THE NATIONAL NEWSPAPER OF THE JACL Aug. 18-Sept. 7, 2017
JACL National President Gary Mayeda (left) with Robert Handa, host and producer of “Asian Pacific America,” on the set of the popular NBC Bay Area TV » PAGE 5 show ON AIR WITH
THE JACL » PAGE 6 Asian Americans in ‘Asian Pacific America With Robert Early Hollywood Handa’ features the 88-year-old » PAGE 8 civil rights organization on its AAPI Media Aug. 6 show. Depictions: Change Comes Slowly PHOTO: PATTI HIRAHARA
WWW.PACIFICCITIZEN.ORG #3305 / VOL. 165, No. 4 ISSN: 0030-8579 2 Aug. 18-Sept. 7, 2017 NATIONAL
HOW TO REACH US Email: [email protected] JACL CONDEMNS WEEKEND ACT OF Online: www.pacificcitizen.org Tel: (213) 620-1767 Mail: 123 Ellison S. Onizuka St., Suite 313 TERRORISM AGAINST MINNESOTA MOSQUE Los Angeles, CA 90012 he Japanese American Citizens Minneapolis-St. Paul area. have been much worse had the timing been STAFF League, the oldest and largest Asian “The Twin Cities JACL chapter sup- different. An hour later, the temple would have Executive Editor American civil rights organization in ports the Muslim community in the face of been filled with children attending classes. Allison Haramoto Tthe U.S., condemned the Aug. 5 bombing of increasing discrimination and hate. The Twin The JACL stands proudly in support of the Senior Editor a Bloomington, Minn., mosque as an act of Cities JACL actively advocates the pursuit of Muslim and Sikh communities and for the Digital & Social Media terrorism and hate against a religious group. global justice, civil liberties and human rights, right of all Americans to worship peacefully George Johnston This is a clear affront to the rights of the hope, compassion and love,” said Twin Cities and without the fear of attack from terrorism. Business Manager Susan Yokoyama Muslim community to worship in peace. Chapter President Amy Dickerson. We affirm the fundamental American Production Artist We are grateful that there were no casualties, It is particularly poignant that this act of right of worship and freedom of assembly as Marie Samonte but that does not reduce the impact this act of terror took place on the fifth anniversary of guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. Circulation terror has upon the worshipping community. the Oak Creek, Wis., massacre of six Sikh For more information about the Twin Eva Ting The Twin Cities JACL chapter has worked worshippers preparing the day’s meal. Cities chapter, please refer to its website at The Pacific Citizen newspaper previously with the Muslim community in the Like the Aug. 5 bombing, that event could (ISSN: 0030-8579) is published www.tcjacl.org. semi-monthly (except once in December and January) by the Japanese American Citizens League, Pacific Citizen, 123 incitement to commit hate crimes against minority communities and Ellison S. Onizuka St., Suite 313 individuals,” adding, “hate speech leads to hate crimes.” Los Angeles, CA 90012 JACL CONDEMNS Periodical postage paid at L.A., The 88-year-old civil rights organization added: “We take this CA opportunity to call attention to actions less violent in nature, but POSTMASTER: Send address equally steeped in racist and bigoted ideology and equally devastating changes to National JACL, 1765 WEEKEND HATE RALLY Sutter St., San Francisco, CA in effect upon minority communities. The Trump administration has 94115 systematically dismantled the very instruments our government has in JACL President: Gary Mayeda IN CHARLOTTESVILLE place to protect minorities from discrimination.” Interim Assistant Executive Director: Stephanie Nitahara WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Japanese American Citizens P.C. EDITORIAL BOARD Gil Asakawa, chairperson; Jody League on Aug. 14 denounced the racism, bigotry and violence in Mitori, MDC; Joy Goto, CCDC; Jim Charlottesville, Va., that resulted in three deaths over the weekend. Duff, NCWNPDC; Chip Larouche, One of the deceased has been identified as Heather D. Heyer, PNWDC; Kayla Watanabe, IDC; John Saito Jr., PSWDC; a Charlottesville resident who was among a crowd of people Juli Yoshinaga, Youth rep. counterprotesting a white nationalist rally. SUBSCRIBE Heyer, 32, was killed when a man drove his car into the crowd.; Get a one-year subscription of the Pacific Citizen newspaper at: 19 people were also injured. Police identified the driver as James Special Issues www.pacificcitizen.org or call Alex Fields Jr., 20, of Maumee, Ohio. He was arrested after the (213) 620-1767 incident and charged with second-degree murder and three counts of Coming Soon ADVERTISE malicious wounding. To advertise in the Pacific Citizen, call (213) 620-1767 or e-mail: The other two who lost their lives as a result of the white nationalist ScHOlARSHip SpeciAl - SepTeMbeR [email protected] rally were Virginia state troopers H. Jay Cullen, 48, and Berke Bates, LEGAL who would have turned 41 on Aug. 20. The helicopter the two were No part of this publication may be Veteran’s Issue - noVember reproduced without the express aboard to monitor the situation in Charlottesville crashed, killing permission of the Pacific Citizen. both troopers. Editorials, letters, news and the Holiday issue - december opinions expressed by columnists According to JACL, this is not the first overt act of terrorism against other than the national JACL a minority community in 2017, but it was the first to result in deaths. Contact Susan at (213) 620-1767 ext.103 president or national director do not necessarily reflect JACL The JACL said in a statement that the “unbridled white supremacist Email: [email protected] policy. Events and products ideology espoused at the rallies in Charlottesville and Seattle must or [email protected] advertised in the P.C. do not carry the implicit endorsement of not be accepted as free expression of opinion, but repudiated as an the JACL or this publication. We reserve the right to edit articles. © 2017 Periodicals paid at Los Angeles, Calif. and mailing office.
Reserve Your Messages, Well Wishes, JACL MEMBERS Remembrances and Holiday Greetings TODAY! Change of Address If you’ve moved, please send new information to: National JACL 1765 Sutter St. San Francisco, CA 94115 (415) 921-5225 ext. 26 Allow 6 weeks for address changes.
To avoid interruptions in delivery, please notify your postmaster to include periodicals in your change of address (USPS Form 3575) COMMENTARY Aug. 18-Sept. 7, 2017 3 NIKKEI VOICE NHK IS YOUR DIRECT LINE TO JAPANESE NEWS
contemporary words that Japanese use mean. Having come to America in the mid-1960s, she never learned more modern terms like pasocon By Gil Asakawa (personal computers) or poppu musicu (pop mu- he recent 72nd anniversary of the bombing sic). Even though I have limited Nihongo ability, of Hiroshima went by quietly on American I can pick out the “katakana words,” as she calls news (in part because there’s just so much them, and end up telling her what the report is Tnews to cover exploding out of our own White about. Katakana is the alphabet that’s used for House). So, on Aug. 6, I turned to the one place foreign words. I knew would give the commemoration of the For years whenever I traveled to other cities, bombing its due coverage: NHK World, Japan’s I’d check the hotel TV menu to see if it carried English-language public television network. NHK World, the English version of the network NHK World didn’t disappoint. The network my mom watches. aired live the annual solemn ceremony at Hiro- I like the headline news presented every shima Peace Memorial Park that included dig- half-hour, though I admittedly get a bit tired nitaries including Kazumi Matsui, the mayor of after several hours of seeing the same news. But Hiroshima, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo NHK World is Japan’s English-language public TV network. I really love the lineup of feature programming, Abe. The speeches were translated into English, which tends to focus on cultural and travel and and the dolorous seriousness of looking back at via satellite exclusively, which means she never even tunes in tourism topics. the horror of atomic war and looking with hope to a future another channel, even though she pays for a full service and Earlier this year, NHK World finally came to Denver’s without war were that much more powerful to be able to the extra to get NHK. cable carrier, Comcast (on channel 262 for Denver-area watch it live. If my mom is home, the TV is on, blasting do-rah-ma readers). It’s been a pleasure to finally have it available Sure, there are other ways to keep up with news from (dramas, or soap operas), wacky game shows, talk show, without checking into a hotel. I put it on when I’m tired of Japan. I have a digital subscription to JapanTimes.com, the music and comedy variety shows, sumo tournaments and politics on the U.S. news networks, and we’re caught up on website of the respected English-language newspaper. An even children’s programming. The network also broadcasts “Game of Thrones.” aggregator called JapanToday.com compiles news from news, of course, with its low-key and understated anchors I still count on the top headlines every half-hour, and I still various sites and is a helpful stop to catch up on the headlines (the game show hosts, on the other hand, seem as if they’ve get tired of seeing the same stories after a while. But other at a glance. The Asahi Shimbun’s English-language website just downed a gallon of cold-brew coffee before the cameras than that, I like to tune in to a variety of programming that (asahi.com/ajw) is also good. have been turned on). introduces me to areas of Japan I haven’t visited, plus, NHK But NHK has been the bridge to Japan for a lot of people in My mom loves the samurai doramas and pastoral nature World teaches me about the country of my heritage. the U.S. My mom watches Japanese-language programming shows, but she gets puzzled watching the news. I’ve visited her when the news is on, and she has no idea what many >> See NHK on page 12 LEGAL-EASE: AN ATTORNEY’S PERSPECTIVE THE DANGERS OF ONLINE, DIY ESTATE PLANS
the documents before a notary public in order to be legal- sure that they get signed and notarized and that your ly binding. Ken and Kate meant to go that weekend, but assets are properly funded into your trust. If the company then life happened: Their son got sick, then they went on does allow you to speak with an attorney, utilize the By Staci Yamashita-Iida, Esq. vacation and then it was the holidays. Eventually, they forgot opportunity by asking what specifically needs to be done in ill my Will work? Can I trust my Trust? If you’ve that they were ever supposed to get the documents signed. order to guarantee that probate is avoided. created your Estate Plan online, these are questi- Years later, Ken and Kate passed away. Their son brought Issue No. 2: Mistakes Can Have Disastrous Consequences ons you may want to ask yourself. in the unexecuted documents, hoping they would suffice Mistakes happen; we are only human. Unfortunately, in the WNowadays, legal websites advertise do-it-yourself (DIY) to avoid probate. Unfortunately, they did not, and Ken and case of DIY Estate Planning, those mistakes can result in wills and trusts. The appeal is easy to see: You can create Kate’s son ended up paying thousands of dollars in legal fees expensive, unintended results. your Estate Plan at a fraction of the price in comparison to in order to receive his parents’ assets. Take Ted, for example. He created an online Living Trust visiting an experienced attorney. So, what’s the downside? Mary also created her Living Trust through an online with the intention of leaving his assets to his two children. While it is fully plausible that online, DIY Estate Plans website and, unlike Ken and Kate, she was able to get all His daughter was disabled and received SSI, so he wanted result in a trouble-free situation, that’s not always the case. documents signed and notarized before her death. However, her to receive the family home. That way, she would always If you have used a low-cost website to prepare your Estate when her son came to see our law firm after Mary had have a place to live. Ted also wanted to be fair to his son, Planning documents or are thinking of doing so in the future, passed, he was shocked to learn that his mother’s assets still so he wanted the money in the savings account to go to I’d caution you to take the following into consideration. required probate. While there was a signed Quitclaim Deed him. Both the home and the savings account had the same that transferred the family home into the name of the trust, Issue No. 1: Assets May Not Avoid Probate approximate value. Unfortunately, because Ted simply stated Mary had never recorded it with the county. Similarly, all he wanted his assets to be split equally between his children For most people, the main purpose of creating a of Mary’s bank accounts were not put into the trust, and Revocable Living Trust is to ensure that their loved ones receive and did not indicate that the home and the account were to there was no beneficiary listed. Mary had likely assumed go to each child specifically, problems arose. Both children their assets with ease and without high costs, i.e., by that, by creating the trust, the assets were automatically in it. avoiding the probate process. Unfortunately, online trusts do received 50 percent of the home and 50 percent of the bank There were pages and pages of instructions of what Mary was account. Ted’s daughter ended up losing her benefits and, not always accomplish these goals. Below are two real-life supposed to do tucked away in the back of a binder, but stories experienced by our Probate Department. because her brother forced the sale of the home, she ended up understandably, she likely did not read them. While it did losing a place to live as well. Ken and Kate created their Living Trust through an online help that Mary had a trust in place, her son was not spared of website. The process seemed simple enough: They filled Now not all situations are that dramatic. But even a simple the time and money it took to undergo the probate process. error can have consequences that are just as devastating. out a questionnaire, the company generated documents for The moral of these stories is that if you do choose to them to sign and they received said documents in the mail. create your Estate Planning documents online, make The company stated that Ken and Kate would need to sign >> See PLANS on page 12 4 Aug. 18-Sept. 7, 2017 NATIONAL/COMMUNITY SUS ITO WORLD WAR San Fernando Valley JACL Announces 2017 Scholarship Winners II PHOTO EXHIBIT SET PHOTO: COURTESY OF SAN FERNANDO VALLEY JACL he San Fer- engagement with cue of the Lost Battalion and the nando Valley their school and TO OPEN liberation of a subcamp of Dachau, chapter of larger community. his photographs, taken with a pro- Tthe JACL is pleased Each recipient is Dr. Susumu hibited camera, capture the hum- to honor five talent- also well-versed in “Sus” Ito ble daily lives of young Japanese ed college and col- contemporary issues in France, American soldiers serving in the lege-bound students facing Asian Ameri- 1944 segregated unit. with scholarships to cans such as media Many of the photos show his fel- support their aca- representation, LG- low soldiers posing next to their demic and social BTQ rights and im- jeeps, walking in the snow, swim- justice organizing migration politics. ming in a river, playing chess and pursuits. They are currently even visiting tourist destinations Seira Narita, who (or aspiring) jour- while on leave. is headed to the Pictured (from left) are this year’s San Fernando Valley nalists, artists, musi- Ito went to great depths to pre- University of Cali- chapter scholarship recipients Seira Narita, Kara Tanaka cians, veterinarians serve the negatives, carrying his fornia, Davis, in the and Olivia Mazzucato. (Not pictured are Dean Caudill and and policymakers. photos nearly 5,000 miles across fall, received the Nova Weng.) The Dr. Sanbo PHOTO: JANM Europe and having his film -de Dr. Sanbo and Mrs. and Mrs. Kay Saka- he Fullerton Arboretum in veloped at villages along the way. Kay Sakaguchi Graduating High School Scholarship. guchi Scholarships are funded by a longtime chapter Fullerton, Calif., is host- Unseen for decades, these images Olivia Mazzucato (University of California, Los supporter and named for pillars of the San Fernando ing a new exhibit featuring provide a fresh and personal look Angeles), Kara Tanaka (Santa Clara University) and Valley Japanese American community. The scholar- TDr. Susumu “Sus” Ito’s World War into the soldiers’ lives. Nova Weng (University of California, Los Ange- ship committee specifically awards students with II images at the Orange County In the years following the war, les) received the Dr. Sanbo and Mrs. Kay Sakaguchi interests in civil rights and community service. Agricultural and Nikkei Heritage Ito studied biology with the help Undergraduate Scholarships, while Dean Caudill For more information about the scholarships, visit Museum from Sept. 10-Oct. 29. of the G.I. Bill and later received (University of California, Berkeley) received a chapter the chapter’s website (http://sfvjacl.weebly.com/ In addition, on Sept. 17 from 1-3 his PhD in biology and embryol- undergraduate scholarship. scholarships-and-internships.html). p.m., Lily Anne Y. Welty Tamai ogy. He joined the faculty of Har- The chapter recognized the breadth and depth of will give a keynote talk for the vard Medical School in 1960 and each student’s scholastic achievements and level of — Jean-Paul deGuzman opening reception of this exhibit. eventually served as the James Tamai interviewed Ito before his Stillman Professor of Comparative death in 2015 at the age of 96. She Anatomy Emeritus from 1991 until went on to publish an article about his death. him and this exhibit in the South- No tickets or reservations are AMERICAN HOLIDAY TRAVEL ern California Quarterly, a Histor- needed for the Sept. 17 presenta- 2017 TOUR SCHEDULE ical Society of Southern California tion, but seating is limited. The Eastern Canada Holiday Tour (Carol Hida) WAIT LIST ...... Sep 6-14 journal. exhibition is open Sundays, Montreal, Quebec, Ottawa, Toronto, Niagara Falls. Ito’s World War II photo- Wednesdays and Saturdays from Classical Japan Autumn Holiday Tour (Ernest Hida) WAIT LIST . . . . Oct 5-16 graphs document his tour of duty Noon-4 p.m. Tokyo, Mt. Fuji, Yamanashi, Shizuoka, Nagoya, Gifu, Hiroshima, Kyoto. through Europe as a member of the Japan Autumn Countryside Holiday Tour (Ernest Hida)...... Oct 19-29 celebrated all-Japanese American For more information, call Tokyo, Sado Island, Kanazawa, Amanohashidate, Tottori, Matsue, 442nd Regimental Combat Team’s (657) 278-4010 or visit http:// Tamatsukuri Onsen, Hiroshima. 522nd Field Artillery Battalion. fullertonarboretum.org/museum_ New Orleans & Deep South Holiday Tour (Elaine Ishida)...... Nov 5-12 While Ito participated in the res- nikkei_current.php. New Orleans, Natchez, Lafayette. So. America Patagonia-Easter Island Holiday Tour (Ernest Hida). . . Nov 7-22 Buenos Aires, Ushuaia, Calafate(Perito Moreno Glacier), Paine National Park(Grey Glacier), Punta Arenas, Santiago, Easter Island. U.S. VETERAN RETURNS 2018 TOUR SCHEDULE Hokkaido Snow Festivals Holiday Tour (Ernest Hida)...... Feb 3-12 Lake Akan, Abashiri, Sounkyo, Sapporo, Otaru, Noboribetsu, Lake Toya. JAPANESE SOLDIER’S FLAG Danube River Holiday Cruise (Carol Hida) ...... Apr 23-May 4 Prague, Vilshofen, Passau, Linz, Weissenkirchen, Vienna, Bratislava, HIGASHISHIRAKAWA, JA- It meant everything in the world to Budapest. With AMA Waterways. PAN — Tatsuya Yasue buried his her.” Heritage of America Holiday Tour (Elaine Ishida) ...... Apr 27-May 6 face into the flag and smelled it. The flag’s white background is New York City, Philadelphia, Gettysburg, Shenandoah Valley, Charlottes Then, he held the 93-year-old hands filled with signatures of 180 friends ville, Williamsburg, Yorktown, Washington DC. that brought this treasure home and and neighbors from the moun- Cape Cod-Islands of New England Tour (Carol Hida & Elaine Ishida) . .Jun 1-8 kissed them. tain village of Higashishirakawa, Providence, Newport, Boston, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Hyannis, Marvin Strombo, who had taken wishing Yasue’s safe return. The Nantucket. the calligraphy-covered Japanese signatures helped Strombo find its Grandparents-Grandchildren Japan Tour (Ernest Hida) ...... Jun 17-26 flag from a dead soldier at WWII rightful owners. Tokyo, Hakone, Atami, Hiroshima, Kyoto. island battlefield 73 years ago, re- The return of the flag brings Hokkaido Summer Holiday Tour (Ernest Hida) ...... July turned it Aug. 15 to the family of closure, the 89-year-old farmer Classical Japan Autumn Holiday Tour (Ernest Hida)...... Oct Sadao Yasue. They had never got- and younger brother of Sadao New England Autumn Holiday Tour (Carol Hida)...... Oct 12-19 ten his body or — until that mo- Yasue said at his 400-year-old Costa Rica Holiday Tour (Carol Hida)...... Nov 7-15 ment — anything else of his. house. Okinawa Holiday Tour (Ernest Hida) ...... Nov Yasue and Tatsuya’s sister, Sayo- “It’s like the war has finally end- For more information and reservations, please contact: ko Furuta, 93, wept silently as Tat- ed, and my brother can come out of suya placed the flag on her lap. limbo,” he said. AMERICAN HOLIDAY TRAVEL “I was so happy that I returned Tatsuya Yasue last saw his broth- 312 E. 1st Street, Suite 330 * Los Angeles, CA 90012 the flag,” Strombo said. “I can see er in 1943. A year later, his family Tel: (213)625-2232 * Email: [email protected] how much the flag meant to her. received word of his death. (CST #200326-10) Ernest or Carol Hida That almost made me cry . . . . — Associated Press Elaine Ishida (Tel: 714-269-4534)
IN-DEPTH Aug. 18-Sept. 7, 2017 5
PHOTO: PATTI HIRAHARA The JACL is well-represented. PHOTO: JOACHIM CUSTODIO Pictured (from left) are Sonoma County JACL member and “Asian Pacific America” Coordinating Producer Lance Lew, upcom- ing new Sonoma County JACL member and “Whispering Light” performer Kevin Village-Stone (Iwamura), JACL National Presi- dent Gary Mayeda, “Asian Pacific America” host Robert Handa, Berkeley JACL’s Nancy Ukai, So- noma County JACL Co-President Sonoma County JACL Co-President Mark Hayashi, P.C. contributor Mark Hayashi explains his chapter’s and Greater Los Angeles JACL’s activities to host Robert Handa. Patti Hirahara and “Whispering Light’s” Lindy Day. ON AIR WITH THE JACL PHOTO: JOACHIM CUSTODIO ‘Asian Pacific America With Robert Handa’ devotes its Aug. 6 show to the 88-year-old civil rights organization. PHOTO: PATTI HIRAHARA By P.C. Staff families were both incarcerated at the sian Pacific America With Robert Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Handa” first aired on KNTV-NBC Wyoming during World War II. Bay Area in September 2014 and “Surviving the experience of our fami- ‘Ais currently the only Asian cultural affairs lies being incarcerated taught succeeding show on network television in the greater generations to overcome societal adver- San Francisco Bay Area. sities. Giving back to the greater APIA The half-hour show devoted its entire run- community in our own ways became (From left) Pacific Citizen contributor and Greater Los ning time on Aug. 6 to highlighting various another common trait we both shared,” Angeles JACL’s Patti Hirahara and “50 Objects/50 aspects of the Japanese American Citizens Mayeda said. Stories of the Japanese American Incarceration” League, the nation’s oldest Asian American The second segment of the show focus- Project Director Nancy Ukai with host Robert Handa civil and human rights organization, which ed on the workings of a local JACL chap- ter, the Sonoma County JACL, which is headquartered in San Francisco. JACL’s Gary Mayeda Founded in 1929, the JACL monitors and was founded in 1934. In July, the chapter “With the JACL having such a presence in responds to issues that enhance or threaten received a JACL Legacy Fund grant at Northern California and being headquarte- the civil and human rights of all Americans, the organization’s National Convention in National Museum of American History’s red in San Francisco, this is great exposu- as well as implements strategies to effect Washington, D.C., for its Kami Shibai edu- new exhibition “Righting a Wrong — Japa- re to all that may not be aware of the JACL. positive social change, particularly in the cational project, which serves as a resource nese Americans and World War II.” JACL I hope new millenials join to continue the Asian Pacific American community. guide on Japanese culture. also collaborated with the Smithsonian important work and educational activities for Host Robert Handa felt that in featuring The Sonoma County JACL is an active to host a private reception and viewing of future generations,” Hirahara said. the JACL, he hoped “people will not only organization, counting among its many suc- the exhibit as part of this year’s National Each “Asian Pacific America” show also understand the historical role that the JACL cessful programs a Taiko and Japanese Cul- Convention. usually highlights a performing group at the plays in helping the community, but also ture workshop, essay contest and Oral Histo- The show’s third-segment guests Nan- end of the program. This show highlighted see its relevance to our world today. These ry Group and Speakers Bureau. cy Ukai, a Berkeley JACL chapter board the performance of upcoming new Sono- lessons seem particularly valuable as other Mark Hayashi, co-president of the Sonoma member, and Patti Hirahara, contributor to ma County JACL member Kevin Village- ethnic communities face similar issues and County JACL, was a guest on “Asian Pacific the Pacific Citizen and Greater Los Ange- Stone (Iwamura) and his award-winning threats now.” America,” and he talked about his chapter’s les JACL chapter member, talked about the lead guitarist Lindy Day from the perfor- With the JACL working to promote Oral History Group and Speakers Bureau, significance of this exhibition and its impor- ming group “Whispering Light.” The duo cultural, educational and social values, which reaches 2,000-3,000 people a year. tance in educating the public about this dark performed “Spirits Dance” from their “One as well as preserve the heritage and lega- Volunteers from the chapter educate teachers chapter in U.S. history. Tribe” CD, in which both musicians play all cy of the Japanese American community, and classrooms on their personal incarcera- Ukai helped the Berkeley JACL chapter of the instruments featured in the album. National JACL President Gary Mayeda led tion experiences during WWII so that peop- create two events last fall that supported Village-Stone is a native of the San off the show by talking about the organizati- le will learn that such personal injustices the Smithsonian exhibition by sharing sto- Francisco Bay Area and is of Cherokee on and his family roots. must never happen again. (For further infor- ries of camp artifacts and putting many on and Japanese ancestry. He lives in Lake Mayeda and Handa found that they shared mation on the Sonoma County JACL, please display. In seeing how many stories could be County, Calif., and has been in the music something in common, learning that their check the chapter’s website at http://www. told through camp artifacts, she developed a and postproduction industry for decades sonomacojacl.org/.) new National Park Service Japanese Ameri- PHOTO: PATTI HIRAHARA as a composer, performer, producer and And with 2017 being can Confinement Sites Grant Project entitled proaudio/recording engineer. (For more in- the 75th anniversary “50 Objects/50 Stories of the Japanese Ame- formation on “Whispering Light,” visit www. of the signing of Exe- rican Incarceration.” (To learn more about whisperinglight.com.) cutive Order 9066 by this project, visit https://www.facebook. “We are glad to promote national organi- President Franklin com/50objectsNikkei/.) zations such as the JACL that are part of our D. Roosevelt, which Hirahara talked about the significance local community, and we hope to highlight authorized the forced of seeing the original E.O. 9066 document more JACL stories on ‘Asian Pacific Ameri- removal of 120,000 at the Smithsonian exhibition, which has ca’ in the future,” Handa concluded. people of Japanese been extended through Dec. 8, 2018, as and Japanese Ameri- well as her continued promotion of the Wa- To watch “Asian Pacific America With can descent to Ame- shington State University Libraries George Robert Handa” featuring the JACL, visit rican concentration and Frank C. Hirahara photo collection of the following NBC Bay Area link: http:// “Whispering Light” performers Kevin Village-Stone camps during WWII, Heart Mountain. (For more information on www.nbcbayarea.com/on-air/communi- (Iwamura) and guitarist Lindy Day with host Robert the JACL supported this exhibition, visit http://american ty/Japanese-American-Citizens-League- Handa. The duo performed their song “Spirit’s Dance” the February opening history.si.edu/exhibitions/righting-wrong- Featured-on-Asian-Pacific-America- on the show. of the Smithsonian japanese-americans-and-world-war-ii.) with-Robert-Handa-439933883.html. 6 Aug. 18-Sept. 7, 2017 IN-DEPTH
THE UNTOLD STORY OF ASIAN AMERICANS IN EARLY HOLLYWOOD Early Asian American actors persevered to make a name for themselves in a film world dominated by their Caucasian counterparts.
By Rob Buscher, Hayakawa’s brooding good looks Contributor made him an undeniable sex sym- bol amongst white women across t would shock many film buffs and America. casual viewers alike to learn that there Cast in a similar role the fol- was a time in early Hollywood cinema lowing year by legendary direc- Iwhen several Asian Americans were among tor Cecil B. DeMille, Hayakawa the top A-list celebrities. Sessue Hayakawa in shared the first-ever onscreen in- In fact, one of the highest-paid actors in 1918 by Apeda Studio terracial kiss with a white woman 1910s Hollywood was a Japanese immigrant in the 1915 film “The Cheat.” named Sessue Hayakawa. Hayakawa would Although the studio took a sub- go on to become the first (and to this day stantial risk by visually suggest- only) Asian American to own a Hollywood ing miscegenation, it still made studio, which netted more than $2 million in him the villain by making his profits at the height of its popularity in the character brand his lover with a late 1910s. hot iron after she tries to break Born in 1889 as Kintaro Hayakawa in off their affair. Chiba Prefecture, he emigrated to the United Anna May Wong and Sessue Asked about the significance of States to pursue a degree in political eco- Hayakawa starred together in the Hayakawa’s sex-symbol status, nomics at the University of Chicago. After 1931 crime drama. Center for Asian American Me- flunking out of school, Hayakawa’s plan to dia (CAAM) Executive Direc- return home became waylaid when he caught tor Stephen Gong said, “I think a theater performance in Los Angeles’ Little [Hayakawa’s] transgressive stardom (white Pictures Corp., where he subse- Tokyo — he fell in love with the stage. women being his primary – and ardently quently released 19 films between Hayakawa became a regular player at the loyal fan base) served as a cautionary tale for the years 1918-22. Japanese Playhouse in Little Tokyo, where the developing industry and its concomitant Gong elaborated on Hayakawa’s he was discovered by Hollywood film pro- censorship-machinery. Rudolf Valentino, in tenuous relationship with race in ducer Thomas H. Ince. Against all odds, the 1920s, elicited a similar ‘forbidden’ fan Hollywood. Ince agreed to pay him the extraordinary response, and that from a very light-com- “I think at the time he was working, sum of $500 per week to star in the silent plexioned Italian. I think the industry was all filmmakers were using stereotypes as film adaption of a stage play called “The quietly but completely determined not to al- tools of the trade to get people to watch, and Typhoon” in 1914. Anna May Wong in an undated low Asians or nonwhites to become ‘stars.’” hopefully pay a few cents for the pleasure,” “The Typhoon” starred Hayakawa as a early photo Fed up with the self-proclaimed Oriental- he said. “I don’t think many people were Japanese diplomat to France who, after ist roles that he was being cast in by the ma- thinking critically about authentic cultural having an affair with a chorus girl, stran- jor Hollywood studios, Hayakawa decided or ethnic representation before the 1960s rose to prominence against great odds and gles her to death in a fit of passion. Despite to go out on his own by founding Haworth or 1970s. That said, Hayakawa was aware paved the way for the current generation of the negative stereotyping of his character, of the racism behind his character in ‘The Asian film actors to make their mark,” said ˂˂ Cheat’ and was determined therefore to play filmmaker Peilin Kuo, who is an authority Haya- the hero in his own Haworth and Hayakawa on Wong. kawa’s Feat u r e Play fi l m s — a lb eit m a ny of t hose em- The majority of films featuring Wong were hand- ployed stereotypical depictions of Chinese, released after the Motion Picture Production some Mexicans, Indians and others.” Code went into effect in 1930. Better known looks Alas, the rising anti-Japanese sentiment as the Hay’s Code after President Will H. landed in early 1920s California made Hayakawa Hays of the Motion Picture Association of him a unpalatable to Hollywood moguls looking America, this agreement amongst executives role in to cash in on their majority white audience. from each major Hollywood studio outlined the 1919 Hayakawa spent the next decade working what should and should not be permitted film. in Europe, and by the time he returned to onscreen. With anti-miscegenation laws ac- Hollywood in the 1930s, his thick Japanese tive in California until 1948, this prevented accent pigeonholed him as a character actor Wong from taking on roles that involved in the new talkie era. romance with a white male lead. Hayakawa’s return to Hollywood coincid- “During her Hollywood career, [Wong] ed with the rise of another Asian American suffered from the frequent stereotyping of star – Anna May Wong, who coincidentally Asian women as ‘China dolls’ or ‘Dragon had a starring role in Hayakawa’s 1931 sound ladies.’ Despite her prodigious talent and debut “Daughter of the Dragon.” screen presence, she was usually relegated to ˃˃ The American-born daughter of playing secondary roles to white actresses,” Hayakawa Chinatown laundry owners, Wong holds a Kuo said. “The closest she came to a lead was pro- special place in film history as the first Asian Asian role in a major studio film was in ‘The filed in American actress to become a major Holly- Good Earth’ (1937), but she lost the role to the Nov. wood sensation. Luise Rainer, a white actress in yellowface, 18, 1922, “Anna May was fascinated by film from a who won an Oscar for the role.” edition very early age . . . . She played hooky from By the 1930s, romantic Asian male leads of Movie school to watch movies and sometimes were virtually nonexistent, and when the Weekly. snuck into shoots on the streets of China- script called for one, Hollywood frequently town. From those humble beginnings, she cast white men in yellowface. Even in these IN-DEPTH Aug. 18-Sept. 7, 2017 7 cases when a white actor was portraying Another familiar Asian face in 1930s-’40s an Asian onscreen, interracial relations cinema was Sabu Dastagir, known by audi- were forbidden, thus preventing Wong from ences simply as Sabu. An Indian national, landing these roles. Sabu began his career in cinema at the young A rare exception is the 1937 thriller age of 13, when he was cast in the titular role “Daughter of Shanghai,” in which Wong of Robert Flaherty’s 1937 film “Elephant starred opposite of Korean American ac- Boy.” tor Philip Ahn as the daughter of a wealthy Based on an adaptation of the Rudyard Chinese merchant who goes undercover as a Kipling novel “Toomai of the Elephants,” nightclub dancer to try and expose the illegal the film would set the tone for most of human-trafficking operation that led to her Sabu’s career as a comical sidekick whose father’s death. image would become inextricably linked Despite the potential for onscreen romance with the orientalist fantasy embodied in with Ahn, the couple barely holds hands, let Kipling’s work. alone kisses, before she agrees to marry him “In the following years while living in in the closing scene, suggesting perhaps that England, the adolescent boy starred in glo- even onscreen romance between two Asians rifications of the British Crown, appeared in was deemed inappropriate by Hollywood fantasies inspired by Arabian Nights’ Orients tastemakers. Reflecting on her own relationship to Wong’s work, Kuo said, “As an Asian woman myself, I related to her struggle as a person caught between East and West. Even though she was born in a different time, I was so inspired by her strength, her will to fight, her persistence to fulfill her dream. Although Sabu (kneeling, center) is pictured with his fellow pilots of the Anna May was the biggest Asian American 13th Army Air Force during World War II. movie star during her career, that career was limited by prejudice and the star system. Nowadays, she is often held up as an object and was featured in Rudyard Kipling adap- keted these titles as “exotic films” known for lesson of a major talent whose career was tations that sensationalized Sabu as a ‘real’ their far-flung locales, action-packed plots thwarted by discrimination in Hollywood. In jungle boy in the press,” said performance and scantily-clad women. a real sense, her career hovers over today’s studies scholar Jyoti Argadé. “Often playing Together with Jon Hall and Maria Montez, conversation about the underrepresentation a ‘sidekick’ to the white hero, he appeared Sabu starred in 1942’s “Arabian Nights,” of women and Asians in major Hollywood as an affable savage child or an effete prince 1943’s “White Savage” and 1944’s “Cobra films.” who was powerless before British colonial Woman.” Sabu adopted a subservient comic authority. Many a time he portrayed what relief role in each film and race-bends as ei- could be termed ‘Orientalist stereotypes.’” ther Arab or Pacific Islander; meanwhile, his Sabu in an undated photo Sabu earned his first shot at Hollywood counterparts were highlighted as the roman- when the outbreak of tic leads. Although Montez as a Dominican WWII forced London and Hall, who was half-Tahitian, were of Films to relocate produc- different races, they were allowed to star tion to California while onscreen as lovers, perhaps because neither shooting 1940’s “The was technically white. Thief of Bagdad,” a re- While there are no documented remarks make of an earlier 1924 from Sabu showing criticism of his relega- film that coincidentally tion to subordinate roles, his choice to enlist starred Wong in a minor in the U.S. Military and subsequent natural- role. ization as a U.S. Citizen suggests that he was In this film, Sabu actively seeking to elevate his position in played one of his more American society. valiant roles, albeit race- From 1943-45, Sabu flew more than 30 Sabu starred bending as an Arab, missions as a ball-gunner in the 13th Army as Mowgli in beginning the story as Air Force’s famous Lone Ranger bomber the 1942 film a humble street beggar group and became one of Hollywood’s most- adaptation who, after vanquishing a decorated war heroes. of Rudyard genie and completing a Unfortunately, upon returning to Holly- Kipling’s “The series of trials, becomes wood, Sabu’s attempts to regain his wartime Jungle Book.” Sabu in the the Prince of Thieves. stardom were unsuccessful. 1940 film Achieving success with “When Sabu returned from the war, the “The Thief of Bagdad,” caliber of his roles began to dwindle,” said London Films’ follow-up Argadé. “He no longer headlined as the lead. picture also shot in Hollywood and starred Once Hollywood studios began to replace Sabu as Mowgli in the original 1942 live- the 1930s genre of ‘exotic’ adventures with action adaptation of Kipling’s “The Jungle movies more inclined toward post-WWII Book.” social realism, Sabu’s career as an ‘exotic’ in Sabu’s best-known roles in American cin- fantasy films diminished.” ema were per- While circumstances differ between haps his most Hayakawa, Wong and Sabu, each of their problematic, careers came to a premature end. Had they in which he been given the opportunities of their white starred after counterparts, one wonders if film stud- signing a three- ies might remember Hayakawa alongside A 13-year-old film contract with Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks or Sabu starred Universal Pictures. consider Wong as a true contemporary to in the 1937 film Part of a larger trend of war- Joan Crawford and Ginger Rogers. “Elephant Boy.” time escapism in Hollywood, Universal mar- >> See HOLLYWOOD on page 12 8 Aug. 18-Sept. 7, 2017 NATIONAL AAPI MEDIA DEPICTIONS: CHANGE COMES SLOWLY By P.C. Staff PHOTOS: GEORGE TOSHIO JOHNSTON
n 1919’s “Broken Blossoms or the Yellow Man and the Girl,” the man who played the Chinese character was a Caucasian Iactor employing prosthetic makeup, a practice later known as yellowface. Anna May Wong, a Los Angeles-born Chinese American actress who started her career in silent movies, was denied the chance to play the lead role of a Chinese woman in the China-set “The Good Earth” in 1937. That part went to white actress Luise Rainer, in yellowface. She won the best actress Oscar. Fortunately, nearly a century after those early cinematic efforts, practices like yellowface became a thing of the past. Or did it? In 2015, Japan-based Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Columbia Pictures released “Aloha,” in which Emma Stone played a woman of mixed Asian, Pacific Islander and (From left) Rick Shiomi, Makoto Hirano and Kathryn Tolbert talk about AAPI’s portrayals in the media during their white ancestry. In 2016, Disney's Marvel workshop presentation at the JACL National Convention. Studios division produced “Dr. Strange,” and a few months later in 2017, Paramount and speaking Japanese as his first language, career, Japan’s then-roaring economy was a Shiomi noted that Asian American movie Pictures released “Ghost in the Shell,” a but also by growing up in Chicago. hot topic. She landed jobs with the Associated actors face a similar situation, but that theater movie adaptation that deviated from source He said that looking back on his early Press, the Boston Globe as foreign editor actors at least have the Asian American material by, respectively, changing an elderly years as an artist, it’s much clearer now than and at the International Herald Tribune as theater world to get the opportunity to hone Tibetan man into a younger white woman at the time why he took the direction he did. deputy Asia editor. their craft and gain legitimacy. (Tilda Swinton) and a female Japanese “I think I had to figure out how much of Still, Tolbert said she never considered When an audience member asked how long character into, yet again, a white woman my identity was going to be placed in being herself a minority. it might take for acceptance by American (Scarlett Johansson). Japanese or Japanese American because “For me, the fight was really for women’s audiences for actors of Asian descent on It was in this milieu that a workshop that was the obvious place to come from,” positions,” she said. “It was less about being stage and screen, Hirano said, “The way that titled “AAPI’s Portrayal in the Media Hirano said. “I felt very Japanese, but not part-Japanese than being a woman.” America looks right now, if it continued on & Arts” was held on July 8 at the JACL Japanese American. I had to consider all For the last few years, however, as Tolbert this path, it will never change.” National Convention in Washington, D.C. these things early in my career, and it was worked on a documentary titled “Fall Seven Citing how demographic changes are The informal panel was moderated by Rob kind of a weird, uphill battle.” Times, Get Up Eight: The Japanese War trending right now, Shiomi said he disagreed Buscher, Philadelphia JACL chapter board Ultimately, Hirano realized that everything Brides,” she seemed to reassess her identity. with Hirano’s assessment, saying that it member and director at the Philadelphia he created was, by default, going to be Asian “I started to explore what it meant to be would happen — but that it would take 50 Asian American Film Festival. American or Japanese American. American and, I guess, Japanese American, years “if we’re lucky.” On the panel to address those and other Tolbert, the deputy editor of the though I never thought of myself as Japanese Shiomi also cited a different trend that has issues were playwright Rick Shiomi, Washington Post’s Talent Network for American,” she said. emerged in recent years that bodes well for choreographer Makoto Hirano and journalist freelance journalists, has spent most of her For Shiomi, writing plays for the Asian the improvement of the status quo, namely Kathryn Tolbert. Buscher noted that each nearly 40 years as a professional journalist American theater world was key for his young Asian Americans —who have gained one had a slightly different trajectory and with mainstream newspapers. professional development. fans on YouTube, i.e., American comedian- perspective as Nikkei people — for Hirano She described her native Japanese mother “It wasn’t until I really learned my own actor Ryan Higa, who supposedly has as a Shin Issei, for Tolbert as a person of who married a white U.S. serviceman after history about the Japanese Canadians and more than 4.8 million followers under his mixed Japanese ancestry and for Shiomi as a World War II as a “tiger mom” who wanted the Japanese Americans that I really found username “nigahiga.” Japanese Canadian. to be a writer or a journalist, and she pushed my voice as a writer,” he said, “and then “There’s this whole online, Internet world For Hirano, a Philadelphia-based dance, her first-born daughter in that direction. going down to San Francisco [where] I was that’s happened in the last 20 years. What’s theater and spoken-word artist — and former As it turned out, Tolbert’s Japanese able to get involved in the Asian American interesting about that is Asian Americans are Marine — his outlook was influenced by ancestry helped in her quest to become a Theater Co. there and write my first play doing extraordinarily well in that medium,” being born in Japan, having Japanese parents foreign correspondent when, early in her called ‘Yellow Fever.’ Shiomi said. “That’s because it’s a medium As for why Asian Americans and Asians that doesn’t have a producer who’s going to have been misrepresented since the earliest say who’s going to have an appeal. It just days of Hollywood, Shiomi —whose résumé says, ‘You put your video up on YouTube, includes co-founding Theater Mu, receiving and we’ll see how many people look at it.’ a 2015 McKnight Distinguished Artist “If 200,000 people are looking at an award and serving as the co-artistic director Asian American person in their bedroom of the new Full Circle Theater Co. in St. talking to the camera, something’s going Paul, Minn. — referred to his experience in on, something that the people who are Asian American theater and asserted that for running the [entertainment] industry don’t the past 200 years in the U.S., “the premise understand,” he concluded. of existence is that you’re white, you’re of As the panel wound down, Buscher urged European American culture.” those in the audience to support Asian “So, if you were an Asian American, you Americans in the arts and with regard to were an anomaly, you were always the other, movies by and/or starring Asian Americans. you were always the one they didn’t know “Do your best to try and go see that movie what to do with,” said Shiomi. “Within in theaters, and if you can, go on opening that system, there will always be a handful weekend,” Buscher said, “because that’s a of [nonwhite] artists who are just brilliant surefire way to send a message to the theater, Pictured (from left) are Makoto Hirano, Kathryn Tolbert, Rob Buscher enough to break through, and one of the to the company distributing the film and and Rick Shiomi. people I would say is an example of that is even to the filmmakers themselves that this David Hwang.” is something people care about.” n COMMUNITY Aug. 18-Sept. 7, 2017 9 PUYALLUP VALLEY CHAPTER SET TO HOST ‘CAMP HARMONY’ PHOTOS: COURTESY OF PUYALLUP VALLEY JACL The 75th remembrance program of the Puyallup Assembly Center begins on Sept. 2 at the Washington State Fair. n September 1942, the final incarcerees left the Puyallup Fairgrounds in A 3/4-scale barrack room and Puyallup, Wash. The popular fair had full-scale horse stall. Both will Ibeen taken over by the U.S. military in be shown in their finished states April 1942 and turned into a makeshift during the remembrance cer- community of forcibly removed people of emony. The barrack will have Japanese ancestry following the signing of three to four cots, potbelly stove Executive Order 9066 in February 1942. and assorted clothing. The The center’s first residents were Japanese horse stall will have two cots, Alaskans, who arrived by bus following suitcases and clothing. The Puy- travel aboard a ship that stopped at various allup Assembly Center exhibit Alaskan ports along the way. will run throughout the duration In all, more than 7,600 men, women and of the Washington State Fair. children from Alaska, Seattle, Fife and small rural areas of Pierce County called the Puyallup Assembly Center their temporary home before they were transferred to Taiko drummers will then lead a as well as photographs and themed displays. For more information about this event the War Relocation Authority camps at procession to the George Tsutakawa All are encouraged to attend, especially and project, visit the Puyallup Valley Minidoka, Idaho; Tule Lake, Calif., and sculpture “Harmony,” where a new plaque Japanese American survivors and their JACL website (www.puyallupvalleyjacl. Heart Mountain, Wyo., for the duration of will be dedicated and unveiled by the families from all assembly centers, camps org). For complimentary tickets visit www. World War II. Tsutakawa family. At the same location, and detention facilities. TheFair.org/pac. Also known as “Camp Harmony,” the banners of names will be displayed with all center’s barracks were designed to allow 50 7,600 names and family numbers of those square feet of space per person, along with incarcerated at the fairgrounds. one small window, an electrical socket and While this remembrance event is for one wood stove. day, the museum exhibit, which will house TIPS FOR THE WISE CAR BUYER Now 75 years later, the Puyallup Valley interactive exhibits and displays, will be JACL is hosting the 75th remembrance open for the duration of the fair season, of the Puyallup Assembly Center on the which runs from Sept. 1-24. 1. Before you 2. Make your 3. Next call or Washington State Fairgrounds, formerly the Replicas of a family barrack room and Puyallup Fair, where it all began. a horse stall furnished with period items leave home, way to the head over to In cooperation with the fair’s staff and will demonstrate to fairgoers the crowded visit our Auto dealer and National JACL board, the program will begin Sept. 2 on the and primitive living conditions endured Coca-Cola Stage at 10 a.m. Lori Matsukawa by families incarcerated at the Puyallup Center at purchase Credit Union. of KING 5 News will serve as mistress of Assembly Center. ceremonies and Densho Executive Director In addition, the video “The Silent Fair,” jaclcu.com to your Tom Ikeda, whose grandparents were among which features interviews with 12 former nd the new car. those incarcerated at the Puyallup Assembly residents who were aged 4-18 at the time, Center, will give the keynote address. will be played continuously inside the best This event is intended to honor all living exhibit. survivors of the Puyallup Assembly Center And in an effort to teach and educate the deal. along with recognition given to anyone who general public, there will be interactive, was incarcerated in any detention facility. hands-on activities for children and adults, Get a better SEATTLE JACL SET TO HOLD rate and up Tell them to $500 cash LEADERSHIP SEMINAR you want to back. he Seattle Chapter of the JACL is with their championing of equity and social Call us to get nance at holding a seminar on leadership de- justice. pre-approved. velopment for emerging leaders, early Hyeok Kim, deputy mayor of the City of JACL CU. Tcareer professionals, students and other Seattle, will give the keynote address. young adults on Sept. 30 at Keiro Northwest. The seminar was planned and is supported Use this innovative auto buying resource that connects you with Titled “Gaining Influence — Developing by the Seattle JACL Presidents Youth Lead- Leaders for Equity and Justice in Private, ership Fund, with final support provided by comprehensive research and comparison tools. Make a smart buying Public and Nonprofit Sectors,” the daylong the Robert Chinn Foundation. decision with competitive credit union nancing. Know Before You Go! seminar will allow participants to meet influ- Admission for the seminar is free, but ential Asian American leaders in the private, registration is required. 800-544-8828 www.jaclcu.com public and nonprofit sectors, as well as learn For more information, visit https:// PROMO CODE: PCAUTO2016 how their professional success is intertwined jaclleadershipsept30.eventbrite.com. 10 Aug. 18-Sept. 7, 2017 CALENDAR A NATIONAL GUIDE TO NOTABLE COMMUNITY EVENTS Yayoi Kusama: ‘Infinity Mirrors’ Los Angeles, CA Oct. 21-Jan. 1, 2018 IDC EDC The Broad Contemporary Art Museum Mile High JACL Movie Night Second Annual PAAFF Asian Chef 221 S. Grand Ave. Aurora, CO Experience CALENDAR Price: $25 (advance tickets); Sept. 9; 4-9 p.m. Philadelphia, PA and Food Faire $30 (standby tickets); Asian Pacific Development Center Sept. 14; 6-9 p.m. San Francisco, CA children 12 and under free Event Room UArts Hamilton Hall 1537 Alton St. 320 S. Broad St. NCWNP Dec. 16; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. This exhibit will explore the The Event Center at Price: Free; donations are Price: $75 Second Annual Osaka Matsuri celebrated Japanese artist’s welcome for the scholarship fund. St. Mary’s Cathedral immersive Infinity Mirror Rooms Presented by the Philadelphia San Francisco, CA 1111 Gough St. The Mile High JACL invites Asian American Film Festival, Sept. 23 — the artist’s most iconic Don’t miss this one-stop kaleidoscopic environments you to a double feature movie this special chef tasting event San Francisco Japantown night featuring two films about will feature 12 of the city’s most Price: Free shopping event for all your — alongside large-scale holiday gifting needs! This installations and key paintings, Japan: the 1957 film “Sayonara,” prominent Asian American and This year, the city is celebrating popular event will feature unique starring Marlon Brandon and Pacific Islander chefs preparing its 60th anniversary of the sister sculptures and works on paper. homemade and crafted items Tickets go on sale beginning Miyoshi Umeki and the 2014 film tasting-sized portions of their city relationship between San perfect for everyone on your gift “Uzumasa Limelight,” directed best dishes. This year’s theme Francisco and Osaka, Japan. Sept. 1. Don’t miss your chance list. A complimentary shuttle to view this rare exhibit of by Ken Ochiai, which was the is “Asian Night Market!” Each Japantown will host a variety service will be available to/from opening night movie of the ticket includes samplings with of booths to commemorate the Kusama’s greatest works. Japantown, and all proceeds will Info: Visit thebroadorg/art/ Colorado Dragon Film Festival in complimentary beer and wine. occasion. 2016. Come enjoy the films, eat Info: Visit https://www.eventbrite. Info: Visit https://www.facebook. benefit Kimochi. special-exhibitions/yayoi- kusama-infinity-mirrors. some food and meet members com/e/2nd-annual-paaff- com/osakamatsurisf/. from the chapter. Donations asian-chef-experience-tickets- received will benefit the chapter’s 36114367044?aff=es2. 2017 Silicon Valley Fall Festival PSW scholarship fund. Cupertino, CA ‘Matsuri’ the Festival Info: Visit milehighjacl.org. The Art of the Dumpling With Sept. 9; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. PNW Los Angeles, CA ‘Gaining Influence — Fresh Zen Cupertino Memorial Park Aug. 31; 5-9 p.m. Boston, MA 21255 Stevens Creek Blvd. Developing Leaders for Equity The Japan Foundation Los and Justice in Private, Sept. 28; 6-8 p.m. Price: Free MDC The Boston Public Market Angeles Public and Nonprofit The City of Cupertino is proud 5700 Wilshire Blvd. Grateful Crane Ensemble’s 100 Hanover St. to host this year’s event, which Sectors’ Seminar Suite 100 Seattle, WA ‘The Camp Dance: The Music & Price: $48 (Trustees member); coincides with the Moon Festival. Price: Free the Memories’ $60 (Nonmember) Celebrated in Asia for more than Sept. 30; all day Enjoy live music, food and Dearborn, MI Ruby Chan of Fresh Zen Foods 1,000 years, the Moon Festival Keiro Northwest drinks, plus kimono dressing, Sept. 8; 8 p.m. will show participants how to marks a time to reflect upon the 1601 E. Yesler Way photo sessions and more Arab American National Museum create a variety of dumpling bounty of the summer harvest, Price: Free; registration is in this main event of “Japan Week required. 13624 Michigan Ave. recipes, from preparing the the fullness of the moon and the Price: $15 homemade dough to shaping on the Miracle Mile & Beyond,” This daylong seminar, presented myth of the Moon Goddess. It is and filling the dumplings. which celebrates JFLA’s by the Seattle Chapter of In this musical revue, the Grateful among the most popular holidays The evening’s menu includes reopening. the JACL and supported by Crane will go back to the high in Asia. There will be plenty for chicken and scallion dumplings, Info: Visit www.jflalc.org. the Seattle JACL Presidents school dance days of young the whole family to enjoy here, vegetarian dumplings and pork Youth Leadership Fund, with Japanese Americans held behind as this festival will offer music, Sus Ito’s World War II Images barbed-wire fences in internment and shiitake dumplings. dance, a robotics competition, financial assistance by the Info: Visit https://www.eventbrite. Fullerton, CA Robert Chinn Foundation, will camps during World War II. and an Earth Zone. Sept. 10-Oct. 29 Prior to the performance, a com/e/the-art-of-the-dumpling- Info: Visit https://www.eventbrite. offer emerging leaders, early with-fresh-zen-tickets- Fullerton Arboretum career professionals, students free town hall event titled com/e/2017-silicon-valley-fall- 1900 Associated Road “Executive Orders: Japanese 35349396998?aff=es2. festival-a-fun-filled-family- and other young adults the Price: Free but $5 donation is opportunity to meet some of the Internment & the Muslim Ban” event-celebration-tickets- suggested. will be held featuring leaders FDR Library’s Images of 36837152916?aff=es2. most influential Asian American Internment Exhibition This exhibit will feature Ito’s tour leaders in the private, public from the Japanese, Arab and Muslim American Hyde Park, NY JAMSJ 30th Anniversary of duty through Europe as a and nonprofit sectors, as well member of the celebrated 442nd communities. Thru Dec. 31 Celebration as learn how their professional Info: Visit arabamerican FDR Presidential Library & San Jose, CA Regimental Combat Team’s success is intertwined with their 522nd Field Artillery Battalion. museum.org. Museum Sept. 24; Noon championing of equity and social 4079 Albany Post Road Hayes Mansion The featured images were taken justice. with a prohibited camera and Info: Visit https://jacl Twin Cities Golf Tournament Price: Regular hours and 200 Edenvale Ave. Bloomington, MN admission apply. Price: $125; register by Sept. 8 capture the humble daily lives leadershipsept30.event of young Japanese American Sept. 9; 1:30-4 p.m. This special exhibit provides Come celebrate the 30th brite.com. soldiers serving in the segregated Hyland Golf Course a visual record of the forced anniversary of the Japanese unit. The arboretum is open 10100 Normandie Blvd. removal of Japanese Americans American Museum of San Jose. American Obon: Dancing in Sundays, Wednesdays and Price: $20 (Members); during World War II and displays The luncheon will feature master Joy and Remembrance Saturdays from Noon-4 p.m. $25 (Nonmembers) more than 200 photographs by of ceremonies Mike Inouye from Portland, OR Info: Visit http:// Thru Oct. 15 Come support this fundraiser WRA photographers Dorothea NBC Bay Area, as well as include fullertonarboretum.org/museum_ and enjoy a day out on the golf Lange, Clem Albers, Francis a performance by San Jose Taiko, Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center nikkei_current.php or 121 N.W. Second Ave. course! Stewart and Hikaru Iwasaki silent auction and tribute to Ayako call (657) 278-4010. Info: Contact Zen Matsuda from the National Archives. Hosokawa. Price: $5 (General Admission); $3 (Seniors/Students); at info@zenchiropractic The exhibition also features Info: Call JAMSJ at (408) 294- Afternoon of Peace: The inc.com. photographs taken by Ansel 3138 or email [email protected]. Free for Friends of Hiroshima & Nagasaki Oregon Nikkei Adams at Manzanar and a Experience Endowment Chrysanthemum Banquet selection of photos from the WSU ‘A Salute to Mike’ a Bloomington, MN George and Frank C. Hirahara Los Angeles, CA Rev. Yoshio Iwanaga, who Champion for All People Nov. 11; 11 a.m.-2 p.m. photo collection of Sept. 16; 2 p.m. introduced the tradition of Obon San Jose, CA Aratani Theatre Normandale Hylands United Heart Mountain. Oct. 21, 6-9 p.m. to numerous Nikkei communities Methodist Church Info: Visit https://fdrlibrary.org/ 244 S. San Pedro St. along the West Coast in the Holiday Inn — San Jose Price: $20 (Balcony); 9920 Normandale Blvd. exhibitions or call (800) FDR- 1350 N. First St. 1930s, will be celebrated in VISIT. n $30 (Orchestra) this exhibit that traces the This event will feature a luncheon, Price: Individual $140, San Jose silent auction and guest speaker JACL Member $125 This program honors and development of Bon Odori in remembers the victims and John Matsunaga, a Minneapolis- The JACL San Jose chapter, North America through archival Hibakusha (survivors) of the based visual artist/photographer, founded on the premise of civil photographs, audio and rare Aug. 6 and 9, 1945, atomic educator and activist. His ADVERTISE HERE liberties for all, invites guests to video footage on loan from bombings and their impact on work in the visual arts explores Events in the calendar section join its members in celebrating the Iwanaga family, dance all human, animal and plant life. Asian American and Japanese are listed based on space Mike Honda’s leadership in scholar Linda Akiyama and Artists featured include the Ken American history, identity and championing these goals over the Buddhist Churches of availability. Place a ‘Spotlight’ Dance Company, Nori Tani Jazz experience, with an emphasis his many decades of public America. In addition, the obon ad with photos of your event Ensemble, images by Richard on the wartime incarceration service. Reservation forms tradition in Portland will be for maximum exposure. Fukuhara and members of the highlighted with photographs of Japanese Americans. He will be available in September. is currently a member of the Info: Visit www.sanjosejacl.org. American Society of Hiroshima from the Oregon Nikkei FOR MORE INFO: and Nagasaki A-Bomb Survivors. Endowment’s Frank C. education committee of the [email protected] Info: Visit jaccc.org. Twin Cities chapter. Kimochi Silver Bells Arts & Crafts Hirahara Collection. (213) 620-1767 Info: Visit www.oregonnikkei.org. Info: Visit tcjacl.org. OBITUARIES Aug. 18-Sept. 7, 2017 11
Sakado, Raleigh Toshiichi, 79, is survived by her children, Ann Honolulu, HI, July 15; he is sur- Tanouye, Janet Shigei, Susan vived by his wife, Mabel; sisters, Marumoto and Craig (Wendy) Mildred Hirokawa and Elsie Tanouye; brother, Masaru (Ruby) (Hajime) Fujita; he is also survived Nakahara; sister-in-law, Yasuko by many nieces and nephews. Nakahara; she is also survived by many nieces, nephews and other Ajioka, George, 90, Torrance, CA, many nieces, nephews and other sister, Michiko Inoue; she is also Sacramento, relatives; gc: 5; ggc: 5. Aug. 4; he is survived by his wife, relatives; gc: 1. survived by many nieces, nephews Sato, A. Stanley, 90, CA; during WWII, his family and he Masako; children, George (Cyn- and other relatives; gc: 5. were incarcerated at the Tule Lake Toyama, Donald K., 81, Sacra- thia) and Susan Ajioka-Yamashiro; Hayashida, Sadako, 96, Blanca, and Topaz WRA Centers; he is mento, CA, July 7; he is survived gc: 1. CO, Aug. 3; she is survived by her Matsukawa, Elsie Mitsume, 93, survived by his wife, Edith; brother, by his children, Brian K. (Hazel) daughter, Marilynn Hikiji; sister, Honolulu, HI, July 25; she was pre- Art Sato; sister-in-law, Tomiye and Cindy M. Nakatsuka; uncle, Akiyama, Vermell Harriet, 91, Haru Yutaka; she is also survived deceased by her husband, Peter Sato; he is also survived by many Kenneth Kamada (Hazel); siblings, Portland, OR, July 22; she was by many nieces, nephews and Matsukawa, and daughter, Deb nieces and nephews. Gladys Isa, Kenneth (Julie), predeceased by her husbands, other relatives; gc: 5; ggc: 7. Matsukawa-Cullen; she is survived Douglas (Harriett) and Isaac Kenji Akiyama and Cole Miller, by her children, Wayne and Alan Sugihara, Takashi, 96, Tustin, (Jane); gc: 2. and her granddaughter, Erica L. Iida, Hiroko Ichinose, 95, (Christine); son-in-law, Mike CA, July 5; during WWII, his family Akiyama; she is survived by her Richmond, CA, July 22; she was Cullen; a brother and sisters; gc: 3. and he were incarcerated at the Sacramen- sons, Robert (Linda) and Steven; predeceased by her husband, Ted; Tsujimoto, Mack, 95, Heart Mountain WRA Center in to, CA, July 15; he is survived by a brother; gc: 2; ggc: 3. she is survived by their children, Matsuo, Masako ‘Betty,’ 92, WY, from which he later voluntarily his daughters, Aileen (Roy) Yone- Carey (Verna Uchida), Ellie (Tom Portland, OR, July 30; during served in the 442nd Regimental mura , Gail (Jeff) Terrien and Claire Ashizawa, Yuki, 93, Los Gatos, Mishima), Douglas and Allan (Me- WWII, she was incarcerated at the Combat Team and was awarded (David) Camp; sister, Ann Fujita; CA, June 12; she was prede- lissa); sister-in-law, Grace Tasaka; WRA Center near Rohwer, AK, and the Bronze Star; he was prede- he is also survived by many nieces ceased by her husband, Mas; she gc: 4. decades later testified during the ceased by his son, Michael, and and nephews; gc: 4; ggc: 2. is survived by her children, Carol CRWIC hearings; she was prede- his siblings, Paul and Masako; he Yuki (Tom), Karen Shined, Sue Ishii, Karen Kimi, 60, Buena Park, ceased by her husband, George is survived by his wife, Sumiko; , Shibata (Tim), Mark Ashizawa, Phil CA, July 6; she is survived by her Matsuo; sisters, Jane Yamasaki Umemoto, Wayne Shinichi, 76 daughter, Corinne (Bruce); sisters, Honolulu, HI, July 12; he is sur- (Eunice) Ashizawa and Brenda husband, Alan; their children, and Lillian Kiyota; she is survived Kazuko and Hideko; he is also vived by his wife, Gladys; children, (Al) Katekaru; gc: 4; ggc: 4. Marissa (KC) Yamashita, Kyle by her children, Mikki (Kaz) Seo, survived by nieces and nephews; Travis (Misa), Tyler (Trisha) and (April Tharachai), Akemi and Phyllis Fujii and John (Carrie) gc: 1. Dayna (Justin) Higa; sisters, Edna Blankshain, Gloria Kazuko, Cody; brothers, Chuck and David Matsuo; sister, Mary Burnett; Tokuuke, Michie Tokuuke, Kinue 80, Torrance, CA, July 23; she is Higashi; sister-in-law, Donna gc: 5; ggc: 8. Palo Alto, CA, Yamaki, Evelyn Tsubakihara, Mona survived by her son, Donald Blank- Ishii; she is also survived by many Sumida, Eiko, 96, July 23; she is survived by her hus- Takeshita and Ellen Kobayashi; shain; brothers, Mike (Grace) and nieces, nephews and other Mitsutomi, Takashi ‘Mits,’ 93, band, Masao, and their 4 children. gc: 4. Ike (Ruth) Hatchimonji; she is also relatives; gc: 3. Los Angeles, CA, July 12; he is sur- survived by many cousins, nieces vived by his wife, Hazel; stepchil- Tagawa, Charlie, 81, Cupertino, Uyeoka, Aiko, 97, Fresno, CA, and nephews. Kamada, Masaru, 85, Los Ange- dren, Tracy Mayo (Michael), James CA, July 30; he was predeceased July 10; during WWII, her parents les, CA, June 13; he is survived by Toda (Michelle) and Victoria Toda by his wife, Masako; he is survived and she were incarcerated at the Endo, Teruko, 96, Los Angeles, his wife, Martha; children, David (Mel); gc: 5; ggc: 2. by their sons, Nori and Poston WRA Center in AZ, where CA, July 6; she is survived by her and Jo Ann (Ray) Shinozaki; gc: 2. Leon (Heather); gc: 3. she met her future husband, Tom, son, Richard (Debi); gc: 1. Murata-Uyeno, Mary, 96, San on furlough while serving in the Kamimura, Fumiko Nakamura, Jose, CA, July 8; she was pre- Takami, Mary S., 94, Los Angeles, Army’s 442nd RCT; a JACLer, she Eshima, Dennis, 64, Tempe, AZ, 98, Gardena, CA, Aug. 6; she was deceased by her husbands, Koji CA, July 24; she was predeceased was predeceased by her husband, Aug. 7; he was predeceased by predeceased by her husband, Murata and Teiso Uyeno; she is by her husband, Tennin Takami; Tom; she is survived by their his daughter, Caitlin Eshima; he is Denji; she is survived by her son, survived by her sons, Ernest she is survived by her brother, daughters, Ann (Dennis) Okamura survived his wife, Kathryn Michael- Kazuo Nakamura; she is also (Marilyn) and Stephen (Denise); Robert Fujioka (Mary), nephew, and Alice (Bryan) Halbert; gc: 2. Eshima; sons, Jarrett, Erik and survived by nieces, nephews and gc: 4; ggc: 6. Mark (Laura) and by many other Grayson Eshima; his step-children, other relatives. relatives. Yamada, Edwin Akio, 76, Sparks, Alexander Michael, Jennabel and Nakahara, Jun, 79, La Palma, NV, Aug. 6; he is survived by his Anna Leeza Pichnarcik; mother, Karasawa, Fumi, 92, Fullerton, CA, July 15; he is survived by his Kaneohe, wife, Nancy; children, Shelley Shigeko Eshima; siblings, Duane CA, July 19; she is survived by her wife, Karen Kyoko; children, Bryon Tamashiro, Martha, 82, HI, July 9; she is survived by her (Blake) Takaha and Kevin (Tracy) and Carole; and a niece. children, Stephen Kesato (Karen), Minoru Nakahara, Lynne Mayumi husband, James; sons, Michael Yamada; brothers, Chester, Don- Robert Gerald (Nelia) and Alison (Gary) Umeno, Marc Mitsuru and and Daryle; sister, Bridget Silva; ald (Jean) and Glenn (Ann); gc: 4. Fukuhara, Thelma Tsuruko, 91, Kim Freud; brother, Kazu Hayase; Todd Mitsuo Nakahara; gc: 2. she is also survived by nieces and Torrance, CA, May 11; she was gc: 4. nephews. Yauchi, Ryo, 63, Whittier, CA, predeceased by her husband, Bill; Nakamura, Sakae, 94, San Diego, July 30; he is survived by his wife, she is survived by their children, Kobayashi, Emiko, 95, Los Ange- CA, July 28; she is survived by her Sacra- Gloria; sons, Kei (Stacey), Brian William (Susie) Fukuhara and les, CA, July 31; she is survived by children, Chieko Tanaka, Kenichi Takada, Yoshihiro, 72, mento, CA, Aug. 8; he is survived and Steve; gc: 1. n Cheryl (Eddie) Imatomi; 5 siblings; her children, Marie Kobayashi Ball, Nakamura, Mari Koudi, Amy Smith by his wife, Michiko; daughters, gc: 2. Mike (Johanna) and Jerry (Cristy); and Yuki Nakanishi. Erika (Kevin Wasbauer) and sister, Haruye Masukawa; gc: 5; Sally Bernhardsson (Sibbi); sib- Fukumoto, Shirley Doris, 68, Las ggc: 3. Okamoto, Mitsuo, 91, Chandler, lings, Seiji (Tomiko) and PLACE A TRIBUTE Vegas, NV, July 13; she is survived AZ, Aug 4; during WWII, his family Yukie Hasegawa (Kunio); gc: 4. by her husband, Larry Fukumoto; Koyamatsu, Eugene Shigeto, 85, and he were incarcerated at the ‘In Memoriam’ is a free children, Darin, Beth and Lisa Encinitas, CA, July 10; he is sur- Manzanar WRA Center in CA, listing that appears on a Roseville, Kimoto; mother, Martha Suzuki; vived by his wife, Miyo; children, and he was drafted into the Army; Takahashi, Kazuko, 93, CA, Aug. 6; she was predeceased limited, space-available basis. brothers, Kenneth (Lawana) and Kirk (June), Kyle (Linda), Kristi he was predeceased by his wife, by her husband, George, and her Tributes honor your loved Vernon (Cathy) Suzuki. (Brian) and Kelly (Shane); gc: 9. Helen Nakatsu; he is survived by sisters, Mieko and Tomiko; she is ones with text and photos and his sisters, Shinako (Masaru) Take- survived by her children, Melvin appear in a timely manner at Fukushima, Toshiko, 89, Los Kumamoto, Midori May, 89, San da, Shizue (Mike) David, Yaeko (Yuko) and Marsha; gc: 2; ggc: 2. Angeles, CA, July 29; she was Pedro, CA, July 28; she was pre- (Minoru) Hirata, Hitomi Archetto; the rate of $20/column inch. predeceased by her husband, Jun; deceased by her husband, Akio; brothers, Seika (Inge) Okamoto Contact: she is survived by her children, she is survived by her sons, Karl, and Takeshi (Karen) Okamoto; Tanouye, Shizuye Grace, 96, [email protected] Los Angeles, CA, Aug. 5; she Dan (Susan), Mae (Ken) Kusu- Kris (Jimin) and Darrell Kumamoto; sister-in-law, Sachiko Okamoto. or call (213) 620-1767 moto, Roy (Jennie), Jay and Ken she is also survived by a niece, (Grace); sister, Sumiko Taguchi; nephews and other relatives; gc: 5. Oki, Shig, 87, Chicago, IL, Aug. brother-in-law, Takeshi (Teiko) 5; he is survived by his wife, Fuku; Fukushima; sister-in-law, Eiko Marquette, Susan ‘Wakako,’ daughters, Dariece and Monica; Fukushima; she is also survived by ‘Sue’ L., 83, Sacramento, CA, Aug. sisters, Mitzi (Bob) Ogi and Han- many nieces, nephews and other 6; she was predeceased by her nah Nojima; he is also survived by relatives; gc: 9; ggc: 9. husband, Arthur; she is survived by many nieces and nephews; gc: 1. her daughters, Sandra and Susan; Hayase, Hannah Hanako, 92, she is also survived by her sisters, Ozaki, Kikue, 86, Pacific Grove, Los Angeles, CA, July 16; she is nieces and nephews. CA, July 29; she is survived by survived by her children, Pat- her husband, George; children, rick (Nena) and Audrey (Rudy) Masuda, Etsuko, 75, Torrance, Loreen, Sharon Yumi and Loren; Hayase; siblings, George Kato, CA, Aug. 6; she is survived by her siblings, Lena Higa and Michael Yuki Carbaugh and Masato “Harry” sons, Shintaro, Sotaro (Hitomi) Sekido; gc: 1. Shinozaki; she is also survived by and Kentaro (Junko) Masuda; 12 Aug. 18-Sept. 7, 2017 COMMENTARY/IN-DEPTH NHK >> continued from page 3 HOLLYWOOD >> continued from page 7
There’s a smart mix of programs that cover World in real time streaming at the click of both traditional and contemporary culture, a button. from profiles of artisans who’ve mastered NHK World has introduced me to towns an ancient art form or craft such as and regions of Japan I wasn’t familiar with traditional carpentry, to fun insider looks at that I now want to visit. When they air a today’s colorful fashion industry or shows documentary about a region like Hokkaido about anime or J-pop music. or a city like Beppu, I go to Google Maps “J-Melo,” which describes itself as the and find out where that is, so that I might only Japanese music program in English, remember to try and get there sometime. has a worldwide audience, and each episode And though I’m not a fanatic and tune spotlights viewers and J-pop fans from other in like my mom, NHK World broadcasts countries. highlights during each national sumo There are also shows that place traditio- tournament. I was surprised to find that nal culture in modern context, like “Kabuki I like watching the sport, which I remember Kool.” Some of the channel’s programming from my childhood in Tokyo. it features are Japanese shows dubbed into When there’s an event like a natural disas- English; some have English subtitles; and ter such as typhoons, floods, earthquakes or Wong starred as some (like the newscasts) are entirely in tsunami, NHK World is my go-to for upda- Lan Ying Lin in the English. In between shows, there are often ted news and information. That’s why I knew 1937 film. short bits of content that might introduce vie- it would be covering the 72nd anniversary of wers to a traditional Japanese dish, or teach a the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. few words in a quick language lesson. Check it out, and I know you’ll feel more Unfortunately, prevalent in- The website is also worth spending time deeply connected to Japan than before. stitutional racism in Hollywood on, especially if your local cable carrier has prevented these talents from doesn’t include NHK World. Most of the Gil Asakawa is chair of the Editorial being remembered as anything shows are archived online, and there are Board of the Pacific Citizen and the author but an anomaly in the history of helpful categories of shows such as News, of “Being Japanese American” (second cinema. Likely, there are many Travel & Culture, Food and Learn Japanese. edition Stone Bridge Press, 2015). He blogs others whose names and stories Like many stations, you can also view NHK at www.nikkeiview.com. have also been lost to time. In an effort to counter the narrative of erasure, the Phila- PLANS >> continued from page 3 Anna May Wong in the 1929 film “Piccadilly” delphia Asian American Film Festival (PAAFF) has embarked Mark ordered a DIY, fill-in-the-blank Last you have a question two weeks from now? The very fact that their stories exist coun- on a project to resurface and Will and Testament from the Internet. When Or two months? Or two years? Will the ters the perpetual foreigner myth by proving preserve the cultural memories of the Asian filling out the beneficiary section, he stated online company still permit you to speak that Asians have lived in and contributed to American actors who paved the way during that he wanted to leave “$100.000” to his with its attorneys for free? the culture of the United States long before the early years of Hollywood. niece May, who lived with him and served It is very common for a past client to call the Immigration Act of 1965. Sponsored in part by the JACL Legacy as his caregiver for the last four years of me with a quick question. For example, Despite personal tragedies in their careers, Fund, the 2017 PAAFF will feature a retro- his life. Mark was very wealthy, so he had I recently spoke with a woman who created each of these actors left an important mark spective of significant films starring AAPIs probably meant to use a comma instead of a her Revocable Living Trust with our firm 20 as early forbearers to the Asian American throughout the history of early Hollywood period when writing “$100.000.” However, years ago. Since then, her daughter has mar- movement. cinema, taking place between Nov. 9-19 in that simple mistake was a point of contenti- ried a man that she does not particularly like, “Given his background and personality, I Philadelphia. on among the remaining beneficiaries, who so she wanted to make sure that her son-in- don’t think he was conscious of the need for Screening times and venues will be an- claimed that May’s gift should’ve been $100 law did not receive any part of her estate. an Asian American film movement,” said nounced on PAAFF’s website lat- as opposed to $100,000. Thus, a seemingly After we discussed her options, I was able to Gong on Hayakawa’s legacy. “He famously er this fall, but the retrospective insignificant typographical error ended up assist the client in making a decision that fit said early on that he was determined to will feature films starring Ahn, costing Mary $99,900. her personal goals. And the advice that was make films in American for Americans. But Hayakawa, Sabu and Wong. given was free of charge. Issue No. 3: Preparers Are Not I think people can take something from his Necessarily Lawyers The Bottom Line story and his pride and ambition and assert For more information, One important distinction to note is that So, what’s the bottom line? Will your that it was an important and early chapter visit www.paaff.org. these online document services are not law Will work? Can you trust your Trust? It in Asian American media history.” firms. Therefore, they cannot give legal ad- all depends. The short answer is yes, it’s vice. Document preparers have been taught possible. But as you can see above, there are to do a very specific job — fill out generic, many things that can go wrong. “one size fits all” forms based on the infor- My mother’s favorite phrase is “You get mation you give them. what you pay for in life.” With legal docu- While they may be skilled at this particu- ments, especially ones that concern your lo- lar task, they are still not licensed attorneys. ved ones, quality shouldn’t be sacrificed for Only attorneys can lawfully provide legal a cheap fee. So, even though you may save a advice. few bucks now, ultimately, it is your family Hayakawa’s Think of it this way. Let’s say you know that will pay the price if things go wrong. star on the someone who works at the front desk of a Hollywood hospital and has spent the past 10 years lis- Staci Yamashita-Iida, Esq., is an Esta- Walk of Fame tening to doctors consult with their patients. te Planning attorney at Elder Law Servi- is located at Would you trust this person to prescribe ces of California. She can be contacted at 1645 Vine St. your medication or perform surgery on you? (310) 348-2995. The opinions expressed in Now, some websites claim that you can this article are the author’s own and do not talk to a real live attorney should you have necessarily reflect the view of the Pacific any questions. Companies contract these Citizen or JACL. The information pre- attorneys for the very reason I mentioned sented does not constitute legal advice and ˂˂ above: Only lawyers can give legal advice. should not be treated as such. Some names Sessue The contracted attorneys are able to gui- and identifying details have been changed Hayakawa in the de you through the initial process of set- to protect the privacy of the individuals re- 1918 film. ting up your Estate Plan. However, what if ferenced in this article.