Morris Chang
Morris Chang was passed over for CEO at Texas Instruments before founding TSMC, the company that transformed Taiwan into the global leader in advanced semiconductor manufacturing.
Business & Industry
Takahashi v. California Fish and Game Commission
California blocked him from citizenship. Then it tried to take away his right to fish. When Torao Takahashi challenged the law, his case reached the U.S. Supreme Court and became a landmark victory for civil rights.
George Shima
After failing English in Japan, George Shima emigrated to California and became the state’s first Japanese millionaire and “Potato King.”
Kanaye Nagasawa
Kanaye Nagasawa was the first Japanese national to live permanently in the United States and became the first Wine King of California. His legacy tells a story of ambition, success, and an American dream that could not be passed on because of discriminatory laws.
Mary Tsukamoto
Born in 1915, Mary Tsukamoto overcame poverty, arthritis, and unjust incarceration to become a pioneering educator and civil rights leader whose legacy still shapes California classrooms today.
Rocky Aoki
From Tokyo streets to American fame, Rocky Aoki built an empire with Benihana, mixing performance and food into a new kind of dining experience. His wild life made him one of the most fascinating Japanese Americans of his era.
Fujishige Farm
When you survived incarceration, a murder attempt, and the war in Europe, you weren’t afraid of Disney.
Vincent Chin
In 1982, Vincent Chin was beaten to death in Detroit by two white men who blamed Japan for the decline of the auto industry. Their light sentences sparked a national Asian American civil rights movement that continues to shape the fight for justice today.
Santa Anita Strike
The Santa Anita Strike of 1942 was a labor protest inside a World War II detention center for Japanese Americans. The uprising revealed growing anger over poor living conditions and injustice under government control.