Sharing Resources Across AGU Faculties and Departments

A documentary on the life and times of an amazing Japanese American, Norman Mineta, will be shown in its entirety, and then the film’s director (Ms Dianne Fukami) and co-producer (Ms Debra Nakatomi) will speak about the making of the film and answer questions from the audience.

The biopic takes the audience from Norman Mineta’s childhood, when he was interned with his family in a concentration camp for US residents of Japanese origin during World War II, to his successful political career as Mayor of San Jose (California), congressman, and, ultimately, Secretary of Transportation.

EVENT: “Norman Mineta and His Legacy: An American Story” followed by Q&A
WHEN: Tuesday, October 13, 2026  (7:00 PM ~ 9:00 PM)
WHERE: Aoyama Campus; Classroom 17311 (3rd floor of Building 17)
SPEAKERS: Ms. Dianne Fukami & Ms. Debra Nakatomi
LANGUAGE: English
TARGET AUDIENCE: Any and all interested parties

Dianne Fukami has produced, directed, and written more than a half-dozen documentaries on the Asian-American experience (mostly on Japanese-American history) which were broadcast on PBS stations throughout the U.S. Separate Lives, Broken Dreams, about the Chinese Exclusion Act, was nominated for a national Emmy Award; Starting Over: Japanese Americans After the War has received scholarly citations for its first-person anecdotes. Her most recent documentary, Stories From Tohoku, was showcased at CAAMFest in 2014 (formerly the San Francisco Asian International Film Festival) and screened at film festivals in New York and Los Angeles.

Debra Nakatomi is the founder of a strategic communications firm that for over 25 years has developed issue advocacy and educational campaigns on health, environmental, and social issues. The firm designs social and civic engagement campaigns utilizing the tools of media, messaging, and social media. Ms. Nakatomi’s documentary career began as co-producer of Stories From Tohoku, with Dianne Fukami in 2014, a film about the survivors of the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster in Japan. The film aired on PBS and screened throughout the U.S. and Japan.

Key Themes and Synopsis

Childhood Incarceration: At age 10, during WWII, although he was a U.S. citizen, Norman Mineta and his family, along with over 110,000 Japanese Americans, were forcibly removed from their San Jose, California home and imprisoned in concentration camps.

Historic Political Firsts: The film traces Norman Mineta’s rise to become the first Asian American mayor of a major U.S. city (San Jose), his 20-plus-year tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives, and his historic appointment as the first Asian American to serve in a presidential cabinet.

Bipartisan Cabinet Service: Mineta served as the U.S. Secretary of Commerce under Democratic President Bill Clinton and as the U.S. Secretary of Transportation under Republican President George W. Bush.

Civil Rights & Legislation: He championed major legislative milestones, including leading the push for the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (which brought an official U.S. government apology and redress for Japanese Americans) and co-authoring the 1991 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Leadership on 9/11: As Secretary of Transportation during the September 11 terrorist attacks, Mineta ordered the unprecedented grounding of all U.S. commercial flights, oversaw the creation of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and actively prevented the scapegoating or mass profiling of Muslim Americans, drawing directly from his own childhood memories of WWII-era prejudice.

Interviews & Reflections: The documentary features archival footage and interviews with key political figures, including former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, reflecting on his legacy of bipartisanship, public service, and civil liberties.