By EMIKO ESSMILLER
Rafu Correspondent
“I’m just really excited to meet everyone, to engage with all aspects of the Japanese American community.”
Connection — that is the sentiment that 2026 Nisei Queen Kara Kimiko Chu, 23, wants to foster. The coronation, which took place on Aug. 15 at the Tom Bradley Theatre in Los Angeles (not the usual Aratani Theatre, which is closed for renovations), celebrated this year’s Nisei Week Festival’s theme: “Ichigo Ichie” — one time, one meeting. In other words, a commemoration of moments that happen once in a lifetime.
Hosts Tamlyn Tomita and David Ono provided their annual (yet very amusing) witty banter, leading the vibrant evening ahead of the 84th Nisei Week Festival.
Ai Grace Kusayanagi of the Japanese Restaurant Association of America was named first princess, alongside Jacqueline Fujiko Naito of the East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center.
Chu is from Irvine and is sponsored by the Orange County Nikkei Coordinating Council. She graduated from UCLA with a bachelor of arts in applied linguistics, and minors in digital humanities and professional writing.
She specializes in content design at ServiceNow, a global software company that focuses on enterprise-based artificial intelligence (AI) development. She believes in using AI to celebrate culture and plans to use it to bring Asian American representation into the future of technology.
She built the “Issei & Nisei Farmers: Their Legacy Project” website “to house all of the amazing farming family stories.”
“I taught myself how to use AI tools to automate article creation and searchability, so that in the future, as we’re getting more and more stories, we’ll be able to scale the website,” Chu said. “I think that AI is a good tool, and this is a really good opportunity for us to be implementing AI in order to preserve our cultural history and the voices of those who came before us and create new and innovative ways to engage the future generations.”
Chu emphasized her passion for bringing people together with her anecdote about balloon animals. She strives to put a smile on people’s faces with little airy, latex animals, and in the autumn, whips up what is described by many as a delicious pumpkin cinnamon crunch-flavored butter mochi.
Chu is the younger sister of 2023 Nisei Week Queen Kaitlyn Emiko Chu. Describing her younger sister in one word, Chu chose the word “sparkly.”
“I think her personality is very bright, and she’s able to light up a room with her energy and smile,” she said. “She’s my best friend.”
Despite being four years apart in age, their close relationship is a testament to 2026 Queen Chu’s aptitude for connecting with others. She hopes to give back to her community as queen.
“I’ve been involved in the Japanese American community for my whole life, volunteering, playing basketball, and these organizations actively raise me,” she said. “And so, I’m hoping to give back to those organizations and share what all of their events are like to the community.”
Besides Chu, The 2026 court is composed of six other talented women:
First Princess Ai Grace Kusayanagi (Japanese Restaurant Association of America), 23, from Santa Monica;
Miss Tomodachi Jacqueline Fujiko Naito (East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center), 24, from Los Angeles;
Emily Kaori Gruhn (Pasadena Japanese Cultural Institute), 25, from Los Angeles;
Meagan Sueko Pham (San Fernando Valley Japanese American Community Center), 25, from Valencia;
Kailah Julianne Tokushige (Gardena Evening Optimist Club), 26, from Los Angeles;
Deena Maiko Umeda (Venice Japanese Community Center and Venice-West Los Angeles JACL), 26, from Los Angeles.
The Grand Parade will occur on Sunday, Aug. 16, at 4 p.m. in Little Tokyo. Chu expressed excitement and hope for community involvement.
“We would love for everyone to come out and celebrate Nisei Week and really carry on these traditions… We look forward to seeing everyone at the parade tomorrow and at all the festivities to come.”
