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68th ANNUAL NISEI WEEK JAPANESE FESTIVAL PIONEERS ANNOUNCED
(Los Angeles - July 13, 2008) - The Nisei Week Foundation, a nonprofit organization that organizes the annual Nisei Week Japanese Festival in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo, is pleased to announce its 2008 Nisei Week Pioneers. The pioneers have gone above and beyond and represent the best of the greater Los Angeles Japanese American community. They will be honored at a special 2008 Pioneers Luncheon to be held at the Kyoto Grand Hotel & Gardens (120 S. Los Angeles Street, Los Angeles) on Wednesday, August 20 at 12 noon. Tickets are $45 per person or $450 per table of 10 and can be obtained by calling the Nisei Week office at 213-687-7193.
The 2008 Nisei Week pioneers are:
Shinji Abe, nominated by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Southern CaliforniaShinji Abe has been an active member of the Japanese American community for many years. Born in Manchuria, he graduated from Keio University and attended University of Southern California for two years. He joined Nissho-Iwai Co., Ltd. in 1960 and was transferred to the New York office as a special steel sales manager for seven years. In 1980, he was promoted to president of Alloy Tool Steel Co., owned by Nissho-Iwai, in Los Angeles where he worked for another seven years. In 1987 Abe started his own company A&A Partners, LLC, which specializes in importing steel products and industrial equipments from Japan.
From 2003 to 2005, Abe served three consecutive years as president of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Southern California (JCCSC.) During his tenure, he was extremely devoted to the mission and goals of the JCCSC. He raised the profile of the chamber by participating in as many events and programs, encouraging the members to participate as well and led by example. Under his leadership the chamber held significant community events, including: Town Hall Meeting with Chief Bratton, Welcome Party for Mayor Villaraigosa, and Samurai Parade in Little Tokyo. He also assisted the LAPD by donating 30 much-needed Canon digital cameras, and helping to develop closer relationships with various community organizations, the LAPD and City Hall.
During his three-year presidency he devoted much of his time solely to JCCSC and was respected by members and community leaders. Abe led the JCCSC to participate in several fundraising activities to help the Nikkei community in disaster-relief efforts for the Kobe earthquake, Southern California forest fires, tsunami in Indonesia and the Katrina flood in New Orleans.
Abe has been a board of director of the JCCSC since 1993. He has held numerous JCCSC offices, including senior vice president (three years), vice president (four years) and treasurer. He was also president of the Japanese American Scholarship Fund (three years). Abe also chaired: Annual Golf Tournament (three years), where there was noticeable increase in profit; Ashinaga Ikueikai Student Exchange Program (two years) for college students in Japan; Rainbow Student Program (three years), where college students in the US spend a summer in Japan; and the year end charity drive (three years). Other committee work includes: Oshogatsu in Little Tokyo, business, finance, budget, general administration and all luncheon and dinner programs (installation dinner, Jokun Recognition Luncheon).
In addition to the JCCSC, Abe is: involved with the Orange County Japanese American Association (OCJAA), serving as a board of director, vice president and annual golf tournament chair (since 2006); an advisor (since 2007) of Little Tokyo Service Center's Ryugakkusei Hotline; member of Mitakai (Keio Alumni Organization in L.A.) since 1982, serving as president in 2004 and 2005.
Hideo Izumo, nominated by the Hollywood JACL Community CenterHideo Izumo was born in 1920 in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo district. He is the youngest of three children whose parents emigrated from Hiroshima, Japan. When he was four, the family moved to East L.A., where he attended local schools and daily Japanese school, and eventually UCLA. He joined Boy Scout Troop 197 in 1932 and become Scoutmaster in 1941. He enjoyed sports and was a member of a local team called the 'Cougars.'
In 1942, his family was interned in Poston, Arizona. He was permitted to leave the camp in early 1943 to work on farms in Utah and Idaho. After learning of a position, Izumo moved to Detroit in October 1943 to become an accountant. While in Detroit, his military classification was changed to "enlisted reserve," meaning he could be called to active duty. He immediately quit his job and returned to Poston to marry his sweetheart, Kay Ishikawa. He was inducted soon after their marriage.
Izumo was assigned to the Military Intelligence Service Language School in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His intensive nine-month program ended just as the war ended and in late August, he was shipped to the Philippines. After several months in Manila, he joined General MacArthur's Occupation Forces in Japan. He worked in the MIS until his discharge in August 1947. He remained in Tokyo as a civil servant for the U.S. Army until returning to Los Angeles in 1948 and joining his brother's accounting firm.
Izumo moved into his current home in the Silver Lake area in 1953 and became active in the community. Since 1952 he has been involved with the Nishi Hongwanji Buddhist Temple and its branch, the Hollywood Buddhist Temple. He served on the board of directors, administrative committee, and as treasurer. In addition, he was the Hollywood Buddhist Temple president for two years and treasurer for five years. In 1954 Izumo also served on the board of directors and as treasurer of "Shonien," an orphanage for Japanese children that opened a new Silver Lake facility. In addition, after his two sons joined Boy Scout Troop 90 in 1957, he joined the Parents Committee, becoming its president in 1962.
When Izumo joined the Hollywood JACL in 1960 and became president in 1965, he organized and was general manager of the first Hollywood Dodgers baseball and basketball teams-mainly to avoid driving his sons to team practices and games across town. Boys in the Hollywood area participated in the Japanese American Optimist Club's baseball and basketball leagues, which later combined with other groups to become the Community Youth Council.
Proud of the organization, which started with about 12 players, he attributes its success to the high caliber of coaching. Outstanding Nisei athletes were recruited to coach, such as former UCLA baseball star Joe Suski as the first Hollywood Dodgers coach, with Babe Nomura and Willie Mori to coach basketball.
Madam Bando Mitsuhiro, nominated by the Nisei Week Bando Mitsuhiro KaiMadam Bando Mitsuhiro (Kiyoko Taniguchi) has enriched the Japanese American community and the community-at-large through her dedicated efforts in promoting Japanese dance. It has been her lifelong mission to teach and present this cultural art throughout the United States and ensure its perpetuity in the years ahead. Her frequent contacts with the Bando Headmaster and various other cultural artists in Japan, and the opportunities that she has provided for them to perform here, have enabled her students and the community to experience firsthand the talents of Japanese professional artists.
Born in Ehime, Japan, Madam Mitsuhiro began her training in Japanese classical dance in 1947. In 1950, she became a student of Bando Minosuke, (designated a Living National Treasure as Bando Mitsugoro VIII) and later, Grand Master Bando Mitsugoro IX. She was granted her shihan (teaching certificate) in 1954 and as a direct student of the Grand Master, she earned her stage name from Bando Mitsugoro VII and taught in Japan for 15 years.
Coming to the U.S. in 1969, Madam Mitsuhiro started teaching classical dance at the Hompa Hongwanji Betsuin (Nishi Hongwanji) with 14 students. The Bando Mitsuhiro Kai's first public performance was held at Koyasan Hall in Little Tokyo in 1972. Today, her schools are located in downtown Los Angeles, San Diego, Vista, Santa Monica, Huntington Beach, Monterey, and Tacoma, Washington.
For the past 35 years, and on a rotating basis, Madam Mitsuhiro has choreographed the Nisei Week Festival parade dances with other dance instructors, her most recent experience in 2005. Over the years, she has presented Japanese classical dance to audiences in Vancouver, British Columbia, and throughout the nation. For numerous years she has performed at many local events as well, including the Torrance Bunka Sai Japanese Cultural Festival, Japan Expo and other Southern California festivals. In addition, she has entertained residents of Keiro Retirement Home, and in conjunction with two other local Bando school dance teachers, presented $10,000 to Keiro HealthCare-the proceeds from a benefit dance program of the Bando Ryu with guest artist Bando Mitsugoro X from Japan.
In 1996 she was presented a Certificate of Recognition from California State Senator Patrick Johnston, and in 2003, was promoted to kanbu shihan rank by Grand Master Bando Mitsugoro X of Tokyo. Madam Mitsuhiro was awarded Woman of the Year by the Downtown Los Angeles Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League and the Japanese Women's Society of Southern California in 2006.
For nearly 40 years, Madame Mitsuhiro has provided Japanese classical dance lessons to students ages 3 to 80 years old through Bando Mitsuhiro Kai, producing 30 natori and 15 shihan. She is a board member of the LA branch of the Bando Ryu dance association of Japan.
Kiyoshi Takeda, nominated by the Pasadena Japanese Cultural InstituteMr. Kiyoshi Takeda came to the United States from Japan in 1954 when he was 28. Today, at the age of 81 years old he is an active and devoted Nikkei community leader in the San Gabriel Valley, serving as the president of the Pasadena Nikkei Seniors, Inc. (PNS)-a position he has held since 1984. His personal dedication and leadership is reflected in the growth of the PNS. The membership grew from 100 in 1984 to the current membership of 400.
Among his achievements is enhancing the welfare and quality of life among Nikkei seniors in the region through his dedication to grow and develop a close-knit enjoyable community. The PNS offers recreational programs to help promote an active lifestyle for Nikkei seniors. These programs include such activities as group travel in which 8,000 people have participated, bimonthly luncheons, karaoke club, bridge class, exercise, handicrafts and cooking. The JBA library was opened in 1995 and for several years they have had a joint picnic with the Pasadena Japanese Cultural Institute. He has been a Director of the Japanese American Senior Citizens Federation of Southern California since 1984, and served an 8-year term as president.
Mr. Takeda was a director with the Pasadena Kendo Federation from 1964 - 1978. He also participated as a volunteer in the 1973 World Kendo, Championships and the US-Japan Centennial Kendo Tournament. This was an exchange with different organizations including Waseda University Kendo Club and the Tokyo Kendo Koubukan.
He served as chairman of the Parent's Association of Kyodo System Pasadena Gakuen in 1966 and was involved in fundraising activities to strengthen their financial structure. From 1961 - 1968, he was an officer of the Crown City Gardener's Association. In addition, he was a director of the Pasadena Japanese Cultural Institute from 1974 - 1982 and served as its bazaar chair for two years.
He lives with his wife Miyuki in Monrovia. They have a son, a daughter and 4 grandchildren.
Minoru Tonai, nominated by the Japanese American Community & Cultural Center
Born in 1929, Minoru Tonai's family lived on Terminal Island. When he was seven,
the Tonai family moved to San Pedro. His father had a successful partnership, Garden
Basket, with 12 produce stands in various markets in the Los Angeles area.On December 7, 1941 his father was arrested. Two weeks later, the family moved to Los Angeles' Crenshaw area and lived with his father's partner until evacuated to Santa Anita Assembly Center and then moved to Amache Relocation Center in Colorado, where his father joined them in 1944.
After the war, the Tonai family returned to Los Angeles. Tonai graduated from Dorsey High School, worked as a produce clerk, then entered UCLA. In 1949, he left UCLA to work as a produce clerk when the Korean War started. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in November 1950 as a combat medic. After basic training and 10 months training in Japan, his unit was sent to combat in Korea, returning home in November 1952.
He returned to college on the GI Bill and graduated from UCLA in 1955 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. Starting at a small CPA firm, he moved into industry and rose rapidly. Recruited by other companies and eventually co-founding and becoming senior vice president of Symbolics, Inc., Tonai retired in 1987. He worked as a management consultant, board member and investor to several high-tech start-up companies until fully retiring in 1994.
Tonai's community involvement began in 1976 at UCLA, when former Nisei Bruin Club members joined to help build the James E. West Alumni Center and later fund the Japanese American Studies Chair. In 1994, Tonai was elected to UCLA Foundation's Board of Directors. He has participated on many committees at UCLA, including the Nikkei Bruin Committee founded in 1990. In 1998, UCLA's Asian American Studies Center honored him with its Lifetime Achievement Award.
Since 1983, Tonai has been on the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center's Board, serving as president from 1993-98. In 2000, he was awarded JACCC's Chairman's Award. Since 1996 he has been the president of Omotesenke Domonkai of So. Cal. He co-founded in 1976 and has been president since 1978 of the Amache Historical Society. Tonai instigated building memorials at the JACCC for Nikkei servicemen killed during the Korean War (1997) and in South Korea (2001); and co-founded the Japanese American Korean War Veterans in 1996, serving as president in 2000-02.
Since 1997, Tonai has been chairman of the committee who built the Terminal Island Memorial Monument, and since 2001 he has been vice president and board member of Terminal Islanders, Inc.; member of Nanka Wakayama Kenjinkai Scholarship Committee since 1998; advisor to Esumi Sonjinkai since 1996.
In 1990, Tonai was selected as Grand Marshal for the 50th anniversary year of the Nisei Week Festival.
Tonai has been married for 51 years to the former Mary Mitsuko Endo and have three children, Susan Reiko, John Ryo and Teresa Ayako.
The 2008 Nisei Week Japanese Festival takes place in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo District from August 16-24. For calendar of events and volunteer information on the 68h Nisei Week Festival, please log onto www.NiseiWeek.org or call the Nisei Week Foundation office at 213/687-7193. The Nisei Week office is located at 244 South San Pedro Street, Suite 303, Los Angeles, Calif., 90012.
The Nisei Week Festival, one of the longest running ethnic festivals in the U.S., has been attracting hundreds of thousands of people each year since its inception in 1934 (except during WWII from 1942 - 1948) to Little Tokyo to enjoy a Japanese American arts and cultural experience, and this year Nisei Week organizers - who are all volunteers - hope to draw even more to the community. The festival is produced by the Nisei Week Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, whose mission is to promote Japanese and Japanese American heritage and traditions while bringing together the diverse communities of Southern California through arts and cultural education.
Calendar Listing [view]
Volunteer Information [view]