The seventh annual Imagine Little Tokyo short story contest will hold a virtual celebration of its winners on Thursday, July 23, at 6 p.m. through the Zoom platform in a free program hosted by the Japanese American National Museum.
The contest is presented by the Little Tokyo Historical Society in partnership with the museum’s Discover Nikkei project.
With noted creative artist and former East West Players arts education director Marilyn Tokuda serving as emcee, actors Derek Mio, Eijiro Ozaki and Tamlyn Tomita will read the winning stories in the categories of English language, Japanese language and youth (18 and younger).
Attendees need to pre-register by going to www.janm.org/events/#23. A Zoom link will then be emailed to them before the program.
Mio is the lead actor in the critically acclaimed AMC series “The Terror: Infamy,” executive produced by Ridley Scott. He also can be seen portraying real-life Korean War hero Hiroshi “Hershey” Miyamura in the Netflix anthology series “Medal of Honor.” In addition to acting, Mio is a stand-up comedian.
Ozaki is a Japan-born actor who made his U.S. film debut in “Letters From Iwo Jima,” directed by Clint Eastwood. His other film/TV credits include Amazon Studios’ “The Man in the High Castle,” CW’s “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” and ABC’s “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” He most recently played a yakuza boss in “Yakuza Princess,” an upcoming film adaptation of a popular Brazilian graphic novel.
Tomita, well known for not only her acting work but also her service to the Japanese American community, made her screen debut in “The Karate Kid, Part II” and has since appeared in numerous feature film, television and theatre projects. She is also known for her roles in “The Joy Luck Club,” “Picture Bride” and “Come See the Paradise.” On television, Tomita was most recently seen as Commodore Oh on “Star Trek: Picard” on CBS-All Access and heard as one of the narrators for the recent PBS documentary “Asian Americans.” Her other roles include Allegra Aoki in “The Good Doctor,” Tamiko Watanabe in “The Man in the High Castle” and one more series yet to be announced.
The purpose of the contest is to raise awareness of Little Tokyo through a creative story that takes place in Little Tokyo. Each category winner will be awarded $500 in cash with their short story being published in The Rafu Shimpo and posted on the Discover Nikkei and the LTHS websites.