Mara Purl has agreed to be our author in residence next fall. She will be working with Drama, Speech and Theater Tech students.

Michael Mogilevsky
Class of 1950


 

Michael Mogilevsky has been writing about his experiences before and during World War II. This article, What Was Abe Lincoln Doing in Pre-War Japan?" was published in The Lincoln Herald, Fall 1988 Vol.90 No. 3.  Mr. Mogilevsky is greatly interested in getting opinions/critiques from people who have lived through the time that he describes. If you have any comments, please send them on to us at hslibrary@asij.ac.jp

Pamela Turner
ASIJ Parent

ASIJ Author Pamela Turner visits the Elementary School 
in April, 2005.

Hachiko: The True Story
of a Loyal Dog.
Houghton Mifflin; (May 25, 2004)

HACHIKO is a true story about love, faith, and loyalty set in 1930's Tokyo. Told through the eyes of Kentaro, a neighborhood boy, HACHIKO is the story not only of a dog, but of an entire community that embraced Hachiko, was inspired by him, and seventy years later, still remembers him.

I moved to Tokyo, Japan with my family in 1990. We lived near the enormous train station in Shibuya. Hundreds of thousands of people pass through Shibuya every day. If you are meeting someone at Shibuya, it is very hard to find them in the crowds. But any time I met someone there, they would say, "Let's meet at Hachiko." "Hachiko," as everyone in Tokyo knows, is the big bronze dog statue that stands outside the station.

I wondered why there was a statue of a dog at a train station, and asked my Japanese friends about it. They told me Hachiko's story. It seems hard to believe,yet it is true. I hope you enjoy the tale of this unforgettable dog.

Alyson Richman
Class of 1990

The HS Cyber Book Club read Alyson Gordon Richman's acclaimed debut novel, The Mask Carver's Son. The students discussed the book online in Blackboard and Ms. Richman joined the conversation!

The Mask Carver's Son. New York: Bloomsbury, 2000.   
Kiyoki, a turn-of-the-century Japanese artist, forsakes his oppressive  father's  art style and flees to Paris to discover his own style, sacrificing everything--family, love, and fortune--for his art.

P.C. Mar
Class of 1960

P.C. Mar, Hong Kong based communications expert and author of Business Communications -- 
Be the Best, visited ASIJ from October 12-14. Mr. Mar gave presentations in Independent Living and Speech classes. He also advised seniors on the process of writing college essays. 

Kayta's Discovery 
ちびっこライオンカイタの発見 
Written and illustrated by Saya Signs. Translated by  Keiko Takai
(高井 敬). Shinpusha, 2005

出版社: 新風舎; ISBN: 4797442077 (2005/03)

Available from Amazon.co.jp

Saya wrote the children's book Kayta's Discovery in seventh grade as an English assignment. When Saya's grandmother,
Keiko Takai, saw the book, she immediately took interest, translated the English text into Japanese and took it to Shinpusha, a Japanese publisher. The book was released as a bilingual picture book in the spring of 2005.

Although in Japan she has spent most of her time doing school work and helping out around the house, Saya enjoys creating websites, doodling, listening to music, reading, and playing piano and guitar.

From Shinpusha:

概要】
わたしにできることって なにがあるかしら？
東京のグランマと、アメリカに住む12歳の女の子が描いた元気いっぱいのかわいらしい絵本。子ライオンのカイタちゃんが、黒くも婦人のように巣を自分で作ってみようとしたり、チータのお兄さんやコブラとの冒険にあふれた一日で発見したものは……。
日英2か国語で表記。カイタの描きかた、まちがいさがし付き。

What can I do?
A fun-filled and cute picture book written by a twelve year old girl living in America and her grandma from Tokyo. Kayta the lion cub tries to build a web like the black widow spider, and after encounters with Cheetah and Cobra, she realizes...

Frederik  Schodt has written widely on many aspects of Japanese culture. His past books include Dreamland Japan, Inside the Robot Kingdom and Manga Manga. In fact, he is known as one of the foremost experts on Japanese manga in the West.  Mr. Schodt is also a translator.

Native American in the land of the shogun : Ranald MacDonald and the opening of Japan. Berkeley, Calif : Stone Bridge Press, 2003.

The story of the opening of Japan to the west , focusing on the adventures of Ranald McDonald, a  half-Scot, half-Chinook who arrived in Japan in 1848.
McDonald studied Japanese and in turn, taught English to many influential persons of the time.