Chasing Cherry Blossoms
Reframing American history through the Japanese experience:
An educational podcast series featuring conversations with Japanese Americans and beyond
As Americans grapple with increasing tension and division, what can we learn from the past to connect with each other? The series illustrates generations of Japanese immigrants' experiences through intimate conversations and explores what it means to be an American today.
Produced by an educator and students with multicultural backgrounds, it aims to empower immigrant communities and others to define their own histories and reimagine our future together.
Chasing Cherry Blossoms
Episode 3: Where are you REALLY from?
Guests: Dr. Brett Esaki at University of Arizona and Dane Ishibashi at Bunkado
Tin begins her journey as a biracial Asian American by traveling to Tucson to meet Dr. Brett Esaki, an assistant professor in the East Asian Studies Department at University of Arizona. Dr. Esaki – whose grandparents met in a Japanese American incarceration camp – shares his unique perspective on the camps, and along with insights on the power dynamics of silence in the Japanese-American community. She then travels to Little Tokyo in Downtown LA to meet Dane Ishibashi, the manager of legacy gift shop Bunkado. Dane talks about his experience as a fifth-generation Japanese American and the recent changes happening in Little Tokyo.
Produced by Tinnley Sawan Subsin
Check out other episodes and slide shows on our website.
