Teresa Teng (鄧麗君) was a Taiwanese singer and Asian superstar who officially sold 22 million albums -- and an estimated 50-75 million bootlegs) during her tragically short life. Despite her death at the age of 42, her career traversed four decades. With her covers of Japanese songs in Chinese (including Cantonese, Hokkein, and Mandarin), she … Continue reading Pan-Asian Metropolis — Teresa Teng (鄧麗君)
Category: Pan-Asian Metropolis
No Enclave – Tajik Los Angeles
INTRODUCTION There are not, I don't think, many Tajiks or Tajikistanis in Los Angeles. I only know one, personally, and when we first met at a birthday party a few years ago, I got the impression from him that I was the amongst a very small numbers of Angelenos that he'd met who'd ever even … Continue reading No Enclave – Tajik Los Angeles
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Pan-Asian Metropolis — Japanese Los Angeles
Los Angeles was at one time home to the largest population of Japanese outside of Japan and the contributions of Japanese-Angelenos to history and culture are many. It was in Los Angeles that Hollywood created the first Asian-American film star. It was also in Los Angeles that a legal challenge in the Supreme Court re-shaped … Continue reading Pan-Asian Metropolis — Japanese Los Angeles
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Pan-Asian Metropolis — Hi Duk Lee, the Father of Koreatown (1939-2019)
Hi Duk Lee (이희덕) died on 7 March at the age of 79. Two weeks passed before his death was reported on the website L.A. Taco. Only then did the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Korea Times, KTLA, NBC, and ABC run stories on the passing of this pioneer, whose name and accomplishments remain unknown to most Angelenos, including … Continue reading Pan-Asian Metropolis — Hi Duk Lee, the Father of Koreatown (1939-2019)
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Pan-Asian Metropolis — Khánh Ly
Today is the birthday of Khánh Ly, the legendary Vietnamese singer who rose to fame in the 1960s with her interpretations of songs by Trịnh Công Sơn and who later found sustained success in Japan. She fled Vietnam in 1975 and for many years now has made her home in Cerritos. Khánh Ly is a stage … Continue reading Pan-Asian Metropolis — Khánh Ly
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Pan-Asian Metropolis — The Art of the Benshi/弁士の芸術
From 1 March through 3 March, the Tadashi Yanai Initiative for Globalizing Japanese Humanities and the UCLA Film & Television Archive (with support from the National Film Archive of Japan) a three-day program titled "The Art of the Benshi." Benshi (弁士; also known as katsudō-benshi/活動弁士 or katsuben/活弁) are live performers who accompanied silent films of Japan as well as … Continue reading Pan-Asian Metropolis — The Art of the Benshi/弁士の芸術
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Pan-Asian Metropolis — 素食夜市小吃園遊會 Happy Lantern Green Night Market
The other day, Una and I went to the 素食夜市小吃園遊會 Happy Lantern Green Night Market -- a 100% vegetarian (and mostly vegan) Taiwanese street food festival which took place in Alhambra. If that sounds on the surface impossibly niche, consider the following. Taiwan is the cradle of the night market. Taiwan is, after India, likely the second … Continue reading Pan-Asian Metropolis — 素食夜市小吃園遊會 Happy Lantern Green Night Market
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No Enclave — Exploring Vietnamese Los Angeles
Metro Los Angeles is home to the largest population of Vietnamese outside of Vietnam. About two-thirds of the metropolis's population lives in Orange County -- home to the nation's oldest and largest Little Saigon. Los Angeles County, on the other hand, has the third-largest population of Vietnamese-Americans but one which is less than half the … Continue reading No Enclave — Exploring Vietnamese Los Angeles
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Pan-Asian Metropolis — Orange County’s Lost Chinatowns
INTRODUCTION TO ASIAN ORANGE COUNTY Today, Orange County is widely recognized for its prominent Asian-American population. There are significant numbers of of Vietnamese, Koreans, Taiwanese, Filipinos, Indians, Japanese, Cambodians, Chinese, Pakistanis, Thais, Indonesians, and Laotians living there, as well as many smaller groups. Metro Los Angeles (which includes Los Angeles and Orange counties) is in fact home … Continue reading Pan-Asian Metropolis — Orange County’s Lost Chinatowns
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Happy Lunar New Year’s Eve
Tonight is Lunar New Year's Eve in the Americas. It's already New Year's Day in Asia so I suppose I should've posted this earlier since a good number of my readers are in (descending order to gently if unlikely stoke a bit of competition) Japan, the Philippines, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, … Continue reading Happy Lunar New Year’s Eve
Eric Brightwell 