8 Asians

In my lifetime, I’ve been called a “Chink” more than a “Jap.” Of course this doesn’t stop people on YouTube from calling me a “Jap.” To be fair, this was in response to my movie “Chink” and I did want to touch a nerve with people. Based on this person’s reaction, I guess it worked. I remember the first time I was called a “Chink.” My first reaction was that I wasn’t Chinese/Chinese American. The [...] Continue »

Because May is Asian Pacific Heritage month, I wanted to write about all the people I assumed or rather wanted to believe were Asian/Pacific Islander. Some of these are more benign than others but they all stem from the simple fact that as a child (and as an adult) I wanted there to be more people that resembled me in politics and entertainment. Snake Eyes (from G.I. Joe). I’ve written about this before but as [...] Continue »

My wife and I have been discussing whether we should give our 1-year-old son a bowl haircut. Okay, discuss is not really what happened. I asked her if we should give him a bowl haircut, and she said, “No.” I tried to explain to her that a bowl haircut is a rite of passage for Asian Americans. I had one (see the above picture). All of my Asian American friends had one. So shouldn’t my [...] Continue »

I consider myself a professional Asian American, which means that I work in the “community.” There are positives and negatives that come with being a professional Asian American. The biggest negative is that people tend to rant at me about the state of Asian America and the worst part is they want me to agree with them. Well, I’m sick of being ranted at. It’s my turn to rant. This is my rant on Asian [...] Continue »

We do. And according to this New York Times article, “East Asian Physical Traits Linked to 35,000-Year-Old Mutation” by Nicholas Wade, East Asians also have: thicker hair shafts more sweat glands characteristically identified teeth smaller breasts The article references a study trying to figure out the gene(s) that causes the variations between people on different continents. This particular study looked at the EDAR gene. According to the article, “Africans and Europeans carry the standard version [...] Continue »

My toddler son LOVES the cha siu bao from Trader Joes. It’s his favorite thing to eat in the world. If we go to dim sum, he’ll eat the fresh bao but he doesn’t eat it with the  same gusto he eats the frozen ones from TJs. I admit it. It makes me sad. I want him to prefer the authentic stuff. This is not to say that the Trader Joe’s bao isn’t good – [...] Continue »

Today, February 19, marks the 71st anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066, which is responsible for sending approximately 120,000 Japaneses Americans to remote camps throughout the United States — two-thirds of whom were American citizens. To commemorate this infamous event, I wanted to post the text from the actual executive order for people to read and reflect: Executive Order No. 9066 The President Executive Order Authorizing the Secretary of War to Prescribe Military Areas Whereas [...] Continue »

On January 22, the Guardian ran an article about how Taro Aso, Japan’s new finance minister, said: “Heaven forbid if you are forced to live on when you want to die. I would wake up feeling increasingly bad knowing that [treatment] was all being paid for by the government,” he said during a meeting of the national council on social security reforms. “The problem won’t be solved unless you let them hurry up and die.” [...] Continue »

In California, January 30 is Fred Korematsu Day to remember the landmark 1944 Koreamatsu v. United States case in which the Supreme Court ruled that the incarceration of Japanese Americans solely because of their race/ethnicity was not necessarily unconstitutional. Writing for the majority, Justice Hugo Black held that although “all legal restrictions which curtail the civil rights of a single racial group are immediately suspect” and subject to tests of “the most rigid scrutiny,” not [...] Continue »

The first time I heard of Keni Styles, one of the first heterosexual Asian male porn stars in America, I felt pride. Because there was someone out there who was breaking the stereotype that Asian males are sexless, effeminate, weird, and/or all of the above. He was proving that Asian American males could be sexy, great lovers, and desired. And he was doing it in the adult film business of all places! According to Wikipedia, [...] Continue »

This past Sunday, the New York Times had an opinion piece title, “Without Babies, Can Japan Survive” by Alexandra Harney. The article discusses the problems facing Japan’s aging population and what kind of future Japan could have (assuming the current trends continue). Here are some alarming facts about Japan (gleamed from the article): The first grade class at the elementary school in Nanmoku, about 85 miles from Tokyo, has just a single student this year. [...] Continue »

Last year was a very special year for my family. My wife and I welcomed a beautiful, happy, and healthy baby into our lives. Spending our first holidays with the baby is something that I will never forget – mostly because I got such little sleep! If you’ve had an infant then you know that the only way to stay sane is to make the rest of your life as simple and easy as possible. [...] Continue »