Community News

A new generation of leaders vying for queen

The Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival Queen Program presented its 2023 queen candidates during its virtual preview press conference March 15 over Zoom. The program, a highlight of the city’s annual cherry blossom festival, will take place April 8 at the Cowell Theatre in Fort Mason. The candidates are: Samantha Michiko Teshima, Maya Isaka, Emily […]

Hayward, Calif. community holds dedication for Japanese American Memorial

Dozens of Bay Area community members paid tribute to the 606 Japanese American residents of the Hayward, Calif. area who were forcibly removed from their homes in 1942, at a ceremony Feb. 4, dedicating a new public sculpture installed at the Hayward Heritage Plaza. The sculpture, designed by artist and historian Patricia Wakida, was commissioned […]

Community honors Issei, dives into family histories, at 5th Nikkei Angel Island Pilgrimage

With the beat of drums by PJ Hirabayashi and the TaikoPeace Ambassadors, Nichi Bei Foundation’s fifth Nikkei Angel Island Pilgrimage commenced at the Angel Island Immigration Station Oct. 1. Overlooking China Cove, where immigrants first set foot on U.S. soil before heading to the mainland, the pilgrimage honored the Issei immigrants who first set foot […]

ACC Senior Services celebrates 50 years in Sacramento

With the formation of Asian American identity during the 1960s student movements, Sacramento’s Asian communities came together in a unique way to serve its seniors. Celebrating 50 years, ACC Senior Services has evolved into a major organization that supports Sacramento’s senior populations, but it was born out of an eclectic mix of community interests and […]

‘Remembrance for Peace’ commemorates atomic bombings

According to an excerpt from her essay, “In Hiroshima, Japan, a Teenager Finds an Unexpected Home,” Daisy Okazaki went “to the Peace Park for the memorial of the 74th anniversary of the bombing” Aug. 6, 2019. The Aug. 9 virtual “Remembrance for Peace” event — presented by the Nichi Bei Foundation and Friends of Hibakusha […]

To-fun for all as Soy and Tofu Festival makes comeback

After two years of dormancy due to the pandemic, the Northern California Soy and Tofu Festival returned July 2 to where it all began to hold its festival on San Francisco Japantown’s Peace Plaza. The festival, praising all that is the “joy of soy,” celebrates and educates visitors about the versatile legume and the Asian […]

Supervising ministers feel burden from shortage

Nationwide, more than 60 churches and temples affiliated with the Buddhist Churches of America serve thousands of adherents to the Jodo Shinshu sect of Buddhism, but with many of its clergy members at retirement age, the network of churches is encountering a shortage of ministers further exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. “Even before the pandemic, […]

Teachers respond to fire in S.F.’s Western Addition

Cecily Ina-Lee stood in the recess yard at Rosa Parks Elementary School in San Francisco’s Western Addition neighborhood May 13 when a colleague told her smoke was rising from an apartment complex behind the school. The Japanese Bilingual Bicultural Program teacher quickly dialed 911. Ina-Lee ran toward the building, located at 10 Inca Lane, “to […]

Fighting back against anti-Asian hate

After being a victim of what she described as an anti-Asian verbal incident in August 2020 in Los Angeles that went viral online, Hong Lee decided to take action for the Asian American community. After taking a self-defense class at Box for Change, Los Angeles, Lee began talking to a few friends about how they […]

Queen Stephanie Misa Doi and court embark on year-long JA journey

The AMC Kabuki 8 in San Francisco’s Japantown was packed for the 2022 Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival Queen Program April 9, signaling a return to form for the annual program for young professional Japanese American women. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a major break in tradition as the in-person festival was canceled in 2020. The […]

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