Santa Cruz, Calif.
Kabuki Cabaret
Thursday, May 26

Brenda Wong Aoki and Emmy award-winning composer Mark Izu will dedicate a performance to benefit The Jizo Project. The performance will be held at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320 Cedar St. #2, Santa Cruz, Calif. at 6 p.m. Aoki’s work draws on her cultural heritage, and invokes a metaphoric connection with the ghosts of traditional Japanese noh and kyogen theater.

Grammy nominated multi-percussionist Anthony Brown, natori koto master Shoko Hikage, jazz flutist Mas Koga, vocalist Moy Eng and Janet Koike with PJ Hirabayashi on taiko also will be featured.

The students, faculty and parents of Lick-Wilmerding High School in San Francisco formed The Jizo Project to benefit the students of Okawa Elementary School in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture following the March 11 tragedy.

The Jizo Project hopes to raise direct aid for the remaining children living in shelters around the school, and to continue doing so for three years.

Tickets are $20 in advance and $23 at the door. Call 1-866-558-4253 to purchase tickets. The event includes dinner.

To make a direct contribution, make checks out to Lick-Wilmerding High School Tiger Fund with “Jizo Project” in the memo. Send checks to Lick-Wilmerding High School, 755 Ocean Ave., San Francisco, CA 94112. For more information, contact Dale Allender, Ph.D., at dallender@lwhs.org or (510) 508-2859.

Oakland, Calif.
Oakland Fukuoka Sister City
Association & Hiroshima Fundraiser for Northern Japan Earthquake Relief
Sunday, May 29

Yoshi’s Oakland, 510 Embarcadero West, Jack London Square, will host a benefit concert featuring acclaimed jazz group, Hiroshima. Admission is $40 and includes the cost of the concert ticket and the opportunity to attend the band’s meet-and-greet event.

Early reservation and upfront payment is required by May 20 in order to purchase an autographed CD of their newly released “Legacy” album. their Christmas album, “Spirit of the Seasons” or “Under the Stars,” June Kuramoto’s solo album at the meet-and-greet.

Doors open at 6 p.m. to meet the band and the concert will start at 7 p.m. Tickets are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Order online at https://www.networkforgood.org/donation/MakeDonation.aspx’ORGID2=942582130. Fill in the “Designation” with ticket information and/or CD titles. To order by check, e-mail lianescott@sbcglobal.net and send a check made payable to Oakland Fukuoka Sister City Association, P.O. Box 13022, Oakland, CA 94661-3022. Tickets will be available for pick up at the door. All net proceeds above the concert ticket cost will be sent to the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California.

For more information, contact Liane Scott at (510) 482-5896.

For additional coverage of the ongoing crisis in Northeastern Japan and more information on ways to help the relief efforts, visit https://www.nichibei.org/disaster_in_japan.
For tips on determining which charitable funds to consider supporting, visit the Better Business Bureau’s Standards for Charity Accountability online at www.bbb.org/us/Charity-Standards, or call (703) 276-0100.