Week 2

(Lina, Kathy and Alex)

We began week 2 on Monday by meeting with Kathy Sakamoto, the Executive Director of the Japantown Business Association. Although Kathy had recently injured her leg, she was always very bright and happy! We cleaned a utility box in Japantown, so that Yurika Chiba, Artistic Staff at San Jose Taiko, would be able to repaint her Taiko Cat Art Box (which was voted as the most eye catching!) Afterwards, we went to the JBA office and learned about the importance of the JBA in San Jose (and also about Kathy’s passion for any and all things related to dancing). Kathy also asked us about the things we were passionate about, and why we decided to pursue this internship. It was interesting to hear about her experiences in San Jose Japantown and her perspective of the community. San Jose’s NCI program is very special because it allows us to meet so many different individuals with unique experiences; these stories broaden our perspective of the Nikkei Community, and deepen our understanding as to how we can continue to be a part of the community in the years to come.

On Tuesday, We started our four day JBA Instagram promotion by taking photos of items inside four Japantown stores: Kogura Company, Banana Crepe, Cukui, and Nikkei Traditions. Every day, we would post photos on Instagram asking which store the items came from, and whoever guessed correctly would win a prize. It was nice to meet a couple of the winners! 

Kathy had suggested that she wanted a JBA mascot, so we decided to help! We brainstormed potential ideas for the mascot, and decided that we wanted a friendly looking cat to represent JBA.  My friend Diana Lin is a student at RISD (Rhode Island School of Design), and she helped us out by drawing the cat. Then, on Wednesday, I used Adobe Illustrator to draw the image on the computer.

(Diana's Drawing)

(Final Product)

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(On very left Jon Osaki)

On Thursday June 23rd we participated in our first intern day in San Francisco hosted by Erika Tamura. We decided to drive up to San Francisco at 8:30 in the morning but unfortunately witnessed traffic and were ultimately 30 minutes late. Had we known President Obama was in San Francisco we would have left earlier. Our day consisted of three guest speakers and their workshops. Our first speaker was Jon Osaki the Executive Director of Japanese Community Youth Council (JCYC). He showed us videos of JCYC and the development of the organization from the start to present day. After we debriefed what we saw and we discussed topics like "what does a Japanese community mean to you". After we had bentos from Nijiya for lunch provided by Erika. Next a worker from the JCYC spoke to us. He was a summer camper as a child in the organization. He did a team building game with us and later taught us about organizing busy schedules and priorities. The next guest speaker showed us a video of the Japanese internment camps through the eyes of Americans meaning, they believed that it was a "summer vacation" or that "they were helping the Japanese". After the video we discussed how we felt. After this speaker was done we drove back to San Jose to conclude our long day.

Kathy reading our Thank You card

On Friday June 24 we met with Ellen for our weekly checkin at Roy's Station. During our check in we discussed with her our thoughts, feelings and take aways from the week. She encouraged us to be ourselves and to not be afraid of sharing our thoughts with her. Our second week of our internship with Kathy and the JBA was fun and adventurous and we cannot wait until our third week with Rich Saito.





-Alex Okamoto and Lina Lalwani

First Week!

(Photo provided by Taylor Kim)

My journey with NCI began with Orientation in Los Angeles, where I met Alex and the interns from San Francisco and Los Angeles. We learned about Little Tokyo and the Nikkei community through workshops, discussions, and a scavenger hunt. One of my favorite parts of orientation was getting the chance to talk to Alan Nishio about the evolution of the Nikkei Community and what it means to be Japanese American in a globalizing world. Overall, I would say that the trip to LA was fantastic; all of the interns were really sweet, and it was great to have the chance to bond with all of them!

When we got back to San Jose, we first met Roy Hirabayashi, who introduced us to the San Jose Japantown. He took us on a walking tour, and later on, we went around again to observe some of the monuments in the area. We had numerous talks about the historical significance of San Jose Japantown and what we as interns can do to preserve Japantown for future years to come. My favorite experience this week was getting to spend time with Roy, PJ, and the artistic staff of San Jose Taiko, one of the pivotal groups in the North American Taiko. At school, I am a member of Brown/RISD’s Gendo Taiko. For me, taiko is more than just drumming; Gendo is my family on campus and has given me a lot support during tough times. I admire San Jose Taiko for their ability to use taiko as a way to celebrate the Japanese American community and strengthen Japantown. On Thursday evening, I saw the group collaborating with various works of art at the San Jose Museum of Art. Indeed, taiko has no creative limitations.

On Friday, I finally got to meet Ellen Kamei, Ryan Kawamoto, and past interns Iszac and Alec. Hearing their experiences with the program last year was really helpful. Although it has only been a week since the start of NCI, I am having a great time! I have already met so many incredible individuals that have made me feel like I am a part of this community. I am confident that this internship is going to be a wonderful experience and am looking forward to what's next!

-Lina Lalwani, 6/19/16