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Leaving Watsonville
Last night we had a nice dinner with Mas and Marcia Hashimoto of the Watsonville/Santa Cruz JACL. They took us to a restaurant on the Santa Cruz Wharf, and we…
First day of interviews
We conducted our first Watsonville interviews today, which went very well. We were lucky to be able to shoot our interviews in Kizuka Hall, home to the Watsonville-Santa Cruz JACL…
Watsonville Pre-interview Presentation
On the day we arrived at Watsonville I gave a short presentation about what we do at Densho and to also describe what was going to happen over the next…
Watsonville: Arrival and Potluck Dinner
Tom, Megan and I arrived in Watsonville today after a short flight into San Jose. We hit a long stretch of traffic on the drive into Watsonville, so it took…
Salt Lake City – JACL national convention
Last weekend I was in Salt Lake City attending the JACL national convention. This was a great opportunity for Densho to share some video interview segments from the interviews we…
Off to Watsonville & Berkeley
Tom, Dana and I will be traveling to California next week to conduct interviews with Japanese Americans from Watsonville and Berkeley. It will be my last interviewing trip before I…
Satirical video
For those of you who appreciate this type of satire, we’re posting a video from “The Onion” that a friend brought to our attention. U.S. Finally Gets Around To Closing…
Home from Denver
While Tom, Megan, and Dana were busy interviewing people at the Denver conference, I was manning an information table and photography display. It felt like hundreds of people visited the…
Tom’s Denver Interviews
I am back in Seattle after a whirlwind 5 days in Denver participating at the JANM national conference. There are so many good memories of meeting people, listening to and…
More Interviews
We have collected some really great interviews so far. The narrators (most of whom are conference attendees) come from such different backgrounds and consequently their stories are very diverse. Yesterday…
Interview with James Hirabayashi
I just finished my interview with James Hirabayashi, Professor Emeritus at San Francisco State University (SFSU). Professor Hirabayashi was Dean of the nation’s first school of Ethnic Studies, which started…
Arrival in Denver
We arrived in Denver today for another series of interviews, this time at the Japanese American National Museum’s “Whose America? Who’s American? Diversity, Civil Liberties, and Social Justice” conference. We’re…
NHK visits Densho office
The last couple of days have been spent thinking about and answering questions about my Japanese American identity. A film crew from NHK, the Japanese public television station, is visiting…
Minidoka Symposium and Pilgrimage
I returned this week to Seattle from the annual Minidoka Symposium and Minidoka Pilgrimage. This was the sixth year for the pilgrimage and the 3rd year for the symposium. Although…
Grace Oshita
I just finished my third and final Salt Lake City interview with Grace Oshita. Grace has been telling her life story in schools all around the city for the past…
Guided car tour of Salt Lake City
Last night, Rick Okabe who is our contact person with the Topaz Museum treated us to a fabulous dinner. Joining us at dinner was Steve Koga, another member of the…
First day of interviews
We just finished our first day of interviews here in Salt Lake City. I interviewed Alice Hirai and Ted Nagata, while Tom interviewed Nelson Akagi. Alice was the first interview…
The Trials of a Videographer
One of the challenges facing us when we interview on the road is setting up studios in hotel rooms. Although we often shoot interviews against a black background, whenever possible…
Arrival in Salt Lake City
After a thankfully short and uneventful plane trip, we arrived in Salt Lake City today. The weather is wonderful, mostly sunny and 75 degrees. After checking in to our hotel,…
Salt Lake City narrator Ted Nagata
I just finished my pre-interview with Ted Nagata. He is a founding member of the Topaz Museum and is active in all sorts of projects around the city. Born in…
Back in Seattle
After 3 days of chilly, wet weather in Denver, we returned to sunshine and 70 degrees in Seattle! Our trip to Denver was a big success. We returned with 13…
Dinner at Domo
Wednesday evening we had a fun dinner with Daryl Maeda, Kara Miyagishima, Gil Asakawa and Erin Yoshimura at a great place called Domo Restaurant. They specialize in country-style Japanese food,…
Day 3 in Denver
I just finished my interview with Mary Hamano. Mary doesn’t drive, so Dana and I picked her up this morning. She lives in Tamai Towers, which is located in the…