Nichi Bei Foundation

Last few hours to support the Nichi Bei Foundation’s Give in May campaign! Help us raise critically-needed funds lost due to cancelled fundraisers and the downturn in advertising during our Give in May campaign. Your support will help us continue to serve the community through the COVID-19 pandemic. Hear from the dedicated team behind the Nichi Bei including columnists, board, staff and volunteers in the Nichi Bei People video on our fundraising page.... Thank you! https://www.giveinmay.org/story/Dbd0bg

Check out Seattle’s Japanese American Remembrance Trail... https://www.seattletimes.com//get-a-history-refresher-on/

How Japanese Americans who served during WWII are being honored https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article251767598.html

Is it too soon to think about Fall 2021? Midori Kai Directors have been working hard on the Midori Kai Arts & Crafts E-Boutique and Virtual Silent Auction & 25th Anniversary! Stay tuned for more exciting updates!

Naomi Osaka withdraws from French Open after choosing to avoid media https://edition.cnn.com//naomi-osaka-french-ope/index.html

The Virtual Amache Pilgrimage commemorating the Granda (Amache) concentration camp starts TODAY! Check out the schedule of events at: https://www.jampilgrimages.com/2021-amache-virtual-pilgrima

U.S. warns against travel to Japan with Olympics just 2 months away WASHINGTON The U.S. State Department on May 24 advised its citizens not to visit Japan due to a surge in coronavirus cases, raising its travel alert to the highest level of 4 just two months before the start of the Tokyo Olympics. Although the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee played down concerns that the alert would affect the participation of American athletes in the Summer Games, the latest developm...ent could raise further safety questions about whether the global sporting event should go ahead amid the ongoing pandemic. We feel confident that the current mitigation practices in place for athletes and staffcoupled with the testing before travel, on arrival in Japan, and during games time, will allow for safe participation of Team USA athletes this summer, the committee said in a statement. Japan has already decided not to allow overseas spectators and volunteers to enter the country for the games, scheduled to be staged from July 23. READ MORE HERE: https://www.nichibei.org//u-s-warns-against-travel-to-jap/ #Olympics #TokyoOlympics #travel #Tokyo

This Monday at 1 p.m., View a special commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, produced by the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival...

THE GOCHISO GOURMET: Good enough to make you cry By RYAN TATSUMOTO / Nichi Bei Weekly Columnist f you chop or slice onions often enough, you’ll eventually get immune to the effects of syn-propanethial-S-oxide, which causes your lacrimal glands to produce tears to flush this irritant. Or maybe it’s simply because I tend to purchase local sweet onions, including Maui onions, which tend to be lower in sulfur (the thiol part of the irritant) thus creating less of these irrita...ting volatile compounds whenever the onion membrane is cut. Actually, the onion should cry as it’s the unsung hero of the culinary world, rarely achieving top billing in most culinary creations. In fact, the only top billing it gets that I can think of is French onion soup, and it’s debatable whether diners love the silky texture of properly browned onions or whether they consume the dish and onions, simply for the cheese topping. READ MORE HERE: https://www.nichibei.org//the-gochiso-gourmet-good-enough/ #GochisoGourmet #onions #food

What the [landscape painter] records is not a single confrontation, but an accumulation of experience touched off perhaps by one moment’s exaltation before the... beauty of nature. Chiura Obata The Japanese American artist Chiura Obata (1885-1975) was one of the California’s most influential artists of the 20th century and an inspiring educator who used the power of art to bridge the gap between that divided his community. In 1927, Obata made his first visit to Yosemite where he spent several weeks painting its breathtaking landscapes. Here in the High Sierra, his love for Dai Shizen (Great Nature) deepened. Dai Shizen represented a sort of spiritual enlightenment for Obata and significantly impacted both his philosophy in life and in his art. After the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor and Executive Order 9066, Obata and his family were incarcerated at ‘War Relocation Centers’ along with all people of Japanese ancestry living in the west (the majority of whom were American citizens). Believing that the power of creativity would raise the spirit of his people, Obata quickly took the initiative to create an art school. The school, offering 23 different courses, served over 600 students. Over the years, he and his wife continued to educate people about Japanese culture by guiding art trips to American national parks and Japan. In 1965, Obata was honored with a traditional Japanese token called the Order of the Sacred Treasure for his efforts to unify the west and the east cultures (East West Art Society). Chiura Obata’s powerful views on art and nature combined with his efforts to work beyond the nationalistic lines that divided his community helped pave the way for artists and people of color alike. In these final days of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage month, we invite everyone to partake in celebrating by learning more about the work of Obata and other Asian American artists who have influenced our culture and society.

Suit alleging admissions discrimination moves forward in Va. ALEXANDRIA, Va. A federal judge ruled May 21 that a parents’ group can move forward with a lawsuit alleging that new admissions policies at an elite public high school in northern Virginia discriminate against Asian Americans. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology was rated the best public high school in the country last month by U.S. News and World Report. Asian Americans constitute more than 70... percent of the student body, and for decades Black and Hispanic students have been woefully underrepresented there. The Fairfax County School Board, seeking to increase diversity at the school, drastically overhauled the admissions process at the school, scrapping a standardized test that had been the linchpin of the process. The new system now allocates slots at the highly competitive school in a system that distributes the vast majority of slots to the top 1.5 percent of students at each of the county’s middle schools. School board members have said that increasing geographic diversity at the school should improve racial diversity. Other items that were seen as a barrier to Black and Hispanic families, including an application fee, have been eliminated. Opponents of the changes say the new process will no longer attract the very best students to the school, and that the changes target Asian American families who prospered under the old system. READ MORE HERE: https://www.nichibei.org//suit-alleging-admissions-discri/ #AsianAmerican #admissions

Suehiro Café receives grant from Preservation Program By TAKESHI NAKAYAMA / Nichi Bei Weekly Contributor LOS ANGELES Suehiro Café, founded in 1972 in Little Tokyo, is one of 25 small restaurants nationwide that was awarded a special grant earlier this month as part of a collaborative effort of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express through their Backing Historic Small Restaurants program to help those businesses improve, upgrade, and preserve thei...r exterior physical spaces and online businesses. We are honored to be one of only 25 restaurants nationwide to be chosen by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express to receive a grant supporting historic and culturally significant small restaurants owned by underrepresented groups, Suehiro stated in a Facebook post. We continue to carry on the legacy of our founders, sisters Junko and Yuriko, the first female owners of a restaurant in Little Tokyo. Suehiro has been in business for 49 years and is now run by the second generation, Junko’s son, Kenji. We hope to see the third generation, Kenji’s daughters, running Suehiro someday. They are already helping out around the café. https://www.nichibei.org//suehiro-cafe-receives-grant-fro/ #LittleTokyo #Japantown #JapaneseAmerican #Japanese #Nikkei #NichiBei #NichiBeiFoundation #NichiBeiWeekly #food #smallbusiness #supportjapantowns #COVID19

Racist attacks revive Asian American studies program demand As Dartmouth College sophomore Nicholas Sugiarto flipped through the course catalog last semester, two words caught his eye: Asian American. The 19-year-old Chinese Indonesian American didn’t know Asian American-focused classes were even an option at the Hanover, New Hampshire, campus. The biomedical-engineering major ended up enrolling in Gender and Sexuality in Asian American Literature and now wishes he could ...minor in Asian American studies. I never realized how long and storied the history of Asians in America has been, Sugiarto said. You also hear about stories that just never made the news or never made it into the standard AP U.S. history textbooks. That feeling of being seen resonates now more than ever for Asian American and Pacific Islander students and faculty at college campuses around the country. For all the Stop AAPI Hate hashtagging, accounts keep emerging of new incidents of Asian Americans being coronavirus scapegoats or made to feel like foreigners in their own country. READ MORE HERE: https://www.nichibei.org//racist-attacks-revive-asian-ame/ #AsianAmericanStudies #EthnicStudies #StopAAPIHate #StopAsianHate #HateCrimes #History #AAAS

A new star on the golf scene...

The story behind Kim’s Convenience, whose fifth and final season dropped on Netflix last week. https://youtu.be/YBCAEdnl_Mg

Japanese American Museum of Oregon says ‘Tadaima’ By SOJI KASHIWAGI / Nichi Bei Weekly Contributor On May 5, 1942, more than 2,400 members of Oregon’s Japanese American community were forcibly removed from their homes and incarcerated in the Portland Assembly Center, the first stop on their way to the Minidoka concentration camp in southern Idaho.... On May 6, 1942, General John DeWitt declared Portland the first major city on the West Coast to be Jap free. In one day, the city’s vibrant Nihonmachi, or Japantown, disappeared, just like that. Fast forward 79 years and on May 6, the Japanese American Museum of Oregon turned the day that Nihonmachi died into a day of reclamation and celebration with a virtual grand opening of its brand new museum, which was previously called Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center. For the 13,604 members of Oregon’s Nikkei community, according to 2017 U.S. Census figures, this opening was Tadaima! They were back home. At last. #JAMO #JapaneseAmericanMuseumOfOregon #OregonNikkei #museum #Portland #Japantown #JapaneseAmerican #Japanese #Nikkei #NichiBei #NichiBeiFoundation #NichiBeiWeekly #history #JapaneseAmericanHistory #concentrationcamps #WorldWarII #COVID19 READ MORE HERE: https://www.nichibei.org//japanese-american-museum-of-ore/

California lawmakers seek $200 million to fight hate crimes SACRAMENTO, Calif. California lawmakers said May 12 that they are seeking $200 million over the next three years to fight hate crimes against Asian Americans that have increased since the coronavirus entered the U.S. after originating in China. More than half of the money would go for grants to nonprofit and community groups that provide legal services, health care, mental health, victim compensation or counseling.... Also eligible would be groups providing escorts for older residents who fear attacks and organizations that provide education on systemic racism. Funding of $10 million would be provided for a statewide hate crimes hotline to collect reports in victims’ own languages and to direct them to police or legal, health or mental health services. Another $20 million would help cultural enclaves including traditional Chinatowns, Japantowns, Koreatowns and Little Manilas. #StopAAPIHate #StopAsianHate #HateCrimes #Japantowns READ MORE HERE: https://www.nichibei.org//california-lawmakers-seek-200-m/

The Story of Japanese American Food: Evolution by adaptation By GIL ASAKAWA / Nichi Bei Weekly Contributor The Japanese American National Museum wants to make you hungry. JANM held the first of three virtual programs on Japanese American food, A Taste of Home: Building the Flavors of Japanese America, on Nov. 15. The event detailed the history of how Japanese food culture has evolved into Japanese American cuisine.... https://www.nichibei.org//the-story-of-japanese-american-/

Metro Project not as bad as pandemic for Little Tokyo By TAKESHI NAKAYAMA / Nichi Bei Weekly Contributor LOS ANGELES The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Regional Connector construction has been disruptive for residents, businesses and nonprofit organizations in Little Tokyo, but not as disruptive as the COVID-19 pandemic, according to three prominent Nikkei who work there.... https://www.nichibei.org//metro-project-not-as-bad-as-pan/

NIKKEI Q: Trump and queers By AMY SUEYOSHI / Nichi Bei Weekly Columnist In 2018, Colorado State University political scientist Ernesto Sagás noted that with the legitimization of bad hombres, shithole countries, (and) nasty women coming from the White House, we need ethnic studies now more than ever. For sure, President Donald Trump’s administration’s assault on the well-being of immigrants, people of color, and women have been well documented by what the President dismis...ses as fake news. What we may know less about is the White House’s attacks on the LGBTQ community during the first term of his presidency. According to Lucas Acosta of the Human Rights Campaign, the Trump administration had by June 2020 asserted close to 40 actions that deliberately sought to diminish the lives of queers in employment, education, housing, families and health care. https://www.nichibei.org/2020/10/nikkei-q-trump-and-queers/

Some sad news about Shogo and Hiroko Yamada, the owners of the YamaSho Restaurant and karaoke room establishment near San Francisco's Japantown. They previously owned Izumiya Restaurant in Japantown, and Shogo Yamada has spread the music and dancing of Kawachi-Ondo and awa odori (the latter through Awakko Ren), at such festivals as the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival, Nihonmachi Street Fair, Osaka Matsuri, Cupertino Cherry Blossom Festival and San Jose Obon. "Both of the Yamadas have been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Hiroko has been bravely battling the illness for many years, and at the beginning of this year, Shogo was diagnosed with brain cancer." A Go Fund Me page has been initiated to help the Yamadas pay for expenses as they battle their respective diseases...

The Nichi Bei is proud to sponsor the Yu-Ai Kai Nihonmachi Fun Run/Walk. Your last chance to enter this wonderful event, geared to raise funds for senior services in San Jose's Japantown. Register TODAY!

Let's make some MOCHI MAGIC! Our past dessert mochi instructor and chef Kaori Becker of Kaori's Kitchen will give us a virtual sneak peek at her new mochi cookb...ook, and show you how to make yomogi mochi and matcha-glazed mochi donuts in this online cooking demo! Join us on Saturday, November 14, 2020 from 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. $20 Center Members, $25 General Public. Register online at: http://bit.ly/jcccncmochimagic Pre-order your copy of MOCHI MAGIC, set to release on November 24, and receive additional pre-order perks courtesy of Kaori Becker! https://www.mochimagicbook.com/claim-pre-order-perks.html #mochi #mochimagic #theCenter #jcccnc #kaoriskitchen

Let’s Talk About thriving in the pandemic By SATSUKI INA / Nichi Bei Weekly Columnist It was March, seven long months ago when COVID-19 was acknowledged as a pandemic. When the shutdown was announced most of us thought we could just hold our breaths, make some minor adjustments and things would get back to normal within a reasonable period of time. But here and now, the numbers of people contracting and dying from this disease continue to soar in the U.S.... It’s now time to shift again, from short-term adjustments, to more consciously evaluating how we’re coping and exploring ways to move from just holding our breath to emotionally shifting to make more adventuresome changes in our lives. Just coping is depressing. We are all hopeful for a vaccine and future efforts to more adequately control the spread, but it looks like for now we’re being called on to move on to yet another level of adjustment. https://www.nichibei.org//lets-talk-about-thriving-in-the/

THE GOCHISO GOURMET: For amber waves of grain By RYAN TATSUMOTO / Nichi Bei Weekly I’m sure by now you’ve heard the general nutrition recommendation to include more whole grains in your diet to improve your health and well-being. (You could start by consuming more Cheerios or whole wheat bread). Whenever we consume whole grains, the additional fiber in the grain takes longer to digest so that the absorbable part of the grain, namely the starch or carbohydrate, doesn’t flood t...he bloodstream immediately. That way, you don’t get that sudden spike in blood sugar and the subsequent dip when it drops. Instead, it creates a lower, sustained blood sugar with no spikes or dips. And the additional fiber assists in making you regular. So how about taking it a step further by consuming the grain as is? Consider eating wheat berries, barley, farro or quinoa. https://www.nichibei.org//the-gochiso-gourmet-for-amber-w/

Dr. Satsuki Ina and Soji Kashiwagi discuss The Betrayed and loyalty controversy on December 12 Join us this Saturday at 8:00 p.m. (PT) as Grateful Crane prese...nts the premiere of In Conversation, a virtual dialogue with dynamic members of our community who are working to keep our Japanese American story, culture and traditions alive. Following last week’s online premiere of Hiroshi Kashiwagi’s The Betrayed, Dr. Satsuki Ina and Soji Kashiwagi will discuss the play and the real-life community split caused by the two controversial loyalty questions at the heart of the play. A licensed clinical psychotherapist for over 30 years, Dr. Ina has spent her professional career seeking to understand the long-term impact of collective and historical trauma. During the conversation, she discusses the trauma these questions caused, and the resulting disloyal stigma that has stuck with those who answered the questions No-No. The sad tragedy, she says, is that this government-imposed conflict and separation did not end after it started in 1943, but has remained within our community ever since, and has been passed on from one generation to the next. But due to the current energy and activism she has seen from our younger generations of Japanese Americans, Dr. Ina is optimistic that a reconciliation is possible, and offers a hopeful pathway forward to a community healing. View In Conversation by going to this link on December 12 at 8:00 p.m. (PT): https://www.youtube.com/playlist.

Marvel’s first Asian superhero film wraps filming... https://people.com//marvels-first-asian-superhero-film-s/

Community voting for this year's Virtual Japantown Halloween Carnival Costume Contest and Jack-O'-Lantern Carving Contest is now open! Vote until noon PST on Fr...iday, October 30, then find out the winners during our Virtual Halloween Carnival program on Facebook Live at 6pm PST on Friday, October 30! Vote on your favorite jack-o'-lanterns by liking or clicking on a reaction to contestant photos for the following categories: cutest, scariest, most creative, and most spirited group/family. The costume with the most total likes and reactions will win the Community Choice Award! View Costume Contest Entries: http://bit.ly/2020jtownhalloweencostumes View Jack-O'-Lantern Carving Contest Entries: http://bit.ly/2020jtownhalloweenjackolanterns Want to enter the contest? New entries accepted until midnight on Thursday, October 29. Submit your contest entries for the costume contest and/or the jack-o'-lantern carving contest at: http://bit.ly/jtownhalloween2020 Questions? Contact us at [email protected] Have a safe and happy Halloween! #japantownhalloweencarnival #halloween #costumecontest #jackolanterncontest #jcccnc #jcyc

'Dancing with the Stars' judge Carrie Ann Inaba says she has Covid-19 https://www.cnn.com//entertain/carrie-ann-inaba/index.html

New online exhibition highlights LGBTQ Japanese American pioneers By TOMO HIRAI / Nichi Bei Weekly A new online historical exhibition hosted by J-Sei aims to shake up the notion of who the Issei were by exploring queer Japanese Americans prior to 1945.... Stan Yogi and Amy Sueyoshi, co-curators of the exhibit, discussed their efforts in an exhibit opening hosted via Zoom by J-Sei, a multi-generational Japanese American organization based in Emeryville, Calif. https://www.nichibei.org//new-online-exhibition-highlight/

Congratulations to Los Angeles Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts, a Japanese American born in Okinawa, Japan, for finally winning his first World Series title over the Tampa Bay Rays! He won the elusive title tonight in his third trip to the World Series in four years. Kyodo News photo

Tonight on HBO and HBO Max, the founders of Stop Repeating History, attorneys Dale Minami and Don Tamaki, will discuss the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II and

Sogestu ArtScapes2020 goes virtual! See a demonstration by Joan Yusui Suzuki...

A Virtual Halloween in San Jose's Japantown this Saturday... Halloween in Japantown started in 2003 as safety-conscious event for the community. Given that theme we felt the safest way to do Halloween this year is in a virtual space. We hope you can all join us in celebrating this fun Japantown tradition in a different, virtual way! What: Halloween in Japantown - Virtual Edition... When: Saturday, October 31 5:00PM PT San Jose Taiko virtual performances www.youtube.com/user/sjtaiko Halloween taiko performances from Lotus Preschool, SJT’s Junior Taiko Performing Ensembles, SJT’s Seniors Class, and of course our professional performing company. 6:00PM Haunted Hidden Histories from San Jose Japantown Separate Zoom event. For more information and registration: https://hiddenhistoriesjtown.org/halloween/ Hear ghost stories from our Japantown community. Downloadable coloring pages for kids from artist Corinne Okada Takara.

Performing artists hopeful amid uncertain future and potential devastation By TOMO HIRAI / Nichi Bei Weekly... With theaters shuttered and live audiences reluctant to gather, the performing arts sector has suffered considerably since the pandemic has prompted most people to stay at home. For Asian Americans, the issue is no different, and some fear devastation if things do not improve. Ethnic Media Services reported that the arts sector has lost $12 billion nationwide, of which Los Angeles alone has faced a $20 million blow to its hundreds of galleries and theaters. Citing figures from the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, the article said half of the county’s arts organizations fear they won’t survive the pandemic. Five years from now, are the performing arts sustainable? So that’s the big question, and the answer is unknown, Mark Izu, a San Francisco-based musician, said in a Zoom call with the Nichi Bei Weekly. https://www.nichibei.org//performing-artists-hopeful-amid/