The Ties That Bind group would like to invite you to participate in planning Nikkei Community Day, which will take place on Saturday, May 12, 2007, concurrent with Family Fun Fest and the San-Tai-San basketball tournament in Little Tokyo (Los Angeles, CA).

Please save the date for Nikkei Community Day, and join us for a planning meeting on Saturday, January 6, 2007, at 9:30am at the JACCC. We hope to have as many community centers, JACL chapters, non-profit organizations, student groups, kenjinkais, athletics groups, martial arts organizations, etc., represented as possible.

A general description of Nikkei Community Day is below.

From the Nikkei Community Day concept paper draft:

With the Japanese American community spread out in pockets all over the L.A.
area, a certain sense of a unified, cohesive community has been lost.
Promoting activities that connect the disparate parts, can only strengthen
the ties that bind the community and ensure its survival and prosperity in
the future. One such activity that could bring the entire community together
would be a one-day event called Nikkei Community Day, to be commemorated in
May as part of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

A “Nikkei Community Day” could bring the whole community together for a day,
and jumpstart something new and significant for the future. It would be a
day when Nikkei from every part of the L.A. region come to the cultural and
symbolic home of their community--Little Tokyo--to say three things: “we are
here,” “we are a strong and viable community together with a significant
voice,” and “we have something important and valuable to contribute to our
diverse region, our country, and the world.” It would be a celebration of
“who we are and what we do” as an ethnic community with a long history in the
U.S. And it would bring together all of the various Nikkei community centers
and community organizations to showcase who they are and what they do, and to
share information and resources with each other. A day like this would go a
long way toward connecting the community and developing community infrastructure.

At Nikkei Community Day, community centers and community organizations will
be invited to have booths on the JACCC's Noguchi Plaza. They will put on
display whatever they want to show about their centers or organizations and
will share information about their mission and activities. The
participation of groups from all over the L.A. area will give each group a
stake in this event and thereby encourage Nikkei from different parts of the
region to make a special trip to Little Tokyo for this one day out of the
year. Participating groups will be given stage time on the plaza for
performances (music, dance, martial arts, etc.). .

A keynote speaker will address the topic of “The State of the Nikkei
Community”and a panel of Nikkei leaders will respond to kick off the day.
It is a topic that can be addressed every year.