Lisa Bio
Lisa Aihara is a freelance illustrator based in Los Angeles, and Grandpa Stogie’s Gigantic Goldfish is the fifth children’s book she has illustrated. Through her work with community organizations in Little Tokyo she has enjoyed bringing Japanese American cultural imagery to a contemporary audience. She is a mom of three and one of Chris’s daughters-in-law.
Chris Bio
Chris Aihara is a Sansei or third-generation Japanese American and has been active in the Los Angeles Little Tokyo community for decades. She is interested in gathering, sharing and continuing cultural traditions and values through her writing and development of programs. Chris and her husband Doug Aihara have 4 children, 3 daughters-in-law and 7 grandchildren.
About Mikan Press
Mikan Press is an independent press and creative collaboration of Chris Aihara and Lisa Aihara with the purpose of telling the stories, sharing the cultural values and experiences of the Japanese American community.
Chris had a son, and Lisa married him…
Say what you will about mother-and-daughter-in-law dynamics, Chris and Lisa share a passion for telling stories they wanted to pass on to their families.
Dozens of coffee meetings later, they had 3 book ideas on the table and Mikan Press was born.
About Chris
✍️ Author of Mikan Press books
🎏 Author of Nikkei Donburi. Former Executive Director of the LA Japanese American Cultural and Community Center in Little Tokyo.
🦸♀️ Mom of 4, Grandmother of 7
📙 Go-to Childrens book
🎌 Favorite Japanese word or phrase
💕 Chris is Lisa's Mother-in-Law
About Lisa
🎨 Illustrator for Mikan Press books
🌈 MBA-turned-Artist. Illustrator of 3 children’s books. Former Disney Marketing Manager.
👨👩👧👦 Mom of 2
📗 Go-to Children‘s book
🎌 Favorite Japanese word or phrase
💖 Lisa is married to Chris' son Steve, the little boy who ate all the mikan in our backstory above.