Soji Kashiwagi (born September 10, 1962, in Oakland, California) is a Sansei (third-generation Japanese American) journalist, playwrightlisting on Discover Nikkei site and producer. He is the Executive Producer for the Grateful Crane Ensemble theatre company in Los Angeles. He has contributed to The Rafu Shimpo with his column, "Corner Store." He is the son of Nisei playwright Hiroshi Kashiwagi.
Education Kashiwagi grew up in San Francisco and graduated from Lowell High School and San Francisco State University,Kashiwagi writes about himself on DiscoverNikkei.org March 12, 2007 majoring in journalism. He also studied film production at Visual Communications (VC) and play writing at East West Players,Kashiwagi/GRAPEVINE in DHHWI History on East West Players site in Los Angeles.
Career Kashiwagi's comedy play The Grapevine was produced in 1993 at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. In 2001 he formed a theatre company, the Grateful Crane Ensemble, where for several years he wrote and produced bilingual (Japanese and English) shows using music, song and story, to entertain Japanese American senior citizens at the Keiro Retirement Home in East Los Angeles In 2003, Kashiwagi wrote the play The Camp Dance: The Music & The Memories, which was produced by Grateful Crane, toured the Western U.S., and received the 2006 Ruby Yoshino Schaar Playwright Award from the New York/National Japanese American Citizens League.National JACL Convention report in Mile-Hi Chapter newsletter; p. 6 (pdf) by Dr. F. Sakamoto and J. Yoshimura – 8/06 Kashiwagi wrote Nihonmachi: The Place To Be – A Musical Journey, which Grateful Crane first produced in 2006 at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, as part of the 100th-anniversary celebration of San Francisco's Japantown.Nihonmachi feature on discovernikkei.org 7/25/06 (pdf) Both Camp Dance and Nihonmachi have continued to be performed by Grateful Crane. In 2009, Kashiwagi received a California Civil Liberties Public Education Program grant to produce his father's play, The Betrayed, which will be presented by the Grateful Crane Ensemble in 2010 at the Japanese American National Museum.2008–09 CCLPEP Grant Recipients pdf
Plays The Grapevine The Camp Dance: The Music & The Memories Nihonmachi: The Place to Be
Awards 2006 Ruby Yoshino Schaar Playwright Award – The Camp Dance: The Music & The Memories
References
External links Grateful Crane Ensemble website Nichi Bei Times article by Kashiwagi about Tule Lake Pilgrimage (7/23/09)