A week with Government and Advocacy

This week, July sixth through the tenth, we were working with Helen Hayashi. She took us to meet a bunch of different government officials from all different levels. We spoke with Lauren Watts of the Department of Transportation, Raul Peralez, the council member representing district three, Fred Buzo, the policy advisor for Sam Liccardo, Cindy Chavez, the supervisor of Santa Clara County, and Vedant Patel, the Congressional Aide to Mike Honda. One similarities that I saw between all of the people we spoke to was that they didn't take to government work as their first choice. Vedant had gone to college for biology, which was probably the farthest study from what he does now. Though I don't have a strong desire to stop filming and go on to work in a completely different area, I would like to follow their model of taking what they learned and applying it to what they currently do now. Raul Peralez told us an interesting story about his experience. Prior to being a council member, he was a cop for eight years. Through that time he learned how to connect with the community, and used that skill to get himself elected. Mike Inouye spoke to us about consciously applying what you've learned to other fields at the beginning of the internship, but reminders are always necessary.
 During our intern day up in San Francisco we spoke to a bunch of the organizations such as JCYC and the Nichi Bei Weekly. As we spoke with them they told us a lot about their organizations, but one thing we noticed was the very apparent lack of communication between the youth of the community and those who are currently leading it. They spoke about all that they do, but we knew virtually nothing about all the events that they put on. One of the tasks John Osaki gave us for this week was to figure out ways that we could bridge the gap between generations.

Yu-Ai Kai

Last week we worked with Yu-Ai Kai, a senior service facility that has the motto or mission statement of aging with dignity. Monday and Tuesday we worked with the Senior Day Service, SDS. SDS is like day care in a way for seniors. There are activities that help the seniors in the program stay sharp both mentally and physically as well as remain social. When we worked with them we spent most of the day just talking with the seniors and learning about them as well as keeping them active with arts & crafts, puzzles and games as well as daily stretching and physical activity. On Wednesday we helped move the items that would be used for a rummage sale to the house across from the SJ Betsuin from the second floor of Yu-Ai Kai. Most of our week outside of working with Yu-Ai Kai we worked on the video project that we have with Duane Kubo. Compiling interviews and shots as well as editing footage to meet our August 15 deadline. On Friday we finished recording our narration for the video by shooting Mike Inouye's scenes all day. This production took on a "modern" twist by incorporating moving shots of just narration as well as working with just one person in such shots. I am not a film guy so I was impressed with all that was going on. I am glad that Mike agreed to work with us because it showed that many people are willing to give back to the community, even if they have to make time for most of the day to be spent doing multiple takes of the same line until it is "prefect." This week was my last full week of NCI and I am glad to say that this summer was spent well and that I do not regret doing this program at all. I am glad to have met all these wonderful people in the community and all that they had done for us this summer. I hope this internship continues to thrive; San Jose has the best NCI program in my opinion.

Week of Arts and Culture

This week we got to work under Roy Hirabayashi. He took us to the Taiko studio off of Park St. One of the interesting things we got to learn about was the struggle to continue that many of these smaller groups face. Among them are issues like location, and retaining and gaining members. This is an issue we've been seeing throughout the Japan American communities while we've been apart of this internship. This is one of the issues I would like to help the Japantown community as a whole figure out. I don't know if and how it relates, but the dynamic reminds me of the similar age demographics we see in Japan where the population looks like an upside-down pyramid with the larger part of the community being the elderly and the youth being so sparse. I'd be interested to find out if the the reasons for both predicaments, here in America's Japantowns and in Japan,  are rooted in similar cultural facets. Regardless, I've grown up watching Taiko at various Obon festivals and it's been real talking to people who've really made this establishment happen.

We spoke with Franco Imperial and Wisa Uemura, the current leaders of Taiko, about where they want to go. They've talked about how they are trying to keep taiko the same in some regards, but also elevate the group to new levels. They've preformed with a local electronic group called Bangerz, and they brought together a unique sound that I think really needs to be experimented with more.

We also got an opportunity to meet with Chidori Band, a local band that has been around for over sixty years now. We spoke to them about how they were formed and got to hear about their journey's to bring the band to where it is today. The two that we met with, Duane Takahashi and Michael Yoshihara, were not the founding members of the band, but the current leaders. They talked about how they joined the group and their experiences being in charge of the well being of the group. Neither of them are full musicians either; they both, and from what I know the rest of the band, rehearse and preform on their own time.

On Wednesday, we spoke with Reverend Gerald Sakamoto. It was pretty impressive to hear about how far the Betsuin's reach is. Not only that but the variety of ways that they give back to the community. Yet despite the range of influence, the temple still holds strong values working with the community, bringing in the youth from across the street. One interesting issue he brought up was the troubles of being both a cultural center and a place of dharma. While he does want to focus primarily on dharma teachings, it comes at the cost of to some degree ostracizing members who aren't Japanese in culture or race. I don't have a solution to the issue of exclusionary experiences, but it is an issue that will definitely come up again and again throughout America as different cultures attempt to mix and mingle.

We also spoke with Juan Carlos of Empire Seven. He was telling us about how he, a non-Japanese American, decided to choose Japantown as a base of operations. He, like many of the others who work out of and/or live in Japantown, chose this community because it is a place that has this desire for coalition. It's remarkable that he's carving his name in the community and doing his part to keep Japantown a place that the youth can enjoy.

On the same note of non-Japanese culture, we also got a chance to visit the Mexican Heritage Plaza down on Alum Rock. I didn't realize that Taiko would hold such strong relations with them. We aren't from the same culture or background necessarily, but we all hold value in the arts and thats what helps bring us together. These guys reach out to the youth of the community and provide arts that they very well might not have received had this establishment not been around. Also their theatre is really nice. I feel like it might be nicer that the University Theatre at San Jose State.

The First Full Week- Business Association

We met with Kathy Sakamoto, Executive Director of the JBA. After attending her Zumba session, we were sent out into the public to meet and talk to the various shops and restaurants in the area to ask them about parking. We also got a chance to interview the community about their thoughts on Japantown as a whole. Many talked about their appreciation for the warm community that they've gotten to be apart of and as I have begun to also experience myself. While it would've been nice to really sit down with all of these establishments and really get to know them, speaking briefly and at least helping them get an outlet for a voice was wonderful still.

We got a chance to learn some of the past establishments here in Japantown, such as previous coffee shops and other specialized and general stores that have helped this community grow. And more amazingly, Japantown is pushing to stay modern and connected with the rest of the world, while still holding on to old values of a tight knit community and a great respect to their predecessors.
Some of the other opportunities we got here through the internship were dancing, which I was not ready for. At all. I had an exciting time though. On Monday we had an opportunity to work out with the seniors at the Akiyama Wellness Center, doing Zumba. I had never done Zumba before so the new experience was a real treat. On Wednesday, we also got to practice Hula; again, something I haven't gotten to do before. I like to dance, but I've never taken anything near a formal lesson before.


Getting to meet up with the San Francisco interns was a wonderful change of pace. We've been working hard within this community to just get the work assigned done, but also connect with the people who live and work here. Meeting up with the other interns brought different experiences. Aside from the excruciating drive up and back in traffic I really did enjoy myself. Hearing what other interns got to experience and how they were doing in general was really nice. Meeting up with them was almost exactly like seeing old friends and catching up like we hadn't seen each other in years.

We also got a chance to meet with other active members of the community. We got to meet Steve Nakajo, founder of Kimochi, and talk with him about the differences of Japanese, American, and Japanese-American cultures. We also saw got to see his genuine care for the community. The workshop we got to take part in gave us a chance to think about all of the different ways that one can give back to the community. The events and organizations varied from sports to academics, senior help to youth help, and cultural and business opportunities. It brought to my attention how diverse a microcosm can, and often times needs to be.

Community Safety and Disaster Preparedness

Oh boy was this week awesome! This week we got to work with Rich Saito, a former San Jose Police Lieutenant and current JCCsj Disaster Preparedness Coordinator. Rich started the week off by asking us two simple questions: what is safety and what is preparedness. My answer for safety was obviously wrong in the sense that I answered what is preparedness. Rich told us that safety is the state of feeling safe, or feeling as if no harm can be placed upon you. Preparedness is being ready for for something that could happen in the future, or basically being ready for an event like an earthquake or tornado and knowing what to do Before, During, and After. I am not the best person at explaining things so I will stop and let the professionals inform you when you go to a preparedness class like the ones Rich hosts every year.
This week unfortunately I did not get many photographs, or good photos so using your imagination will take place of my photos. After Rich talked to us about safety and preparedness he took us to one of the main San Jose Fire Department Stations near downtown. We got to see the firetrucks and fire-engines (there is a difference) as well as where they eat and workout. This was awesome because the last time I got to take a tour of a fire station was when I was little. The firefighters told us ways that they would like us, the people to make their jobs easier; things like keeping hallways clear and clearly marking the utilities so that they can shut them off would be nice since it just makes life easier for them. I am being serious about keeping the hallways clear since if you need to be rescued and you have junk cluttering the hall and they can't get in quickly, you are only hurting yourself. Our tour was pretty brief but informative and fun, unfortunately they didn't let me slide down the fire pole...
After the fire station we went to the main SJPD station to meet with Captain Ciaborrow (sorry if your name is spelt wrong). The Cpt. talked to us about being safe and ways to prevent or deter crime in the area. Things like simply communicating with neighbors about suspicious activity does a lot at preventing crime. Also he talked to us about the fact that SJPD is getting smaller because of what the former mayor did (cut benefits) so many firefighters and police are leaving and going to better departments. San Jose is down to just around 800 police officers for a city of 1.1 million. Rich told me that response times have doubled due to the smaller police force. San Jose is such a big city with a large population, but is only being protected by less than one percent of the total population, thats great, I feel safer (sarcasm). As a criminology-law enforcement major I feel strongly about the safety of people and knowing that the police force is only getting smaller concerns me.
Anyways, on Wednesday we went on a ride along with Rich and drove around the city in an unmarked police car, patrolling like real police officers. Fortunately or unfortunately nothing interesting went on so the day was spent just driving around. I thought it was fun though since it gave me some insight about what one of my future career paths could be like.
In all this week was fun, just because I got to meet with people who are in law enforcement and public safety and since that is my future career goal I was able to gain valuable information from very important people.

-Alec Matsumoto 7/17/2015

Government and Advocacy

This week, week 4 of NCI we spent our time with Helen Hayashi to learn about government and advocacy. Through Helen's connections we were able to meet various people who worked with the government; mainly local. To start off our time with Helen she had us research each level of government (local (city and county), state, and federal) before we met with people. Being a Criminology-Law Enforcement major I researched the aspects of how each level of government used law enforcement, so I searched San Jose Police, Santa Clara County Sheriffs, California Highway Patrol, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (fun fact, I like to call the FBI the Federal Bureau of Intimidation because of an NCIS episode I watched). I understood the relationship of these law enforcement groups with the exception of the Sheriffs Department because for me and like most people we do not really know what the county does. With this research we finished we drove over to San Jose City Hall and met with Fred Buzo. Fred is one of the people who helps Mayor Sam Liccardo. Meeting with Fred was a great experience because he talked about how he got into working with politics and how Japantown was an important part of San Jose. The common theme of meeting with these people is that they went into one field of study and ended up doing something else; Fred was a lawyer who ended up in politics after a while. Later that day we met with Laura Wells. Laura is in charge of the Department of Transportation in San Jose and she told us that her field of study was actually civil engineering and that working for the DOT was not exactly a career she wanted but ended up becoming in charge after sometime. She took us the DOT's Transportation Management Center to show us one of the many "toys" that they have to help the city's traffic needs. This place was as someone put it right out of the movie The Italian Job. One big screen where you can see any of the 200 traffic cameras throughout San Jose. This place was pretty cool and interesting and the fact that its in a "secret" location that you would just walk past makes it even cooler.

DOT TMC 7/6/2015. Photo by Alec Matsumoto

On Tuesday we worked with Kathy Sakamoto with the JBA again. We helped her stuff letters for VIPs for the upcoming 125th Anniversary of Japantown. VIPs such as Congressman Mike Honda, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, and various San Jose City Council members, and county supervisors. My hand writing is not the best but I guess it was good enough to have the task to address the envelopes.

Letters to the VIPs 7/7/2015. Photo by Alec Matsumoto

Wednesday was a great day. We got to meet with three interesting people from government. The first person we met was Cindy Chavez. Cindy is one of the Santa Clara County Supervisors and she talked to us about the role of the county. Remember in the first paragraph where I talk about how people do not know what the county does, well Cindy explained it to us and it really helped. Essentially the county can be a city government for places that are not inside of a city's boundaries, also they act on behalf of the federal government when needed. They provide jails for cities as well as the courts and probation. The county does a lot, but we don't exactly realize it. Cindy drew me a diagram or picture to help illustrate what the county does:

Picture illustrating what the county does by Cindy Chavez 7/8/2015. Photo by Alec Matsumoto

Later that day we met with first term City Council member Raul Peralez. Raul was a straightforward and honest guy. He told us the process of him becoming a city council member was not a one year thing but it actually took him about four years to actually do. He said that he did a lot of research for this job prior to even running for office and that he did not even expect to become a city council member coming out of college. He told us that he majored and got his degree in math and became a teacher for his old high school in Cupertino. Later he became an EMS then eventually served as a San Jose PD officer for eight years before becoming a city council member. He said doing what you like is better than doing something you don't like and he enjoyed everything he did. He still holds his substitute teaching permit so that if he ever wants to he can go back and teach students. From what I can tell, Raul does things that interests him while also serving and giving back to the community.

After meeting with Raul we met with Vedant Patel of Congressman Mike Honda's Santa Clara Office. Vedant talked to us about how he got into politics and what a Congressperson actually does. Vedant actually majored in biology wanting to become a doctor but after graduating he got an internship with the Congressman and has worked for him for a while now. He also talked about how much a Congressperson's office can do for the people that they serve and also how how hard it is to run a campaign.

I think that common theme of this week was not about politics even though it was but instead of how the journey of life is an interesting one where we do not know where we will end up. Vedant was a bio major but ended up working as a Congressional Aide, Raul was a math major who became a teacher then an EMS responder then a police officer then a City Council Member, Fred was a lawyer who found his way to the Mayor's Office, and Laura was a civil engineer who had no interest in DOT but ended up becoming the head of it. We never know where we may end up but from what I can tell is that all of these people enjoy their jobs and all I can say is I hope that my future is similar to theres.

Also I found that it is hard to go anywhere in the JA community where there is not someone who knows either one of my parents, especially my "famous" mom...

-Alec Matsumoto 7/10/2015

Arts & Culture

 This week Roy Hirabayashi was our supervisor and he took us to various arts and culture place around Japantown. On Monday we visited San Jose Taiko's practice facility in downtown to see where they practice and also to talk about the history and trouble that SJ Taiko has had with getting a place to practice. He told us that SJ Taiko has gone through many different places over the years and the previous place they had problems with noise complaints directed towards them; taiko isn't a quiet activity. He said they really got lucky when they found their current location cause it was set to be demolished by the city for the new baseball stadium that would have been for the A's if they came to San Jose. Luckily they were able to secure a lease for the whole building from the city about a week before it was going to be leveled. Roy said that they wanted the whole building so that they did not have to deal with neighbors complaining about the noise being generated by playing on the drums. Roy also talked about how eventually they would have to move and find a new place again because the city still plans to tear down the building for redevelopment in the future so they are looking into finding a new place to hopefully call home permanently.

On Tuesday Roy took us to meet Duane Takahashi and Michael Yoshihara of San Jose's Chidori Band at Kubota Restaurant. They talked to us about how Chidori Band is one of the last bands in the country that does what they do; write and play music in Japanese for the Japanese American community. They said that the busiest time for the band is during Obon season since they go around to the different temple Obons to play music for the Bon Odori since they are the last band like them in the USA. I remember seeing them each time they played at my Obon, the Mountain View Obon one and how I always thought it was interesting in how the band was so appealing even though I could not understand what they were singing about and how there was the "old school" vibe when they play.

Chirdori Band 60th Anniversary

On Wednesday we met with Rev. Gerald Sakamoto of the San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin and talked to him about the involvement of the temple in the community. I thought that it was interesting how the role of the various Shin Buddhist Temples in the USA kind of played the same role while also playing different roles as well. Most temples are the focal community center for the Nikkei Community sponsoring groups like Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, YBA, sports leagues, and etc. Rev. Sakamoto also talked about how the temples should try to shift from being the cultural center that they are to a Dharma center and focus more on the Dharma instead of the culture since thats what a Buddhist Temple should be doing in my opinion. But since most temples helped many of the Issei, Nisei, and Sansei, its hard to see that shift happen since the temples are rooted deeply in the community with all the groups that they sponsor.

Later in the day we walked down to Empire7Studios to meet with co-owner Juan Carlos to talk to him about why he set up shop in Japantown and the importance of the art scene in Japantown. He told us that the murals that he does helps make the area look more vibrant but also sends a message of what is going on. I know for sure I like the mural that is on Santo Market's wall as well as the other ones on the electrical boxes around Japantown.

On Thursday we went to the Mexican Heritage Plaza and met with Tamra, the Executive Director over there. She talked to us about how the Plaza had a trouble some start and that her agency was able to revitalize it within four years. We learned of the importance of having a cultural center and that the Plaza wasn't just for Mexican Heritage but for other cultures to use and be on display. Later that day we met with Wisa and Franco from San Jose Taiko to talk about SJ Taiko and how they fit into the leadership and direction of the future of this ancient art form.

Alec Matsumoto 7/6/15