Sports

The Japanese American Powerlifting Grandmother

There are your typical bulky powerlifters and then there is Stephanie Misaki Whiting. Her 5-foot-one and 98-pound frame might not fit the profile of a quintessential powerlifter, but 63-year-old Misaki Whiting’s powerlifting skills are not to be underestimated. At her best Misaki Whiting squatted 210 pounds, benched 123 pounds and deadlifte...Read More

Japanese American Jamie Hagiya Shoots For Spot on L.A. Sparks Roster

Jamie Hagiya was never in short supply of fans from the Japanese American community when she played college basketball, and two of her staunchest supporters were always in the bleachers to cheer her on. The 26-year-old's grandparents, Joyce and Yas Aochi, never missed the former Trojan's basketball games at the University of Southern Calif...Read More

Southern California Native Thrives in Hawaii as Assistant Basketball Coach

Consistency. It's the one word that Hawaii Pacific University's assistant coach Roger Kiyomura describes as his mantra in life — a life that has taken the former Garden Grove native from his friends and family in Southern California to his post coaching one of the nation's hottest women's college basketball teams. Currently ...Read More

Nisei Baseball: A Field of Their Own

For Kenso "Howard" Zenimura baseball practically ran through his family's bloodline. The son of "The Father of Japanese American Baseball" says he played the sport nearly his whole life. Everywhere the Zenimura family went there was baseball. The game never ended even when Howard Zenimura, at 15, was taken with his family ...Read More

Sho Nakamori’s Olympic Dreams

Sho Nakamori's nicknames have varied over the years. While training as a youngster with his father, who was a gymnastics club coach at Stanford University, Nakamori earned the nickname "Sho-Nuff" from collegiate gymnasts. That moniker evolved to "Sho-Boat" and "Snuffleupagus." One thing that has endured througho...Read More