Gambatte! Legacy of an Enduring Spirit, photo exhibit

Gambatte! Legacy of an Enduring Spirit, photo exhibit

by | Jan 24, 2025 | Classes & Events, Featured, Other News

Gambatte! Legacy

of an Enduring Spirit

Photographs by Paul Kitagaki, Jr.

Exhibit Dates: February 10- May 2, 2025

Gallery Hours: Mondays & Thursdays 10 am – 4 pm, and by appointment.

Presented by J-Sei &Friends of Topaz Museum, with support by Topaz Museum

SPECIAL EVENT

Meet Photographer Paul Kitagaki, Jr.

Saturday, March 1, 2025

Gallery Open: 1 to 4 pm

Artist Talk: 2 pm

Book signing and reception to follow.

RSVP for free event.

 Gambatte! Legacy of an Enduring Spirit explores the legacy of an enduring spirit as Japanese Americans triumphed over adversity in the WWII incarceration camps.

As he was searching through photos at the National Archives in 1984, Kitagaki found a photo taken by famed documentary photographer Dorothea Lange of his grandparents and father preparing to board a bus in Oakland, Calif., enroute to a World War II incarceration camp. Through slow and painstaking research, Kitagaki has spent 15 years locating and winning the trust of the families who lived through the incarceration, documenting their stories of survival and inner strength to overcome injustice, racism, and wartime hysteria.

Many of the Issei and Nisei never shared their stories with their own families. As some of the subjects recounted their experiences, they were overcome with tears and emotion as long-forgotten memories returned. For many, this was the first time for them to publicly speak about what they endured. – Paul Kitagaki, Jr.

 

 

 

Photographer and videographer Paul Kitagaki Jr. has traveled the world covering natural and human-caused disasters and international athletes competing for gold at ten different Olympic Games. Kitagaki’s work has been honored with dozens of photo awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, and Emmy nominations. He’s been published in news outlets worldwide, including National Geographic, Time, Smithsonian Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Stern, People, Mother Jones, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post, as well as in his home paper, The Sacramento Bee. 

BEHIND BARBED WIRE, The Search for Japanese Americans incarcerated during WWII

The book Behind Barbed Wire is based on the nationally traveling exhibition “Gambatte! Legacy of an Enduring Spirit.”

Hardcover 152 pages and 137 Illustrations

Published by CityPress Files

Retail Price: $55

Flavors of Spring 2025

by | Jan 24, 2025 | Classes & Events, Other News

Flavors of Spring

Friday, March 28

5:30 to 8:30 pm

BLOC 15, Jack London Square

Join us for a festive evening of food, wine, brew and live music

by Bay Area’s favorite R&B band: PRIVATE PRACTICE.

Don’t miss the Early Bird Special

Tickets for $125 until Feb 21st

Regular ticket price is $150, from February 22nd.

Purchase tickets online or send checks payable to:

J-Sei, 1285 66th Street, Emeryville, CA 94608.

Must be postmarked by March 24, 2025.

For more info, contact Tiffany Nguyen, tiffany@j-sei.org

 

 

Kintsukuroi Screening and Restoring Our Brokenness

by | Jan 14, 2025 | Classes & Events, Featured, Other News

 KINTSUKUROI

FILM SCREENING
followed by Q&A with cast and crew

Thursday March 13, 6:30 pm
Rialto Cinemas Cerrito, 10700 San Pablo Ave, El Cerrito, CA

Tickets: $20

For tickets: https://rialtocinemas.com/coming-soon-cer/

Back by popular demand, join us for a theatrical screening of KINTSUKUROI. The film, with its cleverly written script, interwoven stories and depth, this movie is a must see and must see again favorite.  Get your tickets now! 
About the Film
The philosophy of KINTSUKUROI shows us that something shattered can be restored and made stronger and more beautiful. The term is an apt metaphor for the Japanese American experience of WWII.

Forced from their homes, farms and businesses, more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were unjustly imprisoned simply because of their race. Our new feature-length film KINTSUKUROI follows the Ito family from pre-war San Francisco to the concentration camps of the American West to the battlefields of Europe as it endures one of the most shameful periods in American History.

RESTORING OUR BROKENNESS

Join us for an intergenerational conversation inspired by the film KINTSUKUROI by director Kerwin Berk.

Saturday, March 22
12pm to 3pm
J-Sei, 1285 66th St., Emeryville, CA

Free registration: https://bit.ly/3WE7cVV

Please note that the film will not be shown at the event but all are welcome, whether or not you have seen the film.

Kintsukuroi is the Japanese art practice of piecing together shards of pottery to repair, then using gold leaf to restore beauty and make it whole again. The film touches on the legacy of the Japanese American incarceration, a range of experiences, from loyalty to resistance, despair and loss, and rebuilding of lives. What is your connecting point and how does it impact you today?  Connecting Across Generations is an evolving collaboration of individuals and Japanese American community groups interested in broadening cross generational relations.

Connecting Across Generations including J-Sei, Japanese American Women Alumni of UC Berkeley, Japanese American Youth Alliance, Nikkei Student Union of UC Berkeley, Berkeley JACL, Berkeley Buddhist Temple, Okaeri Northern Cal, and Friends of Topaz Museum.

One Fighting Irishman: Wayne M. Collins and Tule Lake

One Fighting Irishman: Wayne M. Collins and Tule Lake

by | Oct 25, 2024 | Classes & Events, Other News

One Fighting Irishman: Wayne M. Collins and the Tule Lake

A Film Screening and Talk with filmmaker Sharon Yamato

Saturday, November 16, 2 pm (New date)

Watch the dynamic film, ONE FIGHTING IRISHMAN, on vigilant attorney Wayne M. Collins who spent decades restoring rights to Japanese Americans forced to give up their citizenship during WWII.  Hear from filmmaker Sharon Yamato joined in conversation with Stan Yogi, on the making of the film and the stories she uncovered of the lives impacted by Collins crusade.

The 30-minute documentary tells the story of attorney Wayne M. Collins who rescued more than 5,500 people from being deported to a country upon which many of them had never stepped foot. At a time when wartime hysteria and racist hatred of American citizens of Japanese ancestry was sweeping the country, one attorney stood above the rest to fiercely defend the Constitutional rights of those the government considered the worst of the lot—those accused of being disloyal. If you are an individual or descendant who was aided by the efforts of Wayne M. Collins, we would like to hear from you.

RSVP for this free hybrid event.  Limited seating available.

Berkeley Shoreline, The North Basin Strip

by | Oct 24, 2024 | Classes & Events, Featured, Other News

J-Sei Engages in Park Planning
NORTH BASIN STRIP – Berkeley Shoreline

YOUR VOICE MATTERS.  Join us as we explore the North Basin Strip, an area along the Berkeley Shoreline proposed for development by the Eastshore State Park. The North Basin Strip is the portion of the McLaughlin Eastshore State Park located south of the Gilman Sports Fields in Berkeley. It is approximately 20 acres and includes 2,800 linear feet of shoreline.

Come meet Christine Hikido, J-Sei’s representative in the New Voices Program. Christine has worked for nonprofits across the Bay Area and currently works as a grants specialist at RYSE Youth Center in Richmond. She recently finished UC Berkeley’s Master of City Planning program and is interested in getting more involved in the local community and the park planning process.

Help us get outdoors, get involved, and envision a place along the shoreline for all to enjoy.

We are planning for day trips to local parks in the East Bay and SF.  And will host a walk at the North Basin Strip.  Check back in.

 

 

 

 

TOPAZ STORIES 2024

TOPAZ STORIES 2024

by | Oct 24, 2024 | Classes & Events, Other News

TOPAZ STORIES

Exhibit extended to January 31, 2025

Gallery Open: Mondays & Thursdays, 10 am to 4 pm; Friday, 10 am to 1 pm

Or by appointment, group or docent tours available. Contact jill@j-sei.org

While a few of the stories in this exhibit were displayed in the Utah State Capitol in 2022, all are being exhibited in California for the first time. The stories provide intensely personal accounts of the forced removal; daily camp life; the dispersal of the Japanese American community through the resettlement program; the heroism of Nisei soldiers with families incarcerated behind barbed wire; the challenges of returning to California after the War; and the impact of the camp experience on survivors and subsequent generations, decades later.

The exhibit and events are presented by the Topaz Stories team and Friends of Topaz Museum, with support from J-Sei.

Program Schedule 2024 – see video recordings of past programs

Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024 – Children of Topaz: Stories and Art, a kid-oriented program (adults
are welcome!) with Dana Shew and special guests, held  in conjunction with J-Sei’s
annual “Family Day.” 

Watch on J-Sei YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/Ah4-TvMOV2c 

Thursday, Oct. 3 – Dispersed: The WWII Scattering of the Japanese American Community.
stories by Jun Dairiki, Jean Hibino, Mitsi Nakamizo Fuchigami, and Joseph Nishimura 

Watch on J-Sei YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/bDjR2a8ci4A 

Sunday, Oct. 13 – The Lost Sketches of Topaz: Ella Honderich’s Topaz Years by Ella’s
granddaughter, Cynthia Wright

Watch on J-Sei YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/ONyGdEGlLlY 

Thursday, Nov. 7 – Soldiers’ Stories by Eugene Takei, Tracy Takayanagi Hui, and Ruth Sasaki

Watch on J-Sei YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/EoJKstWJKOg  

Saturday, Nov. 23 – Wartime Friends and Allies of Japanese Americans, stories by Frank
Kami, Jonathan Hirabayashi, Doris Yagi, and Jon Yatabe and Ruth Sasaki

 

Thursday, Dec. 5 – Return to California: Stories of Postwar Resettlement by Kazuko Iwahashi, Michi Mukai, Harue Minamoto, and Meri Mitsuyoshi 

Watch on J-Sei YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/nbrV_RJiXqk