Commenter Spotlight: Erika Hirada

Commenter Spotlight is a weekly interview with the people who comment on 8Asians.com – whether what they have to say is insightful, touching, humorous or controversial, they’ve earned the respect of other 8Asians.com readers.

Kicking off the inaugural column is New Yorker Erika Hirada, no stranger to anyone reading 8Asians if you read the comments on this website regularly. Check out her interview and see what she has to say, after the jump!

Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from? What do you do for a living?
My name is Erika Harada — I’m 25 years old and I work as a graphic designer in New York City. The NY-NJ area has been my home for the past 20 years, but I was originally born in Japan, which is where my mom is from. My dad is 4th generation Japanese American from New Mexico.

How did you find out 8Asians?
I found 8Asians through a friend who linked me to an article from here. I immediately was drawn to the level of dialogue and the fact that speaking your mind is encouraged here.

What kinds of posts on 8Asians do you comment on the most?
I tend to comment on posts that are interesting to me personally — which usually deals with issues of inequality or gender, or just stuff about Japan.

What has been the post on 8Asians you’ve reacted the most strongly? Are you the type of person to click BORED on a post?
Hmmm — there have been many posts that affected me, but the recent post about the term “yellow” referring to Asians made me think a whole lot. It actually sparked some discussion among my offline Asian friends as well! I do have a confession, though — I have clicked BORED on a post or two in the past. I can be somewhat cynical.

What’s your Asian comfort food?
Saba Miso (mackerel boiled in miso sauce) with a bowl of white rice! Or if I’m too lazy to make it, ramen. 🙂

Anything else you want to add?
I’m pretty sure I have annoyed a few people with my opinionated nature (in fact, I have received a Facebook message from an irate anonymous person who presumably had read one of my comments on here), but if you don’t like a comment I made, please reply back and engage me in a debate. I won’t be mean unless you attack me personally or call me names, I promise 😉

If you’d like to interviewed for Commenter Spotlight, make sure your 8Asians LiveFyre profile has at least ten points and contact the editors.