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
Larry Matsuda, A Masterful Life - Part 1
April 18, 2021 • Elaine Ikoma Ko
Larry Matsuda, higher education Ph.D. Racial/social-justice activist leader. Accomplished educator. Award-winning author, poet, and more. This writer was intrigued to explore what is so unique about Dr. Larry to have accomplished so much and in such diverse arenas. These interviews seek to capture key experiences that molded his life: being born in Minidoka internment camp during World War II, growing up with his family’s post-incarceration trauma, and his indefatigable efforts to bust through the many racial barriers of the 1960’s …
Mika Kurose Rothman: Perspectives from a Third Generation of Family Activists
March 31, 2021 • Elaine Ikoma Ko
This is the second article of a two-part interview series. The first part was with Ruthann Kurose (Sept. 11 issue of The North American Post). Today, we continue with Ruthann’s daughter, Mika Kurose Rothman. I first met a very young Mika through her mother. Mika was aware at an early age of the examples of community service and activism set by her grandparents, Aki and “Junx” (Junelow) Kurose, and their six children (Hugo, Guy, Ruthann, Roland, Paul, and Marie). In …
‘No Borders, No Boundaries’ for Seattle Designer Travis Suzaka
March 17, 2021 • Elaine Ikoma Ko
For those who know the Seattle native and designer, Travis Suzaka possesses a gentle personality which belies his inner drive to not let any barriers or borders keep him from his quest for exploration and learning. Travis, a Yonsei, has lived in Japan, in New York, and now in Paris, in his continuing journey. Travis has experienced more in his young lifetime than most people his age, and while he has many new adventures awaiting him, he has never veered …
Michelle Kumata, A Japanese-American Artist with Brazilian Ancestral Roots
Nov. 23, 2020 • Elaine Ikoma Ko
Seattle native Michelle Kumata’s artistic journey has taken her across the country to New York and across the hemisphere to Brazil, not only to discover her identity and legacy but to express it through her work. By exploring her family’s Japanese-Brazilian (JB) roots, she shares her story of how, through oral histories and visual art, she has established a legacy for future generations of her family. A shy, only child growing up, Michelle has become an accomplished artist whose work …
Ruthann Kurose on Her Parents’ Legacy - Part 2
Oct. 30, 2020 • Elaine Ikoma Ko
Read Part 1 >> How did your parents’ activism impact you, your siblings, and entire family? For example, your brother Guy was very influential in helping at-risk youth up until his untimely passing. Our parents set examples for us between my father’s acts of compassion, in his personal relationships, and my mother’s community work as a teacher and civil rights activist. Guy followed my mother’s example of working with young people. He spent years counseling at-risk youth, some of whom …
Ruthann Kurose on Her Parents’ Legacy - Part 1
Oct. 29, 2020 • Elaine Ikoma Ko
In Seattle, the Kurose family name is both legendary and synonymous with peace, activism, and community service. While the family has produced three generations of community activists, they have also experienced more than their share of personal tragedies: losing a family member during World War II, the wartime incarceration of parents Aki and “Junx” [Junelow], and losing three children—Hugo, Roland, and Guy—to cancer. Yet, we bear witness to the first Seattle public school to be named after an Asian-American woman, …
