Book Event – Seattle Samurai: A Cartoonist’s Perspective of the Japanese American Experience with Author Kelly Goto
Saturday, October 19, 2024
2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
In Person at the Center
Free Admission
Book Pre-Orders for Pick Up Available
The Center is excited to host author Kelly Goto as she presents her new book, Seattle Samurai: A Cartoonist’s Perspective of the Japanese American Experience, recounting her father Sam Goto’s work as a cartoonist depicting the lives of Seattle’s Japanese American community.
Sam Shigeru Goto, born on January 13, 1933, was a second-generation Japanese American from the Seattle area. By trade, he was a dental technician, practicing in Seattle for over 55 years. Sam was also an artist, drawing endlessly since childhood. He created the comic strip “Seattle Tomodachi” (Friend of Seattle), which ran for five years in The North American Post. This comic strip left a lasting legacy, celebrating the immigrant journey and Seattle’s Japanese American heritage while striving to live the American dream. Sam and his wife of 56 years, Dee, collaborated on a series of illustrated books capturing their heritage values and family history. He passed away peacefully at the age of 84 on December 31, 2017.
Between 2012 and 2018, Sam Goto drew over 250 multi-paneled Seattle Tomodachi (“friend of Seattle”) comic strips for The North American Post. These comics chronicled the lives and stories of early Japanese settlers and their American-born offspring. Through his work, he captured elements of culture, nostalgia, and history, while infusing his characters — Shigeru Tomo and his alterego Samurai Shigeru — with the samurai values of courage, respect, and continuous improvement and compassion.
Kelly Goto reflects on her father’s legacy as she brings his work back to life in this collection so that others can be inspired and informed by his witty and wise look at the world. Q&A with the author to follow the book presentation.
Seattle Samurai Book Pre-Orders
Pre-order your copy of Seattle Samurai to pick up at the event! We are offering the book at a discounted price of $30.00 (retail price $39.95), with proceeds supporting the Center’s programs and activities. Register online with us or call the Center’s front office at (415) 567-5505 to pre-order your copy.
This first-edition deluxe hardcover release of Seattle Samurai features a debossed, full-color wrapped cover. The interior contains smooth, uncoated, wood-free paper with 264 full-color, smyth-sewn pages bound for durability and lay-flat page viewing, completed with a ribbon marker.
Special Limited Edition , Hardcover with Slip Case
This special limited edition, deluxe hardcover of Seattle Samurai with linen slipcase is a collector’s item, with only 350 copies available, each signed and numbered by the author. It features a debossed, full-color wrapped cover, a vellum insert, and is housed in a matte foil-stamped cloth-wrapped slipcase. Inside, the 264 full-color, smyth-sewn pages are printed on smooth, uncoated, wood free paper for durability and lay-flat page viewing, completed with a ribbon marker. This exclusive release is available via special order from the author, with all proceeds donated to our friends at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington (JCCCW) in Seattle. Limited edition price: $199.00 USD.
Click here to reserve your copy of the limited edition hardcover.
About Author Kelly Goto
Kelly Goto is a global lecturer, educator and author of the industry classic, “Web Redesign 2.0: Workflow That Works.” Goto currently heads up gotomedia, a global leader in research-driven strategy and solutions for digital products and connected experiences.
Kelly grew up as a fourth-generation Japanese American in the drizzly weather of the Pacific Northwest, starting her calligraphy and graphic design businesses while in elementary school—a precursor to her entrepreneurial future. She played Chieko in the stage production of “The Gold Watch” in 1977, where she learned about racism and anti-Japanese sentiment after Pearl Harbor.
Kelly hopes to simplify content so the tech-addicted new generation might engage with it—hoping stories of culture, history, and wisdom might be better understood. She returned to Seattle in 2020 after three decades away, and now lives in her childhood home with her genki 85-year old mom, Dee, two teenage daughters, and a playful Bernedoodle named Suki.
Read more at www.kellygoto.com