Mourning the Passing of Jack Hirose

UPDATE: Services for Jack Hirose will be held on Thursday, December 31, from 11 a.m. at Ashley & McMullen Funerals, 4200 Geary Boulevard (and Sixth), San Francisco.

The San Francisco Japantown Foundation mourns the loss of our board member Jack Hirose, who passed away on Christmas Day. We honor Jack's great legacy from his contributions as a local businessman and as one of the community's most generous philanthropists. The Foundation wishes to express our deepest condolences to the Hirose family. Information on services pending.

Profile: Cherry Blossom Festival

A KTSF video showing highlights of the 2009 Cherry Blossom Festival. one of the recepients of our 2008 grants.

Profile: Children’s Day Festival

The Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC) presents Kristi Yamaguchi’s Children’s Day Festival in Japantown to be held on Saturday, May 2nd , at San Francisco’s Japan Center Peace Plaza (Post and Buchanan Street) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

An Olympic figure skating Gold Medalist and World Champion, Kristi Yamaguchi is a deep believer in youth programs. Though she is unable to attend this year due to a prior commitment, Kristi supports the Children’s Day Festival in Japantown as she believes in inspiring and embracing the hopes and dreams of children. “I am disappointed that my family and I won’t be able to attend this year’s festival. We had so much fun when we attended in 2007! I support the

JCCCNC’s efforts to help promote and educate families on the traditions of Children’s Day but most importantly because it gives children an opportunity to participate in the community and celebrate their youth,” said Yamaguchi.

The festival will provide an opportunity for youth to experience Japanese culture and celebrate Children’s Day, a national holiday of Japan. Children can participate in hands-on craft activities, snack on arare popcorn, spam musubi and other treats hosted by organizations such as Asobi Arts, Clarendon Elementary School, the California Highway Patrol, Christ United Presbyterian Church, the JCCCNC, JCCCNC Bambi Parent Group, Japanese Community Youth Council, Nichi Bei Times, Nakayoshi, Nihonmachi Little Friends, Pine United Methodist Church, Rosa Parks JBBP, Sakura of America, St. Ignatius High School and Xperience.

Throughout the day, special children’s entertainment will be provided by ABC Pre School, Gen Taiko/Clarendon Taiko, International Association of Taka Age, JCCCNC Hula, JCCCNC Ukulele Players, Kirakiraboshi Choir, Michiya Hanayagi Dance Group, Nikkei Student Union (UC Berkeley), San Francisco Kendo Association and SambAsia. Children can also meet anime characters like Sailor Moon courtesy of Mr. Tak Onishi and Japan Video and Media.

Traditional Boy’s Day (Tango no Sekku) and Girl’s Day (Hinamatsuri) doll exhibits will be on display from April 22nd to May 4th at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC). Please call for more information if you would like to visit.

The event is supported by The Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation, The San Francisco Japantown Foundation, Japan Airlines, Comcast and Union Bank of California. Event partners include the Consulate General of Japan, Sakura of America, Sanrio, Inc. and Viz Media.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information on the festival, contact the JCCCNC at (415) 567-5505, or visit the website at www.jcccnc.org.

Diane Matsuda Foundation Board

At it's monthly meeting, the San Francisco Japantown Foundation board of directors unanimously elected Diane Matsuda as a member, effective immediately. Diane is Executive Director of the John Burton Foundation for Children Without Homes, a non-profit organization based in San Francisco dedicated to improving the quality of life for California’s homeless children and developing policy solutions to prevent homelessness.

She was previously Executive Officer of the California Cultural and Historical Endowment, charged with developing a $122 million grant program to preserve historic and cultural resources emphasizing the stories of the diverse peoples of California. Before that, Diane was Director of the California State Library’s California Civil Liberties Public Education Program (CCLPEP), a grant program whose focus is the infringement of Japanese Americans’ civil liberties during World War II. A native San Franciscan, Diane Matsuda earned her Juris Doctorate from Hastings College of the Law in 1989. Before joining the California State Library as CCLPEP Program Manager, Matsuda was International Coordinator for the California International Relations Foundation in Sacramento and Staff Attorney for Nihonmachi Legal Outreach in San Francisco.

Day of Remembrance 2009

The 2009 “Bay Area Day of Remembrance” takes place in San Francisco on Sunday, February 22, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Sundance Kabuki Theater, 1881 Post St. (between Fillmore and Webster), with a reception at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, 1840 Sutter St. The program will include speakers, performances, candle lighting ceremony and an interfaith procession. The event is sponsored by the Bay Area DOR Consortium and funded in part by the San Francisco Japantown Foundation. Tickets prices are $15 (door); $12 (advance); and group rates ($10 each for 10 or more in advance). Call NJAHS for tickets: (415) 921-5007. Visit: www.dayofremembrance.org.

Day of Remembrance is an annual observance that takes place in many communities throughout the United States to commemorate the signing of Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942 by President Franklin Roosevelt – ultimately leading to the incarceration of Japanese Americans on the West Coast in World War II. The DOR 2009 theme, “30th Anniversary of DOR in the Bay Area” - honors the early Day of Remembrance gatherings, which played a pivotal role in launching a broad, intergenerational, multi-ethnic community coalition to do broad public education and advocacy on the internment and related issues of civil liberties and human rights justice. As 2009 begins, we can see how that coalition and movement must continue its work, with greater urgency than ever

This year’s DOR will be MC’d by Carole Hayashino, one of the organizers of the historic 1979 DOR at Tanforan Shopping Center, site of the former Assembly Center in 1942. The keynote speaker will be U.S. Congressman Mike Honda, a sponsor of pending legislation to establish a Japanese Latin American redress commission which now enters its most critical phase in 2009. The new documentary short, “Out of Infamy: Michi Nishiura Weglyn” will recognize the extraordinary work of this author and her landmark work, Years of Infamy – The Story of America’s Concentration Camps (1976). Former SF Poet Laureate and Director of Glide Church, Janice Mirikitani will read her poetry.

The 2009 Clifford Uyeda Peace and Humanitarian Award will be presented to longtime community educator/activists Ernest and Chiz Iiyama. Mariko Nakanishi will give an update on the legislation for Japanese Latin American redress being introduced by Congressman Mike Honda and others. Attorney Banafsheh Akhlaghi will provide an overview of post 9/11 civil liberties and human rights. The traditional candle lighting ceremony will feature a diverse array of community volunteers and advocates, and include the music by Francis Wong (flute). An Interfaith Gathering and Procession will be led by the Japanese American Religious Federation from the theater to the Japanese Cultural and Community Center, where a reception will conclude the day.

The DOR Consortium includes (partial list) Asian Improv aRts, Asian Law Caucus, API Legal Outreach Japanese American Religious Federation, Jtown Arts, Japanese Community Youth Council, Japanese Cultural & Community Ctr of No. Calif., Japanese Peruvian Oral History Project, Campaign for Justice – Redress Now for Japanese Latin Americans, Center for Asian American Media (formerly NAATA) Nakayoshikai Young Professionals, National Coalition for Redress/Reparations (NCRR), National Japanese American Historical Society (NJAHS), Rosa Parks Elementary School JBBP, Tule Lake Committee, SF JACL.