Nakayoshi Monthly Update - April 2009

March has quickly come and gone and boy did we have a busy month! But April may top the cake as Nakayoshi hits it into high gear this spring, starting off with San Francisco’s 42nd Annual Cherry Blossom Festival in the heart of Japantown!

Check out all the exciting events and socials coming up and mark your calendars! Come out in your spring best and get involved! Our committees have been working hard to make sure that we’ve got plenty to do over the next few weeks and we could always use the extra hands!

We hope to see you around soon!

In this update:
04/11-12, 04/18-19/09 – 42nd Annual Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival
04/25/09 – Monthly Social: Hiking @ Purisma Creek
04/26/09 – Volunteer @ San Jose Japantown’s Nikkei Matsuri

05/02/09 - Volunteer @ Kristi Yamaguchi’s Children’s Day Festival
05/02/09 - Nakayoshi Monthly Meeting (time change)

Save the Date – More information to come in May’s Update!
05/15/09 – JA Heritage Night w/the SF Giant’s
05/16/09 – 5th Annual Asian Heritage Street Celebration
05/17/09 – South San Francisco's Asian American Heritage Celebration

April 11, 12 & 18, 19, 2009: 42nd Annual Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival

The 42nd annual Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival is one of the most beautiful festivals in the city! Continuing our efforts in bringing community groups together in the spirit of unity, the festival has become a beloved part of SF’s rich cultural history and an event that encompasses the many facets of the Japanese American community. In light of this year’s festival theme Nikkei Spirit, we celebrate the beauty of the JA community through a great display of Japanese cultural heritage and pride.

Look for Nakayoshi’s booth, in partnership with the National JACL and the SF JACL Chapter and say hello! Grab a delicious teriyaki burger, shop all the amazing vendors, see all the exhibits and if you don’t have plans for Saturday night, go watch as we crown a new 2009 Cherry Blossom Queen at their Coronation program starting at 6 pm.

Saturday, April 25, 2009: Monthly Social – Hiking @ Purisma Creek

Nakayoshi’s Social Committee has worked hard to organize an amazing hiking adventure! We’ll be venturing over to beautiful Half Moon Bay and taking in the sights at one of Norcal’s most beautiful coastal spots! Bring your own lunch and enjoy a day out in the sun, walking through nature and relaxing on the beach. For more details on Hiking at Purisma Creek, check it on our blog!

For more information on this month’s social or how to get involved with the Social Committee, email nakayoshi.ncwnp@gmail.com.

Sunday, April 26, 2009: Monthly Volunteer – San Jose Japantown’s Nikkei Matsuri
For our members in the South Bay area, our friends in the West Valley JACL Chapter has asked Nakayoshi to help volunteer at their Strawberry Shortcake booth @ the Nikkei Matsuri in San Jose’s Japantown. Check out more information on Nikkei Matsuri on their website: www.nikkeimatsuri.org/

There are 3 shifts and they are looking for a minimum of 5 volunteers per shift. The times are as listed:
1st shift: 9:30 am – 12:00 pm
2nd shift: 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
3rd shift: 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm

And if there are any super volunteers, they need extra hands slicing and washing strawberries from 7:00 am – 10:00 am @ San Jose Buddhist Church Kitchen. To sign up for this month’s volunteer event or for more information, email nakayoshi.ncwnp@gmail.com.

Saturday, May 2, 2009: Kristi Yamaguchi’s Children’s Day Festival

Join Nakayoshi as we volunteer and host the Spam Musubi Booth at the Japanese Cultural & Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC)’s annual Kodomo no Hi (Children’s Day) Festival. In recognition of Japan’s national holiday to celebrate children, the JCCCNC presents an annual festival that includes entertainment, food & hand-on craft activities for children!

Volunteer shifts and information coming soon! Find out more on JCCCNC's website: http://www.jcccnc.org/

Sunday, May 2, 2009: April Monthly Meeting

Hopefully we’re not too tired from volunteering @ Kodomo no Hi, because we're being ambitious and holding our April Monthly Meeting right after our volunteer event. With April weekends full of events, we’ve sneaked our April meeting into May! Have ideas for fun socials or volunteer opportunities?

As always, we'd love to see new and old faces at our monthly meeting to give us feedback and help us plan future Nakayoshi events and activities! Come on out and get involved!

Date: Sunday, May 2nd, 2009
Location: National JACL Headquarters, 1765 Sutter St., San Francisco, CA 94115
Time: 5:00pm-8:00pm (dinner included)

All Nakayoshi events are free and open to anyone unless otherwise noted. Feel free to forward this message along to your friends or anyone interested. Not on the Nakayoshi e-mail list? Click here to subscribe. Have questions? Want to sign up or RSVP for an event? E-mail Nakayoshi at nakayoshi.ncwnp@gmail.com. For additional information and updates, be sure to check the Nakayoshi blog and website and http://www.nakayoshi.org, or find our group page on Facebook! Nakayoshi is a program sponsored by the Northern California Western Nevada Pacific District of the Japanese American Citizens League.

What's in an (asian american) name?

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6365320.html

April Social Event - Sat 4/25/09 - Hiking at PurismaCreek

Hey guys! Hope you're enjoying the warmer weather. Come out and join Nakayoshi on Saturday 4/25/09 for our monthly Social event in Half Moon Bay. Here's the meeting location per Google Maps: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=higgins+canyon+road+at+main+st+half+moon+bay+ca&sll=37.464384,-122.437563&sspn=0.009078,0.019226&ie=UTF8&ll=37.451456,-122.429388&spn=0.009079,0.019226&z=16&iwloc=addr

If you need a ride or have room in your car, please email me so I can coordinate carpools. FYI the location is about an hour from SF, Oakland, and San Jose. Due to lack of cell phone coverage in the hills, we'll initially meet at the corner of Main St & Higgins Canyon Rd, just off of Hwy 1 - at 9:45am. Then drive up together to the trailhead (about 10 minutes up Higgins Caynon Rd).

*Please call me if you are running late or have to cancel last minute*

We'll start the hike around 10am and should last about 3-3.5 hours. Bring your own lunch and snacks and so can all eat somewhere near the top while we take a rest. This page has detailed info on the hike: http://www.bahiker.com/southbayhikes/purisimahiggins.html (the trails are clearly marked)

Although the event officially ends after the hike, we can hit up the beach afterwards to relax before heading back to our respective locations. Here's the site for the beach: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=531This is optional, but the easiest way to get to the beach is to head back up North on Hwy 1 and take a left at Kelly Ave follow that all the way to the parking lot.

Items to bring:
-Lots of water (~1.5-2 liters)
-Lunch, snacks to eat at the top
-Sunblock (trail is mostly shaded, but some exposed areas)

It should be fairly warm on the trail so you should be okay with a t-shirt, but conditions can change. You might want to wear layers if the weather's less than ideal.

Please contact Atsushi if you have any questions or comments: nakayoshi.ncwnp@gmail.com. Hope to see you all out there!

Here's a last-minute notice for the 2009 San Francisco Community Leadership Conference, which will be this Saturday, March 28th, 2009 at SF State's downtown campus. The conference is put together by Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics (LEAP), and will feature a keynote by SF Board of Supervisors President David Chiu. Go to Leap.org for more registration details and info on the conference!

Register NOW for the 2009 San Francisco Community Leadership Conference "Be the Change, Be a Leader" and join us on Saturday, March 28th for a stimulating day of leadership development and networking.

Whether this is your first time or if you've come to this conference before, it's an opportunity to:

-develop and hone your leadership skills so you'll always be a valued member of any organization
-prepare for, and even create, new personal or professional opportunities
-acquire tips on how to continue growing as a leader during this economic
crisis
-learn more about the importance and benefits of being civically engaged and involved in the community.
-get insight on "next step(s)

Don't miss out on this high value, high impact conference! For the low price
of $50 for General Audience, $25 for Nonprofit Organizations, and $10 for
Students, you'll get leadership development training and materials and FOOD -
breakfast & lunch!

DATE & TIME
Saturday, March 28, 2009 from 8:30 am
to 5:00 pm

LOCATION
San Francisco State University - Downtown Campus
835 Market Street (next to Westfield Mall) San Francisco, CA 94103

**Register online HERE**

For more details on workshops, trainers, speakers and directions CLICK HERE

SF Community Leadership Conference FACEBOOK page

CLICK HERE for info on public transportation, directions, and parking

Made possible through a grant from The James Irvine Foundation

HYPHEN Magazine Party - 6 in the City

More extra-curricular socials for ya next Friday, coming from our friends at HYPHEN magazine. If you've been to any of their issue release parties in the past, you know you're in for a great party! This time, HYPHEN is celebrating their 6th year of existence; quite an accomplishment for an indie print mag put together by volunteers. Do check out the magazine and their website at http://www.hyphenmagazine.com/, and come out to the party to support independent Asian American media!

RSVP at Going.com or Facebook

HYPHEN is turning 6...that's like 30 in independent magazine years!
Celebrate with us.

Six in the City
Friday, March 27th, 2009

9pm-2am @ club six, san francisco
$10, $20 w/ a subscription (50% off) 21+

*free subscription to first 50 guests! (courtesy of IW group)

music ~ fashion ~ art ~ cake ~ photobooth fun ~ prize giveaways

Performances:
The Invisible Cities
Denizen Kane

Fashion:
Vintage Joy

DJs:
DJL! ~Nako (Popscene) ~ Rav-E (Nonstop Bhangra) ~ Citizen
Ten ~ DJ Esquire ~ PaulDon'tPaul

Live Art :
Alex Chiu ~ Luis Tinoco

Sponsored by:
IW Group
The Laugh Box

Nakayoshi Monthly Update - March 2009

Hey everyone, we've got a lot of great stuff coming up this month, but first off, let's quickly give recognition to some of our members for their contributions at our February events. A huge THANK YOU goes out ot those of you who volunteered at the Bay Area Day of Remembrance on February 22, 2009. Special thanks are also in order for Lisa Masai, Rylan Sekiguchi and Misono Allen for their hard work on the program booklet! We'd also like to say GREAT JOB to Ali Kagawa and Corey Jamieson for helping put together an incredible weekend up at Tahoe for Nakayoshi's first ski trip last weekend, and thanks goes out to all our drivers as well. Hope you guys all had a great time! Make sure to check out all the pictures from our events on our Facebook Group page and the Nakayoshi online photo gallery.

This month we have a few fun things going on in connection with the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF), as well as an opportunity to volunteer at the Nichi Bei Times' Tofu Festival later in the month. Let us know if you can make it out, and as always, bring a friend or two with you! Also, watch out for the unveiling of an updated Nakayoshi website coming soon at www.nakayoshi.org! You can take a sneak peek of the new site here.

In this update (new events in bold):
3/12-19/09 - Volunteer at SFIAAFF
3/13/09 - Monthly Social: Tokyo Sonata screening at SFIAAFF, Dinner and Karaoke after
3/14/09 - Happy Hour with Filmmaker Tad Nakamura and Hapihour.org
3/22/09 - Volunteer at Nichibei Times Tofu Festival
3/29/09 - Nakayoshi Monthly Meeting

March 12-March 19, 2009: Volunteer at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF)

The 27th annual SFIAAFF, which showcases the best Asian and Asian American films from around the globe, takes place March 12-22, 2009 in San Francisco, Berkeley and San Jose. The SF portion of the festival runs from March 12th to the 19th.

Come volunteer with Nakayoshi at the SFIAAAFF! Benefits include:

• Vouchers for festival screenings
• Meeting film industry professionals and fellow film enthusiasts
• Official Festival T-shirt
• Volunteer Appreciation Party
• Working off parking or traffic tickets incurred at various cities throughout the Bay Area through Project 20
• Hanging out with your super cool friends at Nakayoshi!

How to volunteer with Nakayoshi at the SFIAAFF:
1. Register with Nakayoshi by e-mailing nakayoshi.ncwnp@gmail.com with your name and e-mail. Any questions about volunteering at the festival should be directed to the Nakayoshi e-mail address above.
2. Register with the Center for Asian American Media's Shiftboard at http://www.shiftboard.com/caam. Be sure to write "Nakayoshi" somwhere in the "Why would you like to volunteer for our festival" section.


Friday, March 14, 2009: Monthly Social - Tokyo Sonata (and dinner and karaoke after!)

Thank you to those of you who have reserved your tickets to the movie screening. We sold out! In case you weren't able to score one of our tickets, don't worry, we have a fun night planned after the movie as well! We hope that you can join us for dinner and karaoke in SF Japantown following the movie. A late dinner following the movie will be at Cafe Mum's at 10:00pm to be followed with karaoke action at DoReMi at 11:15pm. Let us know if you can make it by emailing us at nakayoshi.ncwnp@gmail.com.

Schedule - Friday, March 14, 2009

• 5:30pm-6:00pm: Optional ticket pick-up time, Anderson Bakery (inside the Kintetsu Building in the Japan Center mall)
• 6:00pm-6:20pm: Meet in front of Sundance Kabuki Theater. If you are not at the theater by 6:30, we will be forced to give up your ticket! This is a SFIAAFF rule, and we cannot make exceptions!
• 6:30pm: Seating for Tokyo Sonata begins
• 6:45pm: Tokyo Sonata screening begins
• 8:45pm: Tokyo Sonata ends, hanging out begins (feel free to invite your friends, but please RSVP to nakayoshi.ncwnp@gmail.com so we know to look for you!)
• 10:00pm: Dinner @ Cafe Mum's (inside Hotel Tomo) for hungry people
• 11:15pm: Karaoke @ DoReMi Music Studio

Saturday, March 14, 2009: Happy Hour with Filmmaker Tad Nakamura and Hapihour.org

Our friends at Hapihour.org have generously added Nakayoshi as co-hosts along with Dale Minami, Yuri Kochiyama, Audee Kochiyama Holman, Marjorie Fujiki, Diane Matsuda, Eddie Wong and Keith Kamisugi of their happy hour at A5 Steak Lounge to celebrate the screening of young JA Tad Nakamura's newest film, "A Song for Ourselves" at SFIAAFF. Tad will be at the happy hour in person for those of you who'd like to meet him! The event is free with no-host bar. Food will be available for order in the lounge.

More information on the happy hour and Tad's film can be found on the Nakayoshi blog at www.nakayoshi.org. Also, check out the movie's blog at: http://asongforourselves.blogspot.com

Date: Saturday, March 14, 2009
Where: A5 Steak Lounge, 244 Jackson, St., San Francisco
Time: 6:30pm
Make sure to RSVP on Facebook or evite.com!


Sunday, March 22, 2009: Tofu Dessert Competition and Festival Volunteer Event

Join Nakayoshi as we volunteer at the Nichi Bei Times' first Tofu Dessert Competition and Festival! The festival will take place on Sunday, March 22nd at the Japanese Cultural & Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC) in Japantown. It will include a tofu dessert competition, a tofu nutritionist talk show, tofu games, and a haiku contest.

The Nichi Bei Times will donate 50% of the proceeds from this event to the Nihonmachi Little Friends, a community-based, Japanese bilingual and multicultural childcare organization. Nihonmachi Little Friends provides quality and affordable childcare services while incorporating Japanese language and curriculum into their programs. To learn more about the Nihonmachi Little Friends, please visit: www.nlfchildcare.org.

If you would like to volunteer for this event, please e-mail nakayoshi.ncwnp@gmail.com with the shifts that you would like to sign up for. Lunch will be provided for those who can volunteer the whole day.

Just want to attend this event without committing as a volunteer? Tickets are available pre-sale and at the door. Please see prices listed below. For more information about this event or to purchase pre-sale tickets online, please go to: http://www.nichibeitimes.com/e/tofu_festival.html

Date: Sunday, March 22, 2009
Time: 2:00-4:00pm (see below for volunteer shifts)
Where: JCCCNC, 1840 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA 94115
Ticket Prices: Pre-sale - $10; At the door - $12; Children 3 and under - Free
Volunteer Shifts: E-mail nakayoshi.ncwnp@gmail.com to sign up!

• 11:00am-2:00pm (6-8 volunteers) - Event set up (lunch provided to all-day volunteers)
• 2:00pm-4:00pm (8 volunteers) - Event support (ticket takers, vendor booth assistants, Haiku panel assistant*)
• 4:00pm-6:30pm (6-8 volunteers) - Event clean up

*need someone who can read and write in Japanese

Sunday, March 29, 2009: March Monthly Meeting

Have ideas for fun socials or volunteer opportunities? As always, we'd love to see new and old faces at our monthly meeting to give us feedback and help us plan future Nakayoshi events and activities! Come on out and get involved!

Date: Sunday, March 29, 2009
Location: National JACL Headquarters, 1765 Sutter St., San Francisco, CA 94115
Time: 1:00pm-4:00pm

All Nakayoshi events are free and open to anyone unless otherwise noted. Feel free to forward this message along to your friends or anyone interested. Not on the Nakayoshi e-mail list? Click here to subscribe. Have questions? Want to sign up or RSVP for an event? E-mail Nakayoshi at nakayoshi.ncwnp@gmail.com. For additional information and updates, be sure to check the Nakayoshi blog and website and http://www.nakayoshi.org, or find our group page on Facebook! Nakayoshi is a program sponsored by the Northern California Western Nevada Pacific District of the Japanese American Citizens League.

Tokyo Sonata / March '08 Social Event

Hello all!

We'll be attending the screening of "Tokyo Sonata" this Friday (the 13th) evening. Unfortunately, all tickets for the movie are sold out. BUT, we have our Social Event for March 2008 afterwards that's open to all! Here's the schedule for the night:

6:45pm - 8:45pm: "Tokyo Sonata" at Sundance Kabuki
8:45pm - 10:00pm: Mingle / Socialize
10:00pm - 11:00pm: ( Late) Dinner at Mum's
11:15pm - 1:15am: Karaoke at DoReMi

If you are planning to attend Dinner and/or Karaoke, please send an RSVP to nakayoshi.ncwnp@gmail.com so we know to expect you. Looking forward to seeing you all again and have a great rest of the week!