SHAKA, A Story of Aloha

SHAKA, A Story of Aloha

by | Aug 1, 2023 | Classes & Events

Sneak Peek Film Screening

SHAKA: A Story of Aloha

Saturday, October 7th, 1 pm

“Shaka, A Story of Aloha” started as a passing curiosity when a friend introduced filmmaker Steve Sue to Kupuna (elders) in La‘ie who had a story on the origin of the Shaka gesture. It turns out that the Kupuna have kept the depths of the story secret for 3/4 of a century as they didn’t want it inappropriately commercialized. But given advancing age and a world in need, they asked him to share their story.

Once in production, multiple alternative gesture and word origin stories were revealed. As documentarians, they plan to share all the credible findings and let audiences decide for themselves on what theories they prefer. With this welcoming spirit, the film crew ventures to spread the meaning behind the shaka.

Join us in sharing this message of empowering love. Filmmaker Steve Sue will be joining us for Q&A.  Please reserve your tickets soon as space is limited. This is a free screening, all donations will support the finishing and outreach of the film.

 

Our hearts go out to the people in Maui after the devastating fire, loss of lives, homes, businesses, and community heritage sites. Please join the Hawaii Chamber of Commerce of Northern California in their support of Maui Strong and Maui Food Bank.  Now, more than ever, we are in need of the message of Aloha that this documentary uplifts.

 

   
1) Shooting interviews at kuleana lands, La’ie, Oahu. Kekela Miller, Joel “Baldy” Apuakehau & Harold Pukahi.
2) Interview of George Tanabe at Tanabe Lotus Farm, Wailuku, Hawai’i.
3) Interview of Fred Hemmings, world-champion surfer, surf event founder, retired Hawai’i State Senator.
Remembrance for Peace 2023

Remembrance for Peace 2023

by | Jul 31, 2023 | Other News

A Remembrance for Peace: Commemorating Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Film Screening and Interfaith Ceremony

Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, 5:30 p.m.

Konko Church of San Francisco
1909 Bush Street, San Francisco’s Japantown

To commemorate the 78th anniversary of the atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II, the first nuclear destruction of a civilian population in the world, the Nichi Bei Foundation and Friends of Hibakusha will present an in-person program at Konko Church in SF Japantown. The world’s first atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, and another on Nagasaki three days later resulted in the deaths of an estimated 214,000 people by the end of that year, including 140,000 in Hiroshima and 74,000 in Nagasaki.

The program  will also be accessible virtually on the Nichi Bei Foundation Facebook channel (www.facebook.com/nichibei/) and YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/c/NichiBeiFoundation)

The program will include:

• The film “Pictures From A Hiroshima Schoolyard” (2012, 58 min.), written and directed by Bryan Reichhardt and produced by Shizumi Shigeto Manale.

• An Interfaith Ceremony led by the Japanese American Religious Federation of San Francisco.

• Lanterns of Remembrance, which will include hibakusha and descendants presenting a lantern in remembrance of victims of the atomic bombings.

• A Message for Peace by Rev. Nobuaki Hanaoka.

• A Litany for Water ceremony led by Rev. Hanaoka and clergy.

Remembrance for Peace 2023 Program Preview

J-SEI participants interested in carpooling to this event in SF Japantown, please email jill@j-sei.org  We look forward to joining in this remembrance.

 

FILM: PICTURES FROM A HIROSHIMA SCHOOLYARD

A collection of surprisingly joyful drawings created by school children living among the ruins of Hiroshima in 1947 becomes the heart and soul of this true, inspiring story about an exchange of gifts between Americans and Japanese after a devastating war. This powerful documentary about reconciliation introduces the children artists  (now in their late 70s) who reflect on their early lives amidst the rubble of their destroyed city and the hope they shared through their art. In 2010, the newly restored drawings, buried for decades deep inside All Souls Church in Washington DC, are taken back to Japan where they are reunited with the artists and exhibited in the very building where they were created.

Wadi Foquin: A Microcosm of the Critical Moment for Palestine

Wadi Foquin: A Microcosm of the Critical Moment for Palestine

by | Jul 29, 2023 | Classes & Events

Wadi Foquin: A Microcosm of the Critical Moment for Palestine

Tuesday, August 15th
11:00 a.m. to 1p.m.

J-Sei, 1285 66th Street, Emeryville, CA

Lunch will be available by pre-order. RSVP to Jill Shiraki at jill@j-sei.org and receive menu choices

Ata & Adam Manasra are father and son from the Palestinian village of Wadi Foquin located in the Bethlehem District of the West Bank. They will speak about their life under the military occupation of Israel and their partnership with Friends of Wadi Foquin which supports community development projects,  annual pilgrimages to the Holy Land/Palestine, and international advocacy for the village.

Ata has been the liaison to the Friends of Wadi Foquin for over 10 years serving as tour guide for annual trips. For the past 3 years, Adam Manasra has led a young adult leadership team in Wadi Foquin providing online presentations about the challenges facing the people of his village.   At the age of 25, he provides perspective from a new generation of Palestinians during this tumultuous time in the region.

Event Co-Sponsors: Friends of Wadi Foquin, Berkeley JACL, Contra Costa JACL, J-Sei

Friends of Wadi Foquin was initiated by Buena Vista United Methodist Church in Alameda, Calif., with help from Janet Lahr Lewis, then UMC Liaison to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Trinity United Methodist Church, Berkeley Methodist United Church, other San Francisco Bay Area churches, and community members have joined the partnership since then, and a new project has been added every year. Friends of Wadi Foquin has worked to provide financial assistance for projects supporting the economic survival of the village, made annual visits to Wadi Foquin, and—as the village has come under increasing threat from settlement expansion—advocated for its survival on Capitol Hill.

 

KING OF KABAB

We will be ordering from KING OF KABAB, a local favorite restaurant. Pre-orders are available or bring your own bag lunch.

PLATE LUNCH $15 – Choose from the following options:

Kefta Kabab Plate – Ground lamb & Beef mixed, with parsley, red onion, served with hummus, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, rice and pita bread.

Chicken Shish Kabab Plate – Grilled skewer of marinated chicken cubes, served with hummus, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, rice and pita bread.

Stuffed Falafel Plate – Grilled onions, sesame served with hummus, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, rice and pita bread.

Lamb and Beef Gyro – Grilled onions, sesame served with hummus, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, rice and pita bread.

Chicken Shawarma Plate – Chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, tahini, rice and pita bread.

 

OR SALAD $13 – Choose protein side.

Chicken Shawrma, Lamb & Beef Gyro, Kefta Kabab, OR Falafel Salad

Served on Lettuce, with tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, hummus & Italian dressing.

The pre-ordering for lunch is now closed. 

Summer Sunday Fun-Day

Summer Sunday Fun-Day

by | Jun 29, 2023 | Classes & Events, News

Outdoor Volunteer Fair

J-Sei’s Summer Sunday Fun-Day

Sunday, July 16 – 11:30 am to 3 pm

Join us to enjoy a taste of summer fun at J-Sei as we thank all who are part of the wheels that keep us going – a flurry of volunteers. Bring your family and friends, order special bento offerings from our Bay Area chefs, meet others who are nourishing the community. Volunteer as a senior nutrition delivery driver, a friendly visitor,  tech support, arts facilitator or in other creative ways. Show your appreciation and become part of Team J-Sei!  

J-Sei Menu Bites

Pre-orders are now closed. Onsite sales begin on July 16 at 11:30 am! 

Sunday Fun-Day Sundae – 2 scoops, choice of chocolate or vanilla ice cream, choice of 3 sauces or toppings – $8

Add-on – Another sauce or topping – $2

Local Moco Omusubi – 2 Musubi cut in-half (4 pieces) with all beef patty, egg and a side of gravy – $10

Glazed Chicken Wings – Karaage marinated chicken and glazed with tare – $14

Big Eye Tuna Tataki Salad – nectarines, cucumber, little gem, shiso, cherry  tomato and daikon ponzu dressing – $22

Hawaiian Garlic Shrimp Truck-style Plate – Hawaiian garlic shrimp, mac salad and scoops of rice – $18

Entertainment

Hear the smooth strum of the ukulele by Sentimental Strummers.

Groove with the Old School Music playlist from J-Sei Nutrition staff.

Pre-order for Sunday Fun-Day

Be the first to wear your fan-gear proudly.

Order your T-shirts now.

$25

 J-Sei Volunteers – pick up your T-shirt and Sunday Fun-day packet when you arrive!

The Irei Project by Duncan Ryuken Williams

The Irei Project by Duncan Ryuken Williams

by | Jun 22, 2023 | Classes & Events

The Irei Project presented by Duncan Ryūken Williams

Sunday, July 9th, 1 to 3 pm

The Irei: National Monument for the WWII Japanese American Incarceration is a multi-faceted project that seeks to address the attempted erasure of those individuals of Japanese ancestry who experienced wartime incarceration by memorializing their names.

This is the first time a comprehensive list of the over 125,000 persons of Japanese ancestry who were unjustly imprisoned in U.S. Army, Department of Justice, and War Relocation Authority (WRA) camps has been successfully compiled – and thus the first time it has been possible to properly memorialize each incarceree as distinct individuals instead of a generalized community. By placing their names front and center, the Irei National Monument Project seeks to expand and re-envision what a monument is through three distinct, but interlinking elements: a sacred book of names as monument (Ireichō), a website monument (Ireizō), and light sculpture monuments (Ireihi).

“We are drawing on Japanese and Japanese American cultural traditions of honoring elders and ancestors, not simply through building monuments of remembrance, but monuments to repair the racial karma of America.” – Duncan Ryuken Williams

 

Duncan Ryūken Williams, director of the USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture, author of American Sutra: A Story of Faith and Freedom in the Second World War, and ordained Soto Zen Buddhist priest, will give a presentation on Irei: National Monument for the WWII Japanese American Incarceration, This project includes the Ireichō, a sacred book of names now on display at JANM.

  • Meet visionary leader Duncan Ryuken Williams.
  • Hear from some who participated in the stamping of names with Ireicho.
  • Learn more about the Irei Project.

Please reserve a ticket for in-person or online accss via ZOOM. Limited seating is available.

About the Irei Project

Together with a coalition of Japanese American community groups, Professor Duncan Ryuken Williams and the USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture are creating a memorial to every individual of Japanese ancestry incarcerated during World War II in America’s concentration camps.  ogether with a coalition of Japanese American community groups, Professor Duncan Ryuken Williams and the USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture are creating a memorial to every individual of Japanese ancestry incarcerated during World War II in America’s concentration camps.

The Japanese word Irei is translated by the project team as “consoling spirits.” The project expands our understanding of what a monument is in taking multiple, related forms: (1) a sacred book of names, the Ireichō (“book to console the spirits”) listing every person who was incarcerated; (2) an Ireihi (“structure for consoling the spirits”) sculptural memorial onto which the names of those incarcerated can be projected; and (3) a web-based Ireizo (“consoling spirits storehouse”) where the names of and information about the internees and incarcerees can be gathered in a virtual memorial.

Irei monument’s approach.has roots in the memorializing practices of the incarcerated individuals themselves, the majority of whom were Buddhist. Remembrance, in this spiritual tradition, involves a ritual of writing, in which names of those who have passed are inscribed into a sacred book and chanted as a way to make them present again. In this way and others, the people who are memorialized through Irei are remembered both collectively and as individuals.

Excerpted from the Mellon Foundation, https://www.mellon.org/grant-story/a-multimodal-memorial-remembers-japanese-american-wwii-incarceration

Ireicho at JANM

The Ireichō contains the first comprehensive listing of over 125,000 persons of Japanese ancestry who were incarcerated in US Army, Department of Justice, Wartime Civil Control Administration, and War Relocation Authority camps. Individuals and groups can view by appointment. Ireicho is currently on view at the Japanese American National Museum through September 24, 2023.  Visit here for more information.