by Jill Shiraki | Sep 24, 2020 | Classes & Events, J-Sei Book Club - Southland
Join the Club, Buy the Book
Join the J-Sei Virtual Book Club and connect with others as we delve into Southland, a timely and standout literary crime novel by Nina Revoyr written in 2003. Book Club format: Curl up and read at your own pace. As you’re reading, you can comment online as it strikes you with fellow book club members on Discord or the secure Book Club webpage. Around the end of October we’ll schedule a Zoom session for members to meet and discuss the book. Sign up for the Book Club so we can be in touch. We have arranged with Eastwind Books to handle book sales. You can order Southland online at the discounted price at $14.75 and either pick up at the store, arrange for shipping or designate J-Sei for delivery/pick-up in the comments.
J-Sei Book Club Pick: Southland
In Southland, her award-winning second novel, Nina Revoyr brings us a compelling story of race, love, murder, and history against the backdrop of Los Angeles. Set in 1994, in the wake of the Rodney King riots, a young Japanese-American woman, Jackie Ishida, is in her last semester of law school when her grandfather, Frank Sakai, dies unexpectedly. Frank was a veteran of World War II who, many years before, had owned a store in the Crenshaw District, one of the first racially mixed neighborhoods in the city and now the heart of L.A.’s Black community. While trying to fulfill a request from his will, Jackie discovers that four Black teenagers were killed in the store during the Watts Riots of 1965 — and that the murders were never solved or reported. Along with James Lanier, a cousin of one of the victims, she tries to piece together the story of the boys’ deaths. In the process, Jackie unearths the long-held secrets of her family’s history — and her own.
Southland explores the fragile and sometimes painful misunderstandings that occur across the lines of race and culture. It is also the story of an ever-changing city. Moving in and out of the past, from the shipping yards and internment camps of World War II; to the barley fields of the Crenshaw District in the 1930s; to the streets of protest in Watts in the 1960s; to the night spots and garment factories of the 1990s, Southland weaves a tale of Los Angeles in all of its faces and forms.
“A story about injustice dressed up as a detective novel, Southland reminds us that activism is both an ongoing project and a deeply personal choice.”
—Vallaire Wallace, Electric Lit
Nina Revoyr was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and a white American father, and grew up in Tokyo, Wisconsin, and Los Angeles. She is the author of several novels: The Necessary Hunger (1998), Southland (2003), The Age of Dreaming (2008), Wingshooters (2011), Lost Canyon (2015), and A Student of History (2019). Nina was a longtime executive vice president and chief operating officer of a nonprofit organization serving children affected by violence and poverty in Los Angeles. She now works in philanthropy, as part of an effort to improve economic mobility for low-income children and their families. Nina has been an Associate Faculty member at Antioch University, and a Visiting Professor at Cornell University, Occidental College, Pitzer College, and Pomona College. She lives in Los Angeles with her spouse and their dogs.
by Jill Shiraki | Sep 15, 2020 | Classes & Events
J-Sei Family Festival, a 2-day virtual experience
Intergenerational Workshops and Chalk Art – Sat, Sept 19
Virtual Family Festival and Festival Pop-Up – Sun, Sept 20
in honor of Keiro no Hi, respect for the aged as celebrated in Japan
J-Sei Family Festival will be a virtual experience in honor of Keiro no Hi “respect for the aged day” as celebrated annually in Japan. We lift up our seniors, at all ages and stages in life, and the families who care for them. We are all part of a community of care and invite you to join us as we celebrate aging, encourage interaction, and share the joy of living well.
Intergenerational Workshops & Chalk Art – Saturday, September 19th
We invite you to join with family and friends to make greetings or gifts for elders in our community. The workshops are: Making Strawberry Daifuku Mochi (1 pm), Origami 3-piece Flower (2 pm), and Japanese Decoupage Craft (3 pm). A Do-It-Yourself Chalk Making kit is also available to create a Chalk Art Message at your home. Reserve your space to attend our workshops, join an activity & order craft kits, by completing the Workshop Form. For your convenience, activity kits will be available for pick on: Mon 9/14, 2-4 pm; Tu 9/15, 10-12 noon; or Sat, 9/19, 10-12 noon. Pick up location: J-Sei, 1285 66th St, Emeryville, CA 94608 A special feature will be a Keiro no Hi Chalk Mural to be created by Momo Cha at J-Sei. The Chalk Art design process on Sat 9/19 will be videotaped, posted and shared. You are invited to request a DIY Chalk Making Kit, create your own chalk art message on your sidewalk or driveway, and post a photo on our Instagram.
Virtual Family Festival Program & Festival Pop-Up – Sunday, September 20th
Join us for our Festival Pop-Up featuring a variety of bento box lunches by local Bay Area chefs. With the shelter-in-place, the shift to take out, has allowed for more creative collaboration among friends. We welcome this opportunity to present this unique offering at J-Sei. A limited number of bento will be available by advance order. A link to order bento will soon be available. Check back for more information. The Family Festival Program will include entertainment by featured guest Ukulenny and KaToFu, a new senior ukulele trio, Intergen choir ensemble with J-Sei and Daruma no Gakko, senior reflections on Keiro no Hi, and visual art display of Chalk Art by Momo Cha and community chalk art messages. For the live stream on Sunday, September 20th at 2 pm, visit JSei on YouTube.
Guest Bios
Momo Cha is an UI/UX designer as a profession and an artist as a hobby. Born and raised in the Bay Area, she grew up with an appreciation for visual creativity all throughout her life. Momo’s designs and illustrations have been exhibited in galleries around the world with her street paintings featured all around the Bay Area. She has been street painting since 2003 as a high school freshman and been participating in festivals and doing commissions for clients ever since. One of the highlights in street painting is educating visitors about the process and encouraging them to be creative. Lenny San Jose aka Ukulenny is an ukulele performer and educator based in Oakland, CA. He received his music training at UC Berkeley and CSU East Bay and taught music in public schools for 5 years before becoming a full time musician. A proud Kala Brand artist, Lenny specializes in the one man band looping format, playing uBass, ukulele, beatbox, saxophone, melodion, and otamatone during his shows. With his eclectic mix of genres from jazz to Beatles, Motown to the 80s, and even the occasional Top 40 tune, Ukulenny continues to spread ukulele joy to music lovers around the world. Pre-pandemic, Lenny was teaching ukulele at the Albany Community Center, and currently he teaches privately and leads free online workshops on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays. More info at www.ukulenny.com.
by Jill Shiraki | Sep 4, 2020 | Classes & Events, Other News
J-Sei At the Movies – An Evening with Philip Kan Gotanda
Drinking Tea (1996), starring Sab Shimono and Nobu McCarthy
Friday, September 11, at 6:30 p.m.
Please join us for AN EVENING WITH PHILIP KAN GOTANDA. Philip, a celebrated playwright whose work over 30-plus years has broadened the scope of American theater as well as Asian American theater, will talk with us on Zoom about his life and work. He is the author of more than two dozen plays, including The Wash, Yankee Dawg You Die, and Sisters Matsumoto. Philip continues to challenge us with innovative, sometimes surreal, theater experiences, such as with his recent play, Pool of Unknown Wonders: Undertow of the Soul, which debuted in Berkeley in 2018. Philip has also written and directed three films and in addition is a musician, composer, actor, teacher, and activist. He is a professor in the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies at UC Berkeley.
As a special treat, we will watch together a short film written and directed by Philip—DRINKING TEA (1996), starring Sab Shimono and Nobu McCarthy. This is a really rare opportunity to see this film and chat with its director.
You don’t want to miss this! RSVP for the ZOOM link by sending us an email.
RSVP for the movie link.
Interested in a Summer Bento by My Friend Yuji? Our special movie night bento will be a Bulgogi bowl with banchan and a fresh fruit salad. Price is $15 per bento. Reserve by Tues, September 8th at 6 pm or earlier if it sells out. Limited number available.
MY FRIEND YUJI
Photo of Philip Kan Gotanda and Mochi by Rafu Shimpo, 2014.
by Jill Shiraki | Aug 6, 2020 | Classes & Events, COVID-19
MAKING MASKS: A Show and Tell
New Date: Tuesday, September 15th, 3 pm
With time and talent in abundance, many of you have been making Masks, Masks, Masks. You have been adapting patterns, trying out different styles, working with various fabrics, creating solutions, inventing your own prototype. You have been sewing and sharing masks to protect your family, friends, and community members. We thank you for your care.
And we invite everyone to MAKING MASKS, a workshop to see and share various versions of masks as we adjust to this new lifestyle – wearing masks to slow the spread of virus. Come hear and learn about the Mask tips and tricks. We are definitely adapting to having this new accessory as part of our every day wear.
For those who have been making masks, we invite you to send photos of the masks you are making and a tip that you would like to share. Please send by September 8th to Carolyn.
Then RSVP for this creative and informative workshop.
See this article “How much protection do face masks offer?” by the Mayo Clinic for info on how masks work and tips on how to use them properly.
A recent article, evaluates different types of masks and how effective they are SF Chron Aug 11, 2020
by Jill Shiraki | Aug 3, 2020 | Classes & Events
J-Sei At the Movies: An Evening with Steven Okazaki
Friday, August 14, 6:30 pm
Join us for an in depth look into the lives of Hibakusha survivors, from Mushroom Club to White Light, Black Rain, filmmaker Steven Okazaki documents what they must endure, the scars that remain, and the hope they seek. In commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, J-Sei welcomes back guest Okazaki to share his defining documentary work.
Steven Okazaki’s films explore a wide range of subjects — from drug addiction to nuclear war, from Tokyo pop culture to the Minnesota State Fair. He is the recipient of numerous honors, including an Academy Award® and the City of Hiroshima’s “Honorary Citizen Award.” In 2006, he received his third Oscar® nomination for HBO/Cinemax’s THE MUSHROOM CLUB, a personal look at the city of Hiroshima. He followed that with HBO’s WHITE LIGHT/BLACK RAIN, a vivid accounting of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, won a Primetime Emmy for “Exceptional Merit in Non-Fiction Filmmaking” and the Grand Prize at the Banff World Television Festival.
REGISTER on Eventbrite for a link to preview the documentaries and a ZOOM link for the program.
Interested in a Summer Bento by My Friend Yuji? Reserve today at the following link:
MY FRIEND YUJI
by Jill Shiraki | Jul 29, 2020 | Classes & Events
A POP-UP BAKING ADVENTURE – FRESH FRUIT GALETTE
Friday, July 31 – 2 pm
A special pop-up workshop has been set up impromptu to take advantage of the fresh bounty of nectarines received from the Masumoto Family Farm.
SIGN UP TODAY to receive your ZOOM link! Donations accepted, but not required. OUR MASUMOTO FRUIT DONATION IS NOW CLOSED. Pick-up is available on Friday for those with confirmed reservations.
You are still very welcome to join the class as there are stone fruit available at the farmer’s markets and produce sections. It’s a wonderful time to learn to make galette!
With more time at home, J-Sei’s avid bakers have been busy experimenting with recipes. Our loyal volunteer Joel Moalem will demonstrate his mouth-watering delectable galette. Shown above is an Apricot Frangipane Galette.
The People’s Kitchen Collective, who brings together people, equity and justice through the food & stories they share, has gifted J-Sei with nectarines from the Masumoto Family Farm. Here’s how they describe the source:
“But what made us fall in love with the Masumotos is their commitment to justice. It’s never about the final product — how good something looks or tastes — but how it feels getting there and who you meet along the way. It is our absolute honor, pleasure and delight to share not only the incredible flavor of this fruit, but also all of the heart, creativity, sweat, and advocacy for the earth and her people that the Masumotos pour into all aspects of their lives.”
Don’t miss this opportunity to enjoy and partake of Le Grande Nectarines from Masumoto Family Farm.
