Junko Yoshida
Born and raised in Tokyo, Junko Yoshida studied law at Hosei University and moved to America. After graduating from California State University, Chico, with a degree from the Department of Communication Arts & Science, she started working at the Rafu Shimpo. As an editor, she has been reporting and writing about culture, art, and entertainment within the Nikkei society in Southern California, Japan-U.S. relations, as well as political news in Los Angeles, California.
Updated April 2018
Stories from This Author
Wakamatsu Colony - Part 5: The Ending of Sakichi’s Journey
March 23, 2022 • Junko Yoshida
Read Part 4 >> Sakichi Yanagisawa, formerly of the Wakamatsu Colony, returned to Japan in 1902 and started to teach Western cooking at Japan Women’s University. According to the Naruse Memorial Museum at the university, he started working there as a contract teacher in September 1903 and probably retired in 1905. Yone was teaching English at the university at the same time, and the school bulletin confirms the two of them were there. Sakichi also wrote a book titled Nouji …
Wakamatsu Colony - Part 4: The Daughter Who Inherited the Pioneer Spirit
March 2, 2022 • Junko Yoshida
Read Part 3 >> “I finally found him!” Kanako Yamaguchi, Sakichi Yanagisawa’s great-great-granddaughter, recalls her shock when she found photos of Sakichi. “I almost had given up hope of finding photos,” she said. In Kanako’s eyes, Sakichi had a gentle demeanor. And she saw for the first time that Sakichi’s daughter, Yone, was beautiful. Yone Yanagisawa was the first Japanese woman to graduate from the University of California (now UC Berkeley). According to her koseki, resume, and other documents discovered this time, …
Wakamatsu Colony - Part 3: Japanese Pioneer Woman Nami and the Sad Fate That Awaited Her
Feb. 16, 2022 • Junko Yoshida
Read Part 2 >> In past Japanese American historical documents, Nami is only mentioned as Sakichi Yanagisawa’s wife. But she had her own story, and above all, she was one of the pioneer women of early Japanese immigration in North America. An 1869 document provided by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists a group of travelers who were issued passports and are believed to be the Wakamatsu colonists. Among the group, there is Nami’s name. A Nichibei Shinbun article published …
Wakamatsu Colony - Part 2: Sakichi Yanagisawa’s Dream of California
Jan. 31, 2022 • Junko Yoshida
Read Part 1 >> According to Sakichi Yanagisawa’s family koseki, he was born on July 13, 1848. His domicile was Sakamoto Town, Usui County, Gunma Prefecture. He was probably at Wakamatsu Colony from the age of 20 to 21. In A History of Yokohama City, he is listed as the son of Iseya Cyozo of Minami Shinagawa. A Nichibei Shinbun article, published June 24, 1934, includes an interview with Yone in which she tells how Sakichi joined Schnell’s group and …
Wakamatsu Colony - Part 1: New Discoveries - Sakichi Yanagisawa, a Wakamatsu Colonist
Jan. 12, 2022 • Junko Yoshida
“Come to think of it, it is quite a magnificent gravestone…” Kanako Yamaguchi, a resident of Tokyo, wondered about the size of her ancestor’s gravestone when she attended her grandmother’s funeral in 2004. She went home and searched the Internet for the name carved on the tombstone, “Sakichi Yanagisawa.” Eventually, details slowly emerged of a family ancestor and a pioneer of early Japanese immigration to the U.S. Sakichi Yanagisawa was one of the settlers at the Wakamatsu Colony, the first …
"We will never forget your kindness": 70 years after Governor Carr's death, people who stood up for Japanese Americans - Part 4
Feb. 10, 2020 • Junko Yoshida
Read Part 3 >> Mary McCumber: The Neighbor Who Saved Her Home Lester Ouchida, a third-generation Japanese-American living in Florin, was one of the people who was helped by non-Japanese Americans during the war. During the war, the Ouchida family was sent to an internment camp, but thanks to their neighbors who looked after their house, it was left untouched when they returned, and they were able to resume their normal lives. "We were blessed with good neighbors and we …
"We will never forget your kindness": 70 years after Governor Carr's death, people who stood up for Japanese Americans - Part 3
Feb. 3, 2020 • Junko Yoshida
Read Part 2 >> Japanese residents who were helped and heartfelt exchanges Due to the wartime eviction orders, many Japanese residents lost everything they had worked so hard to build, including their homes, land, and jobs. Some non-Japanese Americans volunteered to manage their homes and land while incarcerated in the camps, but many of them sold their land without permission, and when they returned from the camps, their homes and land often belonged to others. One of them was the …
"We will never forget your kindness": 70 years after Governor Carr's death, people who stood up for Japanese Americans - Part 2
Jan. 29, 2020 • Junko Yoshida
Read Part 1 >> "My grandfather grew up watching lynchings in the small town where he grew up. Whenever something went wrong between adults, they would decide whether the person was guilty or not without a courtroom debate. The townspeople would just assume that the person was guilty and lynch them. As a child, my grandfather would climb trees and see the crazy town. The horrific scenes he saw instilled in him a strong sense of morality, and he began …
"We will never forget your kindness": 70 years after Governor Carr's death, people who stood up for Japanese Americans - Part 1
Jan. 28, 2020 • Junko Yoshida
A courageous act of justice "If you're going to attack them, attack me first." After the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Japanese residents of Japanese descent were considered enemy foreigners and suffered discrimination and prejudice. While many people were hostile towards them, there were those who stood up to defend the Japanese residents who were enduring persecution, even at the risk of their own lives. Amidst the frenzy on the streets, then-Colorado Governor Ralph Lawrence Carr delivered these …
![Thumbnail for Voices of Japanese-American A-bomb Survivors and Their Emotional Scars [Part 2]: Calling for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons and Passing on the Thoughts of Peace to the Next Generation](https://devmedia.discovernikkei.org/cache/7d/5d/7d5d39e30eeed2adb8b810d66d64ac07.jpg)
Voices of Japanese-American A-bomb Survivors and Their Emotional Scars [Part 2]: Calling for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons and Passing on the Thoughts of Peace to the Next Generation
Nov. 14, 2019 • Junko Yoshida
Read Part 1 >> Memorial service for the victims of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki "It was a beautiful summer morning. On August 6th, 74 years ago, I was seven years old at the time and experienced the atomic bombing with my brother, who was two years older than me. We were about 0.6 miles (about 1 kilometer) from the hypocenter." Howard Kakita (81), a third-generation Japanese-American, was a guest speaker at the memorial service held on the …
