Arlene Kaneko Watkins
Co-Founder, Board Chair and Treasurer

Arlene is half-Japanese and grew up in Portland, Oregon. She retired after 25 years in marketing communications in the high-tech sector and 15 years as a middle school teacher, where she incorporated EO9066 into her lessons. She has a BA in Journalism from the University of Oregon, an MA in Liberal Studies (MALS) from Reed College, and an MS in Education from Eastern Oregon University. Arlene is a licensed ikebana instructor and a member of the Sakura Tea Circle of Tucson and the Urasenke Tankokai of Arizona (tea ceremony).

Suzu Igarashi-Hayes
Co-founder and Board Secretary

Suzu, a native of Japan, came to the United States to use her art, Classical Japanese Dance, to promote cultural awareness. She holds a Grand Master degree in Japanese Classical Dance in both Japan and the United States, and she performs and teaches Japanese dance in Tucson. In addition, she has a BS in Molecular Biology and Plant Science from Otterbein University and worked at the University of Arizona for ten years as a Lab Operations Manager in the Department of Immunology and Department of Surgery. She is currently pursing a Master of Public Health in Aging Population Health at the University of Arizona and teaches movement and dance classes for young adults with disabilities and residents at assisted living facilities.

Junko Sakoi, PhD
Board Member and Program Coordinator

Junko was born and raised in Hyogo, Japan. She is passionate about education and has been working in the educational field in Japan and in the United States for 20 years. Junko holds an MA in TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) from Gonzaga University and a PhD in Literacy Education and Curriculum from the University of Arizona. She was a curriculum coordinator for a public school district in Tucson for ten years.

Minoru (Min) Yanagihashi, PhD
History Advisor

Min is a second-generation Japanese American. He grew up in Honolulu, where he developed an early interest in Japanese history and politics. He holds degrees from the University of Hawaii, Manoa (BA), University of Washington (MALS), University of California, Berkeley (MA) and the University of Michigan (PhD). Before his academic career, he served as an infantry officer in South Korea and was also a reference librarian at California State University, Los Angeles. He did field research on electoral politics in Hyogo Prefecture under a Fulbright-Hays grant. Min has taught at several universities, including the University of Michigan and the University of Arizona.

James Tokishi
Videographer

James is a fourth-generation Japanese American from Honolulu. Since receiving his first camera in 2001, he has cultivated a decades-long interest in documenting people, community, and cultural events, such as Saboten Con, Arizona’s largest anime, gaming and cosplay convention; the Arizona Matsuri Japanese Cultural Festival; and the Tucson Japanese Festival. In addition, he has covered performances by the Arizona Kyudo-Kai, Suzuki-Kai, Odaiko Sonora, and many others.

James is a “one man band” cinematographer and local independent producer of documentary projects. He is on the council of the Southern Arizona Japanese Cultural Coalition and the board of the Asian Corporate and Entrepreneur Leaders, Tucson chapter. http://www.jtokishiphotography.com

Priscilla Martinez, PhD
Oral History Advisor

Priscilla is an assistant professor of history at the University of Texas, San Antonio, with an emphasis in U.S.-Mexico Borderlands history. Dr. Martinez trained and worked in oral history at the Baylor University Institute for Oral History (BUIOH) and has worked as an oral history researcher for the National Endowment for the Humanities. She has numerous interviews co-deposited at the Southern Oral History Program at UNC-Chapel Hill and BUIOH. She was a Scholar-in-Residence at the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center, where she helped establish its oral history program.