Listen to Lane Nishikawa talk about the SD JACL film "Our Lost Years" on PilialohaNow
Lane Nishikawa, a Japanese American actor, filmmaker, playwright, poet and arts activist. He was born in Wahiawa, Hawai’i, a Sansei (third generation Japanese American), and grew up in San Francisco. He is a graduate of San Francisco State with a degree in Asian American Theater.
Much of his work focuses on Asian American and Japanese American history and identity issues. His one-man series include, Life in the Fast Lane, I’m On A Mission From Buddha, Mifune and Me and others, has toured in over 50 cities across the US, Canada and Europe. “I’m On A Mission From Buddha” was a National PBS televised broadcast. In 2005 he directed the independent film, Only the Brave, a fictional account of the rescue of the Lost Battalion, by the 100th Infantry Battalion/42nd Regimental Combat Team, a segregated Japanese American fighting unit during World War II. Lane also starred as the lead role in the film. He has written and directed two short films about World War II Veterans, Forgotten Valor and When We Were Warriors. His most recent work, a documentary about the effects of war on the Japanese American Community called “Our Lost Years” just released February 2020. A recollection of forced removal and mass incarceration of 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans during World War II. In addition, a soon upcoming film “League of Dreams” about the 90 year history of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL).
Lane has a robust history in Asian-American History theater, as artistic director for the Asian American Theater Company in San Francisco for 10 seasons and was co-artistic director of the Eureka Theatre and resident director at the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. Some awards include, Profiles of Excellence Award ABC, Harvard Foundation Honoree, Ruby Yoshino Schaar Playwright Award (National JACL), and NEA Solo Performance Fellowship.