Editing Japanese in Pop Culture (section)

=1990s=

==CITY/CBS/1990==
([[Rodney Ueno]]) Chuck, Asian mail room clerk working in the mayor's office of an unnamed metropolis. 

==BEVERLY HILLS 90210/FOX/1990-2000==
(Lindsay Price) Janet Sosna, the Japanese-American wife of Steve Sanders, the adopted white son of TV actress Samantha Sanders, the star of “Hartley House. On episode #224 “Ready or Not” Janet first appears in the recurring role as Janet Sosna when she is hired as an assistant for Brandon and Steve.  who run a magazine called The Beat. Janet officially joined the cast on episode #242. Janet and Steve investigate a "haunted house," get locked inside a refrigerator and have sex.. On episode #258 “Slipping Away, Janet hides her relationship with Steve from her father, who only wants her to date Japanese men. After Steve professes his love, Janet tells her father the truth and gets thrown out of the house. Although her Japanese parents Ben ([[James Shigeta]]) and Michelle Sosna ([[Leslie Ishii]]) at first did not approve of her marrying a Caucasian, their hearts melted when they saw their interracial grandchild, Madeline “Maddy.” Janet later turns down a job at the magazine Nouveau and agrees to start a new magazine with her husband [so she could spend more time with her baby girl]. Lindsay Price also appeared as Michael Lai on the 1995-97 season of The Bold and the Beautiful and as An Li Chen during the 1991-1993 seasons of  All My Children. Born in Arcadia, California, Lindsay’s family roots include a Korean mother and a German Irish father. 

==DAVIS RULES!/ABC/1991-92==
([[Tamayo Otsuki]]) Mrs. Elaine Yamagami, a Japanese assistant principal working for Pomahoc Elementary School near Seattle, Washington. Mrs. Yamagami's had thick accent and was always talking about the differences between people in Japan and America. Kristi Murakami played her daughter, Nickki. 

==RUGRATS/NIK/1991-2004==
(Cartoon Character) Kira Finster (Voice of [[Julia Kato]]), the Asian bride of Caucasian American Charles “Chazz” Finster, Sr.. Kira met and married Charles as the result of a vacation [The Rugrats in Paris movie 2000]. She is the single mother of daughter, Kimi (voice of Dionne Quan) who became the new sister of  two-year-old Chuckie Finster. 

==FOREVER KNIGHT/CBS/SYN/1992+==
([[Natsuko Ohama]]) Captain Amanda Cohen, Asian-American police officer who supervised homicide detectives on the nightshift of a Seattle police department. Her character later died in a plane crash. 

==RAVEN/CBS/1992-93==
(Jeffrey Meeks) Jonathan Raven, a former special forces agent pursued by a clan of ninja warriors. The program's opening narration summarized the storyline "Jonathan Raven as an American boy being raised in Japan until his parents were killed by assassins. To avenge their death, he joined the Black Dragons, the very organization that murdered his parents. Now in Hawaii, with the help of his old military buddy Ski, he is searching for the son he has never seen." Before leaving Japan, Raven had a liaison with a woman named Aki Moshirho. The union bore a son named Hikatti meaning “Sparkling Light.” 

==STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE/SYN/1993-99==
(Rosalind Chao) Keiko Ishikawa O'Brien, a botanist of Japanese descent who transferred to space station Deep Space Nine in 2369 when her husband, Miles O'Brien was promoted to Chief of Operations. [[Hanna Hatae]] played their young daughter, Molly who was born on the USS Enterprise-D in 2368. Also seen were [[Keone Young]] as [[Buck Bokai]], a holographic image of Asian shortstop for the London Kings who came to life on the episode 16 "If Wishes Were Horses" first aired in 1993. Buck was one of baseball's greatest players. He broke Joe DiMaggio's record for consecutive hits in 2026 and hit the winning home run in the 2042 World Series. 

==BABYLON 5/SYN/1994-98==
Lt. Commander Laurel Takashima ([[Tamlyn Tomita]]), Vice-Commander, of Babylon 5 who was later transferred and replaced by Russian born Lt. commander, Susan Ivanova. Takashima had formerly worked at Mars Colony Security after graduating from the academy. Other Japanese characters mentioned were Captain Yoshi Kawagawa, commander of the E.A.S. Nemesis; Taro Isogi ([[James Shigeta]]), Chief Executive Officer of FutureCorp; and Senator Hidoshi, Earth senator and liaison to Babylon 5 in 2258 who was later voted out of office and replaced by Ronald Quantrill in 2259. 

==ER/NBC/1994+==
([[Gedde Watnabe]]) Yosh Takata, Japanese nurse working at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. His character was introduced during the 1997-98 season.  


==MARKER/UPN/1995==
([[Keone Young]]/costar) Mr. Tacheo Mochidomi (a.k.a. Moch), the business assistant of  Joseph Rhoades, the owner of the Hawaiian Rose Hotel. When Rhoades died, Moch advised Rhoades' sole heir Richard DeMorra on his family's legacy and responsibilities. Andy Bumatai appeared as Danny "Pipeline" Kahala, a local surfer and hustler who spouted off Hawaiian myths. 

==AMAZING GRACE/NBC/1995==
([[Shuko Akune]]) County Clerk who bargains for dates. 

==NAKED TRUTH/ABC/NBC/1995-98==
([[Amy Hill]]) Suji, the Japanese-American woman working for a national tabloid paper called The Inquistor. On episode "The Seer & the Sucker, she first meets an odd, nerdy lover of Asian women named Leo and by episode "The Neighbors of Bath" she ultimately fall in love with him. Suji was introduced during the third season in 1997. 

==HOUSE OF BUGGIN'/FOX/1995==
(John Leguizamo) Kogi, an arrogant Japanese talk show host featured on this half-hour comedy sketch show. 

==NASH BRIDGES/CBS/1996-2001==
([[Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa]]) Lt. A. J. Shimamura, a streetwise Japanese-America police detective who assisted a white police detective named Nash Bridges and his Mexican-American partner at the Special Investigators Unit in San Francisco during the 1996-97 season.

==BOSTON COMMON/NBC/1996-97==
([[Amy Hill]]) Mrs. Sakini, plump, middle-aged Japanese-American executive secretary working for Harrison Cross, a British-accented President of Harrington College in Boston, Massachusetts. During “The Occidental Purists” episode to satisfy the multicultural casting needs of the school play “The Tea Ceremony,” Mrs. Sakini, was reluctantly recruited to play the role of a 16-year-old Japanese girl named Lotus Flower. 

==THE BURNING ZONE/UPN/1996-97==
([[Tamlyn Tomita]]/costar) Dr. Kimberly Shiroma, a Japanese-American scientist teamed to a squad of special researchers who track down and contain new strains of viruses threatening to wipe out mankind. 

==MR. NISSAN (TV Commercial)/1997==
([[Dale Ishimoto]]) Mr. Nissan, a mysterious man with the terrier dog, glasses, baseball cap and a big grin featured on a series of Nissan automobile TV commercials in 1997. The mystic Mr. Nissan character was based on the former Nissan president Yutaka Katayama who reportedly represented "honor, integrity and fun." The 60-ish actor Dale Ishimoto who played Mr. Nissan was born in Delta, Colorado and served as a veteran of the US Army. Before playing Mr. Nissan, Ishimoto's acting credits included parts on MCHALE'S NAVY, KUNG FU and other TV commercials.

==THE CLOSER/CBS/1999==
([[Suzy Nakamura]]) Beverly Andolini, Asian female with an Italian surname working for an advertising agency owned by Jack McLaren. 

==WEST WING/NBC/1999+==
([[Suzy Nakamura]]) Kathy, an Asian Aide to the Deputy Communications Director, the presidential advisor at the White House during the Bartlet Administration. Earlier in her career Nakamura appeared in a recurring role as a smart-mouthed lawyer on the short-lived (4 episodes) legal sitcom COMMON LAW/ABC/1996.