Erin and I took a summer hiatus, but visualizAsian.com is back, and proud to kick off a new season of interviews with a conversation with Iranian-Japanese American journalist Roxana Saberi, whose recent book, “Between Two Worlds,” chronicles the harrowing experience of being imprisoned, charged with espionage and sentenced to eight years in a notorious Iranian [...]
Entries Tagged as 'asian american'
visualizAsian’s back! Meet Roxana Saberi, journalist & author of “Between Two Worlds”
August 18th, 2010 · No Comments
Tags: asian american · media · places · politics
“Escape from Manchuria” chronicles a forgotten chapter of WWII history
August 15th, 2010 · No Comments
Emperor Hirohito of Japan gave an unprecedented radio address at noon 65 years ago today, on August 15, 1945, to announce that Japan would surrender unconditionally to the United States and the allied powers. The Victory over Japan Day, or VJ Day, officially ended World War II on September 2 1945 when Japan signed the [...]
Tags: asian american · japan & asia · places
KTown Cowboys: Web series with LA’s young Korean Americans
August 10th, 2010 · 3 Comments
Yeah, I know I’m late to the KTown Cowboys party. Fellow Asian American bloggers have been raving about this web series since the first episode (above) and now they’ve posted their 8th and final episode (below), with a bonus installment to come, featuring comic Bobby Lee. But I had a fabulous meal of all-you-can-eat BBQ [...]
Tags: asian american · pop culture
3rd episode of Andrea Lwin’s “Slanted” is online
August 10th, 2010 · No Comments
I met the affable, energetic Andrea Lwin last fall at the Banana conference of Asian American bloggers (Banana II details coming soon!). At the time, she had just launched “Slanted,” a comedic web series based on her one-woman show of the same name, about an Asian American actresses’ struggles to make her mark in Hollywood. [...]
Tags: asian american · pop culture
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki are faded memories in U.S.
August 9th, 2010 · 9 Comments
Mention August 6 to most Americans, young or old, and my guess is you’ll get a blank stare. “What about August 6?” Mention Hiroshima and you might get a second blank stare. Most Americans can’t name the date that the first atomic bomb was dropped, Aug. 6 1945 on the city of Hiroshima. Three days [...]
Tags: asian american · japan & asia
Do we still call ourselves “Asian American?”
May 28th, 2010 · 13 Comments
With Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month about to end, I thought I’d write a bit about the terms we choose to describe our identity. Like other ethnic groups, the labels we use for ourselves seems to be always evolving. Hispanic evolves into Latino; Negro to Black to African American; Native American to American Indian. [...]
Tags: asian american · media · pop culture
16-year-old Maryland teen creates Good50 search engine for older web users
May 24th, 2010 · No Comments
I hate to say it, but that “Model Minority” stereotype is based on reality sometimes. Some young Asian Americans are just darned smart, hard-working good students. Take Sunmee Huh, a 16-year-old Maryland teenager, for instance. Last year, she noticed her grandfather struggling to use a search engine, and had she an idea. She decided to [...]
Tags: asian american · baby boomers · technology
President Obama celebrates Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month
May 24th, 2010 · No Comments
THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary _________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release May 24, 2010 REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT RECEPTION CELEBRATING ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE MONTH East Room 3:50 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, everybody. Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you so much. It is wonderful to see all of you — [...]
Tags: asian american
Margaret Kasahara’s pop art pokes at Asian stereotypes
May 20th, 2010 · No Comments
Margaret Kasahara was almost half an hour late to the opening reception of her first Denver solo exhibit, at the Sandra Phillips Gallery along the Arts District on Santa Fe Drive. Her fans, friends and collectors milled around soaking in the art on the wall, and made chit-chat until she entered, flustered from being stuck [...]
Tags: asian american · japan & asia · pop culture
Iron Man, Marvel-ous superheroes and Asian Americans
May 17th, 2010 · 3 Comments
Once upon a time, I went to art school. And although I graduated with a completely useless (career-wise, anyway) BFA in Painting, I chose art school because once upon a time, I wanted to work for Marvel Comics. Real bad. See above. When I was a kid, I loved Marvel’s lineup of superheroes because they [...]
Tags: asian american · baby boomers · media · pop culture
Next on visualizAsian.com: Meet Naomi Hirahara, award-winning mystery author
April 21st, 2010 · 1 Comment
Erin and I are thrilled to announce the next call in our visualizAsian.com AAPI Empowerment Series, with Edgar Award-winning author Naomi Hirahara, whose fourth Mas Arai mystery, “Blood Hina,” was recently released. The Edgars, by the way, are the prestigious annual Edgar Allan Poe Awards for the best in mystery writing. I fell in love [...]
Tags: asian american · pop culture
NH State Rep. hates on anime, says it’s a “prime example of why two nukes just wasn’t enough”
March 30th, 2010 · 6 Comments
Holy cow, what was this guy thinking? New Hampshire State Rep. Nick Levasseur posted on his Facebook wall earlier this week that “Anime is a prime example of why two nukes just wasn’t enough…..” Huh? That rates a WTF?! from any perspective. Otaku Review, an anime fan blog first picked up the quote, then Levasseur [...]
Tags: asian american · japan & asia · media · pop culture
A last-minute Census reminder for Asian Americans
March 30th, 2010 · No Comments
I’ve been meaning to post a reminder for everyone (non-Asians too!) to fill out your U.S. Census forms, or if you don’t get it done and postmarked by the end of March, to be sure respond to census workers when they come to your door in the months to come. It’s especially important for ethnic [...]
Tags: asian american
Next on visualizAsian.com: Meet Corky Lee!
March 28th, 2010 · No Comments
I caught Corky Lee preparing to shoot photos of singer-songwriter Cynthia Lin at a 2006 Asian festival in New York City (picture #22) We’re thrilled to announce the next interview of visualizAsian.com’s Asian American Empowerment Series, a free one-hour conversation with award-winning photojournalist Corky Lee, who has captured Asian America through his lenses for over [...]
Tags: asian american · media · pop culture
A quick note to readers…
March 28th, 2010 · No Comments
Yes, I know I’ve been slacking off my Nikkei View scribblings for more than a month now. Sorry about that. I’ve been busy with the day job (which I enjoy a lot, working on Internet and new media stuff for MediaNews Group Interactive, the parent company of The Denver Post, San Jose Mercury News and [...]
Tags: asian american · pop culture
visualizAsian.com interview 3/16 with Eric Nakamura of Giant Robot magazine
February 23rd, 2010 · No Comments
How cool is this? The March 16 visualizAsian.com show is going to be a conversation with Eric Nakamura, the owner, publisher and co-editor of Giant Robot magazine. Our call with Eric will be at 6 pm PT on Tuesday, March 16! From movie stars, musicians, and skate-boarders to toys, technology, and history, Giant Robot magazine [...]
Tags: asian american · media · pop culture
CU Independent student news website launches “Speak Out Campaign,” organizes beats to cover racism, other “isms”
February 16th, 2010 · No Comments
Three years ago this week, a student news website at the University of Colorado sparked a firestorm of protest. The website posted a column by a student, Max Karson, which ineptly tried to address racism on the CU campus by poking fun at Asian stereotypes. The column, “If It’s War the Asians Want, It’s War [...]
Tags: asian american · media · pop culture
New visualizAsian.com interview: Meet Dan Kuramoto, founding member of Grammy-nominated group Hiroshima
February 15th, 2010 · No Comments
We’ve taken several months off, but Erin and I are ready to resume our series of interviews with inspirational Asian Americans for 2010. We’re especially proud to be able to speak with Dan Kuramoto, one of the founding members of the fusion jazz group Hiroshima, because the group has been nominated twice for a Grammy [...]
Tags: asian american · music · pop culture
Lunar New Year isn’t just for Chinese
February 14th, 2010 · No Comments
As a kid in Japan, we always celebrated New Year’s Day, or Oshougatsu, on January 1, just like in the United States, but with different traditions than in America. Japanese clean the house like crazy leading up to the day, and New Year’s Eve isn’t the big party that it is in the U.S. Instead, [...]
Tags: asian american · japan & asia
Atlanta changes its “Yellow” train line to “Gold” after Asians complained
February 12th, 2010 · 8 Comments
Chalk this up in the victory column. Sometimes, just pointing out something that’s offensive can make a difference. Earlier this week, Asian American bloggers like 8Asians (where I borrowed the great graphic) and Slant Eye for the Round Eye, among others, pointed out that the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, or MARTA, had named a [...]
Tags: asian american · places







