about
The Dinner Party is the story of Chiyo and Hiro, two young Japanese Americans who meet and fall in love while incarcerated during WWII, only to learn that an even bigger test awaits once the war is over.
Based on a true story, this five-episode podcast is a portrait of the love and resistance required to believe in an America that doesn't believe in you.
Listen
The Dinner Party is available on all listening platforms. You can listen to each episode individually with intros that provide additional context and information, or opt for the whole story at once.
The Story
Chiyo Matsutani is a young college student in San Francisco and Hiro Fujimoto has nearly paid off the loan on his Sacramento farm. Both are American citizens when they’re rounded up in 1942 and sent to an incarceration camp where they meet, fall in love, and marry.
But when they’re released three years later, Hiro’s farm - like the property of so many Japanese Americans - is gone. They take the only jobs available to them, as housekeeper and gardener for a wealthy family in Oakland where they face casual racism, harassment, and an unending future of dreary servitude.
Based on a true story, this tale of love and resistance is a look behind the curtain at the resilience, humor, and community it took to survive at a time when "American" didn't apply to all citizens.
cast and creative team
Cast
Creative Team
Director & Co-Producer: James Yaegashi
Writer & Co-Producer: Kate Forristall
Producing Partners: Ryan Costello and Joe Rizzo at Moverz Group
Sound Engineering: Steven DeAngelis, Price Troche, Ed Ballert
Sound Design: Adam Joseph Monaghan
logo design: dana tanamachi
Non-Profit Producing Partner: Nick Hudson at Entertainment 2 Affect Change
Music: "Pacific Fog" by No-No Boy
Videographer: Sal Peretti
Support the dinner party
The next phase of this project is a film.
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