Yoko OK // yokoisokay (at) gmail
Cartoonist, Illustrator-Designer, Video Editor
Portland, OR // LinkedIn
++
Photo by Lauren Morrell Tabak for @queerfromhere.
Used with permission.
Reading (with projector) at Silver Sprocket, SF, May 2024
Zine table setup, 2023
Upcoming Events
Kate Haug - We Hold Democracy Together
Opening Reception
Saturday, August 8th, 2-6pm
Sebastopol Center For The Arts
Sebastopol, CA
(Collab piece with Helen Oji in the show ~
Show is up Aug 8 thru Sept 6!)
Draw Your Family/Draw Your Story — A Zine Workshop Series
Saturday and Sunday, August 15th & 16th, 1-5pm
Sebastopol Center For The Arts
Sebastopol, CA
Register here!
Printed Matter Art Book Fair
(my zines will be on the Allied Productions table!)
MoMA P.S.1 — 22-01 Jackson Avenue
Long Island City, NY
Bio
Yoko Oji Kikuchi is a queer Yonsei Japanese-Filipina-American artist, musician, map designer, zinemaker and New Yorker now based in Portland. Her 27-page comic book about her paternal family’s immigration story, Uncoiling: A Japanese-American Family's History, was officially released last November, and won an Award of Excellence from the Society of Illustrators in March. She also has an anthology of 4 years of personal comics, as well as a few zines of maps and coincidences. You can see her work on her website Yoko-OK.com and on Instagram at @yoko_okay.
Yoko is a founding member of AZN Zine Fest, a pan-Asian celebration of zines and Asian culture now planning its second annual festival, and Bushwick Book Club Oakland, the Bay Area branch of a wide-reaching Brooklyn songwriters’ book club founded by Susan Hwang.
Curriculum Vitae
Education
Certificate in Independent Publishing of Comics
IPRC Portfolio Program, Portland, OR, 2025
Certificate of Achievement in Video Editing and Post-Production
City College of SF, San Francisco, CA, 2022
BFA in Fine Art with a Concentration in Photography
Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA, 2003
Client List (selected)
Minoru Yasui Legacy Project
Homecooked Zine
Geist (Canadian magazine)
Oakland Asian Cultural Center
Pop-Kultur Festival, Berlin
Japanese American Memorial Pilgrimages
SF Urban Film Fest
Night School Berlin
Ninth Letter
Street Sheet (SF)
Mars Record Shop
ABO Comix
Detroit Ready Mix
Party On Zine
Cafe Seventy8
Awards, Nominations, Grants
2026 January Society of Illustrators Award of Excellence for Uncoiling
2025 November Precipice Fund Grant (for AZN Zine Fest)
Group Exhibitions
2026 July Secret Room x Illustoria Magazine presents Greetings From Wherever — A RISO Postcard Show @ Secret Room, Portland OR
2026 January Postcards From The Edge @ Berry Campbell Gallery, NYC
2025 December Int’l Art of Zines Exhibit @ Anno Domini, San Jose, CA
2025 June Pyramid Scheme 2 @ Bass & Reiner, San Francisco, CA
2024 Dec-Jan Mallrats Group Exhibition @ Floating World Comics, Portland, OR
2023 July-Sept Summer In The Sunset @ Sealevel SF, San Francisco, CA
2023 May Pyramid Scheme @ Bass & Reiner, San Francisco, CA
2023 March The Coming of Spring @ Crisis Club Gallery, organized by Rolodex Gallery, Oakland, CA
2023 January Banana Art @ A Blank White Box, Los Angeles, CA
Solo Exhibitions (selected)
2022 May-June Cafe Seventy8, San Francisco, CA
2022 Jan-March Mars Record Shop, Oakland, CA
2021 Aug-Sept Luckyduck Bicycle Cafe, Oakland, CA
2021 June-July Cafe Seventy8, San Francisco, CA
2020 Jan-March Revolution Cafe, San Francisco, CA
2019 September Black Spring Coffee Company, Oakland, CA
2019 March Hasta Muerte, Oakland CA
Past Events (selected)
2026 May Olympia Zine Fest, Olympia, WA
2026 Mar Mother Monday (A Reading) @ Superfine, Brooklyn, NY
2026 Mar MoCCA Fest @ Metropolitan Pavilion, NYC
2026 Feb AZN ZINE FEST @ Fubonn, Portland OR
2025 Dec MallRats Holiday Market @ Lloyd Center, Portland OR
2025 Nov November Comix Reading @ Gymnopedie, Brooklyn, NY
2025 Nov Portland Zine Symposium, Portland, OR
2025 Nov Short Run Comix Festival, Seattle WA
2025 Oct Comics Reading at Multnomah Arts Center, Portland OR
2025 August SF Zine Fest @ Metreon, San Francisco CA
2025 August Tacoma Zine Fest, Tacoma WA
2025 June Hyphen BIPOC Zine Fest, Portland OR
2025 June Summer Story Fest @ New New Crusher Court, Portland OR
2025 Mar Reed Zine Fest, Portland OR
2024 Dec MallRats Holiday Market @ Lloyd Center, Portland OR
2024 Dec EBABZ (East Bay Alternative Book & Zine Fest), Berkeley, CA
2024 Dec Klaus Nomi (A Comics Club Event) Clinton St Theater, Portland, OR
2024 Nov Short Run Comix & Arts Festival, Seattle, WA
2024 Nov Planet Of Zines 4 @ the blank gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2024 Sept Portland Zine Symposium, Portland OR
2024 July Seattle Zine Fest @ 420 15th Ave E, Seattle WA
2024 June Summer Story Fest @ New New Crusher Court, Portland OR
2024 June Don’t Touch That Dial - Telltale PDX @ Sonny’s House, Portland OR
2024 May Vancouver Comics & Art Festival, Vancouver BC, Canada
2024 May Plica Fimbriata Book Release Party @ Silver Sprocket, SF
2024 April Mother Monday (A Reading) @ Superfine, Brooklyn, NY
2024 Mar Comics Club! (A Reading) @ IPRC, Portland, OR
2023 Dec EBABZ (East Bay Alternative Book & Zine Fest), Oakland, CA
2023 Nov Planet Of Zines 3 @ the blank gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2023 Nov Short Run Comix & Arts Festival, Seattle, WA
2023 Oct Portland Zine Symposium, Portland OR
2023 August ASIAN INVASION @ Museum of Art & Digital Entertainment, Oakland, CA
2023 June UCSF Zine Fest, San Francisco, CA
2023 June Hive Video Show @ Hive Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2023 May L.A. Zine Fest @ Expo Arts Center, Long Beach, CA
2023 May Planet of Zines 2 @ the blank gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2023 May Dear Diary Zine Fest @ Humanist Hall, Oakland, CA
2023 April Santa Rosa Zine Fest, Santa Rosa, CA
2023 February Day of Remembrance Map Release Party! Art Talk & Panel, Oakland Asian Cultural Center
2023 February Lunar New Year x Black History Month Event @ Oakland Asian Cultural Center, Oakland, CA
2022 Dec Betwixt The Holidaze #2, @ Rubulad, Brooklyn, NY
2022 Dec Albany Print & Zine Fest - Albany, CA
2022 Dec EBABZ (East Bay Alternative Book & Zine Fest), Berkeley, CA
2022 Dec Oakland Creates (Zine & Art Fest), Oakland, CA
2022 Sept SF Zine Fest @ Metreon, San Francisco, CA
2021 April YALA Gala, panelist via Zoom
2020 July Bushwick Book Club Oakland, performer via Zoom
2020 June Bay Area Girls Rock Camp, performer via IG Live
2020 March Solo Art Opening at Revolution Cafe, San Francisco, CA
2020 February Valentine’s Day @ Beauty Supply, Oakland CA
Publications (selected, some upcoming)
2026 September Zisk zine (illustrator)
2026 August Hot Slime! zine (contributor, curated by Tamiko Sidore)
2026 May Crook Comix Cohort Presents: Shipwrecked! (contributor)
2026 May Crook Comix Cohort Presents: A Field Guide To Trees (contributor/editor-in-chief)
2026 February Hold Your Horses: AZN Zine Fest Anthology (contributor/editor-in-chief)
2026 January The Asian Urge To Hang A Good Luck Charm In Your Car - edited by Emmeline Kaiser (contributor)
2025 November Uncoiling: A Japanese-American Family’s History - IPRC Thesis Comic Book (self-published comic book)
2025 October Furby Philia zine (contributor, curated by Tamiko Sidore)
2025 June Cat Tales - a Collaboration with Meredith Hobbs Coons made for the Cool Cat Collective Zine Fest
2025 March Something Good Happened Here - zine made by Portland Zine Meetup to benefit Trans Relocation Fund (contributor)
2025 March Scenes From A Better World/A SWFL Zine Fest Anthology (contributor)
2024 Oct Coinkydink Volume 1, Collected Coincidences (contributor/editor-in-chief)
2024 Oct Homecooked zine (contributor, with thanks to my mom and grandma) - a zine of recipes put together by A’misa Chiu and friends!
2024 Oct Geist magazine - Adventures In Vancouver: A Map in Two Tiny Epochs (map design)
2024 July The Future Is Cool: Texts from Obsolete Cell Phones, Vol. 1 (self-published)
2024 June What Did I See? Early Drawings, NYC (self-published)
2024 Feb Mixed Rice Zines -Queering Friendships #3: The Collab Issue (contributor in collaboration with Jessica Martinez)
2023 Dec Plica Fimbriata Anthology!
2023 June 8 Years No Drinking Risograph Mini-Zine
2023 May Street Sheet SF - WTF WF? (8 Panel Centerfold)
2023 May Party On! Zine Issue #5 by Jessica Martinez (cover illustrations)
2023 April Plica Fimbriata #4 - Who Will Hold Your Strings? (self-published zine)
2023 March whet zine - the anthology (featured artist)
2022 Nov Yoktoberzine(self-published zine)
2022 Sept Textured Elevation #2 - A Zine About Maps (contributor/editor-in-chief)
2022 Jan Plica Fimbriata #3 - A Yearbook In Comics (self-published zine)
2021 June Textured Elevation #1 - A Zine About Maps (contributor/editor-in-chief)
2021-2022 Boog City - Monthly Comics Contributor
2021 July Night School Potluck Zine (for Pop-Kultur Festival Berlin), cover art and contributor
2021 Nov The Backbone Project Issue #1 - Mothers & Daughters (contributor in collaboration with my mother, Helen Oji) [link]
2021 Feb Party On! Zine Issue #4 by Jessica Martinez (contributor, cover illustrations)
2021 Jan whet zine - the resistance issue (contributor)
2021 Jan Plica Fimbriata #2 - The Pandemic Issue (self-published zine)
2021 Fall/Winter Ninth Letter (contributor - front cover and interior photographs)
2020 Sept Plica Fimbriata #1 - Pre-Pandemic Issue / self-published zine
2020 July whet zine - the local issue / contributor
2020 July Party On! Zine Issue #3 by Jessica Martinez / illustrator
2019 March Party On! Zine Issue #2 by Jessica Martinez / contributor
Discography (selected)
2022 October - Dibson T Hoffweiler & Yoko OK - Cat Music (EP)
2022 April - Dibson T Hoffweiler & Yoko OK - House of Hidden Life (EP)
2021 March - Dibson T Hoffweiler & Yoko OK - People Pleasing
2018 October - Yoko OK - Immediacy (available on cassette)
2017 April - Tight Little Ship - self-titled (available on cassette)
2012 January - Yoko OK - Menahan Tree
2008 September - Yoko OK - How To Stay Amazed/Lilly Lafayette double album (released as Yoko Kikuchi)
2008 May - Dream Bitches - Coke-and-Spiriters
2006 September - Yoko OK split w/Casey Holford, This Song/That Song 7” (released as Yoko Kikuchi) (available on vinyl)
2005 February - Dream Bitches - Sanfransisters
More Cool Stuff
Prints, Books & Zines Available At:
Secret Room, Portland, OR
Lucky’s Comics, Vancouver, BC
Cosmic Monkey Comics, Portland, OR
Reviews
Review of Plica Fimbriata #1-3
(zines of autobiographical comics & daily drawings)
by Jim Poe, June 2022 (link) (read within this site)
Review of Plica Fimbriata #2 and Textured Elevation #1
for Boog City, by Tony Tone, July 2021 (link)
Interviews
Interview with Yoko OK by Alison OK Frost, March 2021 (video)
Interview with Yoko OK by Sara Lautman for Boog City, June 2021 (text)