Here’s Jay Jao’s photos of our hapihour.org afterparty for Michael Kang’s West 32nd movie on March 16 at Yoshi’s San Francisco. The movie was the centerpiece presentation of the 2008 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. The party was co-hosted by MANJA, APA|FIVE and Empty Kingdom.

The primary goal of the symposium will be to encourage understanding, dialogue and person-to person communication between Japanese and Japanese American women scholars regarding Japanese and Japanese American history. A second goal of the symposium will be to engage a younger generation of audience as a means to ensure a continuing appreciation of and pursuit of positive and constructive U.S.-Japan relations.

This symposium, co-sponsored by the Consulate of Japan and the National Japanese American Historical Society (NJAHS), is a continuation of the 2006 series on “Japanese American Identities.” This event focuses on the role of Nikkei women in the immigration experience.

“We are pleased to present this public presentation as a means to enhance our mutual understanding and academic networks by discussing how women in the two countries have contributed to the US-Japan relationship through time,” said a statement from organizers. “It is our hope and intent to begin the dialogue that would culminate in a weekend-long program in Japan in 2009.”

The event will include a panel presentation by Japanese women scholars Kikuyo Tanaka, Ph.D. (Kwansei Gakuin University); Mariko Kitayama-Takagi, Ph.D. (Aichi Gakuin University ); Yoko Tsujimoto, Ph.D. (Kobe City University of Foreign Studies); Ikumi T. Yanagisawa, Ph.D. (Nagoya University); and Eriko Yamamoto, Ph.D. (independent researcher).

A respondents roundtable will include: Satsuki Ina, Ph.D. counselor education, California State University, Sacramento; Reiko Homma-True, Ph.D. clinical psychology; and Rita Takahashi, Ph.D. social work, San Francisco State University.

The program will end with a panel presentation by Japanese American women scholars Valerie Matsumoto, Ph.D., UCLA; Lynne Horiuchi, Ph.D., UC Berkeley; and Eileen Sunada Sarasohn, MA, Sacramento City College.

Panelists:

Kikuyo Tanaka, Ph.D. (professor, Kwansei-Gakuin University), “Reconsidering Japanese Immigration History to the United States: Focus on Issei Women” — By reviewing the current trends in the studies of Japanese Immigration to the United States, and specifically focusing on the Issei women, Tanaka will propose perspectives for the 21st century. Dr. Tanaka will also introduce the International Association for North American Ethnic Studies and the women scholars who study social and cultural relations between Japan and the United States.

Mariko Takagi-Kitayama, Ph.D. (professor, Aichi Gakuin University), “Issei Women and Haiku/Tanka Poems in Hawaii” — Haiku and tanka societies in Hawai‘i began at the end of the 19th century. This study will focus on the poems about Issei women in Hawai‘i, describing their lives and feelings as expressed both by the women themselves as well as by Issei male poets.

Yoko Tsujimoto, Ph.D. (professor, Kobe City University of Foreign Studies), “Shifting images of Japanese immigrants to the U.S.: from ‘America Monogatari (Tale of America)’ to ‘Tokyo Kid’” — Kafu Nagai’s 1908 novel “America Monogatari (Tale of America),” based on his experience in the United States, depicted the Japanese immigrant experience. By comparing images from Nagai’s novel with the depiction of Japanese immigrants in the film “Tokyo Kid” (1950), Tsujimoto will discuss the shifting images of Japanese immigrants to the States in the course of half a century.

Ikumi T. Yanagisawa, Ph.D. (lecturer, Nagoya University of Foreign Studies), “A Historical Study of Issei Women Farm Workers: Beyond the Discourse of ‘Abused Women’” — This presentation examines the role of Issei women who engaged in back-breaking farm labor along side their husbands, and the corresponding negative images that often described them as victims of coercion and abuse by Japanese husbands. This image was often used to denigrate Japanese immigrants as “uncivilized” while at the same time American farmers farmed in much the same way. In spite of such negative images, Issei women farmers contributed significantly to the economic stability of the Japanese American family as well as the stability of Japanese American farming.

Eriko Yamamoto, Ph.D. (independent scholar), “The Portrait of an Issei Lady: Abiko Yonako (1880-1944)” — The paper will examine the life, vision, and social contributions of Yona Abiko (1880-1944), an exceptional Issei woman who performed strong leadership in the pre-war Japanese American community while keeping close ties with white American leaders in the U.S. and Japanese elite back home. Based in San Francisco, she devoted herself to improving the status of Issei women and their Nisei children. Among her contributions was the foundation and development of the San Francisco Japanese YWCA and the organization of two Nisei tours (kengakudan) to Japan in 1925 and 1926. In tune with the pluralistic assimilation approach promoted by the YWCA’s International Institutes movement in the 1910s-40s, Yonako had much in common with white women social workers from well-to-do families in the late 19th century.

Panel Presentations – USA: Japanese American women scholars to discuss their work and research in the Japanese American community.

Lynne Horiuchi, Ph.D. (architectural history, visiting scholar, Institute of Governmental Studies, UC Berkeley), “Turning Leaves: the Japanese American Family Album Project.” Horiuchi addresses the use of an ethnic studies “lens” to look at traditional humanities subjects. She argues that such an approach inspires new questions and different perspectives that may contribute to reframing the foundation and modus operandi of contemporary scholarship. Her current work is an architectural study of the built environments of the incarceration of Japanese and Japanese Americans during World War II, as seen through an ethnic studies lens. She briefly introduces a forthcoming article on Mine Okubo, a perceptive and brilliant Japanese American artist who recorded the incarceration of Japanese and Japanese Americans through her art, the Trek (the art magazine produced in the Topaz Relocation Center), and her 1946 publication, Citizen 13660.

Valerie Matsumoto, Ph.D.(history and Asian American studies, UCLA), “Rice and Rings: Nisei Women, Courtship and Marriage in the Early Post-war Period” — Drawing from research in southern California, Matsumoto will discuss Nisei courtship and marriage. The expectations of Issei parents, the anti-miscegenation laws and sentiments of the dominant society, economic hardship, ethnic peer networks, and mainstream popular culture all influenced Nisei romance and marriage in the early postwar period.

Eileen Sunada Sarasohn, MA (history, Sacramento City College), “Issei Women: Echoes from Another Frontier”

Roundtable Discussion: Following the panel presentations there will be a roundtable including three respondents: Dr. Satsuki Ina, education; Dr. Reiko Homma-True, clinical psychology, and Dr. Rita Takahashi,(professor and director of School of Social Work Program, San Francisco State University).

Pre-registration requested at (415) 921-5007 or (415) 356-2466.

A buffet luncheon sponsored by the National Japanese American Historical Society will follow to continue the dialogue. Cost is $15 per person, and reservations recommended to (415) 921-5007 or njahs@njahs.org.

Union Bank of California today presented the San Francisco Japantown Foundation with a $10,000 donation to support the organization’s mission. George Tanaka, Union Bank of California vice president and diverse market’s administration manager, presented the check to the Foundation on behalf of the bank.

Read more at sfjapantownfoundation.org

Program speaker Dr. Prasad Kaipa will discuss how to better access the “genius within us.” In his 18 years of working with over 15,000 executives, Dr. Kaipa found that there are four essential questions that provoke deeper inquiry into who we are and shift what we do.

ABL members are free with advance registration. Non-members are $10 with advance registration and $15 at the door. Join ABL-SF as a member for only $40 and attend the seminar for free.

Click here to register for the event. Visit www.ablsf.org or email ablsf@aol.com for more information.

Dr. Kaipa is the founder of Kaipa Group (CEO Advisor and Coach) and Executive Director, Center for Leadership, Innovation and Change (CLIC) Indian School of Business (www.isb.edu). Prasad splits his time between his role as Executive Director of the Center for Leadership, Innovation and Change (CLIC) at Indian School of Business (ISB) Hyderabad and Kaipa Group consulting practice. Prasad Kaipa has been an advisor and coach since 1990 for over 100 CEOs, executive team members and board members in Fortune 500 companies like Disney, Adobe, Sun, Boeing and also entrepreneurial/international companies like Aztec, BAE Systems, Lunar Design, Mastek, Olixir, Scintera Networks, Aankhen, Polaris and VARStreet.

Prasad co-founded Entrepreneur Institute for the TIE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) in 2002 and over 13,000 entrepreneurs have gone through its programs so far. He is a part-time faculty in the areas of Organizational Systems, Creativity and Innovation; and Developmental and Cognitive Psychology at the Saybrook Graduate School and a visiting professor in the areas of leadership, mindsets, and change management in ISB. Prasad was/is on the board of directors/trustees for Society for Organizational Learning (created around Peter Senge’s learning organization concepts), i-Mantri, Aankhen, Hindu University of North America, Integral Leadership Review, Intertec Communications and Catalyst.

The Big A will be a national Asian American monthly glossy with supplemental online content targeting the 18-34 demographic and covering topics ranging from business to lifestyle.

From their website: “While local and regional publications may address the Asian American culture in their specific communities, they offer no connection to Asian American culture on a national or international level. The online component will be a complement and not a duplicate of the magazine. The website will be very interactive and innovative with pod castings and blogging capabilities. This website will ask our viewers for their opinions and comments with results posted in the next issue.”

Don was most recently with the San Diego Union-Tribune and serves on the national governing board of the Asian American Journalists Association. He was previously with the Los Angeles Times, The Hollywood Reporter and the Orange County Register.

I also got to meet the magazine’s CEO and publisher Bessy Lee-Oh and vice president of business development Duy Nguyen.

The magazine mock-up looks great and I’m looking forward to seeing them succeed in a tough segment.

UPDATE: An announcement today about the formation of a National Association of Asian Publishers.

Virtual raffle tickets are $2 each and can be purchased in multiple quantities. The winner, selected at random, will receive:

• Two (2) tickets to see the Michael Kang’s WEST 32ND, starring John Cho and Grace Park, showing Sunday, March 16, at 6 p.m. at Castro Theatre. The showing is sold-out so there are very few other ways to get tickets.
• Two (2) entries into the WEST 32ND pre-screening cocktail reception at the Castro at 5 p.m.
• And two (2) VIP guestlist spots for the WEST 32ND afterparty at Yoshi’s later that night at 8 p.m.

The proceeds will be split 50-50 between CAAM and hapihour.org.

Virtual raffle tickets must be purchased by 5 p.m. PDT on Thursday, March 13. Winner will be notified via mail that evening.

The San Jose Mercury News published an article about Zhang Jiahuan, also known as “Sunny,” on Sunday, March 9. On May 10, 8 p.m., the Star Valley’s Children Choir will hold a concert in honor of “Sunny” at the First United Methodist Church, 625 Hamilton Avenue in Palo Alto.  For tickets, there is a suggested donation of $15.  All proceeds will go to the foundation Sunny started to raise money to educate the public about spinal muscular atrophy.  For ticket information, call (650) 922-1196.  This will be Sunny’s last concert in the United States before returning to China.

Come and celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Monthby joining the Asian American Journalists Association for an elegant night of food and wine at the historic Ferry Building. The San Francisco chapter of AAJA will be bringing together some of the best local Asian American chefs for a food fundraiser on Thursday, May 8, from 7 p.m. at the Ferry Building on San Francisco’s Embarcadero. The event will raise money for scholarships for young Asian American student journalists.

East West Eats will feature food from a number of local restaurants, wine and beverages, a food demonstration and entertainment. The list of restaurants include Betelnut, Straits Restaurants, Butterfly, Three Seasons, Junnoon, Poleng Lounge, Red Lantern, Maharani and Hilton San Francisco.

Tickets bought before April 25 are $85 for AAJA members/$100 for non members. After April 25, tickets are $100 for AAJA members and $115 for non members.

For more information and to buy tickets, visit www.aajasf.org.

The Center for Asian America Media present the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF) every March. The SFIAAFF is the nation’s largest showcase for new Asian American and Asian films, annually presenting approximately 120 works in San Francisco, Berkeley and San Jose. Since 1982, the SFIAAFF has been an important launching point for Asian American independent filmmakers as well as a vital source for new Asian cinema.

CLICK HERE to purchase tickets for the Gala Reception only.

CLICK HERE to purchase tickets to both the screening of Amal and the Gala Reception for $25.

Screening-only tickets are not available for San Jose Opening Night.