Author: Let's Talk Story Staff

It was a busy weekend for the Let’s Talk Story Club! The day after our book sale fundraiser, we hosted a “Senior Memory Book Workshop” at a community center in Yorba Linda, California.

Ten seniors of Japanese ancestry participated, as their families asked questions from our Let’s Talk Story book and recorded answers. For those grandparents who could not be at the event in person (one due to having just had surgery), grandchildren conducted their session via Facetime! 

Everyone had a nice afternoon learning new, funny, and amazing things about their senior. One parent told us that this was the longest conversation their child had ever had with their grandparent — and that they want to do this more often. Every senior took home their memory book as a keepsake.

We were honored to be invited to the Go For Broke National Education Center’s 24th Annual Evening of Aloha Gala on Saturday, September 27. Close to 500 attendees gathered at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles to pay tribute to the story of the 33,000 Japanese Americans who served during WWII to protect the freedoms and liberties for future generations. The Let’s Talk Story Club held a book sale fundraiser at the event, donating 100% of our profits to the Fund the Future campaign. This initiative helps ensure that vital work can continue to preserve and evolve the story of the Japanese American soldiers of WWII as an important American story.

We’re so excited to be collaborating with Ian Gomez (pictured here) to expand The Let’s Talk Story Club to the Latino elderly community! We have been busy all summer writing, translating, designing and editing, “Tomemos un Cafecito,” the Spanish-language edition of our Let’s Talk Story book.

Featuring brand-new illustrations by talented artist Alfonso Salazar, this edition aims to celebrate and honor the legacies and stories of his Mexican heritage.

This exciting new chapter will begin in Northern California.

Stay tuned — Tomemos un Cafecito is coming!

The Let’s Talk Story Club is thrilled to be featured in this article by The Japanese American National Museum’s Discover Nikkei, a community website about Nikkei identity, culture, and history. Check it out!

Audrey Shiono / Taisho Shiono

LOS ANGELES – The Let’s Talk Story Club, a nonprofit dedicated to helping seniors of Japanese ancestry combat loneliness and cognitive decline by preserving their life stories, presented a $1,000 check to the Go For Broke National Education Center (GFBNEC). The donation, made at the GFBNEC’s downtown museum, will support the organization’s ongoing mission to educate the public on the valor of Japanese American soldiers of WWII and their contributions to democracy.

“The Nisei soldiers’ stories of selfless sacrifice inspired us to find ways to keep the important stories of our older generation alive,” said Audrey Shiono, Co-founder and President, The Let’s Talk Story Club. “Our nonprofit pairs youth volunteers with seniors to share and preserve their memories in life story books. In Hawaii, we call it ‘talk story’—and through this tradition, we are building intergenerational bonds.”

“On behalf of the Go For Broke National Education Center, I would like to thank you for your generous gift,” said Mitchell T. Maki, President and CEO of GFBNEC. “Your contribution makes it possible for us to continue our mission to educate and inspire new generations to embody the Nisei veterans’ core values of courage, sacrifice, equality, humility and patriotism.”

To raise the donation, The Let’s Talk Story Club hosted its first book sale on September 29 at Project Kokoro’s Kazoku-No-Hi “Ohana” Family Day held at the Orange County Buddhist Church. The nonprofit also holds free community workshops where families and volunteers spend an afternoon “talking story” with seniors and preserving their memories in life story books. Additionally, A.P. Japanese class students from South High School in Torrance, Calif., volunteer to create memory books with seniors as part of their coursework.

The Let’s Talk Story book is available for purchase on the Go For Broke National Education Center’s online store for $25.00. The book includes culturally specific questions and prompts to evoke recollections from seniors of Japanese ancestry and is beautifully illustrated by the late Nisei WWII veteran and artist Ben Suechika. 100% of profits are donated back to GFBNEC to support their mission to educate and inspire character and equality through the virtue and valor of our World War II American veterans of Japanese ancestry.

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On September 29, The Let’s Talk Story Club hosted a successful book sale at the Orange County Buddhist Church’s Kazoku-No-Hi “Ohana” Family Day. It was wonderful to see so many families who are part of the Japanese American community come out for this special event.

I had the pleasure of delivering the kickoff presentation, sharing about our mission to support seniors of Japanese ancestry. It was especially nice to meet leaders from other nonprofit organizations serving the Japanese American community including Keiro, Little Tokyo Service Center, Kizuna and Zentoku Foundation. Thank you to Diana Ono for inviting us to this special event. And thank you to our Let’s Talk Story Club volunteers Kara Niho, Maddy Nguyen, and Kari Kuriyama. 

By: Audrey Shiono

We were so honored when Let’s Talk Story Club was invited to attend the Go For Broke National Education Center’s 23rd Annual Evening of Aloha Gala! The event took place on September 14 at the beautiful Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles, and it was such an incredible experience to be part of. The theme, Living the Nisei Veteran’s Dream, paid tribute to the heroic legacy of Japanese American soldiers who served during World War II.

It was inspiring to see so many notable guests gathered to support this important cause. ABC7 News Anchor David Ono was the host, and Kendyl Sayuri Yokoyama, the lead actor from the Hamilton national tour, moved the audience with her rendition of the National Anthem and a beautiful performance of “The Impossible Dream.” The dinner was amazing, prepared by the famous Chef Roy Yamaguchi and King’s Hawaiian Bakery.

One of the most memorable parts of the evening was the roll call of veterans. We were so lucky to see members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team: Tokuji “Toke” Yoshihashi, Hachiro “Hutch” Mayewaki, and Yoshio “Yosh” Nakamura, as well as Cadet Nurse Mary Tamura. Hearing their names called and seeing them honored made the evening even more meaningful.

A huge thank you to Dr. Mitchell Maki, President of the GFBNEC, for giving Let’s Talk Story this opportunity. And we are beyond grateful to Apryll Nakamura, whose support for our club has been incredible—she even donated a digital advertisement to help spread the word about our work! This experience was one we will never forget, and we are so grateful to have been a part of it.

Throughout the summer, students from the AP Japanese class at South High School in Torrance, California volunteered with the Let’s Talk Story Club.

As part of their coursework, they practiced their Japanese language skills by completing Let’s Talk Story books with their grandparents (of Japanese ancestry). Here’s what the students said about their experiences:

“We were excited to learn that our grandpa played football, while our grandma was a varsity cheerleader.”

“My grandpa just kept talking and talking.”

Overall, our volunteers were truly able to “see” the cognitive benefits of the Let’s Talk Story sessions. 

The Let’s Talk Story Club is excited to be a part of Orange County Buddhist Church’s Kazoku-No-Hi Family Day on September 29th. The event will take place from 12 to 3 p.m. in the OCBC gym. Our book will be available for purchase there, and 100% of the profits will go to Go For Broke National Education Center. We hope to see you there!

By: Taisho and Audrey

Dear Ben, 

We first saw your paintings of the beaches of Maui and Mount Fuji at the Go-For-Broke National Education Center. We knew they’d be perfect for our memory book illustrations.

Then we visited you at your senior home to present the book and document your own life story. We’ll never forget your tales fighting for the U.S. against Japan–your mother country–while your family was incarcerated at an internment camp. It struck us: some stories must never be forgotten. You validated that all the work to create our nonprofit was worth it.

Because of you, over 250 more seniors’ fascinating stories have now been documented. We’ve received thank-yous from volunteers across California, Hawaii, Japan and Mexico. We were even on Good Day LA news!

We will continue to preserve life stories like yours. We want to thank you. You’ve taught us that stories give us a sense of identity, connect us to our roots, and deepen our perspectives on past injustices. 

Your friends, 

Taisho and Audrey