Snapshot: America Wednesday, October 29, 2008

I got a call from The Boston Globe last Thursday asking me to shoot a story on the Asian-American community in Beaverton, the suburb immediately west of Portland. It turned out to be a bit of a learning experience for me, as I wasn't aware that the community is as large as it is.

They needed the photos by 2 p.m. (PDT) on Saturday. Since I was already booked for Thursday afternoon, Friday night, and Saturday morning, I squeezed it in between a meeting on Friday morning and the football game Friday night.

The paper gave me the lead on Uwajimaya Asian Food Market, but I had to some quick research and a lot of phone calls on Thursday to find some examples of the Asian community that would be active on Friday. In the end, I think they stuck with photos from the grocery store.

That's my picture in the lower right of Monday's front page. You can read the story here.

Here are some images from the Kohitsuji Japanese Preschool in Tigard, and a few more from Uwajimaya.

[left] Director Sachi Nishio leads preschoolers in a song Oct. 24 at the Kohitsuji Japanese Preschool in Tigard, Ore. The school, whose name means "little lamb," teaches Japanese language and culture to 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds. [below] Kyoko Li (right) helps Tei Okamoto with a craft.















[left] Don Sakai is the Store Director at Uwajimaya's Beaverton location. The supermarket, which caters to the Asian-American market, also has two outlets in the Seattle area. [below] Uwajimaya shoppers are greeted by a large dragon at the entrance to the store.















[right] Sonoko Kakizaki of Portland shops for groceries at Uwajimaya. The supermarket stocks Asian foods including roasted seaweed, noodles, fresh vegetables, and sake.