Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest Virtual Awards Ceremony

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May 13, 2022                                                Miya Iwataki  626-993-8142

Imagine Little Tokyo Awards Short Story Contest Winners!

Virtual Celebration Sunday, May 26, 2022 at 6 PM

Actors Keiko Agena, Helen Ota and Megumi Anjo to read winning stories

Little Tokyo  -  The ninth annual Imagine Little Tokyo short story contest will celebrate the winners in three categories on Thursday, May 26 at 6 PM through the Zoom platform in a free program hosted by the Japanese American National Museum. The contest is presented by the Little Tokyo Historical Society (LTHS) in partnership with the museum’s Discover Nikkei project.

Actor and comedian Derek Mio will take the emcee reins in an exciting program featuring noted actors Keiko Agena, Helen Ota and Megumi Anjo providing dramatic readings of the winning stories in the categories of English language, Japanese language and youth (18 and younger). Attendees need to pre-register by going to the web page https://www.janm.org/events/2022-05-26/9th-annual-imagine-little-tokyo-short-story-contest-virtual-celebration; a Zoom link will then be e-mailed to them before the program.

Keiko Agena is best known for her series regular roles on the shows, “Prodigal Son,” where she played Dr. Edrisa Tanaka and “Gilmore Girls,” where she played Lane Kim for seven years and reprised the role in Netflix's “Gilmore Girls: Seasons.” As an improviser she's performed at UCB Sunset/NY, IO WEST and is a recent addition to the main company of Impro Theatre. In between Agena has been a series regular on Hulu’s “The First” and recurring on “Better Call Saul,” “Dirty John,” and “13 Reasons Why.” As a guest star she has appeared on such shows as “Shameless,” “Scandal,” and “NCIS Los Angeles.” Keiko has recently published an artist workbook, No Mistakes, through Penguin Random House.

Helen H. Ota is an actor and singer with the Grateful Crane Ensemble and former artistic director and performing member of Cold Tofu, the nation's premiere Asian American comedy improv troupe. She’s also an active community member serving on the board of directors of the Nisei Week Foundation, Veterans Memorial Court Alliance, Zentoku Foundation, and is an advisory council member of Kizuna.

Megumi Anjo is a Japan-born actor, singer and accredited master of Japanese traditional dance. Moving to the US in 2011, she performed in the musical production, “The Pirates of Penzance," at West Valley Playhouse, and completed the Applied Music Program (Vocals) at Los Angeles Valley College. She has played various roles in such productions as “Hymn to Otsuchi” “Vip LA,” and the fourth season of NBC’s “Good Girls”. Most recently, she made her major US screen debut in “Licorice Pizza.”

Derek Mio grew up in Huntington Beach and earned his B.A. from USC's School of Cinematic Arts in Film Production. He has acted in several commercials, television shows and movies. He can be seen in the Netflix anthology series “Medal of Honor,” and in the AMC television series “The Terror: Infamy.” He has also performed stand-up comedy at The Comedy Store, The Laugh Factory, The Hollywood Improv, The Ice House in Pasadena, and HaHa Comedy Club in North Hollywood.

The purpose of the contest is to raise awareness of Little Tokyo through a creative story that centers around or demonstrates knowledge of Little Tokyo, and captures  the spirit and cultural essence of Little Tokyo. Each category winner will be awarded $500 in cash and their short story will be published in The Rafu Shimpo,  and the websites of Discover Nikkei and Little Tokyo Historical Society. Again, to  attend, please pre-register by going to the web page http://www.janm.org/events;  a Zoom link will then be e-mailed to them before the program.