Free shuttle from the Festival in front of City Hall to Langley Senior Center and Mark Keppel High School. The City of Monterey Park C h e r r y B l o s s o m Fe s t i v a l 22nd Anniversary CHERRY BLOSSOM Welcome! FESTIVAL COMMITTEE Chairperson: The 2019 Cherry Blossom Festival Committee would like to welcome you to Karen Ogawa Performance: this year’s Festival as we celebrate our 22ndAnniversary. The Cherry Blossom David Ikeda Festival has a long history of being held in Monterey Park since the early 1970s. Gary Kanemoto Discontinued shortly after, the Cherry Blossom Festival was resurrected by a Guy Higashi group of community volunteers in 1997. Their efforts were realized through the Lila Leong-Iizumi successful reestablishment of the Cherry Blossom Festival in April 1998. Exhibits & Demonstrations: Colleen Ishibashi Sandy Hidalgo The Festival which is held every Spring in April coincides with the National Craft, Commercial and Community Annual Festival held in Washington, DC to celebrate the 1912 gift to our Booths: Nation’s capital of 3,000 cherry trees from Mayor Ozaki of Tokyo. Gwen Kishida Food Court: Karen Ogawa Organized completely by community volunteers, many of us being teenagers Kids’ Crafts: during the Festival’s early years, the Festival’s goal is to showcase Japanese Carli Ohara culture through a number of exhibits, demonstrations and traditional Donations & Sponsorships/ performances, all at no cost to the public. Publicity and Marketing: Margaret Endo With our 22nd Anniversary upon us, our thanks to everyone who participates in David Ikeda and supports this community event. Lila Leong-Iizumi Karen Ogawa Poster / T-Shirt Design: Sincerely, Kurt Ogawa 2019 Cherry Blossom Festival Committee Program: Gwen Kishida Raffle: Sandy Hidalgo Volunteers and Information: Support the Festival! Margaret Endo Executive Committee Members Shihoko Tatsugawa Please stop by the information booth t o purchase Vickie Sill-Ohashi a raffle ticket for $2.00 each. All proceeds will go to fund next year’s festival and you may win a Special thanks to the City of great prize donated by our sponsors. Monterey Park staff, especially Recreation Superintendent Prizes include cash and restaurant, salon and car Robert Aguirre and Recreation wash gift certificates. Drawing will be held on staff members Cristina Castillo Sunday, April 28th. Winner need not be present. and Viridiana Martinez FESTIVAL SPECIAL GUESTS CONSUL GENERAL AKIRA CHIBA Akira Chiba assumed the post of Consul General of Japan, Los Angeles in July 2016. Born in Tehran, Iran, he is a third-generation career diplomat, after his father and grandfather before him. During his several decades career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), he has spent eight years in China, and the remainder of his overseas postings in Switzerland, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States. The post of Consul General in Los Angeles is his third U.S. tour. During assignments in Tokyo, Chiba has been charged with legal affairs, grant aid, and economic cooperation portfolios, in addition to Oceanian regional affairs and several years as MOFA’s Assistant Press Secretary to the international media. He has written journal articles on Japan’s global relations and authored numerous texts, many published both in Japanese and Chinese on a wide variety of topics, from Japan-Sino relations to the intricacies of working with the U.S. Congress. He is a graduate of the Law Faculty of Tokyo University, attended Peking University in China, and graduated with an M.A. in Asian Studies from UC Berkeley. KIMI EVANS Kimi Evans is the weekend morning meteorologist for ABC7 Eyewitness News. Raised in L.A., O.C. and Japan, Kimi loves and appreciates the diversity of Southern California. She is a graduate of USC and also received her Broadcast Meteorology Certificate from Mississippi State University. Kimi started her news career in Hawaii and has also worked in San Diego and L.A. Clearly, she prefers to stay close to the coast. Over the years, Kimi realized her greatest passion is to help others. She has a huge desire to serve people and let them know they matter. “We all have the ability to accomplish anything we set our minds to, and my mission is to help people discover their talents and achieve their goals.” Kimi's community involvement and entrepreneurship in San Diego earned her the recognition of being one of the “Top 100 Women who Move the City.” As an entrepreneur, she takes a keen interest in local and online businesses. When she's not forecasting the weather, she's finding new hiking spots, emceeing and attending community events, spending time at the beach, and finding excuses to avoid the gym. HELEN H. OTA Helen is a performing member of the Grateful Crane Ensemble and is the Artistic Director Emeritus of COLD TOFU Improv. For more than 25 years, she has produced and performed several theatrical performances including musicals and sketch and improv shows. Helen also co-founded Yes, And…Productions with her partner, Mike Palma where they pro- duced and starred in the musicals Songs for A New World and Ordinary Days (Los Angeles premiere). Helen is also the Director of Donor Engagement & Special Events for the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center. She is active in the community, serving on the Boards of the Nisei Week Foundation, Zentoku Foundation, and Veterans Memorial Court Alliance, and is an Advisory Council member of Kizuna and Artistic Advisory Board of the Asian Pacific American Friends of Theatre. SHIN ITO Shin is a long time supporter of the Monterey Park Cherry Blossom Festival. Currently, he enjoys working with the seniors at Sakura Gardens as their Community Relations Director. He will continue to support the festival in memory of his "idol", "Uncle" Rodney Kageyama. FESTIVAL SPECIAL GUESTS LA KIMONO CLUB On March 15, 2003, approximately 40 men and women who love Kimono met to form a club with the agreed objective of promoting mutual understanding and cultural exchanges between the US and Japan through Kimono. They officially formed the club now called “LA KIMONO CLUB” Throughout the year, members have the opportunity to share the joy of Kimono amidst good company at a host of events. The LA Kimono Club also started the “Miss Kimono L.A.” contest in 2010 in Little Tokyo to encourage kimono culture to the younger generation. MADAME FUMI AKUTAGAWA Madame Fumi Akutagawa has been teaching Japanese culture and arts in Southern California since 1976. She received her formal artistic training, instructor’s licenses (master’s degrees) in Japan as follows: Japanese tea ceremony (Edo Senke School ), Kimono Dressing (Sodo Kimono Academy, Tokyo) and Japanese flower arrangement (Koryu Shoto-Kai School of Ikebana). She was honored as the first runner-up in the first Kimono Queen Contest ever held, which took place in the Imperial Theatre, Toyko, Japan, in 1972. She traveled a number of times to both Europe and America as a member of the Japan Kimono Mission. Frequently, Mme. Akutagawa demonstrates the art of kimono dressing in various festivals and venues in Southern California. Her kimono expertise was tapped when she worked on the films Memoirs of Geisha and Spiderman. She has served as Japanese culture consultant for three separate productions of the opera Madame Butterfly. She has been honored by the California State Assembly and Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Southern California for her cultural contributions to the Japanese American community. IN MEMORIAM: RODNEY KAGEYAMA This past December our Cherry Blossom friend, Rodney Kageyama, passed away suddenly in his sleep at the age of 77. Rodney was a fixture in Little Tokyo and within the Southern California Nikkei community. Whether he was dancing at an Obon, emceeing a festival or taking photos with kids as Sho- gun Santa, Rodney’s heart was always with the Japanese American community. Despite suffering a stroke early in 2018, Rodney continued to make public appearances and attend community events. His strength and stamina sapped by illness and age were belied by his continued cheer and sense of humor. He was honored last year at the Aquarium of the Pacific’s annual Autumn Festival and he was among the cast in this coming weekend’s production of “A Little Tokyo Christmas,” reportedly more than willing to play his part while in a wheelchair. Despite his illnesses he continued to emcee for events held by community organizations, including the Japanese American National Museum, Japanese American Cultural and Com- munity Center, East West Players, Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches (A3M), Nisei Week Japanese Festival, Tanabata Festival, the Higashi Obon Festival and for many years here at our Cherry Blossom Festival. Rodney began his career in San Francisco as one of the founding members of the Asian American Theater Company. While there he participated as actor, director, and designer in several productions. In 1979, having moved to Los Angeles “to play with the big guys,” Rod- ney became a member of East West Players, the leading Asian American theatre group in the United States. He worked there as actor, costume designer, and director for their new playwright series. Rodney was known to stretch the comedic envelope, at once bawdy, naughty and a breath of fresh air, all with a plain and endearing sweetness. He was honored in 2016 with the Nisei Week Inspiration Award. He was involved with Nisei Week from 2003, serving as Baby Show chair for many years and as a board member of the Nisei Week Foundation. Rodney was also devoted to his pet pugs and helped place animals in loving homes. He is survived by his spouse Ken White. PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE Saturday, April 27, 2019 FIELD STAGE 11:00 a.m.