JANM audience

Full house for Los Angeles book launch of “JOHN OKADA”

photo by Nancy OdaAngelenos react to a rainstorm as Seattleites do to snow: it’s an excuse to stay home. So we have many thanks to all those who braved the rain in Los Angeles last week to come to our JOHN OKADA launch events at USC, UCLA, and the Japanese American National Museum.
photo by Cory Shiozaki
The full house of 250 that packed the Tateuchi Democracy Forum at JANM was especially memorable.  The discussion was lively and it was a real treat to see so many friends there, including Martha Nakagawa, Naomi Hirahara, Karen Tei Yamashita, Nobuko Miyamoto, Tak Hoshizaki,  and Masumi Izumi even flew in from Japan for the weekend.  Our special guests for the event were John Okada’s children from Pasadena, Dorothea Okada and Matthew Okada, who contributed so much time in the writing of their father’s biography. [UPDATE: Here’s the Museum’s YouTube video of the entire program]:

Discover NIkkei logo

In advance of the event, we had the pleasure of being interviewed by Kimiko Medlock for JANM’s Discover Nikkei blog, in a piece titled, “No-No Boy Author John Okada, Rediscovered.

Rafu Shimpo articleThe day before, Greg and I met with Duncan Ryuken Williams and students at the USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture.  It was an auspicious day for Duncan, as he had just received the first copies of his new book on Buddhism inside the camps, American Sutra: A Story of Freedom and Faith in the Second World War.  Look for Duncan to speak in a city near you; the book hits shelves, appropriately enough, on February 19.

Valerie Matsumoto, Karen Umemoto, Frank Abe, Kelly Fong

Finally, it was an honor to meet and converse with three brilliant leaders and scholars who are putting their stamp on the Asian American Studies program at UCLA. With Valerie Matsumoto, Karen Umemoto, and Kelly Fong, we had the venerable Faculty Club all to ourselves, prior to my presentation to Kelly’s AAS 103 research students.

Thanks to all for making LA a hit.

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