In this column, I will round out my history of the amazing family of Aijiro and Nao Tashiro by discussing the lives of their younger sons Sabro (AKA Saburo or Sab) and Arthur.
I have embarked on a series of columns on the prolific and talented Tashiro family. I have already posted columns on Aijiro “Frank” Tashiro and three of his children, Kenji (AKA Ken), Aiko, and Aiji. Here I propose to add a study of Nao Tashiro, the wife of Aijiro and mother …
Among specialists in Japanese American history, few have made such an enduring contribution as Arthur Hansen. While his work as a longtime scholar and activist is well known in the Nikkei community, I want to pay tribute to him in his role as a gifted mentor and inspiration, to me and …
The most eminent of the five children of Aijiro and Nao Tashiro was certainly their son Aiji (pronounced “I. G.”). A writer, athlete, architect, and landscaper, he spent the better part of a half-century pursuing his work. Unusually for a Nisei, he spent almost his entire career living and working …
The late television writer/producer Norman Lear, who died in 2023 at the age of 101, has been celebrated for revolutionizing the TV sitcom during the 1970s by producing such landmark shows as All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Sanford and Son, and One Day at a Time. Storylines for these shows included …
Recently, I did a memorial piece for Nichi Bei on my late friend Franklin Odo, a Hawaii-born Sansei. I referred to the piece as a kaddish (mourner’s prayer). I meant it as a tip of the hat to Franklin and his longtime interest in Jewish Studies. Franklin was so absorbed …
During the early years of the 20th century, Japanese immigrants to the West Coast of Canada, like their counterparts in California, found themselves the object of increasing hostility by local whites. The racial and religious difference of the immigrants, and their presence as economic competitors to white farmers and merchants, …
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