STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER
A Tribute Honoring the Pioneer Orange County Japanese American Strawberry Farmers.

Project Kokoro invites you to a free event!

This program will be educational, historical, and informational. Even if you didn’t grow up in Orange County, you will still be able to learn about a rich part of our Japanese American history. You can join us in honoring these hard working farming families. We would like to capture and share the history of the Japanese-American strawberry farming community in Orange County.

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 13, 2005, 12:00 NOON TO 3:00PM

Our guest speaker is Naomi Hirahara, a Southern Californian native who writes and edits books on the Japanese American experience. One of her books she will discuss is, A Taste For Strawberries: The Independent Journey of Nisei Farmer Manabi Hirasaki. Her books include mysteries and nonfiction. Her first novel, Summer of the Big Bachi, was included in Publishers Weekly’s list of “Best books of 2004”, as well as “Best Mystery” lists of the Chicago Tribune and San Francisco Chronicle. It has been nominated for a Macavity Award for best first novel. The second in the series, Gasa-Gasa Girl, was released in April 2005 and was on the Southern California Booksellers’ Association bestseller list for two weeks. The third in the series, Snakeskin Shamisen, will be published in May 2006. In the nonfiction genre, Naomi has written biographies of notable Japanese American citizens. She also operates a “legacy press,” Midori Books, which produces publications for families and organizations. She previously worked as an editor and reporter of The Rafu Shimpo, a bilingual Japanese American daily newspaper in Los Angeles. Naomi and her husband reside in Southern California.

Our other speakers will be:

Arthur A. Hansen, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of History and Asian American Studies at California State University, Fullerton

The Orange County Agricultural & Nikkei Heritage Museum

Susan Uyemura (Shoho) of The Miyawaki Legacy Project

The California Strawberry Commission

Location:
ORANGE COUNTY BUDDHIST CHURCH (Multi Purpose Building-Gym)
909 South Dale Ave
Anaheim, CA 92804

COST:
The program is free and Project Kokoro will be offering an Optional Pre Sale Bento Lunch for $6/bento.

Mail RSVP (*Open the below PDF file) & Bento-Lunch order to:
Irene Ito Koga 714-289-0240
irene@itofarms.com
Diana Ando Ono 310-516-9806
dianaAEM@aol.com