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 President’s greeting,
Dear Members and Friends, Happy New Year! Last year was a whirlwind of activity for JAA and its members. We ended 2018 by celebrating our 111th Anniversary at our Gala dinner at the Harvard Club where we honored Mrs. Chieko Inagaki for her dedicated support of JAA, especially through her generous gift for our annual Sakura Matsuri. We also honored Council Member Daniel Dromm for shepherding legislation to make January 30 the Fred T. Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution a recognized observance in New York City. While we were sad to say farewell to Ambassador and Madame Takahashi, we were delighted to welcome our new Consul General, Ambassador Kanji Yamanouchi. Over the past decade, we have networked and collaborated with other not-for-profit community organizations. Last year we held several events with JACL, U.S.-Japan Council, NY Lions Club, JAJA, NY de Volunteer, JET Alumni Association and Hoshuko Alumni Association. We look forward to continuing those ties as well as working with other Asian American organizations. JAA remains the center of the Japanese and Japanese American community. We are a 112-year-old grassroots community organization that supports the health and wellbeing of seniors, young families, young professionals, and new immigrants. We provide an opportunity to volunteer and serve, and through our organizational networks, personal contacts, and years of experience, we are a valuable resource for the entire community. We are currently involved in organizing our vast collection of archival materials as well as preserving oral stories through our Oral History Project. We are excited to announce our first program of the year will be a discussion led by historian Daniel H. Inouye on Saturday, January 26 at 1:00 p.m. He will share his new book, "Distant Islands," regarding our Japanese pioneers who came to New York from 1876 to the 1930s. It’s about the courage and adventure of those who made the first steps from Japan to NYC, including the founders of JAA. In the spring, we plan to join other organizations to tour the "Tale of Genji" exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Help us plant another cherry tree on April 20 at our annual Sakura Matsuri at Flushing Meadows Corona Park. And please come to our annual Spring Health Fair and Spring Flea Market. For the many activities we provide and support, people are surprised at our small staff. We rely heavily on our Executive Director, Michiyo Noda, and her assistant, Naomi Miyakita. We are so lucky to have them! When you see them, please remember to thank them for all their hard work. They, along with our volunteers and our board of directors, embody the JAA spirit! We are pleased to welcome three new members to our board: Wendy Takahisa who is a born-and-raised New Yorker with Morgan Stanley; Dr. Maki Kano, longtime pediatrician and general internist; and Dr. Kimihiko Oishi, who is a pediatrician specializing in genetics. We have a challenging year ahead of us – fundraising will be a top priority. We need funds to pay for our expanding programs to meet the needs and interests of our members, new and longtime. (And let’s not overlook our rent and utilities, which increase annually!) We welcome everyone’s support and fresh perspectives on ways to make JAA a sustainable organization for the next 100 years. Please join us in any way you can. JAA is our community and our shared legacy. Together we can make it happen! Warmly, |
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 Fred Korematsu Day 2019
On December 19, 2017, the New York City Council passed legislation to designate January 30 as the Fred T. Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution in New York. On January 30, 2018 a ceremony to commemorate the landmark decision was held in front of City Hall during the day, followed by a discussion at NYU Cantor Film Center at night. On January 30 of this year, the New York Day of Remembrance Committee, the Asian American Bar Association of New York, and the New York County Lawyers Association – Asian Practice Committee are co-sponsoring an event entitled "Fred Korematsu and His Fight for Justice," a reenactment of Korematsu v. United States and a celebration of the activist’s 100th birthday. Place: New York County Lawyers Association |
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| JAA 111th Anniversary Gala Dinner
(back L to R）Ms. & Mr.Sano, Ms. Onuma, Ms.Matsumoto（front L to R）Amb. Yamanouchi, Ms. Brewer, Mr. Dromm
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On Friday, November 30, 2018, we celebrated the 111th anniversary of the Japanese American Association of New York, Inc. at the Harvard Club under a gorgeous, celling-high Christmas tree. We welcomed 180 guests, including the newly appointed Consul General of Japan in New York, Ambassador Kanji Yamanouchi; Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer; NYC Council Member Daniel Dromm; and many corporate representatives as well as JAA members and friends. JAA President Susan Onuma and Ambassador Kanji Yamanouchi gave greetings. We were proud to honor New York City Council Member Daniel Dromm and Mrs. Chieko Inagaki. Council Member Dromm successfully introduced Resolution 792, unanimously establishing January 30 as the Fred T. Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution – the first recognition in NYC of a person of Asian descent. Mrs. Inagaki has generously supported JAA, particularly JAA’s Sakura Matsuri at Flushing Meadow Corona Parks since its inception, continuing the legacy of her late husband, Shigeru Inagaki, who served as JAA President from 1991 through 1996. Mr. Taka Kigawa, a critically acclaimed pianist, gave an enthralling performance for our guests. JAA Vice President Mr. Koji Sato served as the MC. Thank you to all who attended our 111th Anniversary Gala. You made it a special night to remember! |
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| Election of Officers and Directors for 2019
At the General Election meeting on November 28, 2018, officers and directors for the year 2019 were nominated and elected. Our Officers for 2019 We really appreciate her many years of volunteer service to JAA. |
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| Reports of JAA Relief Funds
JAA Japan Flood Relief Fund JAA Hokkaido Earthquake Relief Fund JAA Kumamoto Earthquake Relief Fund JAA Japan Disaster Relief Fund |
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| JAA Year-End Holiday Party with Volunteers appreciation
A holiday party was held at JAA on Dec.19th. Buffet-style food was served to 80 people, most of whom are our members and volunteers. JAA Vice President Suki T. Ports gave a speech of appreciation to the JAA volunteers. The JAA Chorus provided the opening music and singer Shigemasa Nakano gave a wonderful performance. All guests enjoyed the music and food. JAA Vice President Tsuneko Mitsunaka closed this special event. |
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JAA Grand Bazaar
Our Annual Grand Bazaar was held at JAA hall on November 4th with eager shoppers waiting at the door before 10 am! We raised more than $12,000 including the profit from the after sale. Thank you to all our volunteers, donors, and shoppers. |
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| Onigiri Action Accomplished!
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Thank you to all the 50 volunteers, of all ages and many great organizations, who came to make about 170 onigiri for Table For Two’s #OnigiriAction on November 17th at JAA’s community hall. As a pre-Thanksgiving Day contribution to food insecurity and an ode to the beloved Japanese food staple, the irresistible riceball, each photo of our creations that we posted to social media secured 5 school meals for children in need. |
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 Volunteer activitiesin JAA calligraphy class The JAA Calligraphy class visited 25 Japanese language students at Hunter College at the request of Ms. Akiyo Furukawa of the Japanese Culture Department on November 1st. They did a brush writing demonstration of Japanese characters, and students enjoyed calligraphy and a lively cultural exchange. The volunteers were Ayako Ishizuka, Kuniko Itakura, Rieko Uehara, Chikako Olsen, Machiko Sanada, Namie Suzuki, and Rie Hattori. Thank you very much! (reported by Rieko Uehara) |
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 apanese Language Autumn Workshop
The autumn workshop of the Japanese Language Committee was held on Sunday, October. 21st with 31 participants. The theme was "Kanji Education: A Teaching Method that Enhances Learner Autonomy." In the morning, Ms. Tomoko Nakano, a teacher from Brooklyn Japanese School, explained the origins of Kanji to elementary and junior high school students and how to enjoy learning kanji. In the afternoon, Ms. Mayumi Nishida of Language House gave a lecture on the effective learning of kanji using visual & handwriting tools. It was a good opportunity to understand that Kanji learning is an important issue that is inevitable to learn at a high school, university, or social education. Many commented that the participants had a positive sense of engagement through this workshop. (Nobuko Kodama, Committee Chairperson) |
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| 2019 JAA -HONJO SCHOLARSHIP
Through generous funding from the Honjo Foundation, JAA is looking for qualified candidates for its 2019 JAA – HONJO Scholarships. Applications are open to students who will be enrolled in a full-time course of graduate study (excluding music, arts and medicine) at an accredited U.S. university in the Greater New York area in the 2019-2020 academic year. The students should be able to demonstrate an interest and ideally is already involved in furthering U.S. – Japan relations. Candidates don’t have to be JAA members or Japanese descendants. The deadline for applications is 2/25/2019 at noon. |
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| Renewal of Membership for 2019
JAA membership renewal form was sent to you at the end of December. We are organizing information about our members for emergency purposes and to upgrade our services. Please complete the renewal form if you have had any changes and return the form with your membership fee to JAA. Emergency contact information is very important and necessary, especially for those living alone; please make sure to write your most recent information. Members’ information will be kept confidential and will not be disclosed to outsiders except in an emergency. |
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Mr. Shuho Bon Yagi, who runs 16 Japanese restaurants in the New York area and also serves as a director of JAA, invited JAA Keirokai, Mailing & Library volunteers to his Sakagura Restaurant and treated them to delicious Japanese Toshikoshi Soba noodles on December 26th. Thank you very much! Congratulations ! |
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| Congratulations!
★Mr. Joe Kasuga received the Centenarian Award (award for 100-year-old seniors). ★JAA Vice President Julie Azuma and Ms. Fumi Matsuki Raith, Japanese American Counseling Center Director, received achievement awards at the 6th Hamilton-Madison House Japanese Mental Health Clinic Six Benefit Dinner, which was held on October 9. ★At the 80th anniversary gala of the NY Buddhist Church on October 20, a letter of appreciation was awarded to the JAA Director Shuho Bon Yagi for his longtime support of the New York Buddhist Church.
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| Donations
We wish to thank the following companies, organizations and Individuals for their generous support of the JAA. JAA 111th Anniversary Gala Dinner ○Chieko Inagaki ○ITO EN (North America) INC. ○Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas) ○Orient Corporation of America ○Shimomura & Co., CPAs ○Gary S. Moriwaki / Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP ○JCC Fund at Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of New York, Inc. ○Japanese Medical Society of America Inc. ○Susan J. Onuma/Ingram Yuzek Gainen & Bertolotti, LLP ○Hiroko Onoyama and Ken Sugawara ○Jackie and Julius Alexander ○Different Roads to Learning ○Susan Hamaker ○Hamilton-Madison House ○Kumiko Hasegawa ○Hitachi America, Ltd. ○Isabella Foundation ○Shizuko Kato ○Kiso & Tanaka, LLP ○Mitsubishi Gas Chemical America, Inc. ○Mitsui & Co. (U.S.A.), Inc. ○MUFG Union Bank, N.A. ○Satoru Murase ○Nobuko Cobi Narita ○New York Buddhist Church ○Masaki and Erika Noda ○NRS Logistics ○NTT America, Inc. ○Joe Oshima ○Pat Yuzawa-Rubin ○Takashi Sato ○Nozomi Terao and Joshua Levine ○T.I.C. Restaurant Group ○Tokio Marine America ○Eiko Aono ○Kazuhisa Enokida ○Gorgeous Entertainment ○Sachiko Hirayama ○David Hiromura ○George Hirose ○Reiko-Seo Hsia ○IACE Travel ○Gail Inaba ○Keiko Ishida ○Taeco Ishida ○Nobuhisa Ishizuka○Mary T. Ito ○Riki Ito ○Marc Iyeki ○David Janes ○Japan Airlines ○Japanese American Social Services, Inc. ○JETRO New York ○Taka Juba ○Nobuko Kodama○Chizuko Korn ○Patricia J. Kozu ○Toshiko Matsukawa ○Kiyo A. Matsumoto ○Toyokazu Matsumoto ○Kiku Matsuo ○Tsuneko Mitsunaka ○Michio Muroi ○Fumi Matsuki Raith ○Motoatsu and Nobuko Sakurai ○Yoko Sasaki ○Mizue Sawano ○Lance B. Stuart ○Wendy Takahisa ○Katsuo Takeda ○Grant Ujifusa ○Tomoko Yazawa ○Zennoh America Corp. ○Benjamin Restaurant Group ○Besso ○Different Roads to Learning ○Harbor Links Golf Course ○Japanese American National Museum ○Hatsuhana Sushi Restaurant ○Japan Airlines ○Korin Japanese Trading Co. ○Takeshi Matsunaga○Michiyo Noda-gelato pique ○Hiroko Onoyama○Sakura Shoji○Joshua Schlachet○Suki Terada Ports○Satomi Kawakita Jewelry ○Masaki Shimomura ○STYLISM, Ltd.○T.I.C. Restaurant Group○Tokyo Yakult Swallows ○Vine Connections / Monica Samuels○Anonymous 2018 JAA Corporate Supporters: |
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| Social Service
October 11th, Keirokai#1
November 15th, Keirokai
December 15th, Year-End Keirokai
Memorial Gathering for late Mr. Koji Ichida |
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JAA Volunteers were invited again!
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