This episode is supported by JapanCulture•NYC, the English-language website about all things Japanese in New York City.

In collaboration with the New York region of the nonprofit educational organization U.S.-Japan Council, Susan and Toshiki organized an event on how storytelling strengthens people-to-people connections in the Japanese American and US-Japan community. They invited three distinguished guest speakers.

Akemi Kakihara, or simply AK, is a Universal Music Japan recording artist, singer, songwriter, and producer. Lyrical music is a form of storytelling, and currently working on her 16th studio album, AK shares her own story growing up in Hiroshima Prefecture, following her dreams of making music, and moving to New York. Michael Ishii is a musician, practitioner of East Asian medicine, and lifelong political activist. Pioneering projects such as the New York Japanese American Oral History Project and Tsuru for Solidarity, he shares how stories of incarceration heals intergenerational trauma and creates political change. Catherine Kobayashi is a news anchor, reporter, and producer for NHK World. Based on her years of journalism expertise, she shares what makes a story newsworthy and how to gain a larger audience.

Listen to their full presentations at The Big Root website.