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JAA Japan Disaster Relief Update from Earthquake and Tsunami Ravaged Areas in Japan My travels recently took me to Fukushima where I spent time with two non-profit organizations (NPOs); CWS Japan and Shalom, supported by the Japanese American Association of NY (JAA), with the generosity of the JAA members and supporters. Both organizations carved out time to explain the current situation facing residents; in particular, children in Fukushima. The children are considered to be at higher risk to radiation damage than adults. We visited a day-care center for children aged six months to kindergarten, only 40 miles away from Fukushima nuclear plants. (the classroom in the photo depicts two and three year olds). Shalom’s office monitors the area to record radioactive "hot" spots. |
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| 21st Annual JAA Charity Golf Tournament Grand Prize is ANA Air Ticket (Business Class) NY to TOKYO The 21st JAA Charity Golf Tournament will be held on Monday, September 15, 2014 at Haworth Country Club, 5 Lake Shore Drive, Haworth, NJ 07641. This will be a shotgun tournament by the New Peoria System. All golfers will tee off simultaneously. Entry fee is $270.00 ($100.00 of which is tax deductible). Your fee includes breakfast and buffet lunch plus green fees & cart. The deadline for entry is Sept. 2, 2014. Call JAA office for more detail! |
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| Annual JAA Scholarship Dinner of the 44th Scholarship Awards and 8th Honjo Scholarship Awards |
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The 44th JAA Scholarship Awards Dinner was held at the Harvard Club on June 3, 2014. Former Major League Baseball Player and Manager Mr. Robert John "Bobby" Valentine, Consul General and Madame Sumio Kusaka, Mr. Tadashi Sano, SVP of Mitsui & Co. (U.S.A.), Inc., Mr. Yosuke Honjo, President and CEO of ITO EN (North America) and Mr. Motohiro Satoh, Vice President of JCCI headed the guest list of 145 donors, awardees, their families and JAA members attended the event. Thirteen high school recipients, a total of $54,500 and three round trip air tickets by ANA and Delta Air Lines and six graduate school recipients (total of $30,000 from the Honjo International Foundation) of the 8th Honjo Scholarship Awards were honored. The ceremony began with MC Mr. Gary Moriwaki, co-chair of the Scholarship Committee, followed by greetings from Ambassador Kusaka and JAA President Susan Onuma. Mr. Bobby Valentine as our keynote speaker gave a wonderful speech that inspired not just the students but all who were present through his baseball experience and his baseball project for children of USA and Tohoku. He told the awardees that one of his most memorable moments in high school was when he received an award from the Italian-American community in Stamford, Connecticut. Miss Isabella Grabski, recipient of the Bingham McCutchen Murase Scholarship and Ms. Andrea J. Horisaki – Christens, recipient of the Honjo Award expressed their appreciation for their respective groups. 44th JAA Scholarship (for graduating high school students) 1.Bingham McCutchen Murase Scholarship 2.Ambassador Shinichi Nishimiya Scholarship ($5,000) 3.Mitsui USA Foundation Scholarship ($5,000) 4.Mitsui USA Foundation Scholarship ($5,000) 5.Mitsui USA Foundation Scholarship ($5,000) 6.Delta Air Lines Scholarship ($5,000) 7.Dr. Soji Tomikawa Scholarship ($5,000) 8.Dr. Soji Tomikawa Scholarship ($5,000) 9.Orient Corp. of America Scholarship ($3,500) 10.Toyota Motor North America Scholarship ($3,000) 11.TV Japan Scholarship ($3,000) 12.Hartman-Sakazume Scholarship ($3,000) 13.ANA Japan Travel Scholarship 8th JAA Honjo Scholarships ・Joshual Paul Batts ($6,000): Joshua is a PhD candidate at Columbia University’s Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures. 2014 Annual JAA Scholarship Dinner Benefactors The Scholarship Committee consisted of co-Chairs Bobby Valentine, Former baseball player and Manager |
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Exhibition of Japanese and Japanese American Artists in New York 2014
The 19th annual Art Exhibition of the Japanese and Japanese American Artists in New York were held from May 1 to May 10. The 37 artists (including four new artists: Reina Kubota, Shu Ohno, Isamu Enrico Oyama and Akemi Takeda), displayed their 69 art works at the JAA Hall. The opening reception was held on May 1st from 5pm, attending were Consul Yoshikatsu Aoyagi, Mr. & Mrs. Motoatsu Sakurai of Japan Society, JAA President Ms. Susan J. Onuma, the artists and JAA members and guests. Everyone enjoyed a unique international art exhibition and refreshments made by JAA Keirokai Volunteers. JAA greatly appreciated those who bought art. A portion of which is a donation made to JAA: Mr. George Hirose, Mr. Michio Ishii, Mrs. Kaoru Kokaze, Mrs. Tokiko Miura, Ms. Susan Onuma, Mr. Hirotada Sakai and Mrs. Yoko Sasaki. |
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Memorial Day Ceremony On a beautiful sunny day, Memorial Day Services (Bosankai) was held on May 26, 2014 from 11am-at the Japanese Cemetery at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Queens. The event, sponsored by the JAA, with the support of the New York Buddhist Church and the Japanese American United Church (JAUC). First, Rev. Earl Ikeda, the new minister of the Buddhist Church, read from the Sutra while incense and flowers were offered to the pioneers who had contributed so greatly to the present standing of the Japanese and Japanese American Community, followed by services performed by Rev. Kaz Takahashi, the new pastor of JAUC. Ambassador Sumio Kusaka expressed his appreciation to our pioneers who had promoted good relations between the U.S. and Japan. Mr. Motohiro Satoh, vice president of JCCI gave a brief history of Dr. Jokichi Takamine, founder of the Nippon Club and Dr. Toyoshiko Takami, founder of JAA. Ms. Fukuko Fujimoto, new Principal of Greenwich Japanese School of NY and Mr. Toru Okamoto, Principal of the Japanese Children’s Society each gave a heartfelt talk. MIS member Mr. Kazu Yamaguchi and Vietnam veteran Mr. Stanley Kanzaki were among the 150 in attendance. We appreciate the staff of Japanese Children’s Society and members of Japanese Lions Club for their clean up of the cemetery on the days before and after. Wreathes were offered by the Consulate General of Japan in New York, Nippon Club, Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in New York, Japanese Lions Club and three organizers. New York Buddhist Church New official Resident Minister Rev. Earl Ikeda and Mrs. Ikeda officially took up residence as of March 1. Rev. Ikeda was formerly resident minister with the Hawaii Honpa Hongwanji to the Moiliili Hongwang Mission. Rev. Ikeda is extremely knowledgeable in all aspects of Buddhism and is a devotee of Japanese culinary and cultural arts. He is bilingual minister. |
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| 2014-the 28th JAA Foreign Minister’s Baseball Tournament
Results of the six weeks of the preliminaries are very competitive, "A" block includes the teams Bees, Junks, Biggies and Babes, "B" Block consists of the teams Jokers, Dumbo, Nikoniko and Hamakko. Please visit www.jaabaseball.blogspot.com for the recent scores.
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| 8th Japan Day @ Central Park
On a beautiful Sunday, Mother’s Day, May 11, 2014 more than 50,000 people were gathered at the Band shell area in Central Park. Volunteers from the JAA calligraphy class demonstrated their beautiful and skillful brush work to 1600 New Yorkers. The booth was so popular that we ran out of ink and papers! Our volunteers were Yumiko Abe, Masako Gibeault, Yuri Ishizuka, Atsuko Imaizumi, Ayako Ishizuka, Hiroko Shimizu, Terue Saito, Namie Suzuki, Eiko Tanaka, Sachie Ueshima, Chizuko Yamaguchi, Shuji Kato, Haruko Sakurazawa, students from Stuyvesant HS and Michiyo Noda.
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Social Service Committee
Keirokai-Luncheon for Seniors The Fifth Annual Japanese Heritage Night The Fifth Annual Japanese Heritage Night at Citifield, home of the New York Mets, will be held on July 11, 2014. Summer Flea Market at JAA Hall |
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| Social Service Committee
Yoshiko Watanabe passed away on May 9, 2014 at the age of 89 at Isabella House. Yuri Kochiyama (May 19, 1921-June 1, 2014) |
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Donation To General Account To 44th JAA Scholarship To 44th JAA Scholarship Dinner |
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 Yuri KochiyamaJapanese American activist (May 19, 1921-June 1, 2014) Yuri Kochiyama died of natural causes in Berkeley at the age of 93. She was a lifelong champion of civil rights in the African American, Latino, Native American and Asian American communities. Born in 1921 as Mary Yuriko Nakahara, she spent her early years in San Pedro prior to relocation and internment. She met Bill Kochiyama while in internment. He served in the 442nd Regimental Combat team, at the Jerome Relocation Center in Arkansas. They married after the war and moved to NYC. Living in Harlem, her Black and Hispanic neighbors inspired her interest in civil rights. Their home on was always open to activists and was the center of many communities. She taped newspaper clippings on the wall and kept piles of leaflets on the kitchen table. Yuri had many causes to champion. Back before computers, she had several address notebooks to keep track of all of the people she knew. Whenever there was a mailing, she would remember each name with a special connection and fondness. "Our house felt it was the movement 24/7" said her daughter, Audee Kochiyama Holman. She had a brief but transformative friendship with Malcolm X whom she met in 1963. Through her friendship she began to work on Black Nationalism and was with Malcolm X during his last speech. She was captured in Life magazine with him in the final moments after he was shot. In the JA community she and her husband Bill are most known for pushing for Redress and Reparations for Japanese American Internees through to the Civil Liberties Act signed into law by President Reagan. Her dedication to social causes inspired generations of young activists in every community. "She was not your typical Japanese American, especially a Nisei" quoted her cousin, Tim Toyama, "She was definitely ahead of her time and we caught up with her". |
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Stamford native Bobby Valentine was widely recruited out of high school and attended college at the University of Southern California. He was voted by Sports Illustrated as one of the best athletes of the 20th century from Connecticut. After his selection in the first round by the L.A. Dodgers, he spent 10 years as an MLB player with successful stints with the Dodgers, Angels, Padres, Mets and Mariners. After retiring from baseball as a player, Valentine later coached and managed the San Diego Padres, the New York Mets and the Texas Rangers where he was the winningest manager in Rangers history. In 1994, he became the first American to accept a management position in the Pacific League of Japan for the Chiba Lotto Marines. In 1996, he was hired as the manager of the New York Mets, where he led the team to the World Series in 2000. In 2004, Valentine returned to Japan and led the Marines to its first Asian championship. In 2006, he became the first foreign manager to win the prestigious Matsutaro Shoriki Award given to the person who contributes the most to Japanese baseball. Over the years, Valentine has received numerous awards both for his athletic successes and philanthropy. When he was appointed director of public health and safety in his hometown of Stamford, he donated his salary back to the city. Valentine co-founded the Shin Taku Juko School in Japan which teaches values to parents and their children. The school also offers a stay-abroad program for children who lost their parents in the tsunami that devastated Japan. Valentine was instrumental in raising funds for JAA’s Tohoku Relief Fund and will be taking a group of 15 year olds to Japan this summer to play baseball not against but with their counterparts in Tohoku. 
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