DiscoverNikkei.org - Comments

nice article!

vkm — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:12:44 -0700

Hi Simone!

I enjoyed reading part 2. It reminded me of my last visit to NY to visit a friend. She took Russ & I to an area with some Japanese restaurants and then to some other Japanese shops - a really nice manju-ya near Rockefeller Center, a place that only served desserts that was run by a Japanese woman. It struck me then too how much of NY's Nikkei population seemed more Japanese than JA.

We ate dinner one night at a place where we could order various appetizer-like dishes - various yummy things on skewers and small plates. What I found was really cool though was that they were playing '80s J-pop, which was the time period that I really followed Japanese music so I recognized a lot of the songs. Through those songs, I found a connection back to my youth - going to Little Tokyo to buy records (still bought some vinyl back then!), cassettes, videos, and magazines.

Thanks

tdk — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:54:53 -0700

This website has some decent articles but your journal is the one that keeps me coming back. Great sense of humor.

You're not alone...

gino — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:59:44 -0700

Yes, I still remember the racial slurs and the shame of keeping my head down, not responding. Now that I am a mother, I refuse to be treated disrespectfully. If I allow ignorant people to bash me, my children will inherit that sense of shame. It's not easy, but I love the shocked look on the racist's face when I matter-of-factly point out their ignorance. They never expect a 5' 3' Japanese American woman to confront them in perfect English.

Yes, feed them the natto and

gino — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:39:27 -0700

Yes, feed them the natto and everything else your family eats. With my first child, I wanted everything to be perfect. No sugar, no processed foods, no fast food, no spicy foods, no, no, no! While we still encourage her to have healthy habits, we also trained her to be very picky! We fed our second child Gerber until he could eat solid foods. Then we fed him natto minus the raw egg and everything else ethnic; Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, Mexican, Indian...just little bits and sauces. Hand cranked food grinders are great; just put the food in the top, grind, and feed to your toddler. My second child eats everything including natto with green onions, sweet chili sauce, sushi, oden, dried anchovies, cuttle fish, tofu and onigiri with little treats in the middle. By the way, he loooves to poke out the eyeballs on grilled mackerel! Good luck and always follow your fatherly instinct.

wow!

vkm — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 22:53:11 -0700

That's amazing. Must be pretty incredible to see and be a part of. If you have photos to share, would love to see sometime.

San Jose Obon Odori

brhoriuchi — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 13:11:38 -0700

The San Jose Obon festival is pretty big. There were a record 914 dancers last year on the Saturday, and a little less on the Sunday. They announced that the SJ Obon is one of the biggest in participation. Thanks for the Obon album link!

what a wonderful connection

vkm — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 10:40:32 -0700

Thanks so much for sharing your obon story. It's so sad that your grandmother wasn't able to see you dance that last time, but it's wonderful that you continue to dance in honor of her and your ancestors.

I've never been to San Jose's obon. Is it very big? I've been to the Mountain View obon a couple of times. My brother-in-law lives there and we've been fortunate that a couple of our visits have coincided with their obon.

I'm eagerly awaiting obon season this year. My sister moved back to LA recently with her husband who's from Northern California and this will be the first time we can all go "obon-hopping" all together.

Last year, we had our Discover Nikkei intern go to a bunch of So Cal obon festivals to document them through photos. She created 5 Nikkei Album collections about them. Here's a list of Obon-related collection in Nikkei Album if you want to check out the photos >>

San Jose Obon

brhoriuchi — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 21:51:12 -0700

The first time I danced in the Obon was when I was about two-three years old. I still have the silk kimono my Bachan brought from Japan that I wore for that first Obon. Forty-eight years later, I still dance. During my early teen years, I thought I was too cool to dance and did not participate for about three years. When I was about sixteen years old, my Bachan encouraged me to dance again. She had been in frail health and wanted to see me dance. We sat her down on the curb near the San Jose Buddhist church and I made sure I was on the outside circle so she could see me. As I would come near her, the current song would end and we would change the rotation so I would be going the opposite way. During the evening's performance, she never was able to see me dance. She died later that year. Since then, I have danced every year for her and my ancestors. I feel her presence as well as my late Mother's presence when I dance in the Obon. I feel this connection to them, the community and pride in being a Japanese-American Sansei.

bronzeville website

vkm — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:04:10 -0700

Martha Nakagawa has created this website with a lot more info, photos, and access to documents related to Bronzeville:

bronzeville-la.com

hattori hanzo

vkm — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:55:07 -0700

I remember watching those shows. How many were there anyway? In Japan, their TV series last for a specific number of episodes, with a defined story line and ending. I vaguely remember there being sequels to this show. Something like Shadow Warriors 2, 3, etc. Anyway, they were very dramatic, had great fight scenes, and heroic characters...and best of all - subtitled! =)

新二世のアイデンティティー

editor — Fri, 30 May 2008 10:43:18 -0700

福田恵子氏は、アメリカ生まれの二世を持つ母親。

新二世の子を持つ母親として、子供への日本語教育における自らの体験と子供たちのアイデンティティについてエッセイを書いています。

ご覧ください。＞＞　新二世のアイデンティティー: 補習校か、日本語学校か？

Grateful Crane website

vkm — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:01:00 -0700

They list their upcoming performance info on their website:

gratefulcrane.com.

Here's info from their site about the San Jose show:

"Nihonmachi: The Place to Be" is coming to San Jose in May!
Presented by Yu-Ai Kai, CATS (Contemporary Asian Theater Scene),
Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), Japanese American Museum
of San Jose (JAMsj)

Saturday, May 31, 2008 at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.
(7 p.m. show will include a post-show reception.)
San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin Annex
640 North 5th Street
San Jose, CA 95112

Tickets: $25 General Admission
$20 Seniors 75 and over
$20 Children 12 and under
$20 Groups of ten or more

For tickets and information, call Yu-Ai Kai at 408/294-2505.

These performances were funded in part by the California Civil
Liberties Public Education Program (CCLPEP) and the Tomoye
Takahashi Foundation.

For more information, email gratefulcrane@yahoo.com

Drew M. Tamaki: I read in a

dtamaki — Thu, 29 May 2008 12:48:45 -0700

Drew M. Tamaki:

I read in a recent Pacific Citizen newspaper that a performance of your play will be in the San Jose Japantown area this coming weekend (May 31st?). Can you give me details as to how to get tickets? I misplaced the article. Thanks.

An unexpected twist.

gyamamur — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:20:21 -0700

An unexpected twist. Another good one. Grace Y

Funny! Grace Y

gyamamur — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:17:48 -0700

Funny! Grace Y