The 9th Annual Senior Week

The 9th Annual Senior "Week" was held from Sept. 9th to Oct. 3rd at JAA Community Center. This event was developed by the JAA Committee on Aging Issues and co-sponsored by JAMSNET (Japanese Medical Support Network) with support from the Consulate General of Japan in New York. Due to the enthusiastic participation of numerous service providers, a variety of seminars and workshops were held on health and other issues including but not limited to Nationality and Social Welfare in Japan by Consul Yoshikatsu Aoyagi and Mrs. Keiko Shiozaki; Discussion on Tips on Getting One’s Affairs/Documents in Order by Susan J. Onuma, Esq.; Inheritance & Donation: International Basis by Mr. Joe Oshima; Eligibility for Japanese Pension by Shuji Ichikawa; Consultation on Will, Health Care Proxy, Living Wills and Power of Attorney by Helen Irie, Esq. and Reiko Takikawa Esq.; Medicare by Ms. Mizue Katayama, JASSI; Social Security by Mr. Toru Hayama; and a tour of senior housing at Isabella House. In addition, there were workshops on activities to encourage the enjoyment of daily living and good health such as Tea Ceremony, Flower arrangement, calligraphy, chorus, chair yoga, taichi, and massage. Lions Club offered seminars on Beginners Class for Using the Smart Phone and showing Japanese movies and concert of Soprano Hirona Amamiya by JAA Music Committee. Senior "Week" was a success with 60 programs and about 1,400 participants. Our sincere thanks go to the Consulate General of Japan, JAMSNET and all of the service providers for their participation and support of Senior Week.


Nationality and Social Welfare in Japan by Consul Yoshikatsu Aoyagi and Ms. Keiko Shiozaki


Hair Cut for Senior


Discussion on Tips on Getting One’s Affairs/Documents in Order by Ms. Susan J. Onuma, Esq.


Social Security Benefit
by Mr. Toru Hayama


Chair Yoga by Ms. Takako Johnson


Heath Care at the age of menopause by Dr. Anzai


Care Path for dementia patient by Ms. Yumi Shindo


Care Path for Dimension Pension by Mr. Shuji Ichikawa


Playing with parents and kids by Ms. Yuko Velsey


Tour of senior housing at Isabella House


Japanese Movie about a Mother who has Dementia


Concert of Soprano
Ms. Hirona Amamiya


Save the date : December 4th

Our 108th Anniversary Gala dinner will be a fundraiser for the JAA Community Center. It will be held on Friday, December 4th, 2015 at the Harvard Club (35 W 44th Street, NYC). Guest Artists are jazz pianist Senri Oe and violinist Erika Mitsui. One Table: Gold ($10,000), Silver ($7,500), Bronze ($5,000), Individual ($500). This is the most important fundraiser for JAA.
We greatly appreciate your support and hope you can join us! Donations are also welcome …

Eight students from Tohoku nursing school

On August 10, 2015, JAA hosted a reception for 8 nursing students and two teachers from Tohoku who are participating in the TOMODACHI Program, one of the NPOs that received funding from JAA’s Tohoku Fund. More than 40 guests joined our special reception. The students made a presentation regarding their trip. They participated in a 15-day program to visit New York and Washington, DC to gain an understanding of emergency nursing care. JAA continues to support these young people who will be the future leaders of Tohoku and Japan.
Please join us for a reception to welcome high school students from Tohoku on Oct.27.

The22nd JAA Charity Golf Tournament


(l to r) Mr. Otsu, Mr. Kunugi, Mr. Urushihara and Mr. Hiromura


2nd Place: Mr Shimura (L)


3rd Place:Mr Funakoshi (R)


Grand Seniors


1st raffle prize: Mr. Munakata(Center)


Raffle prize: Mr. Fujimoro

The 22nd Charity Golf Tournament was held on Monday, September 21, 2015, at Haworth Country Club, 5 Lake Shore Drive, Haworth, NJ. Play began at 9:30AM with 80 participants. The winner was Mr. Ken Urushihara, who received an ANA Executive Class NY-Tokyo Round Trip Ticket from Mr. Hideki Kunugi of All Nippon Airlines. Mr. Tom Shimura was the 2nd and Mr. Ryuji Funakoshi was 3rd. The Best Gloss went to Mr. Tatsuya Yamamoto and Ms. Michi Tahara. Mr. Masahiro Munakata won the first raffle prize of ANA Business Class NY-Tokyo Round Trip ticket. The Hole In One prize of $10,000 went Mr. Norman Chan and Mr. Tatsuya Yamamoto. This tournament is a very important fund raising event. Please see the names of the donors as below; thank you very much for your support!


30th JAA Foreign Minister Cup Baseball Games

Champion: Radiators

2nd Place: Junks

3rd Place: Jokers

The Championship Game was held on a beautiful Sunday, August 16th at Central Park North Meadow. The Radiators beat out Junks 10 to 1 and captured their 2nd Foreign Minister Cup. It was a very exciting game!
An Awards Presentation and Closing Ceremony followed the Games with Deputy Consul General Manabu Miyakawa of Consulate General of Japan, JAA Honorable President Mr. Gary Moriwaki (who was a Radiators player years ago!), and Mr. Shuji Kato, Chairman of Sports Committee, among other supporters.

The following awards were presented:
Champion: Radiators
2nd Place: Junks
3rd Place: Jokers
MVP : John Xhan
Best Pitchers (6W): Ivan Mendez (JRS)
Daisuke Nagashima (SSG)
Most RBI (13H): Chihiro Aoyama (JRS)
Most Home runs (3H): Ivan Mendez (JRS)
JAA Sprit Awards were awarded to Mr. Shuji Kato and
Niko Niko teams for their 30 years of support for JAA Baseball.
Our committee: Mr. Shunji Kato and Dr. Kamal Ramani,
chairs and Mr. Shunsuke Takahashi, Mr. Kasei Chin and
Mr. Hiroshi Hirayama as members.


Japanese Heritage Day
at Yankee Stadium


Photos by Mr. George Hirose

The 6th Japanese Heritage Day was held for the first time at Yankee Stadium on September 12th. The National Anthem was performed by The Men’s Glee Club of New York. Inside the stadium, Ms. Toshiko Kobayashi of Origami Therapy Association demonstrated origami models and taught fans how to fold. This event was coordinated by JAA President, Ms. Susan Onuma, and volunteers were Ms. Kobayashi, the Eun Hong Family, Ms. Yuki Kaneshige, Mr. Fumihito Shinohara and Mr. George Hirose.


FOOD Bank(Community Food Resource Center)

Photos by Susan Hamaker

Our members worked very hard at Food Bank of NYC on September 11, 2015. Yuki Kaneshige from Consulate General of Japan wrote the following thank-you letter to the volunteers. "So many JAAers came and worked their butts off and all your amazing energy at Food Bank of NYC on Friday! Because of you, approximately 500 people were served through our pantry distribution service, early senior supper and dinner service. We started volunteering at the Consulate to thank New Yorkers for their support of Japan after March 11th, and this time, it was more meaningful to be joined by other members of the Japanese and JA community on a day painful to many in the city. 31 volunteers from the Consulate, JAA, JAJA, USJC, JETAA, JACL, JASSI and the JA Lions’ Club came together to make September 11th a true day of service. But this was all inspired by Suki Ports’s lifetime of community activism. From going miles out of her way to help strangers to leading protests (mostly legal ones), she seems compelled to do anything to help anyone in need in her community – and to her, everyone is part of her community. So in this light, we helped our neighbors in West Harlem by handing out the right count of protein from the pantry, by peeling beets at lightning speed and by forming the perfect mound of rice to be enjoyed for dinner on September 11th. Thank you again for working so hard together to help our greater NYC community."


Congratulations!


Our President, Ms. Susan J Onuma, and JAA supporter Mr. Bon Yagi (please see P.5 for his bio) received "Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business Awards" from the Asian American Business Development Center. They highlight the achievements of Asian American business professionals across the U.S. The Award recipients represent a microcosm of the best of Asian American entrepreneurs, professionals and corporate executives who are engaged in a wide range of business interests, and all have a role in driving the U.S. economy.
Photo; Onuma, Yagi and Ms. Phyllis J. Campbell, chair of JPMorgan Chase, Pacific Northwest.
((l to r) Ms. Onuma, Mr. Yagi and Ms. Campbell)

Our vice president Julie Azuma was honored with a Consul General’s Commendation on October 2, 2015. She was acknowledged for her contribution to the Japanese American Community in the greater New York area and for furthering US – Japan relations. She is the founder and President of Different Roads to Learning, a company that sells educational products for children diagnosed with autism and other developmental disabilities. Julie is a vice president of JAA.
((l to r) Ms. Azuma and Amb. Takahashi – Photo by Masao Katagami)

Donations
We thank the following organizations and individuals for their generous support!(As of 9/30/15)


JAA-Mitsui U.S.A. Scholarships

Delta Air Lines Scholarship

ANA NY Senior-Kai

JAA received
☆$28,000 from Mitsui USA Foundation for JAA-Mitsui U.S.A. (Scholarships: $5,000 to three students; $10,000 for general program, keirokai, and Apple Kids programs; and $3,000 for JAA Committee on Aging Issues.)

☆$20,000 from Delta Air Lines
($5,000 for JAA-Delta Air Lines Scholarship,
$15,000 for Communications)

☆ $10,000 from Mr. Shigeo Kida

☆$4,000 from ANA NY Senior-Kai

To: JAA Committee on Aging Issues
ANA New York Senior-Kai$4,000.00
Mitsui U.S.A. Foundation$3,000.00
JAMSNET$3,500.00
NY Japanese-American Lions Club$1,000.00

Report from JAA membership Committee
JAA Corporate members:

Brother International Corporation, Delta Air Lines, Inc., Fujisankei Communications International, Inc.,
Isabella Geriatric Center, Inc., Ito En (North America), Inc., Kawasaki Heavy Industries (U.S.A.), Inc.,
Mitsubishi Gas Chemical America, Inc.,
Mitsui USA Foundation, Morgan, Lewis and Bockius LLP,
NHK Cosmomedia America, Inc., NTT America, Inc.,
Orient Corporation of America, ORIX USA Corporation, Pasona NA, Inc., Sojitz Corporation of America,
Sony Corporation of America, Tokio Marine Management, Inc.

Individual members:
Platinum $2,000

Robert Emy, Masaki Shimomura, Bon Yagi

Gold $1,000
Chieko Inagaki, Keiko Ishida, Takami Kaneko,Toshio Kiso, Tsuneko Mitsunaka,
Hiroko Onoyama, Noboru Sato

Silver $500
Yuzuru Anzai, Roy Ashikari, Kazuhisa Enokida, Kumiko Hasegawa, Shunichi Homma, Makoto Iwahara, Ryoko Mochizuki,Gary S. Moriwaki, Toru Okamoto, Kozo Osaki, Joe Oshima, Fusako Ota,
Motoatsu Sakurai, Tamiko Sato, Jeanette Takamura, Katsuo Takeda, Raymond Taylor, Kumiko Yoshii

Supporting $300
Eiko Aono, Reiko Asanuma, Julie Azuma, Shizuka Bernstein, Michiko Crampe, Kiyoshi Egawa,
Tetsuya Fujita, Susan Hamaker, Tomoko Hanway, Judith Hata, Keiichiro Hayashi, Hitoe Hayashida,
Kayoko Hirota, Riki Ito, Mary Ito, Yusuke Iwasaki, Taneko Kameda, Shizuko Kato, Takayoshi Kato,
Keiko Kato, Tokuo Kawamoto, Teresa Kiso, Chizuko Korn, Yoko Makino, Kuni Mikami,
Tatsuji Namba, Masaki Noda, Michiyo Noda, Susan J. Onuma, Kamal Ramani, Yoko Sasaki, Koji Sato,
Tazuko Shibusawa, Matsuko Shibuya, Shigeji Shimada, Mieko Tahara, Nozomi Terao,
Ayako Uchiyama, Yoko Yamamoto, Robert Yanagisawa

The 22nd JAA Charity Golf Tournament
ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS, ANA, ANA Senior Kai,
Arysta LifeScience America Inc., Azusa Japanese Restaurant, Brother International,
Castle Hotel and Spa,Caddie’s Corner Golf, Inc., Canaletto Restaurant, Crystal Springs Resort,
Daiei Trading Co., East 53 St. Chiropractic Center, Egawa International, Fujita, Tetsuya,
Furumoto Realty, Hajime Restaurant, Hatsuhana Restaurant,
Haworth Country Club, IACE Travel, Chieko Inagaki, Ito En (North America), KK Technology,
Kirin Brewery of America, Kitano New York, Land of Plenty Chinese Restaurant,
Momotaro Beauty Salon, Milbon USA, MINGLE NY SALON, Nippan Daido USA, Nishimoto Trading,
NRS Logistics Inc., Orient Corp. of America, Prince Park Tower Hotel Tokyo,
Ryuji Funakoshi Hair Salon, Sakura Shoji, Salon Wave, Sapporo Beer USA, Shizuka New York,
SOBA TOTTO / Aburiya KinnoSuke, Sushi-Den, Sushi of Gari, Sushi Tsushima, Takaokaya ,
Tao Consultants,T.I.C. Inc. (Hasaki & Sobaya), Tokyu Hotels, Trend Pot NY (Japion) ,
Windels Marx Lane & Mittendrof, LLP, Wismettac Asian Foods, Tatsuya Yamamoto, Yomitime Inc.


JAA Social Service

Keirokai in July
July 9

For the Tanabata Keirokai, pork on rice, salad and ice cream were on the menu. After lunch, Mr. Kuni Mikami performed Jazz piano. Our house band, Ichida & Iwaki Band, played wonderful music. 120 seniors & volunteers were in attendance.


Mr. Kuni Mikami

July 23
Mid-Summer Keirokai Unagi kabayaki (baked eel on rice), cucumber & seaweed and warabi mocha sweets were on the menu for this summer Keiro Kai. After lunch, Isabella’s Hula dance group performed their beautiful Hula Dance and K. Iwaki band performed Japanese and American songs.


Isabella’s Hula dance group

Happy Birthday in July

Keirokai in September
Sept.17

This Keirokai was a part of JAA senior Week, and more than 100 seniors enjoyed the lunch. Tamie Liell’s book, "Grasshoppers, Ants and Bombs : Tamie’s War," was introduced by her daughter, Lilli Ann Liell. Followed by music performed by Iwaki band. The performance of Rakugo storyteller Ryuraku Sanyutei made everyone smile. At 2pm, our president, Ms. Susan Onuma, presented a speech titled "Getting One’s Affairs in Order." 160 people attended.


Rakugo storyteller Ryuraku Sanyutei

Happy Birthday in August & September

Obituary

George Ryoji Horishige passed away from cardiac arrest on July 28, 2015 at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. 87 years old. Memorial service was held on October 11, 2015 at the New York Buddhist Church.
George Horishige was born in Seattle, Washington, in 1927 to parents from Yamaguchi Prefecture. Orphaned at an early age, George was sent to Japan at age 7, and when he returned at age 13, he was sent to San Francisco. In 1942 he was sent to Relocation Camp in Heart Mountain, Wyoming. In 1947 he enlisted, entered the Army Language School in Monterey, and was sent to Japan as part of the Occupation Forces. He returned to U.S. in 1952, and in 1965 he moved to New York, finding work with Numano International. He became friendly with Yoshiyuki Moriwaki of Kikkoman and joined them in 1973. He met and married Saeko Ichinohe, who managed her own dance company. He retired in 1994. George joined the Japanese American Association in 1984. In 1994 he was voted in as a Vice President and made Chairman of the House Committee. A member of the Japanese American Lions Club, he served as their president in 1998-99. He was a member of the NY Buddhist Church and served as their treasurer.


Vol.74

Bon Yagi

Bon Yagi was born in Hasaki, Ibaraki, in 1948. He was the fourth of five sons. After he graduated from the Choshi High School, he worked as a chauffeur for the officers of U.S. Army and saved money for a trip to America. He came to the U.S. when he was 20 years old and made the cross-country trip by hitch hiking, then he went to Europe and India. He went back to Japan and made money selling accessories on the street. At 27, he revisited the U.S. and started a wholesale business to deliver fresh vegetables to restaurants in East Village. His company quickly grew larger, and in a few years he was beginning to open Japanese restaurants himself. In the 1980s the East Village was such a dangerous place to do business, but his insight of the area’s bright future was correct. His investment in the East Village paid off, and the popularity of the area motivated young people to move to the East Village, and his restaurants became a big success. Now he has BBQ, Specialty Coffee Shop, Curry Shop, Noodle Shop, Sweet Café and more in the area. He makes great contributions to the Japanese & Japanese American community, and he serves on the Board of Directors of The Gohan Society, a non-profit organization that connects people through Japan’s culinary heritage. He makes generous donations toward JAA’s activities and also invites the seniors and volunteers of his restaurants every year. This year, he received an award as one of 50 Outstanding Asian American in Business.