Guest: Jean Mishima, President, Chicago Japanese American Historical Society

Jean Mishima was one of more than 20,000 people of Japanese ancestry to resettle in Chicago after she was incarcerated by the US government during WWII. After her incarceration at the age of six, Jean spent her youth helping her mother re-establish their lives by running a dry cleaning business. Jean’s mother was a fierce survivor who left the incarceration camp early by learning to sew and getting a job. She divorced her husband and restarted her life as a single parent of three children. Jean's story inspired the short film, Resettlement: Chicago Story, which was released last year by Full Spectrum Features as part of a cinematic digital history project that teaches Japanese American history to K-12 students.

Produced by Reina Higashitani

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Guest: Susan Miyagi McCormac, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Japan Culture NYC

As Gaby tries to define his multicultural identity, he meets Susan Miyagi McCormac, who grew up in North Carolina with an Okinawan mother and a U.S. military father. When Susan discovered that the 1945 Battle of Okinawa (in which the U.S. invaded Okinawa) began on her mother’s birthday, she felt an urgency to learn about her mother’s heritage. Susan is now a Japanese American community leader in New York City and runs the website Japan Culture NYC, a go-to resource for Japanese culture, events, and businesses.

Produced by Gabriel Bhasin

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Guest: Joan Shigekawa, Arts and Culture Philanthropist

Many artists with underrepresented backgrounds face additional challenges when they first try to set their career path. Gaby talks to Joan Shigekawa, who received the National Medal of the Arts from the President of the United States in 2021. Since she was incarcerated as a child by the U.S. government during WWII, she made an extraordinary career in the film and television industry, and later in philanthropy work in supporting arts and culture. She shares stories of resiliency from landing her first job at CBS despite her limited experience, to producing a feminist television series in the 1970s, to her career transition after becoming a mother in her 40s. She talks about behaving invisibly, as many in our culture have been raised to do, calling it a huge mistake and advising us to be visible.

Produced by Gabriel Bhasin

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