Evergreen, A Japantown Mystery

Evergreen, A Japantown Mystery

by | Aug 3, 2023 | Classes & Events, Other News

Evergreen, A Japantown Mystery

A Book Talk & Signing with Naomi Hirahara

Sunday, September 24, 11 am (in-person & online)

With great anticipation, Evergreen, A Japantown Mystery continues the post-war resettlement story of Aki Ito who returns with her family from Manzanar to Chicago to Los Angeles. Meet dynamic mystery writer Naomi Hirahara as she shares her latest book that follows the award-winning Clark and Division.

RSVP via Eventbrite

“Hirahara humanizes the struggles of Japanese Americans rebuilding their lives from scratch. Her evocation of Little Tokyo haunts will bring a flood of memories for some Angelenos while introducing a new generation of readers to a pivotal period in L.A. history.” —Paula Woods, The Los Angeles Times

About the Book

A Japanese American nurse’s aide navigates the dangers of post-WWII and post-Manzanar life as she attempts to find justice for a broken family in this follow-up to the Mary Higgins Clark Award–winning Clark and Division.

It’s been two years since Aki Ito and her family were released from Manzanar detention center and resettled in Chicago with other Japanese Americans. Now the Itos have finally been allowed to return home to California—but nothing is as they left it. The entire Japanese American community is starting from scratch, with thousands of people living in dismal refugee camps while they struggle to find new houses and jobs in over-crowded Los Angeles.

Aki is working as a nurse’s aide at the Japanese Hospital in Boyle Heights when an elderly Issei man is admitted with suspicious injuries. When she seeks out his son, she is shocked to recognize her husband’s best friend, Babe Watanabe. Could Babe be guilty of elder abuse?

Only a few days later, Little Tokyo is rocked by a murder at the low-income hotel where the Watanabes have been staying. When the cops start sniffing around Aki’s home, she begins to worry that the violence tearing through her community might threaten her family. What secrets have the Watanabes been hiding, and can Aki protect her husband from getting tangled up in a murder investigation?

About the Author

Naomi Hirahara is an Edgar Award-winning author of multiple traditional mystery series and noir short stories. Her Mas Arai mysteries, which have been published in Japanese, Korean and French, feature a Los Angeles gardener and Hiroshima survivor who solves crimes. Her first historical mystery, Clark and Division, which won a Mary Higgins Clark Award, follows a Japanese American family’s move to Chicago in 1944 after being released from a California wartime detention center. A former journalist with The Rafu Shimpo newspaper, Naomi has also written numerous non-fiction history books and curated exhibitions.

Nichi Bei Review: “Murder and Emotions Unravel in Post-War Little Tokyo Mystery”

Photo by Rafu Shimpo.

Lung Cancer in the AAPI Community

Lung Cancer in the AAPI Community

by | Aug 3, 2023 | Classes & Events

J-Sei’s Healthy Aging
Lung Cancer in the AAPI Community
Thursday, September 28, 2 pm (Hybrid)

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among Asian Americans according to the American Lung Association. Why are Asian American women who are non-smokers at an increased risk for getting lung cancer? What are precautions or preventative measures we can take? What are indicators and risk factors we should take into consideration?

Hear from Dr. Jeffrey Velotta, a thoracic surgeon at Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center, who is raising awareness on lung cancer and the need for pre-cancer screening in the AAPI community. In addition to his clinical duties, he is a clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine.

Join us in-person at J-Sei or online via ZOOM. RSVP to jill@j-sei.org with “Lung Cancer” in the subject line.

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.