'Ikigai' follows Mayumi, a 9-year-old girl, as she tries to find balance in her Japanese identity and American nationality. Hanako, her mother who celebrates their culture through Nihon Buyo, sees Mayumi's new school as an opportunity to share their culture with the white students. When Mayumi is assigned a show-and-tell presentation, she takes it as a chance to prove to her classmates that she is not that different from them. But, that plan is soon ruined when Hanako unexpectedly shows up and teaches the class a Japanese dance, embarrassing and exposing Mayumi's cultural background. After coming home ashamed of her mother and Japanese identity, Mayumi receives guidance from her parents that motivates her to return to school and redo her show and tell in a way that would make her ancestors proud.
Natsuko Aoike
Brian Takahashi
Julia Saito
Becca Bell
Mary Lapari
Sullivan Lapari
Joilena Fang
Jared Hayes Lawrence
Sayana Kitagawa
Joventino Fuentes
Frankie Fuentes
Joe Fuentes
Kameron Gallegos-Whittaker
Ransom Melton
Parker James Logie
Corrine Fuentes
Kristen Lapari
Mayumi Elardo