TOPAZ STORIES 2024 – Exhibit and Events

TOPAZ STORIES 2024 – Exhibit and Events

by | Aug 22, 2024 | Classes & Events, Featured, Other News

TOPAZ STORIES 2024

September 22 to December 13

While a few of the stories in this exhibit were displayed in the Utah State Capitol in 2022, all are being exhibited in California for the first time. The stories provide intensely personal accounts of the forced removal; daily camp life; the dispersal of the Japanese American community through the resettlement program; the heroism of Nisei soldiers with families incarcerated behind barbed wire; the challenges of returning to California after the War; and the impact of the camp experience on survivors and subsequent generations, decades later.

The exhibit and events are presented by the Topaz Stories team and Friends of Topaz Museum, with support from J-Sei.

Topaz Stories Event Schedule

Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024 – Children of Topaz: Stories and Art, a kid-oriented program (adults
are welcome!) with Dana Shew and special guests (10:30-11:45 pm), in conjunction with J-Sei’s
annual “Family Day.” Register here.

Thursday, Oct. 3 – Dispersed: The WWII Scattering of the Japanese American Community.
stories by Jun Dairiki, Jean Hibino, Mitsi Nakamizo Fuchigami, and Joseph Nishimura (2-3:30
pm). Register here.

Sunday, Oct. 13 – The Lost Sketches of Topaz: Ella Honderich’s Topaz Years by Ella’s
granddaughter, Cynthia Wright (2-3:30 pm). Register here.

Thursday, Nov. 7 – Soldiers’ Stories by Eugene Takei, Tracy Takayanagi Hui, and Ruth Sasaki
(2-3:30 pm). Register here.

Saturday, Nov. 23 – Wartime Friends and Allies of Japanese Americans, stories by Frank
Kami, Jonathan Hirabayashi, Doris Yagi, and Jon Yatabe and Ruth Sasaki (2-3:30 pm). Register
here.

Thursday, Dec. 5 – Return to California: Stories of Postwar Resettlement by Kazuko Iwahashi, Michi Mukai, Harue Minamoto, and Meri Mitsuyoshi (2-3:30 pm). Register here.

Old Leupp, former site of Native American Boarding School and Nikkei Isolation Center

Old Leupp, former site of Native American Boarding School and Nikkei Isolation Center

by | Aug 21, 2024 | Classes & Events, Featured, Other News

Old Leupp – An Archaeology Collaboration to Study the Indian Boarding School and Citizen Isolation Center

Monday, September 23rd, 12 to 1 pm

A noon-time lecture at J-Sei

A team of archaeologists of Diné and Nikkei members, Davina Two Bears, Jun Sunseri, and Koji Lau-Ozawa, are studying the history and landscape surrounding the Old Leupp Indian Boarding School and the Leupp Citizen Isolation Center, located in Northeastern Arizona. Davina Two Bears is Diné and originally from Birdsprings, Arizona, a community adjacent to Leupp. Kojun “Jun” Ueno Sunseri is shin-issei, born in Tokyo with biological paternal roots from Ueno and emigrated at five years old to the United States to be raised in other cultures in Southern California and eventually adopted. Koji Lau-Ozawa is a sansei/yonsei from San Francisco. His grandparents, along with great-grandparents, aunts and uncles, were all incarcerated at the Gila River Incarceration Camp where he focused his first major research project.

Due to the history of the site, the team has approached the project slowly with care. They began this project by first entering into agreements with communities around the Old Leupp site including Birdsprings and Leupp, as well as local schools. They also received input from some of the descendants of Japanese Americans imprisoned at Leupp.

In June 2024, after receiving Community support and protective blessings, they completed their first season of fieldwork at the Old Leupp site, employing non-invasive archaeological methodologies to document structural and artifactual features which are visible on the surface and through multispectral imaging. Combining high precision mapping equipment, UAVs, and meticulous survey strategies, they recorded a large number of features and artifacts which promise to expand our understanding of life at Old Leupp and deliver on at least one community mandate regarding safely planning for the reintegration of the site back into contemporary community life.

The team looks forward to sharing some of their initial results as well as seeking mentorship from community members as we work on analyzing our results and co-crafting our next steps.

RSVP to jill@j-sei.org with “Old Leupp” in the memo.

You are welcome to bring a lunch.  Or if you would like to order a J-Sei lunch to-go, please contact kathleen@j-sei.org

                               

Leupp Boarding School (Museum of  Northern Arizona Archives), Mess Hall at Leupp Isolation Center (Henry Ueno photo from Embrey et al), National Park Service Confinement and Ethnicity, NPS History.com

 

 

 

Jizake Sake Tasting with Sasaki Shuzo from Miyagi at J-Sei

Jizake Sake Tasting with Sasaki Shuzo from Miyagi at J-Sei

by | Aug 20, 2024 | Classes & Events, Featured

Jizake Sake presents: A Sake Tasting with Sasaki Shuzo and Dinner Pairing by Chef Yuji Ishikata

Sunday, September 29th, 5:30 pm

J-Sei, 1285 66th Street, Emeryville

Join J-Sei and David Sakamoto from Jizake Quest for an enjoyable event featuring a curated sake pairing dinner from Chef Yuji Ishikata and sake from Sasaki Shuzo (Miyagi, Japan). Meet the brewer, Hiroshi Sasaki, the 5th generation President (“kuramoto”) who will present the story about his brewery that was destroyed by an 8-meter tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 and then rebuilt in its original location in the coastal town of Yuriage, a town where 90% of the buildings were devastated from the earthquake and tsunami.

Hear Sasaki-san’s first-hand account of the destruction he encountered as he watched from the 3rd story roof of his brewery. The brewery’s story of rebuilding is an endearing and emotional one that took almost 9 years to accomplish, and the resilience of the Sasaki’s and their staff is heartwarming.

Join us as we prepare to celebrate Nihonshu no Hi (“Sake Day”) which is celebrated around October 1 each year to signify the start of the new sake brewing season. Sake is usually brewed during the colder months from October to March as sake ferments best with cool temperatures. With only four basic ingredients, each master brewer

uses techniques developed over many generations to create the many diverse flavor profiles that sake is known for.

Chef Yuji Ishikata, a fourth generarion of Japanese and Chinese heritage, welcomes the opportunity to host guests from Miyagi to share stories and bridge generations through food and memory.

Ticket Price: $125 per person   Limited seating is available. RSVP here.

Japanese Movie Night

Japanese Movie Night

by | Aug 1, 2024 | Classes & Events

J-Sei at the Movies
Friday, August 9, 6:30 pm (on Zoom)

This month, we will watch a film from one of the most popular and enduring film series in cinema history: the original ZATOICHI series, consisting of 25 films from 1962 to 1973 and starring Katsu Shintaro as the wandering blind masseur who happens to be a master swordsman. A couple of months ago in June, our guest host Ellen had selected a modern re-telling of this classic story directed by and starring Kitano Takeshi, but this evening we will watch one of the original chambara films that brought this screen icon to the attention of movie lovers everywhere. This will be a fun opportunity to compare old and new and to figure out why such legendary figures and the action genre they’re a part of have fascinated movie audiences in Japan and worldwide.

Please join us on Friday, August 9, at 6:30pm on Zoom. RSVP Jill (jill@j-sei.org) with “Aug movie night” in the subject line. We’ll send you Zoom info and reminders beforehand.

 J-Sei Movie Night Bento

 
For movie night, you can order specially made obento from My Friend Yuji for pickup on Friday, August 9 in conjunction with Movie Night. Here are Chef Yuji’s mouth-watering offerings:
  • Kimchi Fried Rice ($18) – Kimchi fried rice, pork belly, garlic, ginger, onion and fried egg;
  • Mochiko Chicken Plate ($20) – Hawaiian style mochiko fried chicken, furikake, koshihikari rice and mac salad;
  • Spicy White Tuna Maki ($24) – Whole futomaki with smoked local albacore, tobiko, spicy sauce, avocado and cucumber.
Click on the button below to place your order. Pick up your meal at the selected pick-up time at J-Sei on Friday, August 9. Thank you!
MY FRIEND YUJI

To order: When you click on the button above, it will take you directly to a pop-up order form on the My Friend Yuji webpage, where you first select a pickup time. In the next window, click a bento and select the number you want to order; repeat with other bento if desired. Click the “View order” bar at the bottom to confirm your order and click “Continue to payment” to sign in and pay for your order.

Support J-Sei At the Movies

Thanks to you, J-Sei At the Movies is in its Seventh Year! We look forward to more creative programming with educational and inspiring Japanese and Japanese American films. We are especially grateful for the up close and personal chats with filmmakers as we learn so much from the exchange.

We love having a growing and enthusiastic audience. We welcome any donations to help us offset costs for Movie Night. Thanks for considering this.