Much Needed Recap - We've been busy!

Over the past two months, our Nakayoshi calendar has been crazy busy! And things haven't slowed down one bit! But if you haven't joined us for our social or volunteer events... you're definitely missing out and we encourage you to join us! Just read about what's been happening with Nakayoshi over the past few months!

Tokyo Sonata Screening @ SFIAAF
Back in early March, our March Social began with a screening of Tokyo Sonata at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF) followed by dinner & karaoke. Event Coordinator Emily Leach did an amazing job in organizing group tickets for the screening and we even caught a group picture with Tokyo Sonata Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa! We later learned that Tokyo Sonata won Best Film and Best Screenwriter, and Kurosawa won Best Director at the festival! And of course, what better way to end a screening then with delicious shabu shabu! Heading down to Mum's to fill our stomachs and singing our hearts out karaoking in J-town. The night was definitely a successful social event!


Nichi Bei Time's 1st Annual Tofu Dessert Contest & Festival

For our March Volunteer event, Nakayoshi volunteered with Nichi Bei Times at their Tofu Dessert Contest and Festival and had an amazing time! The fun was never ending, with community vendors bringing their own unique tofu products to sample, children's tofu games with giant square sponges that looked like tofu, and tofu haiku contests there was entertainment for all! And what was more exciting, Nakayoshi members Vincent Chang and Emily Leach both competed in the Dessert Contest! We are definitely looking forward to next year's Tofu Festival!

Nakayoshi @ 42nd Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival
Participating at our first community festival, we couldn't have picked a better weekend then the 42nd Annual Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival. With many of our volunteers involved in all aspects of the festival, our hands were a bit busy but we still found time to table and meet some of the other young professionals enjoying the festival. If you stopped by the JACL table, we hope to see you soon @ our upcoming events! Look for us at our next festival - the Asian Heritage Street Celebration on May 16th (11am-6pm)!

Nakayoshi April Social - Hike @ Purisma Creek
Our Social Committee did an amazing job planning April's social event! Kudos goes to Event Coordinator Atsushi Miyamoto, who test ran the course prior to our hike! Hiking up in the hills at Half Moon Bay, the group had a great time chattin' it up and enjoying the beauty of all the greenery and flowers along the trail. Escaping from city life felt amazing, and it was almost felt like those elementary school days when your class took natural science hikes. Seeing all types of creatures, watching out for poison oak, and everyone eating home made packed lunches. Definitely an adventure and worth seeing the view from the top! Check out the video made by Nakayoshi member Matt Mori and view pictures on Nakayoshi's picasa albums!

Nakayoshi Volunteers with West Valley JACL Chapter @ Nikkei Matsuri
Helping out our fellow JACL Chapters, Nakayoshi helped volunteer at the WV JACL Chapter Strawberry Shortcake Booth! Not bad for a beautiful Sunday afternoon, helping serve up some sweet desserts for their chapter fundraiser! It was a great festival, with performances, a delicious variety of food booths, and tons of amazing vendors.

It's definitely been busy for the past few months, and there's more to come! So if you haven't already, come out and volunteer or network with other young professionals at one of our upcoming socials!

September Events

Wow… September is a pretty busy month for Nakayoshi! Those of you in our Facebook group have been sent invitations to our events, but for everyone else, here’s what we have going on:

9/13/08: Volunteering at JCCCNC’s Annual Event, “Salute to a Vision”

Nakayoshi will be joining other volunteers at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California’s annual fundraising event on Saturday, September 13th at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in Union Square, San Francisco. The event will commemorate the JCCCNC’s Executive Director Paul Osaki for his 30 years of service to the community and 20 years as a leader at the JCCCNC. Unfortunately we have already finalized our list of volunteers for the event. Thank you very much for everyone who is volunteering! We’ll see you on Saturday!


9/20/08: National AIDS Memorial Grove Cleanup

Join Nakayoshi and the San Francisco chapter of the JACL as we help clean up the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park on Saturday, September 20th from 9:00am to 1:00pm.

The AIDS Memorial Grove is located at the intersection of Bowling Green and Middle Drive East. Make sure you come in clothes you don’t mind getting a little dirty! Please RSVP at nakayoshi.ncwnp@gmail.com to let us know if you’re coming.

More information on the National AIDS Memorial Grove, including directions, is available at: www.aidsmemorial.org



9/20/08: Oakland A’s Japanese Heritage Day

Are you a baseball fan? Watch Kurt Suzuki and the Oakand A's play against Ichiro Suzuki and Kenji Johjima of the Seattle Mariners as they celebrate Japanese Heritage Day. On-field pre-game including traditional taiko drummers and the San Francisco 2008 Cherry Blossom Queen. Tickets are $30 each. $6 for each sold ticket will benefit Japanese American communities, youth baseball, bay area Parks and Recreation and Education. Game time is 1:05pm.

Due to low response from our members, Nakayoshi will not be attending the game. If you still are interested in going to the game on your own, you have until Friday, September 12th to order your tickets. Ticket order forms for the game can be downloaded from the JCCCNC here.


9/27/08: Karaoke Social at Gamba in Cupertino

Karaoke… I heard somewhere that it means tone-deaf in Japanese. But then I looked it up and Wikipedia tells me that it means “empty orchestra.” Who knew? In any case, if you love to sing and are looking for a fun night out, come with Nakayoshi to Gamba in Cupertino on Saturday, September 27th at 8:30pm. You will definitely: a) be amazed by how talented some of your fellow Nakayoshi members are; b) woo that Nakayoshi hottie with your smoldering rendition of the cheesiest love ballad you know; or c) look back on the experience years later, laugh awkwardly and hope nobody else really remembers how you just missed those high notes.

Time/Date: 8:30pm, Saturday 9/27/08
Location: Gamba
10990 N. Blaney, Cupertino, CA 95014
In Oakmont Square (On Homestead Rd., between De Anza and Wolf)

RSVP at nakayoshi.ncwnp@gmail.com
Let us know if you are interested in carpooling.

We’ll see you guys out there!