2: Playwright, poet, and performer LANE NISHIKAWA. His one-man show "I'm on a Mission from Buddha," is about some of culturally-based absurdities he's endured as a Japanese-American. NISHIKAWA said he put together the show of vignettes in order to answer, "all the nerdy, cliche-ridden, Asian-American images." His characters include a Japanese-American World War Two hero, and a Sushi-phobic redneck. "I'm on a Mission from Buddha," can also be seen on PBS. NISHIKAWA is the former Artistic Director of the Asian American Theatre Company in San Francisco and has taught creative writing in the Asian American Studies Dept at San Francisco State University. He's also appeared in the films, "Eat a Bowl of Tea," and "Living on Tokyo Time."
Copyright 1993 Fresh Air