrity food influencer. Born in Boston and now living in Seattle, Kenji’s rise to fame has its own story and currently, his social media presence is second to none — his YouTube channel has 1.2M subscribers (more than the New York Times [NYT] cooking channel) and nearly 500K followers on Instagram (@kenjilopezalt). He has published three NYT best-selling books: The Food Lab — Better Home Cooking …
Jan Johnson of Japantown's Panama Hotel: "Saving History Saves the Future" - Part 2
May 17, 2022 • Elaine Ikoma Ko
Read Part 1 >> Q: How did you come to buy the Panama Hotel? One day, Mr. Hori informed me that he was planning to sell the hotel. My immediate reaction was sadness when thinking about how those trunks could be lost and recalling how the old Japantown at one time had everything one needed within just a few blocks. History was being lost. So I asked him, “How much are you selling the building for?” He looked at me and …
Jan Johnson of Japantown's Panama Hotel: "Saving History Saves the Future" - Part 1
May 16, 2022 • Elaine Ikoma Ko
Jan Johnson is a well-known name, not just in Seattle but throughout the world. She has welcomed thousands of visitors to the historic Panama Hotel and Tea House in Seattle’s Nihonmachi (Japantown) over the past nearly four decades. On any given day, you can see Jan fixing something in the boiler room, putting a new washer in a sink faucet, running up and down the stairs with a huge bundle of keys jangling from her waist (she knows exactly which …
Terry Takeuchi of Terry’s Kitchen: For the Love of Food and Community - Part 2
April 11, 2022 • Elaine Ikoma Ko
Read Part 1 >> How has your restaurant become more than just a place to eat? How has the location in Bellevue been a plus? From the beginning, we had great support from the local Asian community, family, and friends. Strong neighborhood support soon followed. Being located in the south Bellevue Newport Hills neighborhood has been an advantage for us since we are easily accessible via the I-90 and I-405 freeways, with a customer base from Seattle, Renton and the …
Terry Takeuchi of Terry’s Kitchen: For the Love of Food and Community - Part 1
April 10, 2022 • Elaine Ikoma Ko
Terry Takeuchi is the owner and self-described “homeboy cook” at one of the most beloved Bellevue restaurants, Terry’s Kitchen. While he is the nightly chef in the kitchen, he never misses the opportunity to personally welcome guests at his restaurant, which is a second home for many. Having weathered the pandemic for the past two years, thanks to tremendous community love for him and his “home comfort food,” he hopes to be with us for a very long time. * …
