Karen Kawaguchi

karenkawa7

Karen Kawaguchi is a writer based in New York City. She was born in Tokyo to a Japanese mother and a Nisei father from Seattle. He served in the U.S. Army’s Military Intelligence Service while his family was incarcerated at Minidoka. Karen and her family moved to the U.S. in the late 1950’s, living mostly in the Chicago area. In 1967, they moved to Okinawa where she went to Kubasaki High School. She subsequently attended Wesleyan University (CT) and later lived in Washington, D.C., Dallas, and Seattle. She recently retired as an editor in educational publishing, having worked for Heinemann, Pearson, and other leading publishers. She volunteers for organizations such as Literacy Partners (adult ESL) and enjoys going to Japan Society, art museums, and botanical gardens. She feels fortunate to be able to draw deeply from the three cultures in her life: Japanese, American, and Japanese-American.

Updated June 2022

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ByFood.com: A Cornucopia of Information for Planning Food Adventures and More in Japan — Part 2

By Karen Kawaguchi
18 Jan 2023

Read part 1 >> Who is Serkan Toso? As I explored byFood.com, I started wondering who is the mastermind behind this site? The “About Us” states that in 2018, Serkan Toso started Tokyo by Food, a booking platform for food experiences in Tokyo. With a lifelong interest in solving social issues, Toso developed a donation system giving ten school lunches to children in Cambodia for each person who booked a food experience. This was an integral part of his business model. Serkan later joined forces with Kaoru Joho, CEO of Tablecross Inc., who had developed his business with a…

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ByFood.com: A Cornucopia of Information for Planning Food Adventures and More in Japan — Part 1

By Karen Kawaguchi
17 Jan 2023

As a Nikkei New Yorker who is planning a trip to Japan in the next year or two, I recently discovered byFood.com, self-described as “Japan’s One-stop Food Platform.” This site is a useful tool to explore and book food experiences, reserve restaurants, and buy gourmet products from local businesses in Japan. The information is presented in excellent English, so I won’t have to rely on my meager command of the Japanese language to figure things out. Also all byFood local tours are conducted by English-speaking guides. As I begin exploring byFood.com, I quickly see tha…

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Inspire Forward: Nikkei Heroes Under 30

Karen Tengan Okuda: Exploring and Expressing Her Uchinānchu / Okinawan Identity

By Karen Kawaguchi
17 Oct 2022

As a second-generation Uchinānchu (Okinawan immigrant), Karen Tengan Okuda lives and works on the unceded lands of the Eora and Dharug peoples (Sydney, Australia). Okuda works as a Social Media Community Specialist for Special Broadcasting Service Australia. She is also a founding member and an editor of a magazine, Shimanchu Nu Kwii (meaning “voices of Shimanchu” in Uchināguchi). “The magazine was born out of a desire to create a space where Shimanchu (island people) all over the world can connect with each other and share our stories,” said Okuda…

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Mitch Homma: Preserving and Sharing Family History

By Karen Kawaguchi
9 Aug 2022

Mitch Homma, a 3rd generation Japanese American, grew up and still lives in Southern California. He has long been interested in Japanese and Japanese American history. His family’s association with the American Baptist organization began four generations ago when his great-grandfather, Rev. Masahiko Wada, graduated from Yokohama Baptist Seminary and started a Baptist church in Japan around 1910. Homma has sought to organize, preserve, and share his family’s photo and document collection, which covers their missionary work in Japan, Manchuria, Korea, and Russia prior to coming to t…

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Inspire Forward: Nikkei Heroes Under 30

Documentary Photographer and Journalist Kayla Isomura Explores Nikkei Culture and Identity

By Karen Kawaguchi
27 Jun 2022

Kayla Isomura may be best known for their work on The Suitcase Project (2018), a multimedia exhibition which explored themes of home, sudden dislocation, and discrimination experienced by fourth- and fifth-generation Japanese Canadians and Americans. As a fourth-generation Japanese and Chinese Canadian storyteller, artist, documentary photographer, and journalist, Isomura (them/they) has delved into creative projects and community work to explore Nikkei culture and identity. The Suitcase Project To create this project, Isomura asked fourth- and fifth-generation Japanese Canadians and…

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Karen Kawaguchi

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