Obon season is upon us. It is when our Japanese American communities gather to share an ancient Buddhist tradition to honor the spirits of our ancestors. In Japan, it is a time when families return to their ancestral family homes to visit and clean their ancestors’ graves. It is thought to be the time when […]
Archives for June 2017
Recognizing Japanese American lesbians’ activism, then and now
June 22, 2017 by Leave a Comment
The season for gay pride is upon us. This year, there is extra cause for celebration with the selection of professor Amy Sueyoshi, a community activist and leading historian of queer Asian Americans, as a grand marshal of the San Francisco Pride parade. In addition to Sueyoshi’s own considerable qualities, the choice is gratifying on […]
Victims, gunman who killed himself in UPS shooting identified
June 22, 2017 by Leave a Comment
The four people who died, including the gunman, in the June 14 shooting inside a San Francisco UPS facility have been identified, police said. San Francisco resident Jimmy Lam, 38, shot five people at about 8:55 a.m. at the facility located at 320 San Bruno Ave. As officers were arriving, Lam then allegedly shot himself […]
NPS announces $1.6 million in grants to preserve and interpret WWII JA confinement sites
June 22, 2017 by Leave a Comment
WASHINGTON — The National Park Service on June 8 announced $1.6 million in grants to preserve and interpret sites where Japanese Americans were unjustly incarcerated during World War II. The grants aim to support the “preservation, restoration and education projects” at these sites where some 120,000 Nikkei were incarcerated in concentration camps after President Franklin […]
Soto Zen reverend’s off-the-beaten path to S.F.
June 22, 2017 by Leave a Comment
The two largest Buddhists sects in Japan are Jodo Shinshu and Soto Shu. Jodo Shinshu boasts the most number of practitioners in Japan, while Soto Shu claims the title of most number of temples, said the Rev. Koshi Kurotaki, resident minister of the Soto Mission of San Francisco Sokoji. And while Zen Buddhism has become […]
JA follows his father’s footsteps into the Konko ministry
June 22, 2017 by Leave a Comment
While Buddhists begin to celebrate their annual remembrances of their ancestors during Obon, the Konko faith considers the universe an eternal home for everybody. Furthermore, believers remember ancestors’ spirits throughout the year. “I pray to their spirits whenever I remember,” Alan Matsui Sensei said in an e-mail interview with the Nichi Bei Weekly. “I pray […]
Obon dancing in America: Reverend Yoshio Iwanaga photo album
June 22, 2017 by Leave a Comment
(Editor’s Note: The following was excerpted from an online exhibit curated by Wynn Kiyama, executive director of Portland Taiko and director of the Portland State University Taiko Ensemble. Photos courtesy of Portland State University Library). Yoshio Iwanaga (1900-1950) was a Japanese Buddhist minister who moved to California in 1930 and introduced doyo buyo (children’s dance) and Bon Odori (Obon […]
Berkeley: Muslim women gather to learn basics of self-defense
June 22, 2017 by Leave a Comment
BERKELEY, Calif. — A group of Muslim women gathered June 9 at a Berkeley mosque to learn about self-defense from a veteran martial arts instructor. The women met at the Qal’bu Maryam Women’s Mosque to tumble, grapple and learn the basics of keeping safe as fears continue to mount nationally over racist attacks against Muslims […]
THE GOCHISO GOURMET: Got rice?
June 22, 2017 by Leave a Comment
As far back as I can remember, the Tatsumoto clan always had rice in the house. There was the one 25-pound bag of rice “in use” stored in the mini plastic garbage can and the reserve 25-pound bag sitting next to the washing machine. If it seemed like there might be a possible Matson strike, […]
Navy confirms deaths of all 7 missing crew on damaged U.S. destroyer
June 22, 2017 by Leave a Comment
YOKOHAMA — The U.S. Navy said June 19 it has confirmed dead all seven crew members of its destroyer Fitzgerald who were listed as missing following a collision with a Filipino container ship south of Tokyo Bay at the weekend. The navy announced the end of its search for the missing crew the previous day […]
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