Nakayoshi volunteering event at the Nihonmachi Street Fair!

For those of you who wanted to see more opportunities to volunteer at community events, here's Nakayoshi's first volunteer event!

Thanks to Lenna Onishi at the Japanese Community Youth Council (JCYC), we've been asked to help out in the children's area during the Nihonmachi Street Fair in Japantown the weekend of August 9th and 10th. Let us know at nakayoshi.ncwnp@gmail.com if you can come out to volunteer at one of the shifts. More details are below:

35th Annual Nihonmachi Street Fair

On August 9 & 10, the Nihonmachi Street Fair will take place in San Francisco's Japantown! Celebrating its 35th year, the first Nihonmachi Street Fair was a meeting ground for Asian American youth to address issues that were taking place in SF Japantown at that time. Today, the event is an opportunity for community groups, artisans, and local artists to come together to celebrate diversity and culture.

This year, the Nihonmachi Street Fair will run from 12noon - 6pm.

We are currently looking for volunteers to work in the Children's Village area of the event! Volunteers are needed on both Saturday (August 9) & Sunday (August 10)!

Volunteer shifts:

Shift 1: 9am -12 noon (set-up)

Shift 2: 12noon-3pm

Shift 3: 3-6pm

Volunteers will be asked to monitor game & crafts booths.

If you are interested in volunteering or would like more information, please contact 415 202 7909 or info@jcyc.org. Your help is greatly appreciated!

For more information on the Nihonmachi Street Fair, please visit www.nihonmachistreetfair.org

Thank you!

As always, we'd love to see you as well as some new faces come out to lend a hand. Let us know if you're coming out!

day one - jacl convention: awaiting the light

unlike most californians who ride away from the sun to get to the Great Salt Lake, my experience is different. yes, i am a member of nakayoshi, but more in spirit than in the physical sense. as a, now, local dc resident, the 5-hour plane ride left me feeling disoriented and yet excited in knowing of the potential friends that can be made and the creation of memories that last us a lifetime.

many of us come out of obligation and as a responsibility of being involved in a civil rights organization. it's a way of giving back to a community that our parents, and grandparents were a part of. however, there are many of us who choose to embrace the coming of a new dawn with arms outstreched and heavy breaths. we await to see the revolution of a once, great power in the asian american community.

looking forward to the next jam-packed couple of days, i personally, am excited at the prospect of youth and young professional empowerment. no longer are we the immature, inexperienced, do-nothing generation y, but we are the coming of a new era. and that is something to get your heart fluttering.

before signing off, i want to give a big shout-out to my boy alec MAC-D -- once of the chi and now a distant family member of the bay.

brandon mita is the current jacl edc youth chair and a candidate for jacl national youth representative. he is currently attending howard university school of law in washington, dc. he hopes to relocate out to the bay very soon.

Nakayoshi Event Featured in the Nichi Bei Times

Hey folks,

In addition to the photos on Facebook, you can also catch the highlights of last Sunday's BBQ in this week's Nichi Bei Times. The online version is not up just yet, but the print copy is out today.

Speaking of Nichi Bei, the newspaper is holding a manga drawing contest, with a deadline of next Monday--so if you're a closet otaku, and have some extra time this holiday weekend, you might want to put together an entry. First place wins art-making software and publication on next week's cover.

And don't forget, the next Nakayoshi meeting is Sunday, July 13. Mark your calendars!