For this Seattle samurai, cartoons were key to illustrating Japanese American perspectives

Soundside

In 2018, The North American Post, Seattle’s oldest Japanese-language newspaper, printed the final strip of Seattle Tomodachi, a comic created by Sam Goto.

Goto was a second generation Japanese-American, born in the Seattle area in 1933. He raised two girls here, working for most of his life as a dental technician.

He passed away at the age of 84, just a few months before his final comic strip was printed.

For 5 years, Goto used his pen to illustrate the Japanese American experience in the Pacific Northwest.

The strips could be funny and whimsical. But his work could also be somber and reflective, as the main character, a young boy, grows up as an outsider straddling two worlds – caught between assimilating and preserving his heritage.

These are struggles the real Sam Goto faced in his life.

Now, a retrospective of Sam’s art and life has been compiled and published in a new book, called Seattle Samurai: A Cartoonist’s Perspective of the Japanese American Experience.

Guest:

• Kelly Goto, author of Seattle Samurai: A Cartoonist’s Perspective of the Japanese American Experience, and Sam Goto's daughter.

Relevant links:

• Seattle Samurai book website
• Remembering Sam Goto - Seattle Tomodachi cartoonist left lasting legacy - The North American Post

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