Chasing Cherry Blossoms @reina.unnun

Guest: Russell Tanita at Tanita Farm

Rusty’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 grower and shipper of mixed vegetables in the state of Arizona in the 1960s. While the city has developed and generations of families have left farming, Rusty continues to farm in northwest Phoenix. He reflects on his family legacy as he helps a new generation of American farmers.
Produced by Reina Higashtiani
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Guest: Fumiko Sally Matsumoto Adams at Japanese American Citizen League Arizona Chapter
Growing up as a child of Japanese immigrants in the 1950s California often made Sally uncomfortable. After marrying her airman husband and living in Alaska for forty years, she finally began to reconcile with her heritage and became an active member of the Japanese American Citizen League, Arizona Chapter. 

Produced by Reina Higashtiani
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Guest: Irene Tsukada Simonian  at Bunkado

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many businesses to shutter, but as one of the few remaining original Japanese-owned businesses in Little Tokyo, legendary gift shop Bunkado had faced such hurdles before. What is the secret to its longevity? Bunkado owner Irene Tsukada Simonian shares her memories of growing up in Little Tokyo, and why she returned to run Bunkado after a 17-year absence from her hometown.

Produced by Reina Higashtiani
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Guest: Dr. Patricia Allyn Biggs at National Park Service, Manzanar National Historic Site

Every year, Japanese American communities across the nation organize a pilgrimage to former WWII incarceration camp sites. One of those sites is Manzanar National Historic Site in Southern California, preserved by the National Park Service. Historian and park ranger Dr. Biggs describes the everyday lives of 10,000 people who were forced to leave their homes, and their resilience while incarcerated in barracks in the middle of the desert.

Produced by Reina Higashtiani
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Guests: Dr. Kathryn Nakagawa at Arizona State University / Baseline Flowers and Donna Cheung at Japanese American Citizen League, Arizona Chapter
Cat and Tin live-record a panel discussion at Arizona State University, as part of the AAPI Heritage Month celebration in the spring of 2022. Native Arizonan Dr. Nakagawa runs the last remaining Japanese American flower shop, established by her father in the 1950s. Growing up as a child of Chinese immigrants, Donna Cheung discusses how she felt connected to Japanese Americans' experience and served as a President of the Japanese American Citizen League, Arizona Chapter. They also answered questions from students from various backgrounds.

Produced by Catherine Jie Baxter and Tinnley Sawan Subsin
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Guest:  Cindi Kishiyama Harbottle at Japanese American Citizen League, Arizona Chapter
In the 1960s and ’70s, people used to travel long distances to see the Baseline Flower Fields in Phoenix, Arizona. Tin returns home and talks to Cindi Kishiyama-Harbottle at the Japanese American Citizen’s League Arizona Chapter. Cindi talks about how her family were early settlers in Arizona, and one of the first families to grow flowers at the legendary Japanese Flower Gardens on Baseline Road. Cindi tells stories of growing up at the flower shop her parents ran, as well as how she overcame struggles with finding her Asian-American identity.

Produced by Tinnley Sawan Subsin
* The pronunciation of “hapa” was pulled from the Cambridge Dictionary.
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