Información

My interest in Japanese Americans during World War II began in 1994 when I met someone who had a lost an uncle who was in the 442, and I was shown the movie "Go for Broke." I'm a writer, journalist, photographer, playwright and filmmaker. In 2001, I was at the JANM researching for a novel about Japanese Americans' letters to soldiers during World War II, when the librarians brought me the huge "Crusaders' Scrapbook." The cards and letters that I found there inspired me to write the play, "Bits of Paradise," about the women's movement led by Yuri Kochiyama (then known as "Mary Nakahara") during their unjust incarceration. I produced and directed the play at The Marsh Theater in San Francisco in 2008, and Yuri came to our opening night with her friend, Ruth Ishizaki, who was actually one of the girls who put that scrapbook together. After the play closed, I began shooting with professional crews a documentary about Yuri, her Crusaders, and the brave soldiers--who all embarked on a morale-boosting letter-writing campaign until the end of the war. The film has been stalled for 3 years due to lack of funding which would enable us to start editing and finish the film. The working title is "What did you do in the War, Mama?: Kochiyama's Crusaders." In 2016, someone gifted me with a used, but good computer which has allowed me to post clips on YouTube. We continue to look forward to the day when the film can be finished and released.