NIKKEI MONOGATARI ONLINE ZINE
An open access zine dedicated to the dissemination of stories by Nikkei and those with affiliation to Japan for people of the world.
VOLUME 3 (WINTER 2023)
The title of this volume, “The Nikkei Shokutaku: Stories, Recipes and Memories of ‘Japanese’ Food” is a culmination of JFN’s collaborative efforts with the National Association of Japanese Canadians' (NAJC) Young Leaders Committee (YLC). This special volume offers a rich collection of stories, poetry, reflections and art that celebrates the diversity of “Japanese” food culture from the perspectives of a global Japanese diaspora. The Nikkei shokutaku (which transliterates to “dining table”) is like a smörgåsbord of personal histories and experiences, and this volume is a testament to the varied ways in which “Japanese” food culture has been passed on, reimagined, and made new across different regions, communities and generations.
VOLUME 2 (WINTER 2022)
The title of this volume, “Am I the Language(s) that I Speak? On History, Language, and Nikkei Identity,” pays homage to the guest speakers we hosted through our Nikkei Spotlight Series, an online speaker series created for our community to celebrate the voices of Japanese Canadians and Americans, as well as those who have connections to Japan, giving talks on their field of expertise. We have been honoured to have Dr. Lisa Hofmann-Kuroda, who gave a presentation titled “Who Speaks: Teaching and Translating Japanese from a Language Justice Perspective,” followed by Dr. Aurora Tsai and Dr. Yuki Yamazaki’s talk, “Hafu Women Navigating the Japanese Workforce and The Way They Were Marginalized Due to Their Gender, Race, and Language.” Both lectures, which are available on our YouTube page (Japanese for Nikkei), inspired us to critically explore questions of history, identity, and language to which we have dedicated this volume.
VOLUME 1 (FALL 2021)
This volume was inspired in response to the special lecture on the findings from The Nippon Foundation Global Nikkei Young Adult Research Project that took place online in February 2021. The central question of the research project was, "what does it mean to be Nikkei in 2021? Using this question as a springboard, we wanted to show that Nikkei identity should not only be understood in a way that upholds "Japan" and"Japaneseness" as the standard from which to assess the discursive formation of global Nikkei identities. We felt compelled to begin connecting with Nikkei from around the world and to create a channel through which we can share our diverse perspectives on what Nikkei identity means.
