I think the fact that my grandparents lived through a time where their loyalty to the United States was questioned, had a large impact on how they were to raise their children. In the 1950s and 60s, my parents lived pretty assimilated lives in Los Angeles County while also maintaining a connection to their Japanese heritage. My dad was quite connected to his extended Japanese family, he played basketball with other Japanese Americans, and worked in Little Tokyo as a high school student. My mom had a large group of Asian-American family friends from Hawaii and many of her lifelong best friends are Japanese American. Their mix of Japanese and American upbringings influenced them to, therefore, raise me in a similar way.
By: Kimi Nagasaki, GVJCI Marketing & Social Media Intern You might be familiar with the terms: issei, nisei, sansei, and yonsei, but what about gosei? Gosei is a term used to describe a fifth-generation descendant from Japanese emigrants. I am a gosei on both my mom and dad’s side of the family. As a gosei, I have always felt a little distant from my Japanese heritage, I never learned how to speak Japanese, my family celebrates only a handful of Japanese holidays, and I am a picky eater who refuses to eat ume, red bean paste, and natto. However, I still have a love and appreciation for Japanese food and culture; I love dancing at Obon, and of course, eating every type of Japanese noodle (ramen, udon, somen, soba). My identity as a Japanese American was confusing as a child. At school, I felt too Japanese for my friends, but amongst my teammates and peers from Asian-league basketball, I felt more Americanized. I’ve struggled to balance both identities, and I’m still learning to embrace both. To further understand my identity as a fifth-generation Japanese American, here’s a brief family history. In the 1940s, my dad’s parents were sent to concentration camps during World War II. My grandpa served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in Italy, while his parents were placed behind barbed wire in Poston, Arizona. On the other hand, my mom’s parents had an entirely different experience on Oahu. They were not forced into concentration camps. Instead, my great-grandfather worked at an oil company and was able to provide his four children with private school education. I think the fact that my grandparents lived through a time where their loyalty to the United States was questioned, had a large impact on how they were to raise their children. In the 1950s and 60s, my parents lived pretty assimilated lives in Los Angeles County while also maintaining a connection to their Japanese heritage. My dad was quite connected to his extended Japanese family, he played basketball with other Japanese Americans, and worked in Little Tokyo as a high school student. My mom had a large group of Asian-American family friends from Hawaii and many of her lifelong best friends are Japanese American. Their mix of Japanese and American upbringings influenced them to, therefore, raise me in a similar way. I also grew up in Los Angeles County, specifically Palos Verdes, and lived a very assimilated life here. I went to schools that were majority white and felt I needed to be more Americanized in order to fit in. In school, I felt a bit detached from my Japanese identity, but to make up for that loss, my parents did their best to connect me and my siblings to our Japanese heritage and community. We attended an Asian-American Christian church and my parents signed me and my siblings up for Asian-league basketball where we could connect with other Japanese American kids. I played on F.O.R. Hoku from 1st-12th grade and I’m so thankful that my parents signed me up to play on a F.O.R. team. I was able to meet so many of my close friends through F.O.R. and even volunteered at the annual GVJCI Matsuri Fundraiser–or as I’ve always called it, the JCI Carnival. I have many fond memories of going to the carnival to volunteer at the game booths, meet up with friends, eat good food, play bingo, and dance hula with Kanani Kalama Hula Studio. GVJCI has been the center of my JA experience and has truly provided me with a space to engage, share, and embrace Nikkei experience and culture. It’s crazy to believe that I am now an intern for this organization that has helped me connect with my Japanese heritage. I have loved my experience as a Marketing & Social Media Intern at GVJCI. This summer, I helped plan social media content for our Virtual Matsuri Fundraiser. I learned so much about managing social media accounts and what it takes to plan and execute marketing campaigns. I also gained valuable experience in tracking social media engagement in order to measure effective marketing strategies. Interning at GVJCI was more than just gaining marketing experience, it also allowed me to meet more people within the Japanese American community in the South Bay. During my time with GVJCI, I was able to meet Hideki Obayashi and Frank Nakano, owners of Gardena Bowl Coffee Shop and Azuma. I interviewed them for an article and we discussed how they came to own these two beloved local restaurants and how they have adjusted since the pandemic hit. In addition, I enjoyed going to the office for our monthly Senior Food Box Distributions. These drives provide fresh produce and canned goods for seniors in our community. The volunteers at our monthly drive are always so kind and it’s been a pleasure to meet these amazing community members. To close my time here at GVJCI, I helped out at our annual TANOSHII Fun Camp. TANOSHII has been one of my favorite parts of this internship not only because I get to hang out with the funniest little kiddos, but also to learn more about Japanese American culture and heritage. As I previously stated, I felt a little distant from my heritage as a gosei. But being a part of TANOSHII, I feel as though I’ve learned just as much as the young campers. During camp, I learned some Japanese language from our Japanese Language School teacher, Asaka Sensei. She taught us about different festivals and holidays in Japan like Tanabata and Otsukimi. We also made Japanese food like mochi and tsukemono, played taiko drums, and even went on a virtual field trip to Sunflower Farms Nursery, a local Japanese-owned small business. This opportunity at GVJCI was more than just your average internship. I gained hands-on experience in marketing, but more importantly, I had the chance to connect to my Japanese American heritage and community.
1 Comment
By: Kimi Nagasaki, GVJCI Marketing & Social Media Intern This article is the beginning of an interview series featuring GVJCI’s local business supporters and member organizations who have supported the organization over many years. This project is made possible through funding by the Boeing Employee Community Fund. GVJCI would also like to express gratitude to Hideki Obayashi and Frank Nakano, owners of Gardena Bowl Coffee Shop and Azuma Restaurant, for their great generosity and support of our events and programs throughout the years. Hideki Obayashi and Frank Nakano have been co-owners of Gardena Bowl Coffee Shop and Azuma Restaurant for 20 years. They first took over Gardena Bowl in the Spring of 2001, after the original owners decided to sell the coffee shop. Neither of them had experience going into this business, but their love for the food and the restaurant allowed them to continue running this local favorite. Gardena Bowl is a beloved business here in the South Bay that serves everything, from local food to comfort food. Some of Hideki and Frank’s favorites are the Lau Lau, Sausage and Eggs, Bacon Fried Rice, and Hawaiian Royal. After owning Gardena Bowl for about a year, Hideki and Frank were told that Azuma Restaurant was being sold. They bought Azuma in 2002 and were excited to continue serving authentic Japanese food. Azuma is an izakaya restaurant, similar to Spanish tapas, in which there are many small dishes you share with friends and family. Azuma was Hideki and Frank’s favorite Japanese restaurant in Gardena, so they wanted to keep the menu to show their appreciation for the restaurant and the delicious food they serve. Hideki’s favorite item on the menu is the Black Cod, and one of Frank’s favorite items is the Teriyaki Beef. For Azuma and Gardena Bowl, business was always good, until the pandemic hit in 2020. This past year has been an adjustment, not only for Gardena Bowl and Azuma but for all small businesses. Hideki and Frank were able to adjust pretty quickly in response to the pandemic. It was difficult at first, but with the help of their staff and landlords, they were able to continue running their businesses. It was much easier for them to adapt at Gardena Bowl since their take-out business was already quite popular. However, at Azuma, a smaller percentage of their sales came from take-out. Luckily, as the pandemic started to calm down, business began to pick up as indoor and outdoor dining became available. Hideki and Frank owe much of their survival to their customers and staff. Hideki and Frank are very thankful to the community for supporting them during these challenging times. They want to thank their loyal customers for continuing to eat at their restaurants and for recommending their restaurants to their friends/families. In addition, they appreciate all of the comments, suggestions, and ratings they receive through Yelp! and in person. Hideki and Frank also want to thank their dedicated staff for contributing to the smooth transition to takeout and back again to indoor dining. They have recognized how great the community is here in the South Bay and again want to thank everyone for supporting their restaurants. Gardena Bowl and Azuma Restaurant are currently open for take-out and they are very excited for the reopening in mid-June. Azuma Restaurant 16123 S. Western Ave. Gardena, CA 90247 Gardena Bowl Coffee Shop 15707 S. Vermont Ave. Gardena, CA 90247 By: Scott Maccarone, Community Guest Contributor Days go slow, weeks go fast. “Wait, what day is it? Is it Thursday?” I ask my wife. “No it’s Tuesday” she responds. The days blend together and work from home keeps not only our bodies but our minds confined to the same four walls. Our brains want to be distracted. “I’ll get it!” I shout as my ears hear the sweet sound of the doorbell - another Amazon package containing some pens (I love writing instruments), protein bars, and the complete DVD collection of Poirot. Why am I still using DVD’s?! Because Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and all the other streaming services do not carry some of my favorite shows like Columbo and Poirot unless I sign up for another streaming subsidiary like BritBox or AcornTV. Maybe we will consolidate all these streaming services into an accessible, yet fully loaded entertainment service?! Yes - consolidated, accessible but loaded entertainment. Let’s call it CABLE for short! But I digress. Rantings and ramblings aside, the monotony of daily life during COVID can be difficult to cope with. Fortunately for me, I have each Saturday morning to look forward to with Aki Sensei teaching Japanese! During non-COVID times, I would meet with my martial arts group (Kashima Shinryu at UCLA) for practice twice each week, and my wife, our son, and I would meet with friends for coffee, brunch, dinner, or walks on weekends. How do we maintain our mental health when the very mechanisms we employ to protect our sanity are stripped away? How do we regain a sense of routine and socialization when we are stuck at the bottom two rungs of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? My answer came in the form of Aki Sensei’s Japanese class in addition to turning to Zoom for martial arts and social “gatherings”.
Aki Sensei does an excellent job each Saturday morning holding her students accountable for the material and ensuring each student has the opportunity to participate in class. Aki Sensei brings fun and interesting cultural topics and “phrases of the day” building the language-culture bridge. For example, we learned about Setsubun which occurs the day before spring, typically on February 3rd, but this year (2021) occured on February 2nd which had not happened since 1897! Setsubun is also called the “Bean-throwing Festival” owing to the tradition of throwing roasted soybeans while shouting “Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!” (“Devils out! Fortune in!”). Along with seeing Aki Sensei and my classmates via Zoom each Saturday, the routine of studying and practicing Japanese at home has established a new normal for me - a new routine I can depend on through the chaos of work, parenting, and COVID. I have found the mental challenge of learning Japanese gives me a sense of purpose when so many of my other activities and interests have been put on hold. I still practice Kashima Shinryu in a limited way on my own. And 1-2 times per week the group meets virtually for a short practice session and discussions. This practice exercises my body and spirit clearing out the mental cobwebs and better preparing my mind for Japanese lessons. But more than that, the language and my martial art feed each other and have served me well as strong and steady signposts as I traverse this new landscape.
By: Scott Maccarone, Community Guest Contributor Duolingo, Babel, The Pimseuler Method, Rosetta Stone.....the list goes on. All of these apps and programs are marketed as ways to help people learn languages ‘more quickly, efficiently, and with better memory retention’. Duolingo is an app attempting to “game-ify” language learning at no cost to the user, while Rosetta Stone can cost as much as a downpayment on a car. I have tried some of these apps and methods, but to limited success. Deep down we all know why the programs and apps and gimmicks and “hacks” don’t work-- because there is no shortcut to learning Japanese. Learning Japanese takes effort every day to read, listen, write, and speak; it takes a community of peers to build an encouraging support system; it takes cultural awareness to understand not only what speech to employ but the corresponding behaviors and gestures; and it takes passionate teachers to correct and guide students along their path. Welcome to the Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute (GVJCI)! I was introduced to the Japanese language and culture through martial arts. I was small, timid, and not particularly athletic as a youth, and surrounded by plenty of big, strong, boisterous farmers and cowboys where I grew up in my rural community. Martial arts magazines and books became a fascination of mine owing to the idea of acquiring some rare or mystical skill enabling me to overcome bigger, stronger, faster opponents. But my little rural town only offered poor quality “strip mall karate”. I eventually found an Aikido dojo which fit my ideas of what a true martial art should be. That is, until I entered community college and learned about the Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu Kodokai dojo located just across the highway from where I was attending college. This dojo opened my eyes to the world of koryu and Japanese culture, and the training here would set my standards and expectations for quality martial arts instruction. At the Kodokai dojo we greeted each other with “Konbanwa” or “Oyasuminasai” at the end of the night; we thanked our seniors and instructors with “doumo arigatou gozaimasu”; and we counted to ten while warming up with calisthenics - “Ichi, ni, san, shi!” our instructor would yell; “Go, roku, shichi, hachi!” we would yell back as we ran around and around on the tatami mats. And when it was time for pushups, our sempai (seniors) would call out “Ichi!” and we would move into the lowered position of a pushup - chest one inch off the floor and backs flat as a board. Only when our sempai would see all of us in proper position would they call out “Ni!”, instructing us to push up into the extended plank position. These experiences in my college days brewed a strong desire within me to learn more - more about the language itself and the culture. But as many young males tend to do, I put this off foolishly thinking, “I have plenty of time, I’ll learn about that later.” And now, several years later, I decided learning Japanese would never become a priority unless I made it a priority. I had recently moved to the South Bay and was looking for a Judo dojo nearby. I had visited several dojo’s looking for the right fit, but when I found the GVJCI Judo dojo I was immediately impressed by the high caliber sempai and sensei, as well as the history of the dojo. Something about the GVJCI Judo dojo reminded me of the Kodokai dojo - the camaraderie, the learn-by-doing philosophy, the discipline and rigor, even the scent. My search for a quality Judo dojo had finally ended and I returned early to the next class ready to participate. I noticed some flyers around the building with “GVJCI Schedule of Classes” when I arrived early the following Thursday night for my first official Judo class. The schedule showed children’s and adult’s Japanese language classes taking place Saturday mornings in addition to many other classes throughout the week in art, dance, music, martial arts, and community events. Excitement built within me at the idea of taking Japanese language classes at the same place I would be practicing Judo. And so, still feeling the effects of my Judo class and swallowing several tablets of Motrin with my coffee, I hobbled over to my car and made the short drive back to the GVJCI for Japanese lessons Saturday morning. Fortunately, classes had just started the week prior, so I hadn’t missed too much material and was welcomed to join. Eriko Sensei was kind and helpful, and she made sure everyone had an opportunity to participate in class activities. Eriko Sensei made it clear she enjoyed teaching Japanese and made time for her students to ask questions after class either in person or via email. Once class had ended, Eriko Sensei introduced me to Principal Larry Hada so I could formally sign up for the course. Pictured: Gardena Judo Club at the Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute. I awoke excitedly, though typically stiffly and sorely, as each Saturday morning dawned that fall. I would arrive 10-15 minutes early with a travel mug filled with green tea or coffee and finish off a homework assignment while discussing with other students. The interaction with other students and with Eriko Sensei brought life and spirit to learning Japanese. Learning Japanese isn’t about scoring points to “level up” on some language app or listening to a recording droning away the various phrases. I began to realize how the social component of learning Japanese was feeding my soul and at the same time helping me learn the language. There is a kind of mutual dependency between learning the language and the socialization. Having peers I could tutor, and be tutored by, certainly helped me acquire the language efficiently, but there was something else. The friendships we built made us want to learn and help each other all the more. I would soon find more interconnections, such as the socialization and language learning connection, on my journey.
Pictured: Me at the Sensō-ji temple in Asakusa, Taito City, Tokyo in April 2019
By Taylor Ingman, Marketing & Social Media Intern Hello! My name is Taylor Ingman and I am a senior at Oberlin College in Ohio, majoring in Psychology with a minor in East Asian Studies. Over the past few months, I have had the wonderful opportunity of being a Marketing & Social Media Intern for the Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute. While I did not grow up in the South Bay, I knew about GVJCI from my family members who did-- my mom has told me about attending the GVJCI Annual Matsuri while she was growing up, and my uncle has talked about playing in the Sansei League at GVJCI as a kid. Having heard about their fond memories, I was very excited to learn more about GVJCI through this internship. After interning at GVJCI, I now have fond memories of my own! I loved attending some of the online events for children, such as the Tomodachi Baking Workshop series and virtual Oshougatsu celebration. I also liked helping out in person at the monthly LA Regional Food Bank distributions for seniors and the Painter's Tape restaurant fundraiser. Through this internship, I was able to experience firsthand how GVJCI positively impacts the South Bay community and makes people of all ages smile. I have met so many lovely people through GVJCI, both staff and volunteers, and I have really enjoyed being more involved in the South Bay Nikkei community. I loved working with and becoming friends with Mika, who was also a Marketing & Social Media Intern-- it was a lot of fun to collaborate on social media posts and attend the monthly food distributions together! The GVJCI is such an important part of the South Bay, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to intern at such a great organization. Interning at GVJCI has allowed me to play a part in preserving Japanese and Japanese-American traditions and culture, which is very important to me. I am really going to miss interning with GVJCI, but I look forward to staying involved in other ways and would love to attend future events and programs. Thank you GVJCI!
|
Archives
September 2022
Categories
All
|