Media.
A collection of interviews, features, online programs, and workshops with Nobuko.
Backstage Pass with Lia Chang
For the 47th Annual Asian American International Film Festival’s opening screening, Asian CineVision presented NOBUKO MIYAMOTO: A SONG IN MOVEMENT, co-presented with the Asia Society. This event was Theld on August 1 at the Asia Society (725 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10021) in New York City.
With NOBUKO MIYAMOTO: A SONG IN MOVEMENT, filmmakers Tadashi Nakamura and Quyên Nguyen-Le deftly explore Nobuko Joanne Miyamoto’s life and career. As a singer, dancer, and long-time activist of the AAPI community, there is no better person to encapsulate this year’s theme of memory, reconnection, and vibrant community of Asian American creatives across the country.
The screening took place in the Lila Acheson Wallace Theater, and was followed by a live performance by Nobuko Miyamoto, accompanied by Derek Nakamoto. Her son, Kamau Ayubbi, and granddaughter Asiyah Ayubbi joined them for one number. Roswell Encina, Chief Communications Officer, Library of Congress, moderated a Q&A with Nobuko Miyamoto and filmmakers Tadashi Nakamura and Quyên Nguyen-Le.
Masumi Izumi who translated “Not Yo’ Butterfly” says:
Well, well, well, "Nobuko Miyamoto Autobiography" has won the 5th place in the Doshisha University Student Library Department's Book Best 10 (the books with the highest number of sold)!
According to the bookstore, "It's 5th place, but 4th place or more is TOEIC or Six Law, so it's basically the first place"...
Now this is so cool...
120,000 Stories in Concert at the Presidio Theatre
August 5, 2023
Experience an afternoon of multi-ethnic music and storytelling with the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California as the iconic Nobuko Miyamoto shares the story of her amazing life. It’s a multi-generational journey as Nobuko traces her roots to the Santa Anita Assembly Center in 1942, taking us through her early show biz career on the Broadway stage and in Hollywood as one of a few Asian American performers, then her emergence in the 1960s as “Chris and Joanne,” with her embrace of her Asian American identity and the power of inclusion.
Nobuko’s stories address issues such as race, gender, multiculturalism, and climate change. She is as relevant today as she was 50 years ago when she, Chris Iijima, and Charlie Chin recorded the iconic “We Are the Children” the anthem for the yellow movement that was part of the groundbreaking album “Grain of Sand.”
On “Not Yo’ Butterfly”
L.A. poet, historian and professor Mike Sonksen says his favorite escape this year was “Not Yo’ Butterfly,” a memoir by Nobuko Miyamoto. “The story begins with Miyamoto in the Japanese American internment camps in her early childhood, to her adolescence in Boyle Heights and Mid-City,” he says. “By her early 20s Miyamoto appeared in the original ‘West Side Story’ film, danced on Broadway and then in the late ’60s and ’70s, she played a major role in both the Asian American and Black liberation movements.
“Her entire life has been about using art to grow her soul and also open doors for everyone else,” Sonksen says. “I loved the book from cover to cover.”
- Donna Wares, December 21st, 2021, Los Angeles Times Book Club
We Are The Children: A Celebration of AAPI Identity Through Music & Intergenerational Storytelling
Recording of our virtual event in celebration of AAPI Heritage month! This event explored the 1973 album 'A Grain of Sand', a record regarded as one of the first musical voices of Asian American Identity. We featured a panel of diverse AAPI artists including Nobuko Miyamoto (an original member of the album!), Tadashi Nakamura (documentary filmmaker), Faye Chiao (Composer) and Melisa Tien (Playwright/Producer/Lyricist) exploring the enduring importance of giving voice to cultural identity through creative arts and intergenerational storytelling. This event was held on 5/21/21 in partnership with The Global Leaders Program, facilitated by 2021 cohort member Rose Kim.
Snap Judgement Podcast with Nobuko
“After their first and last TV performance, Nobuko and Chris recorded “Yellow Pearl,” “We Are The Children,” and other songs on their 1973 album A Grain of Sand: Music for the Struggle by Asians in America. And while Chris, unfortunately, passed away in 2005, Nobuko is still making music to this day.”
Artwork by Teo Ducot
HERITAGE iRL x Yellow Pearl: Celebrating the Birth of the Asian American Movement
Hear a song from the "Grain of Sand" album and join a conversation about The Basement Workshop, Asian Women United, our dear friend Corky Lee, The Yellow Pearl Project, and the early days of the Asian American Movement. Featuring Nobuko Miyamoto, Elizabeth (Liz) Young, and Arlan Huang. Moderated by Phil Tajitsu Nash.
¡Rola del Día! with Nobuko Miyamoto, Sounds of California Boyle Heights
Nobuko Miyamoto and Gabriel Gonzalez (song featured, but artist not present). Two versatile artists take us through the multiracial history of Boyle Heights from redlining to the Jewish Bakers Union to the incarceration of Japanese Americans.
Growing up in Boyle Heights…
Artwork by the Alliance for Southern California Traditional Arts
Nikkei Block Party Week 9: ART, ACTIVISM, GENERATIONS
Join host Erin Aoyama as she announces tonight's performances, which features performances by Micah Tasaka, The Nomura/Ishibashi Family, Bruce Tetsuya, Nobuko Miyamoto, Asiyah Ayubbi, and Traci Kato-Kiriyaa.
Artist Talk with Taiji Terasaki
A conversation about Asian American activism, the power of music, and her recent 2021 album release.
Nobuko Miyamoto: From Japanese Internment to Hollywood to 3rd World Liberation
Guest: Nobuko Miyamoto is an artist, actor, singer, writer and life long activist. She is the author of the memoir Not Yo' Butterfly: My Long Song of Relocation, Race, Love, and Revolution. Her Latest album is called 120,000 Thousand Stories.
Introducing the first pre-release single, “What Time Is It On The Clock Of The World?”
Featuring Juan Perez and Nobuko Miyamoto Moderated by Deborah Wong How can you create a song? Nobuko and Juan will swap stories about growing up in Boyle Heights, making community-based music, and recording this song. Juan will demonstrate and talk about the Turbo Didley, his unique instrument, made from a recycled Cuban cigar box. Nobuko will describe how she wove lyrics over his unique sound starting with a quote from the late activist/philosopher Grace Lee Boggs, who invited Nobuko to Detroit to use her art to highlight the burgeoning urban gardening movement.