jason chu

Flower Drum Song wasn’t the first movie starring Asians - in the 1910s and ‘20s, Sessue Hayakawa and Anna May Wong had already broken that ground. It was, however, Hollywood’s first film with a predominantly Asian American cast, helping propel the careers of stars like James Shigeta and Nancy Kwan.

Shouts to for carrying on the legacy of CY Lee, David Henry Hwang, and others in their current run 🫡🫡

Yutaro Uyeda was the Japanese American “Strawberry King of Monrovia” at a time when Japanese produced 80-95% of LA’s crop. He and his wife built a fruit empire alongside the rise of Route 66, running right next to their Monrovia home-slash-fruit stand.

Story developed in partnership with California Humanities and inspired by the work of filmmaker Katrina Parks and Assertion Films. Several clips in this video come from her short documentaries interviewing Keiko Sakatani and exploring the untold histories along Route 66.

With all the recent "Wasian" & multiracial discourse, I wanted to share the story of Arthur Chin - a Chinese/Peruvian American kid from Portland who was America's 1st flying ace in WWII.

After Japan invaded China, Art trained with other Chinese American kids in Portland, shipping to Shanghai with 13 others to defend China against the Imperial Japanese Army. He wound up downing 8.5 enemy planes in combat missions.

Today, the Major Arthur Chin Building - a post office in Beaverton, OR - is named after him.

There’s dozens - millions - of reasons and ways that people come to the USA and become American. Some of them start with a visitor visa, a job search, and a dream of building a life and contributing to a community.

Thanks to C R Wannamaker Law for helping me put this info together. If you’re an immigrant who’s experienced labor trafficking or workplace abuse - the T Visa might be a pathway to fix your papers and status. The CRW Law team is making themselves available for T Visa consultations - reach out 2 them.

Gamers can move the needle for public policy and more. Since 2010, has raised over $59 million for charity. Gamers have stopped bills in Congress and across the EU, and even now Stop Killing Games - started by YouTuber Ross Scott - is lobbying in the EU to require publishers to stop disabling games when they end online service.

Now - a movement I’ve covered before - is pulling gamers together with climate activists, data center workers, and industry creatives for monthly Discord AMAs to talk about what we can do together.

LMAO it’s all true tho - shouts to Yuji Ichioka and Emma Gee, without whom we wouldn’t have “Asian America” to celebrate this month.

THANKS TO and who are true Asian American queens and incredible authors - my family & friends’ kids love Joanna’s children’s and young adults books, and Samira is behind some of my favorite Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan) stories. Tap in w both of them 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼✊🏼✊🏼✊🏼 n keep supporting Asian American AND Native Hawaiian AND Pacific Islander stories this month n always.

There’s a mystery around Spam musubi - no one knows who made it. But two Hawai’i women seem to have the answer.

Barbara Funamura and Mitsuko Kaneshiro were both Japanese American mothers and experienced kitchen workers. In her home kitchen, Mitsuko cooked up rectangular musubi from fresh rice and chunks of Spam to feed her kids. Meanwhile at Joni*Hana kitchen - named for her daughter and mom - Barbara was doing the exact same thing, feeding construction workers completing the shopping center.

Which woman came first is lost to history. But both of them - and their proud families - lay convincing claim to being the mothers of the original Spam musubi.

The future of Mahjong 🀄️ is in good hands - with community groups like / and throwing 麻将 nights that start looking (and sounding) like raves. It’s more than just splashy Gen Z vibes though, with visions of community, intergenerational connection, and cultural preservation/transmission driving them to keep the game growing steadily while remaining deeply connected to its roots in 1800s Shanghai nightlife, street corners, and family homes around the Chinese diaspora.

Taking place April 13-15 - with official celebrations still going on this weekend in LA and around the country - Songkran is celebrated by millions of Thai, Lao, and Khmer around the US and world.

Commemorated with massive public water fights, and of course some dope ass food, it’s an enormous party. It’s also a cleansing ritual, purifying the community for a new year.