Tak Toyoshima, creator of the razor-sharp Secret Asian Man comic strip and art director of the edgy newspaper, Boston’s Weekly Dig, dares you to mess with him. Okay, he really just wants people to stop making fun of Asian delivery drivers and hopes for once that an Asian can be a leading actor in a non-martial arts film.
Toyoshima is the first and only Asian-American to have a comic strip syndicated in a daily newspaper. Now, several years after launching his strip, he is set to release The Daily Days, a collection of his syndicated work on Amazon.com. I caught up with my old colleague (full disclosure – I worked with Toyoshima at the Dig for nearly a decade) in advance of his debut book. Read on and buy his book but don’t mess with him!
URB: What inspired Secret Asian Man?
TAK TOYOSHIMA: Ten years ago, Asian-American faces in the mainstream media was pretty bleak. Short of the Jackie Chans and the George Takeis of the world there just wasn’t a fair representation in popular culture. Asians, especially Asian-Americans, were seen as foreigners, even the ones who live here. When it comes to newspaper comic strips, there was nothing. There’s STILL nothing. My goal was never to get picked up for syndication in daily papers but when it happened, I took a good look at what was out there and was shocked. SAM was touted by United Features as being the first daily syndicated comic strip featuring an Asian-American lead, which was unbelievable and sad at the same time.
URB: What changes have you seen in society’s acceptance of Asians in mainstream American culture?
TT: Things have gotten a lot better. There are a lot more AA faces in mainstream culture. Musicians, performers, politicians, university shooters… Asians are popping up all over. But at the same time, I see a disturbing trend towards anti-Asian violence and mockery. It seems to be accepted to openly make fun of Asians. And not just in recent movies like Chuck and Buck with Rob Schneider in severe yellow face–I know, he’s half Filipino–or The Goods with Korean Ken Jeong being attacked for Pearl Harbor, but on daytime TV like Rosie O’Donnell’s infamous “ching chong” comment or teeny-bopper land like Miley Cyrus making Chinese eyes with her friends. Skank. So to answer the question, yes and no!
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