Yoshifumi Tajima, Godzilla actor, born 1918

Yoshifumi Tajima, born August 4, 1918 in Kobe, Japan, appeared in many Godzilla and Toho Company films.  His first kaiju film was Rodan in 1956. He went on to star in Mothra (1961), King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964), Ghidora, the Three-headed Monster (1964), Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965), Destroy All Monsters (1968), and The Return of Godzilla (1984).

He passed away in 2009.

 Yoshifumi Tajima

Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawai'ian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Harry Harris, J. first Asian American to command USPACOM

 

Harry Harris Jr., born August 4, 1956 in Yokosuka, Japan, is the first Asian American to lead the US Pacific Command. His mother was Japanesse and his father was a US Navy Machinist's mate, aboard the USS Lexington.  He graduated from the US Naval Academy in Annapolis in 1978.

Harris was nominated by President Barack Obama to command the USPACOM on September 22, 2014.  The Senate confirmed his appointment on December 11, making him the first Asian American to achieve this position.

Adm. Harry Harris J. nominated to lead PACOM

Firefly Aerospace and ISpace launch moon landers 2025

Aerosopace companies Firefly and ISpace (Japan) launched their lunar probes on a SpaceX rocket, January 15, 2025.  

Firefly's Blue Ghost landed on the moon in the Mare Crisium basin, March 2, 2025. Its mission will study the moon in preparation for human exploration in the future.

Japanese country ISpace's Hakuto-R Mission 2 (Resilience) crashed onto the lunar surface on June 5, 2025.

Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawai'ian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Eric Shinseki, first Asian American four-star general

Eric Shinseki was born November 28, 1942 in Lihue, Kaua'i, Hawai'ian territory to a family of Japanese ancestry.  His grandparents emigrated from Hiroshima to Hawai'i in 1901. 

Taking inspiration from his uncles, he graduated from the US Military Academy in 1965 and was commissioned as second lieutenant.  He served two tours in the Vietnam War.  The first was with the 9th and 25th Infantry Divisions as an artillery observer; and then as commander of Troop A, 3rd Squadron, 5th Calvary. 

He was injured by a land mine, but recovered and returned to active duty in 1971. For his service, he was awarded three Bronze Star Medals and two Purple Hearts.

He became the first Asian American four-star general.  In 2009, the US Senate unanimously confirmed Shinseki as the Secretary of Veteran Affairs, becoming the first Asian American to hold the position.  He resigned in 2014 after a scandal involving the Veteran Health Administration.  

"Gamera vs. Jiger" released 1970

Gamera vs. Jiger, released March 21, 1970 in Japan, is the sixth movie in the Gamera franchise.  When a statue on Wester Island in the Pacific Ocean is requested for an exhibition for Japan's Expo '70, a tribal member tries to prevent the removal of the statue.  However, removal of the statue proceeds and Gamera shows up to hamper the process.  Only the children seem to know that Gamera isn't a threat, but the statue is removed.  

Soon Jiger appears and Gamera must come to the rescue of Osaka.  Interestingly, Gamera uses his smarts rather than his brute strength to win the day.

"Shall We Dance?" wins Critics' Choice Award 1998

Shall We Dance?, the Japanese romantic comedy released in the United States in July 1997, won Critics' Choice Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 3rd annual ceremony held January 20, 1998. It was one of many awards the film garnered, including 14 Japanese Academy Awards. 

I saw this in the theater in Dallas and loved it so much, I haven't bothered to watch the Gere-Lopez version. 

Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawai'ian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Kinjiro Matsudaira, first Asian American elected mayor in US

Kinjiro Matsudaira, born September 13, 1885 in Pennsylvania, was an American inventor and politician in Maryland.  He was the son of a Japanese father and an American mother.  In May 1912, he filed for a patent concerning the functions of a thermometric fire-detector and was granted the patent in September 1914. 

He entered politics and, in 1927, was elected as mayor of Edmonston, Maryland, a small community just outside of Washington, DC.  He is the first Asian American to be elected mayor in the US.  He was re-elected as mayor in 1943.

He passed away in October 1963 at the age of 78. 

Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawai'ian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Miyoshi Umeki, first Asian American to win an Oscar

Miyoshi Umeki, born May 8, 1929 in Hokkaido, Japan, is the first Asian American woman to win an Academy Award for acting.  She started her career as a nightclub singer before immigrating to the US after WWII.  

She appeared for one season on Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts, which helped land her the role as Katsumi in the film Sayonara in 1957.  Her performance garnered her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the first Asian American woman to win an Oscar. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance.  

In 1961, she appeared as Mei Li in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress.  She was nominated for a Tony Award for performing on stage.

She continued acting, appearing mainly on television, including 66 episodes of The Courtship of Eddie's Father, for which she received her second Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film.

She passed away in August 2007 from cancer.

Soyuz MS-20 launched 2021

Soyuz MS-20 participants (L-R): Yusaka Maezawa, Alexander Misurkin, Yozo Hirano

Soyuz MS-20, launched December 8, 2021 to the International Space Station, carried one cosmonaut and two Japanese space tourists into space.  Its occupants were Commander Alexander Misurkin (Roscosmos), Yusaku Maezawa (art collector), and Yozo Hirano (Maezawa's production assistant). 

It is the first flight of the Soyuz program that did not take any crew members for rotation on the ISS, and was dedicated entirely for a commercial flight.

They returned to Earth December 20, after more than 11 days in space. 

Official end to World War II 1945

Representatives of Japan formally surrendered to the United States and its allies when it signed the official surrender document September 2, 1945, ending World War II.  The event took place on board the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, Japan.  

On August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito announced Japan accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, or Proclamation for Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender.

This day is known as Victory over Japan Day or V-J Day.

Japan's first gay pride parade 1994

Japan held its first gay pride parade August 28, 1994.  I can't find much information on it, but I found a clip from this year's Japan pride parade in Tokyo April 2022.

Celebrating Asian-American Heritage Month: Laura Joh Rowland, Chinese-Korean-American mystery author

I have read every book in Laura Joh Rowland's excellent Sano Ichiro, a samurai-detective set in feudal Japan, in the late 1690s to the early 1700s.  I enjoyed them very much and was not happy when she ended the series.  Oh, well.

She is the daughter of Chinese-American and Korean-American immigrants and grew up in Michigan. Her first novel of the Ichiro series Shinju was published in 1994.

Billy Joel releases the single "The Stranger" 1978

Billy Joel released the title track from his album The Stranger as a single May 21, 1978 in Japan.  It peaked at #2 on the Oricon chart, which is kind of a Japanese version of our Billboard charts.  It also made the top 10 in New Zealand.  It charted in Australia and France.

Celebrating Asian-American Heritage Month: Ellison Onizuka, first Asian-American astronaut

Ellison Onizuka, born June 24, 1946 in Kealakekua, Hawaii (which was not even part of the US then), is the first Asian-American in space and the first person of Japanese origin to reach space.  He went into space twice, first on Discovery (STS-51-C) in January 1985 and then Challenger (STS-51-L) in January 1986.  He perished when Challenger blew up shortly after launch.

Onizuka Air Force Station in Sunnyvale, California is dedicated to him.  He has an asteroid and a crater on the moon named after him.  The airport in Kona, Hawaii has been renamed Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport, and he even has a shuttlecraft, which has appeared in three episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, named after him. 

Happy birthday, Japanese astronaut Chiaki Mukai, first Asian woman in space

Chiaki Mukai, born May 6, 1952 in Japan, is the first Japanese woman in space, the first Asian woman, and the first Japanese citizen go to into space twice.

Her first mission was aboard Columbia (STS-65) as payload specialist in July 1994.  She carried out experiments sponsored by NASDA, the precursor to the Japanese Space Exploration Agency.

Her second and final mission was aboard Discovery (STS-95) as payload specialist in October-November 1998. It was the final flight for astronaut John Glenn as well.

Endeavour (STS-99) launched 2000

STS-99 crew

Front row (L-R): Mamoru Mohri, Thiele

Back row (L-R): Janice Voss, Kevin Kegel, Dominic Gorie, Janet Kavandi

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-99), launched February 11, 2000, was the last solo flight of the Endeavour, since the rest of her flights were devoted to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Kevin Kregel, Pilot Dominic Pudwill Gorie, Gerhard Thiele (ESA), Janet Kavandi, Janice Voss, Mamoru Mohri (NASDA).

They returned to Earth February 22.

"Son of Godzilla" released 1967

Son of Godzilla, released December 16, 1967 in Japan, is the eighth movie in the Godzilla franchise.  It was released to television in the United States in 1969.  Scientists on an island are trying to create a weather-controlling system, but discover a group of gigantic praying mantises (Kamacuras).  The mantises dig up an enormous egg, which hatches, revealing a baby Godzilla.  The mantises attack the baby Godzilla called Minilla, but Godzilla comes to the rescue.  

Godzilla and Minilla work together to defeat Kumonga (Spiga), a giant spider.  

It starred frequent Godzilla actors Akira Kubo, Akihiko Hirata, Kenji Sahara and Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla.

"Godzilla 1985" released 1984

Godzilla 1985, released December 15, 1984 in Japan, was a reboot of the series starring Raymond Burr, who appeared in the Americanized version of the original in 1954.  He reprises his role as Steve Martin from the 1956 version. Akihiko Hirata, who had appeared in many Godzilla movies, wanted to have at least a cameo in the movie, but passed away before he could. 

I haven't seen this one, but it is on my bucket list.  

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Takao Doi!

Takao Doi, born September 18, 1954 in Tokyo, Japan, is a veteran of two Space Shuttle flights.

His first flight was aboard Columbia (STS-87) as mission specialist in November-December 1997.  During the mission he conducted two EVAs with fellow astronaut Winston Scott, becoming the first Japanese astronaut to conduct a spacewalk.

His second flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-123) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in March 2008.  The mission delivered the first module of the Japanese Experiment Module.

"Shin Godzilla" released 2016

Shin Godzilla premiered July 25, 2016 in Tokyo before being released to the rest of the country on July 29.  It is the first Toho Company production of Godzilla since Godzilla: Final Wars in 2004.  Also, it is considered a 'reboot' of the series since it is not a sequel to any of the previous movies.

It was released in the US in October starting with Los Angeles on Oct 3, New York City on Oct 5 and Columbus, Ohio on October 7.  Then it had a limited release on October 11.

At the Awards of the Japanese Academy, it won Best Film, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Lighting, Best Editing, Best Sound and Best Art Direction.  It was nominated for four more awards.