Christopher Inadomi Tashima (born March 24, 1960) is a

Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...

actor and director. He is co-founder of the entertainment company

Cedar Grove Productions Cedar Grove Productions is an independent production company based in Los Angeles, California, specializing in media and theatre arts representing the Asian Pacific American community. Media projects are educational, with Visual Communications ...

and

Artistic Director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...

of its

Asian American theatre Asian American theatre is theatre written, directed or acted by Asian Americans. From initial efforts by four theatre companies in the 1960s, Asian-American theatre has grown to around forty groups today. Early productions often had Asian themes ...

company, Cedar Grove OnStage. Tashima directed, co-wrote, and starred in the 26-minute film ''

Visas and Virtue ''Visas and Virtue'' is a 1997 narrative short film directed by Chris Tashima and starring Chris Tashima, Susan Fukuda, Diana Georger and Lawrence Craig. It was inspired by the true story of Holocaust rescuer Chiune "Sempo" Sugihara, who is known ...

'' for which he and producer

Chris Donahue Chris Donahue (born John Christopher Donahue) is an American film and television producer. He began his career as a producer in television news and documentaries, then transitioned to narrative film and television at the American Film Institute ...

won the 1998

Academy Award for Live Action Short Film The Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film is an award presented at the annual Academy Awards ceremony. The award has existed, under various names, since 1957. From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate awards, "Best Short Subject, One- ...

Personal

Tashima was born on the

East Coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

, while his father ( Judge A. Wallace Tashima) attended

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

, but grew up in California. He lived in

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its ...

, where he began Suzuki Method violin at age 6. His family moved to

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

, where he lived for nine years, attending

The College Preparatory School The College Preparatory School (CPS or College Prep) is a four-year private high school in Oakland, California. The school's motto is ''Mens Conscia Recti'', a Latin phrase adapted from Virgil's ''Aeneid'' that means "a mind aware of what is r ...

. He returned to Southern California, graduating from John Marshall High School (1978). He attended

UC Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the edge of ...

(

Porter College Benjamin F. Porter College, known colloquially as Porter College, is a residential college at the University of California, Santa Cruz. It is located on the lower west side of the university, south of Kresge College and north of Rachel Carson Col ...

), where he studied film production. He also attended

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, and took additional filmmaking courses at

Visual Communications (VC) Visual Communications (also known as VC) –– is a community-based non-profit media arts organization based in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1970 by independent filmmakers Robert Nakamura, Alan Ohashi, Eddie Wong, and Duane Kubo, who were st ...

. He started his acting career at

East West Players East West Players is an Asian American theatre organization in Los Angeles, founded in 1965. As the nation's first professional Asian American theatre organization, East West Players continues to produce works and educational programs that give v ...

in 1985. He is the son of U.S. Circuit Judge

A. Wallace Tashima Atsushi Wallace Tashima (born June 24, 1934) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and a former United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Central Distric ...

. He currently resides in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Actor

Tashima stars as the romantic lead opposite

Joan Chen Joan Chen (born April 26, 1961) is a Chinese-American actress and film director. In China, she performed in the 1979 film and came to the attention of American audiences for her performance in the 1987 film ''The Last Emperor''. She is also ...

Eric Byler Eric Byler (born January 15, 1972) is an American film director, screenwriter and political activist. Personal life Byler identifies as hapa biracial, born to a Chinese American mother and a white American father. He grew up in Virginia, Hawa ...

's ''

Americanese ''Americanese'' is a 2006 American romantic drama film directed by Eric Byler and starring Chris Tashima, Allison Sie, Kelly Hu, Ben Shenkman, Autumn Reeser, and Joan Chen. It is based on the novel ''American Knees'' by Shawn Wong, concerning the ...

'', an unreleased feature from IFC First Take. The film won two awards after its world premiere at the

SXSW Film Festival South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

, including a Special Jury Prize for Outstanding

Ensemble Cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to ...

. He has also appeared in

Sherwood Hu Sherwood Xuehua Hu (; born 1967), is a Chinese American theatre director and film director. Early life and education Hu was born in Shanghai in 1967, to Hu Weimin (; 1932-1989), a theatre director, and Gu Menghua (). His sister Hu Xuelian () i ...

's '' Lani Loa - The Passage'' (1998) with

Angus Macfadyen Angus Macfadyen (born 21 September 1963) is a Scottish actor. His roles include Robert the Bruce, both in ''Braveheart'' and ''Robert the Bruce'', Komodo in ''Warriors of Virtue'', Vice-Counsel Dupont in '' Equilibrium'', Jeff Denlon in the '' ...

, and

Rea Tajiri Rea Tajiri is a Japanese American video artist, filmmaker and screenwriter, known for her personal essay film '' History and Memory: For Akiko and Takashige'' (1991). Early life Tajiri was born in 1958 in Chicago, Illinois. Tajiri's father, Vin ...

's '' Strawberry Fields'' (1997) with

Suzy Nakamura Suzy Nakamura (born December 2, 1968) is an American actress and improv comedian. She is known for her many guest appearances on sitcoms such as ''According to Jim'', ''Half and Half'', ''8 Simple Rules'', ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' and ''How I Me ...

. He starred opposite

Tamlyn Tomita Tamlyn Naomi Tomita (born January 27, 1966) is a Japanese-American actress and singer. She made her screen debut as Kumiko in ''The Karate Kid Part II'' (1986) and reprised the character for the streaming series ''Cobra Kai'' (2021). She is also ...

in the 1995

AFI AFI may refer to: * ''Address-family identifier'', a 16 bit field of the Routing Information Protocol * Ashton Fletcher Irwin, an Australian drummer * AFI (band), an American rock band ** ''AFI'' (2004 album), a retrospective album by AFI rele ...

short, ''

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

'', directed by actress

Elizabeth Sung Elizabeth Fong Sung (; 14 October 1954 – 22 May 2018) was a Chinese-American actress, director, and screenwriter. She was also a revered acting teacher and mentor to young performers and filmmakers in the Asian-Pacific community. Early life an ...

. Tashima also played the real-life historical figure, journalist and civil rights advocate Sei Fujii in

George Shaw George Shaw may refer to: * George Shaw (biologist) (1751–1813), English botanist and zoologist * George B. Shaw (1854–1894), U.S. Representative from Wisconsin * George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950), Irish playwright * George C. Shaw (1866–196 ...

's and Jeffrey Gee Chin's short film, ''Lil Tokyo Reporter''. He also played GameKeeper (Mr. Chan) in the film '' RPG''. His stage credits include originating roles in

Ken Narasaki Ken Narasaki (born April 4, 1958) is an American playwright and actor. He is the former Literary Manager at East West Players theatre company in Los Angeles. He is the twin brother of civil rights leader Karen Narasaki. Actor Narasaki has appear ...

's ''

No-No Boy ''No-No Boy'' is a 1957 novel, and the only novel published by the Japanese American writer John Okada. It tells the story of a Japanese-American in the aftermath of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Set in Seattle, Washi ...

'',

Chay Yew Chay Yew () is a playwright and stage director who was born in Singapore. He was artistic director of the Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago from 2011 to 2020. Career Yew's breakthrough work came from his early plays ''Porcelain'' and ''A Lan ...

’s ''A Language of Their Own'' (

LA Weekly Theater Award LA Weekly Theater Award was an annual critics' award system established in 1979, organized by the '' LA Weekly'' for outstanding achievements in small theatre productions in Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal ...

for Ensemble Performance, shared with Noel Alumit, Anthony David and

Dennis Dun Dennis Dun (born April 19, 1952) is an American actor. Early life and education Dun is from Stockton, California. He is of Chinese descent. Film and TV Dun has had prominent roles in several films, notably '' Year of the Dragon'' (1985), ''Bi ...

) at

Celebration Theatre The Celebration Theatre is a 501(c)(3) non-profit theatre company in Los Angeles, founded in 1982. The company is located in West Hollywood, on the west end of Theatre Row, and specializes in works representing the LGBTQ+ experience. History C ...

Laurence Yep Laurence Michael Yep (; born June 14, 1948) is an American writer. He is known for his children's books, having won the Newbery Medal, Newbery Honor twice for his ''Golden Mountain'' series. In 2005, he received the biennial Laura Ingalls Wilder ...

's ''

Dragonwings ''Dragonwings'' is a children's literature, children's historical novel by Laurence Yep, published by Harper & Row in 1975. It inaugurated the ''Golden Mountain Chronicles'' (#Golden Mountain Chronicles, below) and it is the fifth chronicle in na ...

'' at

Berkeley Repertory Theatre Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a regional theater company located in Berkeley, California. It runs seven productions each season from its two stages in Downtown Berkeley. History The company was founded in 1968, as the East Bay's first resident pr ...

– on Tour and at Zellerbach Playhouse, (reprised at

Intiman Playhouse Intiman Theatre Festival in Seattle, Washington, was founded in 1972 as a resident theatre by Margaret "Megs" Booker, who named it for August Strindberg's Stockholm theater.

Seattle Children's Theatre The Seattle Children's Theatre (SCT) is a resident theatre for young audiences in Seattle, Washington, founded in 1975. Its main performances are at the Seattle Center in a 482-seat and a 275-seat theatre, from September through June. SCT also has ...

, Alliance Theatre Company in Atlanta, and

Syracuse Stage Syracuse Stage is a professional non-profit theater company in Syracuse, New York, United States. It is the premier professional theater in Central New York. It was founded in 1974 by Arthur Storch, who was its first artistic director. The comp ...

), Tim Toyama's ''Visas and Virtue'', at the Road Theatre Company, and

Wakako Yamauchi Wakako Yamauchi (October 23, 1924 – August 16, 2018) was a Japanese American writer. Her plays are considered pioneering works in Asian-American theater. Biography Yamauchi (née Nakamura) was born in Westmorland, California. Her mother and ...

's ''The Memento'' at East West Players.

Director

Tashima won an

with producer

, for ''

'' (1997), which he directed, co-wrote (adapting the one-act play by Toyama), and starred in. To produce ''Visas and Virtue'', he co-founded Cedar Grove Productions in 1996, with Toyama and Donahue. Tashima directed, co-wrote and acted in '' Day of Independence'' (2003), a half-hour

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of ent ...

for

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

, produced by

Lisa Onodera Lisa Onodera is an American independent film producer, of such noted films as '' Picture Bride'', '' The Debut'' and '' Americanese''. She grew up in Berkeley, California, and attended UCLA where she received a degree from the School of Motion P ...

, which received a Regional

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

Nomination from the

NATAS The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) is an American professional service organization founded in 1955 for "the advancement of the arts and sciences of television and the promotion of creative leadership for artistic, edu ...

San Francisco/Northern California Chapter, in the category of Historical/Cultural — Program/Special. His stage directing credits include the world premiere of Dan Kwong's ''

Be Like Water ''Be Like Water'' (2008) is a play written by Dan Kwong, originally produced at East West Players, in association with Cedar Grove OnStage. The play received its world premiere in Los Angeles on September 17, 2008, directed by Chris Tashima, at ...

'' produced by East West Players, in association with Cedar Grove OnStage, in September 2008. He has directed several shows with the Grateful Crane Ensemble, including the world premiere of

Soji Kashiwagi Soji Kashiwagi (born 1962 in Oakland, California) is a ''Sansei'' (third-generation Japanese American) journalist, playwright and producer. He is the Executive Producer for the Grateful Crane Ensemble theatre company in Los Angeles. He has co ...

's ''

Nihonmachi is a term used to refer to historical Japanese communities in Southeast and East Asia. The term has come to also be applied to several modern-day communities, though most of these are called simply "Japantown", in imitation of the common term "C ...

: The Place To Be'', presented in San Francisco in 2006.

Professional

Tashima is a member of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

, in the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch, and belongs to the

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merge ...

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

American Federation of Television and Radio Artists The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) was a performers' union that represented a wide variety of talent, including actors in radio and television, radio and television announcers and newspersons, singers and recording ar ...

Actors' Equity Association The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a boo ...

and the

Stage Directors and Choreographers Society The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), formerly known as Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers (SDC), is an independent national labor union established in 1959, representing theatrical directors and choreographer ...

. He is also a stage

set designer Scenic design (also known as scenography, stage design, or set design) is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but in recent years, are mostly train ...

. He won a 1995

Ovation Award The Ovation Awards are a Southern California award for excellence in theatre, established in 1989. They are given out by the non-profit arts service organization LA Stage Alliance and are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles. Winne ...

for Best Set Design in a Smaller Theater, for ''

Sweeney Todd Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the penny dreadful serial ''The String of Pearls'' (1846–47). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century melodrama and London urban legend, legend. A barber fr ...

'', and a 1992

Drama-Logue Award The Drama-Logue Award was an American theater award established in 1977, given by the publishers of Drama-Logue newspaper, a weekly west-coast theater trade publication. Winners were selected by the publication's theater critics, and would recei ...

for Scenic Design (shared with Christopher Komuro) for ''

Into The Woods ''Into the Woods'' is a 1987 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story ...

'', both at East West Players. Tashima served as producer of the 1990 world premiere of ''Maui, December 7, 1941'', a play by Jon Shirota, based on his novel, "Lucky Come Hawaii." Directed by

Mako , better known by the mononym name Mako (sometimes stylised MAKO), is a Japanese voice actress, singer and a member of the band Bon-Bon Blanco, in which her prominent role is as the maraca player. She has also performed in a Japanese television d ...

, the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

comedy was presented at the InnerCity Cultural Center in Los Angeles, and received a nomination from the

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...

, for " Production of the Year."

Community

Honors: * "Japanese American of the Biennium" (shared with Toyama) – Presented by National JACL * "Bridge Builder" Asian American Leadership Award – Presented by

A Magazine ''A. Magazine'' was an East Asian American-focused magazine published by A.Media, Inc., headquartered in Midtown Manhattan and with offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco.Wan, William.Pop Culture Asian American Magazine Falters" ''Los Angel ...

, New York, NY * Humanitarian Award – Presented by The "1939" Club, Los Angeles CA * Visionary Award (on behalf of Cedar Grove Productions) – Presented by East West Players, Los Angeles CArepost from Back Stage West, 6/18/98; EWP 32nd Anniversary Awards
/ref> * Community Award – Presented by the Japanese American Service Committee, Chicago IL * Special Recognition Award – Presented by the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center, Los Angeles CA

References

External links

*
Chris Tashima
on MySpace
In-depth interview of Chris Tashima in Asiance Magazine

Chris Tashima interviewed by Nichi Bei Times
at the

San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival CAAMFest, known prior to 2013 as the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF), is presented every March in the San Francisco Bay Area in the United States as the nation’s largest showcase for new Asian American and Asia ...

Chris Tashima interviewed by Terry Nichols on SanDiegoYuYu.com - 3/1/05

Chris Tashima interviewed by Dennis Amith on asianconnections.com

Q&A with Chris Tashima
from San Diego Asian Film Foundation {{DEFAULTSORT:Tashima, Chris 1960 births Living people American male film actors American theatre directors of Japanese descent Directors of Live Action Short Film Academy Award winners American film directors of Japanese descent Male actors from Berkeley, California Male actors from Los Angeles People from the San Francisco Bay Area University of California, Los Angeles alumni University of California, Santa Cruz alumni Film directors from California American male actors of Japanese descent American film actors of Asian descent