International Examiner

07/19/2024

This year, the Chinatown/International District (CID) Public Safety Council is launching a monthly column in the International Examiner to provide ongoing updates, resources, and information about public safety. The CID Public Safety Council has been in existence since 2016, forming as a coalition of community and City representatives to carry out the work of the CID Public Safety Task Force convened by the City of Seattle after Donnie Chin’s murder in 2015.

This year, the Chinatown/International District (CID) Public Safety Council is undergoing a self-evaluation about how we can better improve the lines of communication especially around community and public safety within the CID community. As part of this effort, we are pleased to launch a monthly co...

07/16/2024

Amanda Jayatissa has firmly established herself as prominent voice in South Asian popular fiction that blends horror, mythology, and mystery. "Island Witch," her newest novel is set during British colonial times in Sri Lanka and once again draws on mystery, horror, and myth to draw the readers in.

Amanda Jayatissa has firmly established herself as prominent voice in South Asian popular fiction that blends horror, mythology, and mystery. Her first novel My Sweet Girl (2021) and her second You are Invited (2022) offer readers fast-paced and spine chilling thrills. Island Witch, her newest novel...

07/15/2024

"Grief feels different with the seasons," writes Christina Nguyen. "Every summer as neighborhood events are held, I cannot help but have memories surface of our neighborhood friends: Bill Lee, Donnie Chin, and Kerry Taniguchi’s legacies live on forever. I’m so grateful to have crossed paths with these three amazing community members when they were alive. They deserved their flowers plus more, while they were still with us."

Some questions I have been simmering on are: What does it mean to be a community member in society? What is my legacy? Or yours? Why has the feeling of grief been felt for so long and how do we collectively reach authentic joy and heal with each other from living through such an eventful […]

07/12/2024

Japanese American survivors of incarceration in Minidoka, their descendants, and pilgrims are calling on President Biden to halt the construction of the proposed Lava Ridge Wind Project, which they say threatens the remote, solemn quality of the former concentration camp site.

On June 6, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved a path forward for the project in a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), after analysis of alternatives and mitigation measures, and engagement with stakeholders and the public.

Under BLM’s preferred alternative, the massive project could add nearly 250 wind turbines, up to 660 feet tall (taller than the Space Needle), to the landscape. This plan could be finalized in a Record of Decision in early July unless the federal government intervenes.

This year, as hundreds of survivors, descendants, and pilgrims travel to Minidoka National Historic Site from July 4 to 7, many are calling on President Biden to halt the construction of the proposed Lava Ridge Wind Project, which they say threatens the remote, solemn quality of the former concentra...

07/11/2024

No one was injured in the two-alarm fire, with an undetermined cause, that broke out in the vacant former Viet-Wah Supermarket building around midnight on June 10. By the time the demolition crew finished, little was left standing but the two stone guardian lions that had protected the beloved business for some 36 years. Thanks to the quick work of community members in Little Saigon, the lions were saved and stored. In a few years, they will protect the future Little Saigon Landmark Project’s Vietnamese Cultural and Economic Center – a link from the past in a transformed neighborhood.

No one was injured in the two-alarm fire that broke out in the vacant former Viet-Wah Supermarket building around midnight on June 10. The cause of the fire was “undetermined,” Fire Department investigators concluded. It burned for over 16 hours as firefighters poured water on it, and there was ...

07/10/2024

Matcha fanatics lined the street outside of OHSUN Banchan Deli and Café in Pioneer Square on Saturday, May 25, to get a taste of Grean Matcha, a new Seattle-based matcha company started by Andrew Kim and Steven Kim.

Matcha fanatics lined the street outside of OHSUN Banchan Deli and Café in Pioneer Square on Saturday, May 25, to get a taste of Grean Matcha, a new Seattle-based matcha company started by Andrew Kim and Steven Kim. The event marked the third public pop-up for Grean Matcha since its inception a yea...

07/09/2024

In June, local group Outdoor Asian led a visit to the Japanese American Exclusion Memorial on Bainbridge Island, one of many events that they organize in alignment with their mission of accessibility, equity, environmental awareness, and community.

It was a late Saturday morning and the air was crisp on Bainbridge Island. A group of friendly adventurers from all walks of life gathered in a circle awaiting a tour of the Japanese American Exclusion Memorial; nestled under grand trees and surrounded by a rich ecosystem of well-manicured greenery....

07/08/2024

Some heat safety resources from the City:

The City of Seattle is working together with our regional partners to plan and prepare for potential heat waves this summer, including monitoring critical infrastructure and air quality, and providing resources to help keep residents cool. In the event of extreme heat, cooling centers will be availa...

07/08/2024

The sweetest subscription renewal 🫶🏽

07/08/2024

Our latest issue is out! Catch up on all the latest CID news, an essay remembering the neighborhood's heroes, a piece following our region's local group, Outdoor Asian, along on a trip to the Japanese American incarceration memorial on Bainbridge Island, and much more. Grab a copy at your favorite local business 😎

06/26/2024

Rachel Khong, acclaimed for her debut novel, Goodbye, Vitamin, returns with a second offering, a powerful, multi-generational family drama, one that depicts many facets of the immigrant experience. The story spans decades and is divided into three sections, each dominated by a first-person narrator.

Rachel Khong, acclaimed for her debut novel, Goodbye, Vitamin, returns with a second offering, a powerful, multi-generational family drama, one that depicts many facets of the immigrant experience. The story spans decades and is divided into three sections, each dominated by a first-person narrator....

06/25/2024

'Pillar of Books,' by contemporary Korean writer Moon Bo Young, is a fantastic poetry release and an even more fantastic translation release, writes reviewer Greg Bem.

“Someone staying up all night with open eyes looks at the eggplant-colored ceiling. A person lives above them, supine, asleep. This person stares with open eyes at the eggplant-colored person living above them.” (from “What the Hallway Prepared,” 81) Black Ocean’s Moon Country Poetry Serie...

06/24/2024

Xi Xi’s 'Mourning a Breast' – first published in 1992 and in a new English translation by Jennifer Feeley from New York Review Books – is a semi-autobiographical novel that reads like a series of nonfiction essays, recorded dialogues, and musings. It is centered around the late Hong Kong-based author’s experience with breast cancer and the surgical removal of one of her breasts.

Xi Xi’s Mourning a Breast – first published in 1992 and in a new English translation by Jennifer Feeley this year – is a semi-autobiographical novel that reads like a series of nonfiction essays, recorded dialogues, and musings. It is centered around the late Hong Kong-based author’s experie...

06/22/2024

'Anni Dreams of Biryani' by Namita Moolani Mehra is a delightful tale of Anni and the lengths she will go to figure out her favorite restaurant’s biryani recipe. Through asking questions and a lot of practice Anni works hard on perfecting the recipe.

Anni Dreams of Biryani by Namita Moolani Mehra is a delightful tale of Anni and the lengths she will go to figure out her favorite restaurant’s biryani recipe. Anni lives across the street from a café that makes the best biryani in the world! She is determined to figure out and cook the recipe, b...

06/18/2024

Dorothy Tse's complex novel 'Owlish' is set in a thinly-veiled fictional Hong Kong, wherein characters succumb to dissociation, alienation, and doll-ification.

A joke works like this: setup, punch line, humor. The punch line is funny because it allows you to see the setup in a new light. In telling a joke, each part is important to the whole. You can’t skip ahead to the punch line, nor can you spend all your time spelling out the […]

06/17/2024

Amy Tan’s latest book 'The Backyard Bird Chronicles' is a five-year journal of the birds she observed in the vicinity of her Marin County home. It is one of the more intimate books written by Tan, best known for her novels describing the experiences of Chinese American women in the U.S. during the 20th century and their relationship with their immigrant parents.

In an era when we can easily distract ourselves with our phones, birding (AKA bird watching) has found a new flock of supporters as a popular hobby to disconnect us from our gadgets. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of self-proclaimed birders rose significantly, thanks in part to birding bei...

06/17/2024

Grean Matcha is a new Seattle-based matcha pop-up started by UW graduates Andrew Kim and Steven Kim. Grean Matcha currently offers matcha with a variety of cheese foam flavors, including lavender, coconut pandan, ube Oreo, hojicha and black sesame. They also have their take on matcha lemonades, called “Matchade”.

Matcha fanatics lined the street outside of OHSUN Banchan Deli and Café in Pioneer Square on Saturday, May 25, to get a taste of Grean Matcha, a new Seattle-based matcha company started by Andrew Kim and Steven Kim. The event marked the third public pop-up for Grean Matcha since its inception a yea...

06/13/2024

Northwest Asian Weekly, a news website and former weekly newspaper based in the Chinatown International District, has been sold to a group of four investors, including Sam Cho, director of strategic initiatives for Mayor Bruce Harrell, and Port of Seattle commissioner.

Northwest Asian Weekly, a news website and former weekly newspaper based in the Chinatown International District, has been sold to a group of four investors, the publication announced May 24 in a post on its website. The new owners are Grace Roh, a financial manager who will serve as the new publish...

06/13/2024

Coming to You (너에게 가는 길) is an indie documentary from South Korea chronicling the journey of reconciliation and acceptance for two Korean mothers whose children have come out as q***r.

Coming to You (너에게 가는 길) is an indie documentary from South Korea chronicling the journey of reconciliation and acceptance for two Korean mothers whose children have come out as q***r. To this day, Korea is still slow to accept or even acknowledge its q***r citizens, so when I heard abou...

06/13/2024

In 2013, incarcerated writer and organizer Felix Sitthivong was inspired after attending a Juneteenth celebration organized by members of the Black Prisoners Caucus (BPC). But ever since COVID-19, he has not been able to attend another Juneteenth event, under Department of Corrections rules prohibiting incarcerated individuals from attending more than one cultural banquet a year. "This policy makes it so an Asian American person like myself would have to choose between attending the annual API banquet or accepting an invitation to another cultural event such as Juneteenth. Or it forces multiracial individuals who may be members of multiple cultural organizations to choose which part of their identity they wanted to celebrate for the year, which is the case for many."

Growing up, I didn’t even know that Juneteenth was a thing. Which is actually kind of ironic since my birthday just happens to be on the same day. I guess the universe works in mysterious ways! It wasn’t until a few years into my 66-year prison sentence, back in 2013, that I was invited to […]

06/12/2024

Maria Lee Koh, a prominent Seattle philanthropist and tireless champion of community health, education, libraries and cultural heritage, passed away May 2 after a tenacious seven-year battle with Parkinson’s disease. She was 91.

Maria Lee Koh, a prominent Seattle philanthropist and tireless champion of community health, education, libraries and cultural heritage, passed away May 2 after a tenacious seven-year battle with Parkinson’s disease. She was 91. Koh was born in 1933 in Shanghai. In 1950, she immigrated to the U.S....

06/10/2024

'Hijab Butch Blues,' a memoir by Lamya H (who uses both she and they pronouns), is a timely and necessary work, writes reviewer Lani Goto. The memoir consists of a series of essays about the author finding her personal truths through the scriptures of the Quran. While the vantage point of a Muslim faith and a conservative South Asian background might seem at odds with exploring q***r sexuality and gender, Hijab Butch Blues brings them beautifully together. One doesn’t have to share their identity to empathize with their story and appreciate their triumphs. But for those who might see something in this book like Lamya saw in the Quran, it could be a vital awakening to a new kind of life.

In this memoir, Lamya H (who uses both she and they pronouns) writes a series of essays about finding her personal truths through the scriptures of the Quran. While the vantage point of a Muslim faith and a conservative South Asian background might seem at odds with exploring q***r sexuality and gen...

06/07/2024

Pride Asia Fest returned to Hing Hay Park on May 26 for its 12 year anniversary, celebrating the diverse LGBTQ Asian and Pacific Islander communities with joyful performances and advocacy.

Words by Chetanya Robinson Pride Asia Fest returned to Hing Hay Park on May 26 for its 12 year anniversary, celebrating the diverse LGBTQ Asian and Pacific Islander communities with joyful performances and advocacy. Co-founded in 2012 by drag performers and social activists Aleksa Manila, Gaysha Sta...

06/06/2024

The Nippon Kan Theater, once a vital performance venue and community center in Seattle’s Nihonmachi, or Japantown, is restored and open once again as an events space available for rent. The restoration is the work of Eric Hayashi, President and CEO of Rainier Clinical Research Center and the building’s new owner.

  The Nippon Kan Theater, once a vital performance venue and community center in Seattle’s Nihonmachi, or Japantown, is restored and open once again as an events space available for rent. The renovated performance room and stage were showcased in a private re-opening celebration on May 23, where ...

06/05/2024

Our June issue is out this weekend! In it, you'll find the story of the striking workers at the Wing Luke Museum and their ongoing negotiations with executive leadership, the full photo essay of this year's annual Official Pride ASIA, details on the historical Nippon Kan Theater reopening as an event space, and an op-ed piece from our columnist Felix Sitthivong on how Juneteenth reminds us that state prisons suppress intercultural solidarity. That, and much more!

06/04/2024

On May 22, a group of 24 staff at the Wing Luke Museum staged a walkout to protest its newest exhibit, 'Confronting Hate Together,' which the group said mischaracterizes Palestinian liberation and critiques of Israel as terrorism and anti-Semitism

On May 22, a group of 24 staff at the Wing Luke Museum staged a walkout to protest its newest exhibit, Confronting Hate Together, which the group said mischaracterizes Palestinian liberation and critiques of Israel as terrorism and anti-Semitism. The museum closed as a result, and remains so as of p...

05/29/2024

In his new monograph 'American Fried Rice,' visual artist Mu Pan takes inspiration from Buddhist art, Flemish paintings, medieval manuscripts, Indian and Persian miniatures, Native American drawings, Thai murals in temples, and old medical illustrations

Visual artist Mu Pan has been heads-down with his sketchbook and canvases for decades, and during the Covid-19 pandemic, he celebrated the publication of his first book of illustrations in November, 2020. Entitled American Fried Rice: The Art of Mu Pan, the book includes many of Pan’s intricate re...

05/22/2024

A decade ago, local musician Tomo Nakayama recorded his album 'Fog on the Lens' on site at Town Hall Seattle. Now, for the album’s ten-year anniversary, Nakayama returns to Town Hall on June 7 to perform the album for a live audience.

A decade ago, local musician Tomo Nakayama recorded his album Fog on the Lens on site at Town Hall Seattle. Now, for the album’s ten-year anniversary, Nakayama returns to Town Hall on June 7 to perform the album for a live audience. When he recorded the album in 2014, using a single microphone...

05/21/2024

"Big picture-wise, 'Yellowface' is a satirical look at the publishing industry and how it deals with race, diversity, and representation," writes IE book reviewer Jennifer Lee.

With Yellowface, author R.F. Kuang turns a new page on genre. The Poppy Wars, the first book in a trilogy she started writing when she was 19, is a historical military fantasy set in China. Her second project, Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolu...

05/17/2024

The poetry of Diana Khoi Nguyen, celebrated for its innovative engagement with mixed media and visual elements, has earned her a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship among many honors. The following is an interview with Nguyen about her creative process and the inspiration behind her latest work, 'Root Fractures.'

The poetry of Diana Khoi Nguyen, celebrated for its innovative engagement with mixed media and visual elements, has earned her a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship among many honors. Her debut collection, Ghost Of, received critical acclaim for its evocative portrayal of family and the haunt...