The Great Unknown and the Unknown Great: Chiura Obata: American illustrator

One area of United States culture in which Asian Americans have been able to make a substantial contribution is the visual arts. Yet visual artists and their production have remained fairly obscure in discussions of Asian American experience, at least as compared with literary creators and performing artists. To be sure, even compared with members […]

Close-knit Japantown artists reconnect

Amid the activity that filled the San Francisco Japantown streets during this year’s Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival, a close group of artists reunited to reminisce and showcase the artwork they created as members of the Japantown Art and Media (JAM) Workshop, which closed in 2000. About 15 people, artists and event attendees, joined the […]

Obama intends to nominate farmer to Nat’l Council on the Arts

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate David Mas Masumoto as a member of the National Council on the Arts on June 20. Masumoto is an organic peach and grape farmer, author, and columnist for The Fresno Bee. Masumoto’s books include “Epitaph for a Peach: Four Seasons on My Family Farm,” “Harvest […]

S.F. jazz club transforms into one-day Japanese cultural center

Yoshi’s Jazz Club and Japanese Restaurant opened its doors to the public on Oct. 1 to feature its fourth annual “The Flip Side of Yoshi’s,” a day of Japanese art and culture. Nearly 250 people packed the venue, located just outside of San Francisco’s Japantown, to experience the art and spirit of Japanese culture. The […]

A sampling of Bay Area cultural classes

Traditional Japanese Music and Dance Odori (Dance) Ensohza Minyoshu at Crissy Field Center, Presidio, SF Schedule: Sun. (twice a month), 5-7 p.m. Cost: Sessions are free. Students must make a commitment to joining the performance group, which entails costume costs and other occasional fees for training with master teachers. Contact: info@enzohza.org. Training in Japanese folk dance […]

Little Tokyo’s Aratani/Japan America Theatre to close for repair in Jan. 2011

LOS ANGELES — The Aratani Japan America Theatre of the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (JACCC) will close for repairs and upgrades on Jan. 31, 2011, the organization said. “Our theatre is nearly 30 years old,” said JACCC Executive Director Chris Aihara, “and there are necessary repairs that we now need to address. It […]

Artist Takara contributes to SJ museum exhibit

SAN JOSE — Mixed media artist Corinne Okada Takara combines her passion for design, textiles and fabrics to capture life in Silicon Valley in a concrete way. Collaborating with two other artists, Takara developed unique textile designs for the artwear installation “TECHstyle SoftWEAR: Surface and Shape,” at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles. […]

Saijo Hideki, the Ultimate Entertainer

Relaxed, coiffed and dressed stylishly in a skinny tie and patent shoes, Hideki Saijo does not look the least bit jetlagged from a 10-hour plane ride. Speaking fondly of his career, band members and memories of San Francisco, he is completely at ease, which would make sense, given that he has entertained and performed in […]