Chasing Cherry Blossoms
Reframing American history through the Japanese experience:
An educational podcast series featuring conversations with Japanese Americans and beyond
As Americans grapple with increasing tension and division, what can we learn from the past to connect with each other? The series illustrates generations of Japanese immigrants' experiences through intimate conversations and explores what it means to be an American today.
Produced by an educator and students with multicultural backgrounds, it aims to empower immigrant communities and others to define their own histories and reimagine our future together.
Episodes
10 episodes
Episode 10: The Last Japanese American Farmer
Guest: Russell Tanita at Tanita FarmRusty’s father was one of the thirteen children of Naomasa Tanita who started farming in Arizona in 1928. The family business grew into a farming empire, Tanita Farm, once the largest gr...
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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24:24
Episode 9: A Long Journey
Guest: Fumiko Sally Matsumoto Adams at Japanese American Citizen League Arizona ChapterGrowing up as a child of Japanese immigrants in the 1950s California often made Sally uncomfortable. After marrying her ...
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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20:05
Episode 8: The Secret of Longevity
Guest: Irene Tsukada Simonian at BunkadoThe COVID-19 pandemic forced many businesses to shutter, but as one of the few remaining original Japanese-owned businesses in Li...
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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24:07
Episode 7: The Strength of the Camps
Guest: Dr. Patricia Allyn Biggs at National Park Service, Manzanar National Historic SiteEvery year, Japanese American communities acr...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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23:20
Episode 6: Being Asian American
Guests: Dr. Kathryn Nakagawa at Arizona State University / Baseline Flowers
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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22:54
Episode 5: Proud To Be Me
Guest: Cindi Kishiyama Harbottle at Japanese American Citizen League, Arizona ChapterIn the 1960s and ’70s, people used to travel long distances to see the Baseline Flower Fields in...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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29:17
Episode 4: Asian Enough?
Guests: Kathy Masaoka and Yasuko Sakamoto at Little Tokyo Service CenterTin’s next destination is the Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC), an organization that provides social welfa...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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23:25
Episode 3: Where are you REALLY from?
Guests: Dr. Brett Esaki at University of Arizona and Dane Ishibashi at BunkadoTin begins her journ...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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24:13