a mixed plate of Japanese American news and culture
As regular readers know, a section called “Las Vegas Tidbits” is added at the end of each of my articles. There is so much happening in Las Vegas that many tidbits have to be stored in my pantry and they can become stale and no longer worthwhile after such a long wait to be published. [...]
The 2010 Tule Lake Pilgrimage had the apt theme of “Sharing the Untold Stories of Tule Lake,” as more former Tuleans participated in the four-day pilgrimage, many for the first time. Close to 330 people participated in this year’s pilgrimage on the Fourth of July weekend, with more than 60 of them over the age [...]
Note: This letter was sent in response to Kaeru Kid’s “Little Tokyo on the Rhine” column, July 8-14, 2010. Dear Editor, I read your Kaeru Kid column on Dusseldorf, Germany and [was] surprised that you didn’t mention Ekoji Buddhist Temple. You may not be interested in the religion, but it is now a major Japanese [...]
Interesting facts are always gleaned when visiting a new area, and such was the case with a recent visit to Dusseldorf, Germany, where I learned that the first Japanese to register in Dusseldorf was in 1905, but only in 1946 did more than a few Japanese immigrate to Dusseldorf. These visitors liked it so much [...]
Your reward this month for being a reader of this column is information on how to receive a free week’s vacation with lodging and all meals paid at a four-star resort in Spain. What’s the catch? You must meet some simple requirements. You must pay your own round-trip fare to Madrid. Second, English must be [...]
Note: The first part of this article ran in the April 1 issue. I am taking the bus from Tallinn, Estonia on the way to Vilnius, Lithuania, but make a stop at the city of Siauliai, Lithuania to view the Hill of Crosses. Teutonic knights occupied the city after its founding in 1236 during the [...]
During my younger days I once traveled through Europe with a group from Canada, Great Britain, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand on Kon-Tiki Tours staying in campgrounds. It was an economical way to travel, but I didn’t like it because the campgrounds were not near city centers. The main value was meeting people from [...]
Las Vegas believes in the expression “imitation is the greatest form of flattery,” with all the tribute acts copying the originals and all the casinos themed after other famous locales. Well, the same mentality must exist in Texas. Did you know that there is a miniature replica of the Beijing Forbidden City in the Texas [...]
My favorite Nichi Bei columnist is Ryan Tatsumoto, the Gochiso Gourmet, because I am an unrepentant foodie. He writes in an interesting way and always presents some new nugget of information. A golden opportunity to meet him presented itself when I was given a very cheap airfare to Hawai‘i. For first time visitors to O‘ahu, [...]
A new political party in power, another World Baseball Classic title, a Japanese movie winning an Oscar, the yen soaring to the highest yen-to-dollar rate in decades, North Korea continuing its nuclear tests, and Obama making his first trip to Japan as president. These are some of the biggest events of the past year in [...]
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