003B - My Trip to JANM

Hi! I thought I'd break the ice and make the first non-Sean blog post. : )

Last Saturday, to wrap up DOR week, Nikkei paid a visit to the Japanese American National Museum. I had been here before with the College Honors Society last year, but I decided it would be kind of cool to visit this place at just not any point in time, but at the conclusion of Day of Remembrance week.

It was a totally different experience this time around, because there was a museum guide. He wasn't just any guide, however--he had actually lived in the internment camps himself. As he went through various exhibits, he would tell side stories that gave a tiny glimpses into how difficult and downright depressing the whole experience was.

Despite the fact I'm actually not Japanese American, just being in the museum and listening to the guide tell his story allowed allowed me to really put myself into these peoples' shoes and experience just a little of the hardships they had personally gone through.

Perhaps the fact that the museum curator went to USC for college made things much more relatable. When EO 9066 rolled around, he was pulled aside in the middle of his studies to be relocated in a concentration camp. The fact that this happened to thousands of Japanese American college students should really make any college kid cringe. How different would your life be, if you lived during that era, just because your ancestors happened to be Japanese?

His friend from the USC Pharmacy School died in combat on the European front for the American Army--the army of the nation that condemned Japanese Americans to camps that did not even meet the requirements in the Geneva Conventions of Human Rights. (The one camp with actual Japanese prisoners had better conditions because it was supervised by the League of Nations.) Other friends who had survived into the aftermath of World War II and were released from the camps had to face immense discrimination--people who had even graduated with masters and doctorate degrees had to become gardeners for the rest of their lives because nobody would hire them.

I'm sure my eighth grade history textbook covered Japanese American internment, but I remember not thinking much of it even, because it was a tiny section in this huge chapter I would be tested on. It wasn't that much better in AP US History, although my teacher in lecture did at least call these internment camps, concentration camps (while contending that the German concentration camps were death camps).

This time around, the meaning of DOR really hit me, full-on in the face. After personally listening to the museum guide's story, I'm really glad USC Nikkei has been commemorating DOR; it's a sordid page of history not many people (especially non-JAs) like to touch, but I feel is crucial for us to read.

By the way, sorry if this post was super-long! It's just that my experience at JANM was so enriching and I got so much out of it, haha. I'd really recommend you to visit there sometime if you haven't been there (and shake off a bit of the sad feelings with excellent Japanese food at nearby restaurants). Even if you have, I'd still recommend another visit because you absorb so much more knowledge with each visit you pay.

-Jean

003 - Week of Remembrance

February 19th, 2008 marked the 66th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 which put 120,000 West Coast Japanese Americans into concentration camps. Our organization has commemorated this signing for the past three years (or four years?) with events on campus to educate the greater student body about the camps.

This year we invited an artist/community organizer named Traci Kato-Kiriyama to come and conduct a storytelling workshop, intended to give students the tools to tell their stories in ways many people could not after the camps. With a perfect attendance that wasn't too big but wasn't too small, we played a lot of theater and improv games that led into a writing session where we got to write on a variety of topics, allowing participants to speak to many experiences in ways that often times we don't get the chance to. We really enjoyed having Traci and hope she can come back later on the semester!

Tonight is going to be the big, most publicized event we've held this year. We were even on the front page of the Rafu Shimpo and the main USC webpage with this one! Tadashi Nakamura, a filmmaker from UCLA (but we won't hold that against him) will be coming to screen his Sundance Selected film, 'Pilgrimage'. I saw this film last year and am really looking forward to seeing it again. 'Pilgrimage' is basically about how a group of students took a trip up to Manzanar and ended up sparking this annual pilgrimage to the site as well as a lot of student activism. I went once while I was in middle school and have been wanting to for a while...

So that's our week. There were a few more events, but I'll save that for a full on Week of Remembrance look back. Hope to see you tonight!

2k out!

- Sean

002 - First Meeting Wrapup!

So we had our first meeting last Tuesday with a good showing. We did a few ice breakers, met new people, and told everyone about our looooooooong schedule for the next couple of months. Day of Remembrance is coming up fast!

The meeting had a good amount of new people which was really cool. We look forward to seeing you guys at more events coming up liiiiike.....

TRADITIONAL DANCE
Ok, so maybe it isn't AMAZINGLY traditional...but it's pretty close. I learned this at a summer camp I worked at and had to teach it to a bunch of kids...they picked it up pretty fast, so I'm hoping you guys will as well. It's supposed to be a fishing dance (the yelling of "SORAN" and "DOKKOISHO" is the equivalent of "UGH!"...or whatever noise you make when you throw your nets out to water at 6 in the morning).

Here is a clip from the JDrama "Kinpachi Sensei" which outlines exactly what we'll look like and how the audience will react:

(Tuesday, 7:30 - THH114)

HIP HOP PRACTICE
Guys. It really isn't that hard. Don't get freaked out...just do it.

(Sunday, 6:30 - Heritage Hall)

Day of Remembrance
Um...this will get a post to itself. Hang tight on that one.

Aight.

S'about it.

2k out!

- Sean