Make a Year-End Donation to the Japantown Foundation

During this holiday season, the San Francisco Japantown Foundation expresses our appreciation for your continued support.

Your year-end donation will allow us to further our efforts serving Japantown as its community foundation. Your contribution will strengthen our activities and initiatives.

We continue to provide resources to the Japantown community. This year we disbursed $35,000 in grants to 11 nonprofit organizations, bringing our total grant making since 2006 to approximately $635,000. See the list of our 2013 grantees at the end of this email.

We find ways to build partnerships that support Japantown. We entered a philanthropic partnership with Hotel Kabuki, a Joie de Vivre Hotel, in which we will receive funds raised through the hotel’s You Can Make a Difference program. In the last quarter, we already received $7,099.24 through Hotel Kabuki's generosity. One hundred percent of the funds we receive from Hotel Kabuki are dedicated to our grants program. We also welcomed John Henry, Regional Managing Director at Joie de Vivre Hospitality, to our board of directors.

We are strategically refining our role in the community. We continue to invest in Japantown as a geographic and cultural anchor for diverse and changing Japanese American, Japanese, and broader communities in the San Francisco Bay Area.

We are also exploring initiatives related to: serving as a home for donors interested in supporting Japantown through estate gifts; providing seed grants to support research and development for innovative projects benefiting Japantown; and assisting those interested in supporting Japantown’s future through new financial support and sustained philanthropy.

Finally, your donation will honor the memory and accomplishments of Hatsuro "Hats" Aizawa, a founding member of the Japantown Foundation board of directors and a lifelong community leader and philanthropist together with his wife Amey. Hats passed away on October 20 and he was generous enough to ask his friends and associates to donate to the Japantown Foundation and to JCCCNC. He was an incredible human being and we miss him terribly.

Hats (like the late Jack Hirose) was part of our all-volunteer board managing an organization with no paid staff. Hats and Jack served with us because they believed in Japantown’s future and its role as a home for the Japanese American community.

Please help us support Japantown with your donation online. Checks can also be made payable to “The San Francisco Japantown Foundation” and mailed to board president Donald K. Tamaki c/o Minami Tamaki LLP, 260 Post Street, 8th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94108. The Japantown Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. All contributions are tax deductible to the extent provided by law.

If we can answer any questions you have about our efforts this year, or alternative ways to donate, please contact board member Keith Kamisugi at keith@japantownfoundation.org or 415-874-5550. He would be happy to assist you.

JAPANTOWN FOUNDATION 2013 GRANTEES

• Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach ($1,000)

• GenRyu Arts ($1,000)

• Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California ($5,000)

• Kimochi, Inc. ($5,000)

• Kokoro Assisted Living, Inc. ($1,000)

• National Japanese American Historical Society ($5,000)

• Nichi Bei Foundation ($5,000)

• Nihonmachi Little Friends ($5,000)

• Nihonmachi Street Fair ($1,000)

• Parent Teacher Community Council of the Japanese Bilingual Bicultural Program ($1,000)

• Sakura Matsuri Inc. ($5,000)

In Memory of Hats Aizawa

Our dear friend Hatsuro "Hats" Aizawa passed away on October 20, 2013. Hats was a founding board member of the San Francisco Japantown Foundation. Hats and his wife Amey were among the original major donors that helped establish the Japantown Foundation.

We express our deepest and heartfelt condolences to Amey and the Aizawa family. Hats will be sorely missed.

Hats was born in 1924 on Post Street between Laguna and Buchanan Streets and lived there until he was 17. He and Amey have spent a lifetime serving Japantown and the Japanese American community through his leadership of numerous organizations.

As President of Aizawa Associates and later Aizawa & Furuta, Hats ran his own advertising and graphic art business for over 45 years. He served 25 years on the Japan Society of Northern California Board of Directors, and was also a board member and vice president of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Northern California, and a member of the San Francisco-Osaka Sister City Committee.

He was a Commissioner and later Trustee of the Asian Art Museum from 1988 to 2008.

In recognition of Mr. Aizawa’s many contributions, the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco presented him with the Foreign Minister’s Commendation in 2008.

In 2011, the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco conferred on Hats the Order of Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays, one of the Japanese government’s highest honors.

UPDATE NOV. 3, 2013 - The following text is from an obituary published by the Nichi Bei Weekly and reproduced here by permission.

S.F. Japantown community leader Hats Aizawa dies

Nichi Bei Weekly Report
October 31, 2013

Longtime San Francisco Japanese American community leader and philanthropist Hatsuro “Hats” Aizawa passed away Oct. 20. He was 89.

Aizawa was born Aug. 26, 1924, and raised in San Francisco's Japantown, according to the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California.

Aizawa was a student at Lowell High School, when he and his family were incarcerated at the Tanforan Assembly Center in San Bruno, Calif. and the Topaz (Central Utah) concentration camp during World War II.

He later earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from University of California at Berkeley.

Aizawa later opened Aizawa & Furuta, an advertising company.

He held numerous community leadership positions, serving on the boards of the Japan Society of Northern California, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Northern California and the San Francisco-Osaka Sister City Association.

Aizawa served as a co-chair of the Japantown Centennial steering committee, which planned events to celebrate the 100th anniversary of San Francisco’s Japantown in 2006.

Aizawa was a founding member of the San Francisco Japantown Foundation, and along with his wife Amey, were among the original major donors that helped establish it.

“Many of the Nisei generation helped build the community we now live in but they normally did it in a very quiet manner. Hats Aizawa was no exception but he did in a very visible way,” Allen Okamoto, who served on the San Francisco Japantown Foundation board with Aizawa, said in an e-mail.

“Hats contributed not only his time and talent but was a major contributor to many community organizations. He volunteered with a smile and great passion. He was also (among) the most friendly and popular persons I have known,” said Okamoto, who, along with Aizawa, were among the co-chairs of the San Francisco-Osaka Sister City Association.

Aizawa also served as honorary co-chair of the Nihonmachi Little Friends capital campaign.

“Hats left a wonderful legacy to the community and will always be remembered for his dignified leadership and philanthropy. His shoes will certainly be hard to fill, but he will remain a role model at the highest level for all of us to try to follow,” NLF Executive Director Cathy Inamasu said in an e-mail.

“NLF feels so blessed to have had him as an honorary co-chair of our first capital campaign, and to have had his encouragement, advice and generous support through the years. Hats felt that the children are the future of our community, and we will maintain that vision as we continue our work with families,” she added.

Aizawa was a member of the city’s Asian Art Commission and later a trustee of the Asian Art Museum from 1988 to 2008.

The Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco presented him with the Foreign Minister’s Commendation in 2008, and the Order of Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays, one of the Japanese government’s highest honors, in 2011.

Aizawa’s role in establishing the San Francisco Japantown Foundation “illustrates that Hats had one foot firmly rooted in the Japanese American community and humble beginnings, and the other foot firmly planted to the future and his legacy to preserve San Francisco Japantown for years to come,” president Donald K. Tamaki said in an updated version of the remarks he shared Dec. 11, 2011 at then Consul General of Japan in San Francisco Hiroshi Inomata’s residence, when Aizawa was presented with a kunsho.

According to the JCCCNC, Aizawa is survived by his wife Amey, brother Seiji (Vivian) and sister Kashiwa (George) Hatamiya as well as nieces, nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews.

Hotel Kabuki Selects Japantown Foundation as Philanthropic Partner

Hotel Kabuki, a Joie de Vivre Hotel, has selected the San Francisco Japantown Foundation as its philanthropic partner. The Japantown Foundation will receive funds raised through the hotel's You Can Make a Difference program.

Each hotel in the Joie de Vivre family of properties has a You Can Make a Difference program, which invites guests to donate $1 a night for the length of their stay toward the hotel’s local philanthropic partner, although they can opt out of the donation at checkout. One hundred percent of the funds raised through the Hotel Kabuki's program will be donated to the Japantown Foundation.

"The Hotel Kabuki and Joie de Vivre have always been invested and involved in the communities where our hotels are located," said John Henry, the Regional Managing Director at Joie de Vivre Hotels, who oversees the Hotel Kabuki and Hotel Tomo properties in San Francisco’s Japantown neighborhood. "We will continue to support the Japantown community through our partnership with the Japantown Foundation."

Joie de Vivre Hotels donates approximately $1.5 million annually to local organizations in the form of gift certificates, cash donations, in-kind donations, and events.

In September, Henry joined the Japantown Foundation’s board of directors, which includes board president Donald K. Tamaki, Hats Aizawa, Bob Hamaguchi, Richard Hashimoto, Mary Ishisaki, Keith Kamisugi, Diane Matsuda, Jon Osaki, Allen Okamoto, Jerry Ono, and June-Ko Nakagawa.

The San Francisco Japantown Foundation’s mission is to support cultural, community and educational activities for San Francisco Japantown. The Foundation provides grants to not-for-profit organizations, groups and individuals conducting projects aligned with or further the Foundation’s mission. The foundation was formed in December 2006 through generous endowments by Kintetsu Enterprises of America, Jack Hirose, Hats and Amey Aizawa, Union Bank, and Minami Tamaki LLP. Including its 2013 grants, the Foundation has provided more than $635,000 in funding since 2007.

Since its founding in San Francisco in 1987, Joie de Vivre has made curating authentically local and eclectic experiences its signature. Each one of Joie de Vivre's more than 30 hotels is an original concept designed to reflect its location and engage the five senses. Today, the company manages the largest collection of boutique hotels and resorts in California and is expanding outside the state with hotels in Honolulu, Chicago and Scottsdale, Arizona. Joie de Vivre is a Commune Hotels & Resorts brand. For more information, please visit www.jdvhotels.com.

John Henry of Joie de Vivre Hospitality Joins Japantown Foundation Board

Hospitality industry executive John Henry has joined the San Francisco Japantown Foundation board of directors.

Henry is a Regional Managing Director at Joie de Vivre Hospitality and oversees the Hotel Kabuki and Hotel Tomo properties in San Francisco Japantown. A 16-year veteran in the hotel business, Henry was formerly the general manager of the Hotel Kabuki. He also served as the general manager of both the Radisson Hotel San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf and Radisson Hotel San Francisco Airport Bay Front.

“John has supported the Japantown Foundation for several years and plays a key role in the economic vibrancy of the neighborhood,” said Donald K. Tamaki, foundation board president, “He will strengthen an already incredible board of directors and help our organization continue serving the Japantown community.”

Henry joins existing board members Tamaki, Hats Aizawa, Bob Hamaguchi, Richard Hashimoto, Mary Ishisaki, Keith Kamisugi, Diane Matsuda, Jon Osaki, Allen Okamoto, Jerry Ono, and June-Ko Nakagawa.

The San Francisco Japantown Foundation’s mission is to support cultural, community and educational activities for San Francisco Japantown. The Foundation (http://japantownfoundation.org) provides grants to not-for-profit organizations, groups and individuals conducting projects aligned with or further the Foundation’s mission. The foundation was formed in December 2006 through generous endowments by Kintetsu Enterprises of America, Jack Hirose, Hats and Amey Aizawa, Union Bank, and Minami Tamaki LLP. Including its 2013 grants, the Foundation has provided more than $635,000 in funding since 2007.

Japantown Foundation Awards Grants to 11 Organizations

The board of directors of the San Francisco Japantown Foundation this week approved $35,000 in grants to 11 nonprofit organizations.

• Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach ($1,000)

• GenRyu Arts ($1,000)

• Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California ($5,000)

• Kimochi, Inc. ($5,000)

• Kokoro Assisted Living, Inc. ($1,000)

• National Japanese American Historical Society ($5,000)

• Nichi Bei Foundation ($5,000)

• Nihonmachi Little Friends ($5,000)

• Nihonmachi Street Fair ($1,000)

• Parent Teacher Community Council of the Japanese Bilingual Bicultural Program ($1,000)

• Sakura Matsuri Inc. ($5,000)

These organizations demonstrated the value of their organization to the Japantown community, the effectiveness of their services and/or activities, and their financial sustainability.

Our 2013 grants program differed from previous years in two ways: (1) we provided direct grants without requiring a matching fund requirement; and (2) these grants are not designated for specific projects or programs, allowing recipients to use the funds for a variety of purposes (with some restrictions).

The San Francisco Japantown Foundation's mission is to support cultural, community and educational activities for San Francisco Japantown. We are dedicated to preserving and honoring Japantown's history, to welcoming and serving its residents, visitors, businesses, congregations and community organizations, and to supporting the growth and development of the community's Japanese cultural theme. In particular, we support activities that reflect the Japanese American experience, and activities that engage Japanese of all generations and other supporters of Japantown.

The San Francisco Japantown Foundation was formed in December 2006 through generous endowments by Kintetsu Enterprises of America, Jack Hirose, Hats and Amey Aizawa, Union Bank, and Minami Tamaki LLP. The Foundation’s mission is to support cultural, community and educational activities for San Francisco Japantown. Including its 2013 grants, the Foundation has provided more than $635,000 in funding since 2007.