• Meet Nikkei organizations from around Southern California
• Decorate a journal to write and draw in with this family-friendly activity! Make it your own by decorating it and then use it to collect thoughts, stories, poems, memories, and ideas. If you’re attending some of the workshops today, be sure to bring it along. You never know when inspiration will strike!
• Pick up tickets for an opportunity drawing (JANM members receive two tickets per member!)
• Participate in a rubber stamp rally

The fair is free but registration and check-in at the event is required to receive tickets for the opportunity drawing and participate in the stamp rally.

Learn how to care for your treasured family heirlooms and digitize precious photos and documents in this workshop led by JANM's Director of Collections Management & Access and Curator, Kristen Hayashi. 

Explore your family stories, generational struggles, joys, and everything in between in this dynamic workshop led by Navigating With(out) Instruments author, traci kato-kiriyama. 

traci kato-kiriyama has curated Discover Nikkei’s monthly Nikkei Uncovered: a poetry column since December 2016, and has hosted the Nikkei Uncovered poetry readings (2020, 2021, 2022, 2024). The poetry column was borne from a suggestion submitted to Discover Nikkei during its 10th anniversary activities.

Nikkei Genealogy 101

Begin your family history journey in this workshop led by Melinda Crawford Yamane and Linda Harms Okazaki of the Nikkei Genealogical Society. They will teach you how to research your family trees and dig into your Japanese roots and heritage.

The Nikkei Genealogical Society promotes, encourages, and shares Nikkei genealogy through education, research, and networking.

Capture and preserve the memories of a special grandparent, parent, or any senior citizen in this workshop led by Let’s Talk Story Club. Multigenerational families and groups are invited to reflect on the life journey of seniors, record their stories in a personal memory book, and take home the book as a treasured keepsake.

Let’s Talk Story Club helps seniors of Japanese ancestry combat loneliness, and reduce cognitive decline and memory loss by pairing seniors with volunteers who preserve their memories in life story books. 

Learn how to conduct an effective life history interview with JANM’s Frank H. Watase Media Arts Center. You’ll learn how to conduct background research, formulate questions, select your equipment, and conduct, transcribe, store, and share your interview. 

Discover how to write for pleasure and celebrate the experimentation and surprise found in journaling in this workshop led by writer and editor, Mia Nakaji Monnier. You’ll be guided through a series of prompts on documenting family stories with a family photo and a text message from a loved one. Short readings from a range of authors will show you the possibilities of journaling and personal writing. You’ll explore how to add some fun to the process with sketching, ephemera, found quotes, and colored pens. You will also learn the difference between journaling and memoir and have a chance to share your work or talk about how the writing process felt in a supportive environment.

Mia Nakaji Monnier is a writer and editor with work in the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Review of Books, O: The Oprah Magazine, and more. She served as developmental editor for The Poet and the Silk Girl: A Memoir of Love, Imprisonment, and Protest by Satsuki Ina (Heyday 2024) and previously edited for Guernica and The Rafu Shimpo. She has a master of professional writing in nonfiction from USC, and she is a WriteGirl mentor. She has been journaling since she was six years old.

Join a conversation about Nikkei family stories moderated by Naomi Hirahara and featuring Mitch Homma (USA), Andrew Hasegawa (Australia), Harumi López Higa (Peru), Gus Hokama (Argentina), and Jorge Okubaro (Brazil). Simultaneous translations for this in-person and virtual event will be provided in English, Japanese, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Can’t join us in person? Watch the panel discussion virtually! Advance registration required by Friday, February 7, 10 a.m. (PST) to receive the free Zoom link.  REGISTER NOW

See below for participant bios.

Enjoy special musical performances by Gus Hokama, Ryukyukoku Matsuri Daiko Los Angeles Branch, and John Azama; Nikkei-inspired food and drinks; a photo booth; and a silent auction that will give you opportunities to connect and reflect after the day’s festivities.