Eric Nakamura is a

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

magazine publisher, gallerist, and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of

Giant Robot In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines, typically depicted as piloted, humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the meaning in Japanese is more inclusive ...

, owner of the Giant Robot store and GR2 Gallery, and curator of the Giant Robot Biennales and other museum exhibitions.Vivien Hao

, ''AsianWeek'', November 19, 2007. Retrieved September 13, 2015.

Early life and education

Publisher Nakamura grew up in the

Sawtelle, Los Angeles Sawtelle is a neighborhood in West Los Angeles, on the Westside (Los Angeles County), Westside of Los Angeles, California. The short-lived City of Sawtelle grew around the Pacific Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, la ...

area. He attended Palisades High School and later

Santa Monica College Santa Monica College (SMC) is a Public university, public community college in Santa Monica, California. Founded as a Junior college#United States, junior college in 1929, SMC enrolls over 30,000 students in more than 90 fields of study. The coll ...

, where he'd work with the ''

Palisadian-Post The ''Palisadian-Post'' is a bi-weekly subscription newspaper serving Pacific Palisades, California Pacific Palisades is a neighborhood in the Westside Los Angeles, Westside region of the city of Los Angeles, California, situated about w ...

'' as their only photographer. Nakamura attended

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, graduating in 1993 with a degree in East Asian Studies.Ryoko Onishi

''Rafu Shimpo'', December 11, 2012. Retrieved September 13, 2015.

Career

After graduation, Nakamura worked at ''

VideoGames & Computer Entertainment ''VideoGames & Computer Entertainment'' (abbreviated as ''VG&CE'') was an American magazine dedicated to covering video games on computers, Video game console, home consoles and Arcade game, arcades. It was published by Larry Flynt Publication ...

'' shortly before starting Giant Robot. In 1994, he founded Giant Robot, which began as a self-published magazine and grew into a widely circulated bi-monthly magazine about Asian pop culture. In 2001, he opened the first Giant Robot store in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. The magazine ceased publication in February 2011, but Nakamura continued publication through the curation of several Giant Robot Biennales at the

Japanese American National Museum The is located in Los Angeles, California, and dedicated to preserving the history and culture of Japanese Americans. Founded in 1992, it is located in the Little Tokyo area near downtown. The museum is an affiliate within the Smithsonian Affi ...

and the SuperAwesome: Art and Giant Robot exhibition at the Oakland Museum of California Art. Nakamura opened Asian fusion restaurant ''gr/eats'' in 2005. It had an almost seven year run in Sawtelle, Los Angeles, right by their physical ''Giant Robot'' store.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakamura, Eric Asian-American culture American people of Japanese descent American magazine publishers (people) Year of birth missing (living people) Living people University of California, Los Angeles alumni