By Andrew Hasegawa   In July I embarked on a six-day road trip, leaving Melbourne for the first time in two-and-a-half years, in search of intellectual stimulation and new experiences. First stop was Adelaide, to attend a symposium on Japanese war art hosted by Flinders University, an

By Joanna Boese My mother, Naomi Boese (née Taguchi), grew up in Tsuyama, Okayama-ken, Japan. Her mother was a housewife and her father was a postal official. Mum was the youngest of four children; the eldest was a girl, and two boys followed. Mum completed high school but her family

By Jacqueline Yoshioka-Braid            I descend from a long line of samurai families. I am the fifth of six children born to my parents, Taeko Yoshioka and Noel Braid. My parents met during the Allied Occupation of Japan – Dad was on R&R in Japan during his tour of duty in the K

By Yuki Kawakami My parents met in Osaka when Mum was in her final year of school and Dad was a university student. Mum was an occasional backup singer on TV and graduated with a degree in nihongo (Japanese), while Dad worked as a sales representative for a kimono dress and fabric com

明けておめでとございます！ Happy New Year! After my eldest son Kairo just finished his year of the Ox, and I am entering the year of the Tiger for 2022, the both of us decided to make our best version of Osechi Ryori. We researched the various dishes online, and sourced as many authentic ingredien

(Tim’s mum, Satsuki Steains with chinsuko made by Felicia La France) My mum said she wanted chinsuko for Mother’s Day. It’s a type of shortbread cookie from Okinawa, Japan, where she was born and grew up. Mother’s day is very close to my Anglo-Australian father’s birthday, so most yea

SETSUTARO HASEGAWA When Setsutaro died on October 4th, 1952, the Hasegawa family’s relationship with Japan became paper-thin. At the height of the northern hemisphere summer, in August, when Japanese pay homage to their ancestors, no one gathers at his grave. Japanese tradition was lo

By Christine Piper My parents first met in Japan in the 1960s. Unusual for the time, my father studied Japanese and economics at the Australian National University in Canberra and spent a few months on exchange in Tokyo. For a while he was hosted by my mother’s family, as one of her s

Nikkei Australia’s Timothy Kazuo Steains interviewed Nikkei performance artist, writer and researcher Reina Takeuchi.  Reina’s practice spans across visual arts, choreography, curatorial projects, written publications and creative facilitation, including her work with Asia

Nikkei Australia member Timothy Kazuo Steains was lucky enough to interview Nikkei Youtube celebrity Iori Forsyth from the channel 大家族フォーサイス家 ! They talked about Iori’s channel and family, having mixed Japanese Australian heritage, and Iori’s plans for moving to Australia.