Oshogatsu Celebration 2021

Oshogatsu Celebration 2021

Oshogatsu Celebration – Friday, January 29th, 2 pm

In our virtual landscape, we are discovering ways to connect and celebrate in community.  Join us for our Japanese New Year’s celebration, an auspicious occasion to ensure hope and goodwill upon the year ahead. Celebrate with us the new year of 2021, the year of the Ox

Honor our aging elders and celebrate 90+ years of living with a sweet tribute.

Experience Japanese cultural traditions through music and dance by Minyo artists Keiko Allen and Kimie Hoshi.

Special guest Kimi Takesue, filmmaker of “95 and 6 To Go” will share a short clip from the film and a reflection on what it was like to capture her grandfather Tom in his nineties for the film.

“’95 and 6 To Go’ is a funny, imaginative and warm film about the close relationship – and creative collaboration! – between grandfather and grandchild. Takesue’s film is a personal ‘home movie’ of the rare kind.” – CPH:DOX Film Festival

While we cannot be together for a special luncheon, we are offering a chirashi bento by Chef Yuji for pick-up.  More details below.

RSVP for the Oshogatsu Celebration on 1/29.

Oshogatsu Bento

We do miss dining with you.

Although we cannot be together in person, we are offering a limited number of chirashi bento by Chef Yuji for a $12 donation.  The bento pick up times on Jan 29 will be assigned for 12 or 12:30 to maintain social distancing protocol.

Please complete your order here.  Enter the amount of your donation. Choose from bento, bento + donation, or donation only.  You can indicate the number of bento you are ordering by clicking on the comment box and adding a note to us. If you have any questions, please contact Jill Shiraki at jill@j-sei.org

We are SOLD OUT for bento orders, however you are welcome to join us for the virtual program. 

RSVP for ZOOM link to jill@j-sei.org with Oshogatsu 1/29.

J-Sei’s Virtual Harvest Day

J-Sei’s Virtual Harvest Day

J-Sei’s Virtual Harvest Day Program

Friday, November 20th, 1 pm

This harvest season, we are grateful for the cultivation of the land and the ties we have to the earth from our past to our present.  We are grateful for the bounty and the many helping hands that nurture the food that we prepare and serve for our J-Sei seniors.  This year, despite all that we’ve endured with the COVID pandemic, we are especially thankful for the supportive community we are at J-Sei.

Join us for an afternoon to see the many faces of J-Sei classes, the volunteer kitchen crew, and hear personal reflections from Leslie Tsukamoto, Joyce Nakamura, and Pat Yamamoto, and special songs prepared by the J-Sei choir directed by Emiko Katsumoto and Carol Newberger.

Enjoy an easing of the soul with a meditative photo slideshow by Alan Maeda and soothing sounds by special guest, jazz guitarist Hideo Date.

RSVP for the link to the program.

Medicare Presentation

Medicare Presentation

Medicare Presentation

Thursday, November 5th, 1-2 pm

 The annual enrollment period is now underway October 15 – December 7. It’s easy to make mistakes when signing up for Medicare that can result in lifelong penalties or coverage gaps. HICAP counseling is here to help!

We Will Cover :

  • Important information on changes to the Medicare Prescription Drug (Part D) Plans and Medicare Advantage (Part C) Plans in the coming year
  • An overview of eligibility, costs, benefits, and changes in Medicare Parts A and B
  • Options for supplementing Medicare and getting help with medical costs (including the Extra Help program)

RSVP for the webinar

A free presentation by the

Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP) of Legal Assistance for Seniors

HICAP provides free and unbiased community education, individual counseling, and advocacy to Medicare beneficiaries about Medicare, Supplemental Insurance, Prescription Drugs and Medicare Advantage plans, Long Term Care Insurance, Medicare Appeals, and Low Income Assistance programs.

Seen and Unseen: Queering JA History Before 1945

Seen and Unseen: Queering JA History Before 1945

EXHIBIT OPENS OCTOBER 11TH

Seen and Unseen: Queering Japanese American History Before 1945 is the first-ever exhibit focused on Nikkei (Japanese Americans) who were involved in intimate same-sex relationships or defied gender roles in the early 20th century. Queer Nikkei are virtually non-existent in Japanese American history, but this exhibit brings them into view. Drawing from recent research by scholars in history, cultural and literary studies, Seen and Unseen brings to light a hidden past when same-sex relationships and female impersonation were accepted parts of Japanese immigrant culture, and how queer Japanese Americans expressed themselves as the Nikkei community came to mirror white American fears of same-sex intimacy and gender nonconformity.

Seen and Unseen will open on October 11, 2020 to coincide with National Coming out Day, and run through Feb 19, 2021. Seen and Unseen: Queering Japanese American History Before 1945 is hosted by J-Sei and co-curated by Amy Sueyoshi and Stan Yogi.

 

Co-Curators of Seen and Unseen

Amy Sueyoshi is the Dean of the College of Ethnic Studies with a joint faculty appointment at the rank of Professor in Race and Resistance Studies and Sexuality Studies at San Francisco State University. She holds a Ph.D. in history from University of California, Los Angeles and a B.A. from Barnard College of Columbia University. Amy has authored two books, Queer Compulsions: Race, Nation, and Sexuality in the Intimate Life of Yone Noguchi and Discriminating Sex: White Leisure and the Making of the American “Oriental.” She additionally wrote the section on API queer history titled “Breathing Fire” for the National Parks Foundation’s landmark LGBTQ theme study, which won the Paul E. Buchanan Award from the Vernacular Architecture Forum. Amy served as a founding co-curator of the GLBT History Museum, the first queer history museum in the United States, and also seeded the Dragon Fruit Project, a community oral history project for API Equality Northern California, a queer Asian Pacific Islander advocacy group in San Francisco Chinatown.  She has won numerous community recognitions including the Clio Award for her work in queer history and the Phoenix Award for her contribution to the Asian Pacific Islander queer women and transgender community. In 2017, San Francisco Pride honored Amy as a Community Grand Marshal.

 

Stan Yogi is co-author of the award-winning books Wherever There’s a Fight: How Runaway Slaves, Suffragists, Immigrants, Strikers, and Poets Shaped Civil Liberties in California (2009) and Fred Korematsu Speaks Up (2017).  He is the co-editor of two books, Highway 99: A Literary Journey Through California’s Great Central Valley (1996) and Asian American Literature: An Annotated Bibliography (1988). His essays have appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Daily Journal and academic journals and anthologies.  He co-curated the traveling exhibits Art of Survival: Enduring the Turmoil of  Tule Lake and Wherever There’s a Fight: A History of Civil Liberties in California.  He is a Co-Chair of Okaeri, a group of LGBTQ+-identified Japanese Americans.

 

Simple Japanese Cooking with Azusa Oda

Simple Japanese Cooking with Azusa Oda

Simple Japanese Cooking

Thursday, October 22  & Thursday, Nov 19, 3 pm

Azusa Oda, author of Japanese Cookbook for Beginners, will continue to cultivate our skills to bring delicious and satisfying Japanese meals to the table.  In October, the class will feature a family favorite Super Simple Ramen and Pork and Cabbage Gyoza.  As you prepare for family gatherings, learn to make a colorful Chirashi dish and delectable Chawan Mushi in the November class and you are sure to impress your guests for the holidays.  Azusa Oda is an avid home cook, food blogger of HumbleBeanBlog.com and designer. RSVP for the class.