THE YELLOW PAGES is a weekly newsletter recommending Asian and AAPI films, music, writing, and other inspiration — all the artsy things I wished for growing up!
TYP readers, I did not expect to be starting a podcast this newsletter. I already co-host a podcast, and write two other Substacks…
That said, this first episode needed to happen.
So here we are, with an interview! Actor Michael Sun Lee, who played the adult version of “Harry Takayama” from Fuller House (the Full House reboot) is my very first guest.
A little backstory: I was inspired by reading about The Brief, Dry Life of Burger King's All-Cheese ‘Burger’ (NY Times, gifted link). This is Burger King Thailand’s "no-meat and 20 slices of cheese” burger.
I was reminded of an old episode of Full House (Season 2, Episode 4 - “DJ’s Very First Horse”) where Stephanie makes “cheese donuts” — you fold some Kraft in half and take a bite out of the middle. This is exactly how I ate all of my cheese slices (and if I’m being totally honest, it still is). That specific texture - the soft, salty folds against the roof of my mouth - holds such powerful nostalgia for me.
But more importantly, I thought about someone I haven’t thought about since JHS. “Harry Takayama,” Stephanie’s friend who she was demonstrating the “cheese donut” recipe to. This was the first episode this character appeared in, and I remember how thrilled I was to see him. Not only because he was cute and charming, but because nobody thought it was weird that he was Asian!
Everyone pronounced his last name perfectly, no gongs played when he entered the room… but mostly, he was a kid with a bowl haircut — just like me.
And he was bad at math (according to Full House Fandom Wiki):
He does not seem to be very good at mathematics, as he mentions he is ready to drop out of school and become a Boy Scout over his frustration with grasping the concept of subtraction.
When they did the reboot, “Harry” is revealed to be a CPA (guess he got better at math). Nathan Nishiguchi who played the original “Harry” was replaced with Michael Sun Lee. Apparently they tried to find Nathan, but he doesn’t want to be found.
I’m so grateful to Michael for agreeing to sit down with me for this inaugural podcast interview.1
And if anyone knows Nathan and can put me in touch, please reach out!
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Stay tuned for a future post with Michael’s Asian/AAPI favorites.
Podcast 01: "Harry Takayama" (Full House)