Help us find J-Sei’s next Executive Director

Help us find J-Sei’s next Executive Director

by | Apr 7, 2025 | Employment Opportunities, News, Other News

We are excited to launch the search for J-Sei’s next Executive Director—a strategic, community-rooted leader to guide the organization through its next chapter.
J-Sei is a multigenerational, multicultural organization based in Emeryville, providing culturally responsive senior services, caregiver support, wellness, and cultural programs across Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

The next ED will lead in implementation of the 2024–2029 Strategic Plan, strengthen partnerships, and ensure J-Sei’s long-term sustainability.

Ideal candidates have:
• 7–10+ years of nonprofit/community leadership (ideally in aging services)
• Strong fundraising and operational skills
• Deep appreciation for Japanese American, Asian American, and/or intergenerational
communities

We are partnering with NPAG, a national talent search firm, on this search. You can find the position description attached or here: https://www.npag.com/j-sei-ed

We’d love your nominations, thoughts, or help sharing the opportunity. Feel free to reach out to Phuong Quach phuong@npag.com or Danielle Higa danielle@npag.com from NPAG directly.

Kintsukuroi Screening and Restoring Our Brokenness

by | Mar 19, 2025 | Classes & Events, Other News

 KINTSUKUROI

FILM SCREENING
followed by Q&A with cast and crew

Thursday March 13, 6:00 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.

Letters to Home, an anthology of LGBTQ+ Nikkei experiences

by | Mar 18, 2025 | Classes & Events, Featured, Other News

Okaeri Northern California presents

Letters to Home: Art & Writing by LGBTQ+ Nikkei and Allies

Saturday, April 5, 2025, 1:30 pm

Join Okaeri for the Northern California launch of Okaeri’s book Letters to Home: Art & Writing by LGBTQ+ Nikkei and Allies. Hear from contributors eri oura, Ellen Tanouye, and Tomo Hirai for a live reading and engaging dialogue with moderator Stan Yogi. Book sales and signing, and light refreshments will follow. 

Live stream will be available. To access the live stream, please register and we will send out a link in advance. J-Sei is ADA-accessible, and there is a free parking lot and street parking available.  This event is co-presented by J-Sei & Omusubi. 

RSVP: https://bit.ly/Okaeri Nor Cal-booklaunch

Letters to Home

Edited by: Cody Uyeda, Michael Matsuno, and Rino Kodama

Letters to Home is among the first anthologies to spotlight LGBTQ+ Nikkei experiences and allyship through an intergenerational lens. Bringing together art, poetry, and story-telling from nearly 50 contributors across the US and Japan, it offers a nuanced exploration of the trials and triumphs of finding community, and the process of co-constructing a sense of belonging for queer and trans Nikkei.

 

Okaeri Community’s mission is to create visibility, compassionate spaces, and transformation for LGBTQ+ Nikkei and their families by sharing our stories and providing culturally-rooted support, education, community-building, and advocacy.  Okaeri is fiscally sposored by LTSC.

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

 

 

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.