Hearts for Love ORIGAMI Pop-UP

Hearts for Love ORIGAMI Pop-UP

by | Apr 2, 2021 | Classes & Events, Other News

HEARTS FOR LOVE

An ORIGAMI POP-UP with Jun Hamamoto
Thursday, April 8th, 1 – 2:30 pm

Join the Fold-In. There is a crisis today. Many Asians, including our most vulnerable seniors, have become the target of hate crimes.  Join J-Sei in folding 1,000 Origami Hearts as a show of support to the families of victims who lost their loved ones.

“Let’s counter  HATE with  LOVE!  I embrace the origami tradition
by folding 1,000 Hearts as a show of LOVE, the human emotion
which can counter HATE and create POSITIVITY.”
– Linda Mihara, Paper Tree SF

Jun Hamamoto will teach the Heart Origami. Join us as we gather together, to chat and fold 1,000 hearts to hang at J-Sei to counter the Anti-Asian hate with LOVE.

RSVP to jill@j-sei for the ZOOM link for the fold-in.

PLAY BALL! Movie Watch & Discussion

PLAY BALL! Movie Watch & Discussion

by | Mar 29, 2021 | Classes & Events

J-Sei At the Movies: Baseball and Barbed Wire

Meet the director and producer of American Pastime

Friday, April 9, 5:30 pm [note earlier start time]

Join us to watch American Pastime, a 2007 drama about upheaval and heroic survival in the Japanese American concentration camps of World War II. One of the very few movies depicting the Japanese American experience, the plot centers on one family and their efforts to start a baseball team at Topaz, culminating in a climactic competition between internees and a local team. Filmed near the original Topaz camp in Utah, the film includes era-accurate details and also features historic footage and real-life survivors playing incarcerees. It’s a moving account of family bonds and dignity maintained under extreme circumstances.

Director Desmond Nakano and producer Tom Gorai will be our guests to take your questions and discuss the making of the film. You won’t want to miss this special event celebrating Spring and the enduring human spirit.

RSVP with “April Movie Night” in the subject line.
You’ll receive Zoom information prior to the event.

J-Sei Movie Night Bento

For movie night, you can order a specially made obento from My Friend Yuji. This month’s special movie night-themed offering is:

Arabiki Corn Dogs, Ao Nori Tater Tots, Springtime Coleslaw, curry mustard and fish sauce ketchup.

Click on the button below  to place your order. The price is $18 per bento. Please order early as quantities are limited.

You can pick up your bento at the selected pick up time at J-Sei on Friday, March 12. Please remember to wear a mask and observe social distance protocol. 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 anywhere inside the box frame to open another pop-up and select the number of bento you want to order, then click on “Add item” to close the pop-up. 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 recently celebrated its third anniversary! 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. You are the best! We welcome any donations to help us offset costs for Movie Night. Thanks for considering this.

Mikami Vineyards Legacy & Wine Tasting

Mikami Vineyards Legacy & Wine Tasting

by | Mar 20, 2021 | 50th Anniversary, Classes & Events

Mikami Vineyard Legacy Virtual Program – Friday, April 23rd, 7 pm

Hear the very engaging presentation by Jason Mikami on the family legacy and his inspiring vision to turn those grapes into wine. Click on the link above. 

The Legacy

Raise a glass with Jason Mikami, owner of Mikami Vineyards in Lodi, Calif., and learn about his family’s grape-growing tradition that spans three generations. The Mikami wine experience originated in 1896, when Jason’s grandfather emigrated from Japan to Northern California and began growing wine grapes in Lodi. It was interrupted by the family’s internment in Rohwer, Arkansas, but was rebuilt upon their return. In 1963, Jason’s father purchased the land where Mikami Vineyards stands today, and sold grapes to California wineries.

Jason evolved the business in 2004 when Mikami Vineyards began producing its own wines, a move that has yielded accolades including Gold Medals from the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition and Sunset Magazine. Mikami wines have very limited production runs, but Jason has graciously provided samples so the J-Sei community can experience the Mikami family legacy.

This virtual program is held in conjunction with J-Sei’s 50th Anniversary programs, honoring our community legacies.

Special BENTO BOX

Nikumaki (pork and beef rolls with seasonal vegetable), Kyuri Momi (miso cucumber salad), Simmered Kabocha (Japanese pumpkin), and Serori No Kinpira (stir-fried celery) and Rice

$22/bento

Wine Pairing suggestions 

(samples from the Mikami Wine Tasting kit):

Nikumaki with  Mikami Zinfandel or Petite Sirah

Kyuri Momi, Serori no Kinpira or Kabocha with Mikami Rose’

 

Reserve Your Wine-Tasting Kit or Donate

A wine-tasting kit feature three 3-ounce samples of Mikami Wines. Suggested donation: $25/tasting kit  [No longer available.]

LIMITED OFFER – order by May 1st

For a limited time, J-Sei is taking orders for Mikami Vineyard wines:

Petite Sirah – $32/bottle

Zinfandel – $35/bottle

Rose’ – not available

Please pay in advance below. Amounts include the sales tax of 9.25%. The orders will be available for pick up at J-Sei.

Poetry Flows Through Our Blood – February 28

Poetry Flows Through Our Blood – February 28

by | Feb 23, 2021 | Classes & Events

Poetry Flows Through Our Blood

February 28, 3 pm

In celebration of his new book, Seize, and in commemoration of Day of Remembrance, Brian Komei Dempster invites fellow Japanese American poets Brynn Saito and Mia Ayumi Malhotra to join him for this dynamic group presentation. Through a reading of their work and interactive dialogue, these poets will share how the whispered voices of their ancestors infuse the present–and how the legacy of Japanese American wartime incarceration shapes their poetry and connects them to one another.  Last March, these poets were part of a joint panel that planned to explore intergenerational trauma of the Japanese American prison camp experience, when COVID-19 disrupted their plans. Here, we find another rendition.

Seize focuses on Dempster’s experience of raising his son, Brendan, who suffers from intractable epilepsy and pervasive developmental delays. Moreover, the book explores wartime imprisonment, domestic/familial/racial tensions, and legacies of trauma and violence—along with paths towards resolution. Through juxtaposition, the poems link seemingly disparate events through a central metaphor: seizure.

RSVP with “Poetry – Feb 28” in memo.

Brian Komei Dempster’s most recent book of poems is Seize, published by Four Way Books in fall 2020.  His debut book of poetry, Topaz (Four Way Books, 2013) received the 15 Bytes 2014 Book Award in Poetry. He is the editor of both From Our Side of the Fence: Growing Up in America’s Concentration Camps (Kearny Street Workshop, 2001) and Making Home from War: Stories of Japanese American Exile and Resettlement (Heyday, 2011). 

Like Dempster, Malhotra and Saito write to document their family history and honor their ancestors. All three poets contend with complex issues of gender, culture, and identity.  

Brynn Saito is a poet, writer, and educator. She’s the author of Power Makes Us Swoon (2016) and The Palace of Contemplating Departure (2013). She is an Assistant Professor at Fresno State University.

Mia Ayumi Malhotra is the author of Isako Isako (Alice James Books, 2018), winner of the Alice James Award, the Nautilus Gold Award for Poetry, a National Indie Excellence Award, a Maine Literary Award, and finalist for the California Book Award.

Photo: Brynn Saito, Brian Dempster, Mia Malhotra, 2015. Courtesy of Brynn Saito.