About Rob
Born and raised in rural/suburban Connecticut, educated in the United Kingdom and Japan, Rob has been a proud resident of Philadelphia since 2010. As a person of biracial Japanese American heritage who is deeply involved in his community, Rob has held leadership positions in Asian American community organizations for over a decade.
Rob’s career spans the intersection of academia, community organizing, public policy, journalism, media production, public history, and film curation. With an academic area of expertise in Japanese and AAPI Diasporic Cinema, Rob has worked as a professional film programmer, critic, and lecturer across a variety of fields. Since 2017 Rob has lectured at University of Pennsylvania’s Asian American Studies Program where he teaches courses on cinema and activism.
He is the producer and host of Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation's thirteen-episode podcast Look Toward the Mountain, and host of PBS WHYY's six-episode television series Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders: A Philadelphia Story. Rob recently curated the multimedia site-based exhibition Okaeri (Welcome Home): The Nisei Legacy at Shofuso exploring topics related to the postwar resettlement in Philadelphia and the role that arts and culture have played in local Japanese American activist movements. Currently Rob is co-producing a feature length documentary on activist Kiyoshi Kuromiya in collaboration with William Way LGBT Center and funded by Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.
Since 2012, Rob has served as a Board Member of the Philadelphia Chapter of civil rights group Japanese American Citizens League, having previously served as Chapter President 2018-2023, and is a member of the Editorial Board of Pacific Citizen, the JACL’s national newspaper. Rob also serves as Finance Chair on the Leadership Council of Tsuru for Solidarity, a nonviolent, direct action project of Japanese American social justice advocates working to end immigrant detention. In his spare time Rob enjoys being a father, and is an accomplished guitarist who writes and performs music.
Curatorial Highlights
A few recent highlights of Rob’s programming include a three-day film festival presented as part of the 2023 JACL National Convention in Little Tokyo Los Angeles, which highlighted Japanese American contributions to Hollywood cinema and independent Asian American film production. As part of the 2023 Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival, Rob curated a seven-film retrospective exploring the works of renowned Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune that screened at Philadelphia’s Lightbox Film Center on 35mm throughout the month of April. He also curated the main stage performances at the 2022 and 2023 Cherry Blossom Festival, which attracted a combined total of over 60,000 attendees.
From 2013-2019 Rob served as Festival and Artistic Director of the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival, leading the curation of all public programming presented throughout those seasons. Other past collaborative programs include Pearl Harbor National Memorial World War II Film Festival (2021-2022), the Artist Bash Salon Series 2017-2020 and 2016 APA Heritage Month Performance Showcase at The Barnes Foundation, 2015 Japanese film series accompanying the Kano School Exhibit at Philadelphia Museum of Art, and 2013 Japanese American film series during Free Library of Philadelphia’s One Book One Philadelphia program.
Rob is the curator of a traveling exhibit on anti-Asian racial propaganda titled American Peril: Imagining the Foreign Threat that first debuted in 2018 at Twelve Gates Arts. The exhibit was recently on loan to the Spurlock Museum at University of Illinois from February to December 2023. During the pandemic, Rob curated a virtual exhibition titled The Third Space: Japanese Americans in Greater Philadelphia that launched in February 2022, sponsored by JACL Philadelphia Chapter.
Public Speaking
Rob is an experienced public speaker and has given keynote lectures at the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network 2023 APA Heritage Month event, 2022 School District of Philadelphia APAHM Teacher Training, Defense Logistics Agency 2019 APAHM event, 2018 US Attorney Philadelphia Office APAHM event, and 2018 Greater Philadelphia Asian Studies Consortium Undergraduate Conference at UPenn. Rob has worked as a DEI consultant, leading workshops with major corporate clients such as Sheraton Hotels, Comcast NBCUniversal, Independence Blue Cross, GlaxoSmithKline, and PECO. Other recent speaking engagements include School District of Philadelphia, American Friends of SOAS, Scholars of Color Conference, East Coast Asian American Student Union, PECO Asian American Resource Group, Swarthmore College Heritage Week, Germantown Friends School, and the Grayson School.
Conferences & Guest Lectures
My Story Museum - Tres Historias en Crystal City (panel moderator)
”Solidarity and Linkages in the Chicano Movement and Japanese American Pilgrimages”
Crystal City, TX, November 10, 2024.
Japanese American Citizens League National Conference (workshop facilitator)
”Imagining a Collective Future: Japanese American Confinement Sites”
Philadelphia, PA, July 12, 2024.
Jerome/Rohwer Pilgrimage (workshop facilitator)
”Strategic Planning for the Japanese American Community”
Little Rock, AR, June 8, 2024.
Amache Pilgrimage (workshop facilitator)
”Strategic Planning for the Japanese American Community”
Granada, CO, May 18, 2024.
Japanese American Confinement Sites Consortium Advocacy Meeting (workshop facilitator)
”Strategic Planning for the Japanese American Community”
Washington, DC, March 19, 2024.
Western History Association Conference (roundtable participant)
”Post-Camp Resettlement and Urban Relocation: Midcentury Japanese American and Indigenous Mobilities”
Los Angeles, CA, October 28, 2023.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
AAS 100 Intro to Asian American Studies (guest lecture)
”Japanese American Activism: Wartime Incarceration to Present”
Urbana, IL, September 11, 2023.
Spurlock Museum (guest lecture)
”EO 9066 to 9/11: America’s Concentration Camps, Then… and Now?”
Urbana, IL, September 11, 2023.
Asian American Cultural Center (guest lecture)
”Japanese American Activism: From Barbed Wire to Reparations”
Urbana, IL, September 12, 2023.
American Studies Association (roundtable participant)
”Aesthetics After Japanese American Incarceration”
New Orleans, LA, November 5, 2022.
American Friends of SOAS (virtual panel participant)
”Film Festivals and the Public Sphere”
London, UK, November 6, 2020.
Scholars of Color Conference (paper presentation)
”American Peril: Collecting and Documenting the History of Anti-Asian Racism”
Philadelphia, PA, April 12, 2019.
Historical Society of Pennsylvania (panel moderator and paper presentation)
”Asian American Diaspora in Philadelphia”
Philadelphia, PA, May 23, 2018.
Greater Philadelphia Asian Studies Consortium Conference (keynote presentation)
”Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival as a Public Sphere: Strategies for Engaging Community in Research”
Philadelphia, PA, April 14, 2018.
Exhibitions & Curatorial Work
Visual Arts / Gallery Exhibitions
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Okaeri (Welcome Home): The Nisei Legacy at Shofuso (lead curator)
Shofuso Japanese House and Garden
August 10, 2023 - August 17, 2024.
https://okaeri.japanphilly.org/
Community of Images: Japanese Motion Image Artists in the US 1960s-1970s (marketing and community engagement)
Philadelphia Art Alliance
June 14 - August 9, 2024.
https://www.collabjapan.org/community-of-images
The Shape of Time: Korean Art after 1989 (advisory group member)
Philadelphia Museum of Art
October 21, 2023 - February 11, 2024
The Third Space: Japanese American Resettlement in Greater Philadelphia (lead curator)
Da Vinci Art Alliance, Every Day Futures Fest
Launched February 19, 2022. (virtual exhibition - ongoing)
https://everydayfuturesfest.org/the-third-space
American Peril: Imagining the Foreign Threat 2021 (lead curator)
Twelve Gates Arts
Launched April 1, 2021. (virtual exhibition - ongoing)
https://www.twelvegatesarts.org/american-peril
American Peril: Faces of the Enemy (lead curator)
Philadelphia City Hall
February 7 - May 19, 2020.
https://www.creativephl.org/exhibition/american-peril-faces-of-the-enemy/
American Peril: Imagining the Foreign Threat (lead curator)
Twelve Gates Arts
November 2 - 30, 2018.
Film Programming
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Yokai Week Japanese Horror Film Series (lead curator)
Shofuso Japanese House and Garden
October 22-25, 2024.
Picture Bride - 20th Anniversary Screening (curator)
Philadelphia Film Center
September, 11, 2024.
Youth Rebellion in Japanese Cinema (lead curator)
Lightbox Film Center, University of the Arts
April 19-27, 2024.
2023 Tadaima Virtual Pilgrimage (film curator)
Japanese American Memorial Pilgrimages
April 7-29, 2023.
Japanese American Film Retrospective at the 2023 JACL National Convention (lead curator)
Japanese American National Museum
July 20-22, 2023.
Toshiro Mifune Retrospective (lead curator)
Lightbox Film Center, University of the Arts
April 7-29, 2023.
2021 Tadaima Virtual Pilgrimage (film curator)
Japanese American Memorial Pilgrimages
August 29 - October 1, 2021.
2020 Tadaima Virtual Pilgrimage (film curator)
Japanese American Memorial Pilgrimages
June 13 - August 16, 2020.
2019 Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival (lead curator)
November 7-17, 2019.
https://issuu.com/paaff/docs/paaff19-program
2018 Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival (lead curator)
November 8-18, 2018.
https://issuu.com/paaff/docs/paaff18-program-hires-single
2017 Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival (lead curator)
November 9-19, 2017.
https://issuu.com/paaff/docs/paaff17_program_guide
2016 Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival (lead curator)
November 10-20, 2016.
https://issuu.com/paaff/docs/paaff_16_program_guide_single_pages
2015 Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival (lead curator)
November 12-22, 2015.
https://issuu.com/paaff/docs/paaff_15_program_guide_final
Japanese Film Series at Ink and Gold: Art of the Kano (film curator)
Philadelphia Museum of Art
February 16 - May 10, 2015.
2014 Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival (lead curator)
November 12-22, 2014.
https://issuu.com/paaff/docs/paaffprogram2014
2013 Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival (lead curator)
November 13-23, 2013.
https://issuu.com/paaff/docs/paaffprogram2013_final
Philadelphia Japan Arts Matsuri (co-curator)
Prince Music Theater
July 7-9, 2011.
2010 ZipanguFest (co-curator)
Cafe 1001 and Genesis Cinema, London, UK.
November 23-28, 2010.
Performance Arts / Live Events
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Sakura Concert Series (lead curator)
Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia, Shofuso Cherry Blossom Festival
April 15 - 17, 2022.
Artist Bash: To Die For (co-curator)
The Barnes Foundation
February 14, 2020.
Artist Bash: Activated Peoples (co-curator)
The Barnes Foundation
November 16, 2019.
Dia de los Muertos: Xochimilco Ofrenda Installation (committee member)
Fleisher Art Memorial
November 1 - 30, 2019.
Artist Bash: Bring It (co-curator)
The Barnes Foundation
May 25, 2019.
Artist Bash: Take Me Home (co-curator)
The Barnes Foundation
February 16, 2019.
Artist Bash: Fierce Women (co-curator)
The Barnes Foundation
September 21, 2018.
Artist Bash: Historical Memory (co-curator)
The Barnes Foundation
July 20, 2018.
Artist Bash: Heartache (co-curator)
The Barnes Foundation
February 23, 2018.
Artist Bash: Drivers of Social Change (co-curator)
The Barnes Foundation
September 15, 2017.
Artist Bash: Personal Stories on Public Style (co-curator)
The Barnes Foundation
May 13, 2017.
Asian American Heritage Celebration (co-curator)
Franklin Square
May 7, 2016
Asian American Heritage Night at the Barnes (lead curator)
The Barnes Foundation
May 6, 2016.
Asian American Heritage Celebration (co-curator)
Franklin Square
May 9, 2015.
Asian American Heritage Celebration (co-curator)
Franklin Square
May 10, 2014.