Jill Shiraki

Japanese Movie Night – April 2024

by Jill Shiraki | Apr 5, 2024 | Classes & Events

J-Sei At The Movies (on Zoom)
Friday, April 12th, 6:30 pm

This month, we’re trying a new approach to movie night. Inspired by some of the responses we received to our year-end poll, we’re extending an open invitation to anyone who would like to select a movie for us to watch and discuss. Our first Guest Programmer is a regular movie night participant, the fabulous Shoshana Arai, who has very thoughtfully selected a film for us all to watch.

Please join us on Friday, April 12, at 6:30pm on Zoom for SHOPLIFTERS (2018) by acclaimed director Koreeda Hirokazu, winner of the Palme D’Or at Cannes as well as numerous other awards. Shoshana and I will be together at her place to introduce the film and co-lead the discussion afterwards. Thanks Shoshana for being the first of hopefully many guest programmers in the Living Room Series (and thanks Jill for coming up with a great series name)!

Please join us with your RSVP to Jill (jill@j-sei.org) with “Apr movie night” in the subject line. And if you’d like to select a film and host our moderator, let us know!

For those who might like to do a little homework in advance of movie night, you can check out other Koreeda films. Several are available to view on Kanopy, as well as other streaming and dvd options, both free and paid. Please let me know if I can help with suggestions or advice on how to locate a particular movie you’d like to see. As Shoshana has astutely identified, a major theme running through Koreeda’s films is about family — the ones we find ourselves in and the ones that we choose. This should make for a great discussion. Thanks everyone!

J-Sei Movie Night Bento – not avail for April

NO BENTO THIS MONTH

We thought Chef Yuji might want to rest a bit after everything he’s been working on lately, like Flavors of Spring. Check back for movie night obento next month.

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.

How to Keep Our Brain Healthy and Active

by Jill Shiraki | Apr 4, 2024 | Classes & Events, Featured, Other News

Healthy Aging: How to Keep Our Brain Healthy and Active

Wed, April 24th, 11 am

Brain Health includes cognitive health, the ability to think, learn and remember, as well as motor, emotional, and tactile functions. What are healthy lifestyle practices we can incorporate to keep our brain healthy? According to the National Institute on Aging, while some age-related changes to the brain due to injury, stroke or disease cannot be changed, there are many lifestyle changes that can make a difference. Hear from Dr. Michael Goldrich, Director of Geriatrics and Nursing Home Care at Lifelong Medical Care.

Bring your questions and experiences and join us in dialogue. RSVP for in-person or online to jill@j-sei.org with “Brain Health” in the subject line.

The Bridges Yuri Built

by Jill Shiraki | Apr 3, 2024 | Classes & Events, Featured

Children’s Day Book Event: “The Bridges Yuri Built: How Yuri Marched Across Movements” with author Kai Naima Williams

Sunday, May 5th

Origami Activity at 2 pm. Book Reading at 3 pm.

Meet author Kai Naima Williams, great-granddaughter of Yuri Kochiyama, for her debut children’s picture book that intimately chronicles the experiences, people and places that shaped Yuri’s life. From Yuri’s incarceration in a Japanese-American concentration camp during World War II to her participation in movements organizing for better schools in Harlem to her close friendship with Malcolm X, Yuri never wavered in her belief in the power of people to bring about social change. THE BRIDGES YURI BUILT by Kai Naima Williams with illustrations by Anastasia Magloire Williams, inspires young readers to embrace Yuri’s unswerving belief that together we can build a bridge to a better world.

Meet the author, buy a book, and join us for a hands-on activity with Jun Hamamoto of San Quentin Origami in celebration of Kodomo no Hi (Children’s Day). The author talk will be moderated by Miya Saika Chen. Bring the family. Bring friends. March with us!

RSVP for in-person or online.

Kai Naima Williams is a multidisciplinary writer and performer based in Harlem. She is the author of the poetry collections He Tried To Drown the Ocean, I Waved and Tomorrow Maps, and a co-founder of Eat At The Table Theatre Company. Her work has been honored by the Asian American Arts Alliance, MoCADA, the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival and The New York Times.

Chiura Obata at SFMOMA

by Jill Shiraki | Apr 2, 2024 | Classes & Events, Featured

Mother’s Day Tour: Chiura Obata at SFMOMA

“One of California’s most influential 20th century artists.”

Friday, May 10

Visit SFMOMA for a tour with granddaughter and family historian Kimi Kodani Hill. In this exhibition, forty jewel-like watercolors, woodblock prints, and ink paintings trace Obata’s long, influential career as a Bay Area artist and professor. Visit thie exhibit and view other works by Asian artists currently on display, including Ruth Asawa, Isamu Noguchi, Saburo Hasegawa, and more. Take BART together or meet at the museum. Gallery talk begins at 10:30 am. Space is limited. RSVP to jill@j-sei.org with SFMOMA in the subject line.

Day Trip to South San Francisco – Sekimachi at SFO and Tanforan Memorial

by Jill Shiraki | Apr 1, 2024 | Classes & Events, Featured

Day Trip to South San Francisco: “Kay Sekimachi Weaving Traditions” at SFO and Tanforan Memorial

Thursday, May 16

Just across the bay, enjoy an outing to see great art in South San Francisco: “Kay Sekimachi: Weaving Traditions” at the SFO Museum, lunch and visit to the Tanforan Memorial. Space is limited. RSVP to jill@j-sei.org with SSF in the memo.

“Kay Sekimachi: Weaving Traditions” presents defining work by Kay Sekimachi (b. 1926), a pioneering fiber artist whose complex work reflects an elegant impression of simplicity. For more than seven decades, she has mastered a wide range of media and techniques, including on- and off-loom textiles, stitched-paper forms, and molded-fiber bowls. Considered a “weaver’s weaver,” Sekimachi has created an oeuvre of textile art and sculpture that is without parallel.

The Tanforan Memorial offers a combination of story, art and experience to educate the public on the detention of Japanese Americans in 1942 and to honor those who were forced to live at the former racetrack. The memorial includes a bronze statue of the Mochida sisters from an iconic Dorothea Lange photo, a replica horse stall, poetry from incarcerees, a memorial wall of names, amidst striking cherry trees and a beautifully landscaped garden. Inside the Bart Station, a photo exhibit by Paul Kitagaki and art curated by Na Omi Shintani provide context and depth in telling the story of the post war legacy.