JACL DC

The JACL-DC chapter is happy to present the third post in our new blog series, Meet Our Board. As a way to introduce you to our 2017 board members, this series will feature posts from members throughout the year. Past posts include one by our youngest board member, Christie Mori, as well as one by at-large member, Craig Shimizu. Be sure to keep checking back for future posts from these individuals who are here to serve the DC chapter. 

Hailing originally from Los Angeles, I’ve lived in the DC area for more than 30 years. I’ve been proud to be a long-standing member of the JACL-DC chapter, and was honored to serve as its president from 2013-2016. While still serving on the DC chapter board, I’ve expanded my role to include chairing the 2017 JACL Convention which will be held here in Washington DC from July 6-9.

Supporting JACL and attending the convention is personal to me because my father and his family were among the 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry who were unjustly incarcerated during World War II.  Not only did his family lose their small family business, but they lost their home, and they almost lost hope. The JACL’s mission of fighting discrimination, educating the public, and continuously fighting for and protecting civil rights is incredibly important to me and my family.

This is a particularly historic convention as we mark the 75th anniversary of Executive Order 9066. One of the highlights of this convention is a private reception at the Smithsonian American History Museum where one can view the actual Executive Order 9066, which is part of the acclaimed “Righting a Wrong” exhibit showcasing the experiences of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Another highlight will be an exclusive reception hosted by the Embassy of Japan at the Ambassador’s residence. At this reception, we will be honoring Mr. Wade Henderson, the outgoing president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights with the prestigious Governor Ralph L. Carr Courage Award for his lifetime of service in support of civil rights.

During the convention, there will also be sessions and workshops related to civil rights, US-Japan relations, identity, and portrayals of APIAs in the media and arts.

I hope that you will be able to join your fellow JACLers and JACL supporters as we mark this important occasion. One of my favorite things about attending the convention is the ability to meet new people from across the United States, Canada, Japan, and internationally. They come from all walks of life and have wide and varied backgrounds. But one of things that bonds all of them together is our deep support of civil and human rights, freedom, and the promotion of democracy. Please join us and add your voice and presence to this worthy endeavor. As the Convention Chair and DC Chapter board member, I look forward to welcoming all of you to the convention for what will be a historic and memorable experience.

The JACL-DC chapter is excited to present the second post in our blog series, Meet Our Board. As a way to introduce you to our 2017 board members, this series will feature posts from members throughout the year. The first blog was from our youngest board member, Christie Mori. Be sure to keep checking back for future posts from these individuals who are here to serve the DC chapter. 

Greetings JACLers! My name is Craig Shimizu and I’m an at-large member of the JACL DC Chapter board. Originally a Bay Area native, my path to DC wound through the University of Southern California for undergrad before a short stint as an Army officer took me to the swamps of Georgia. After a detour to Afghanistan in 2013, I came to Washington in the fall of 2014 to work in the JACL National office as the Daniel K. Inouye Fellow. I currently serve as a JACL Mike M. Masaoka Congressional Fellow in the office of Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii.

John F. Kennedy once quipped that “Washington is a city of southern efficiency and northern charm,” but I’m eternally inspired by the remarkable people and organizations that advocate for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community in our nation’s capital. It’s been an amazing experience to work with community organizers, policy experts, military leaders, and members of Congress to tackle some of the most pressing issues affecting our community and our nation.

As May comes to a close, I hope you’ll take the opportunity to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and also join us on Sunday, May 28^th for the 69^th Annual JACL – JAVA Memorial Day Service at Arlington National Cemetery. I look forward to seeing you there!

We were lucky enough to have a Q&A with “Valor With Honor” director Burt Takeuchi. His film, which features more than 35 interviews with WWII veterans who served in the 442nd, is now showing on Vimeo in honor of Asian American Heritage Month.

Q: What inspired you to produce “Valor With Honor”? 

A: The original idea was to make a short dramatic independent film on the 442nd. During the research phase in the film’s development, it was important to me to capture as many of the veterans’ interviews as possible before their story was lost. Their stories are an invaluable record of history and I wanted to make sure that we were able to preserve and document what they went through and sacrificed for our country. After a long and drawn out process to complete the film, “Valor With Honor” was completed in 2010.

Q: What was the most difficult part in making this film?

A: The most difficult part was learning to develop an effective interviewing style that would work with Nisei WWII vets. Most veterans in general do not like to give interviews about combat. It’s just too painful and they fear it might trigger PTSD [posttraumatic stress disorder]. I had to find a way to help them open up about their experience, recognizing that I had to balance addressing an emotional issue and asking questions to prompt their memories.

Raising the funds to produce the film, as well as editing down the film were additional challenges. The first rough cut was about 6 hours long! It took months to get it down to 2.5 hours. At that point I felt I had something to show. It was like a sculptor chipping away on a giant rock until finally it develops into film.

Q: Was there anything surprising that you learned from the interviews?

A: Each interview was different for each veteran I spoke to. Each had their own personality and take on the war. Some vets were happy to talk about their “army days,” others were more guarded, some were hilariously funny, others shared stories that could not be used in the film because they were too gruesome.

Q: What was most inspiring to you when sitting down with these JA veterans?

A: The most inspiring interviews were the ones where the vets were willing to share the most terrifying battles because I felt that it probably took as much courage to talk about the war on video as it was to fight. I was honored that they trusted me enough to share and relive an incredibly intense and difficult time in their lives.

Many veterans suffered terrible nightmares for years from PTSD and depression. The modesty and heroism of the veterans I was able to sit down with was very inspiring.

Q: What has the response been to your film?

A: The response has been positive for “Valor”. The film is now available on Vimeo online so anyone can watch the film almost anywhere. It is a huge hurdle to get an independent film advertised, and I’m thankful for this opportunity through Vimeo.

Q: What do your hope is people’s biggest take away from your film? 

A: I hope people will have a better understanding of the 442nd: what the issues were that veterans faced on the battlefield and at home in the U.S. The 442nd is not just a Nisei or a Hawaiian unit, but an American unit that is the most decorated for its size and length of service in U.S. Army history. It’s my hope that people will come away from the film with a better understanding of the Nisei experience, through the personalities shown in the film’s detailed interviews. In the future, my goal is to produce a dramatic independent film on the 442nd.

The JACL-DC chapter is excited to present the first post in our new blog series, Meet Our Board. As a way to introduce you to our 2017 board members, this series will feature posts from members throughout the year. Be sure to keep checking back for future posts from these individuals who are here to serve the DC chapter. 

Hello! I’m Christie Mori and one of JACL-DC’s two youth board chairs this year. I’m very excited to be a new youth co-chair and am honored and delighted to join the Board of Directors. My family and I have been members for five years! 

I’m currently an eighth grader at The Woods Academy in Bethesda, MD and when I’m not doing my Kumon homework, I enjoy playing tennis, writing, and singing in my school and church choir. In addition I also love playing soccer and softball. Next year I will be attending St. John’s College High School and will be entering in the De La Salle Scholars Program. I am also interested in filmography, and since I travel so often I always bring a camera with me to record and later create a short little “movie” of my trip. 

My background is unique. I’m the daughter of Nikkei Brazilian parents and speak Portuguese at home; I also speak Spanish and attend Keisho Center to learn Japanese. I recently went to São Paulo, Brazil to spend time with my family and friends.  

I look forward to working with the membership to create community-based programs to engage youth in the DC Chapter.

This blog post is by Ron Mori, JACL DC Chapter co-president.

Last week, I had the honor of participating on a panel hosted by the Harvard Kennedy School DC Alumni Council on manufacturing bigotry and Islamophobia. The panel on Islamophobia included powerful insights from thought leaders from the LGBT and Muslim communities, Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality and Zaki Barzinji, former Obama White House Muslim Community Liaison.

Each panel member related how important it is to share and learn from our unique cultures through storytelling, the arts, and media. My comments centered on learning from our Japanese American past—never forgetting our shared American history and preventing unconstitutional actions against a group of people due to race, gender, or religious beliefs.

Martha Watanabe from the JACL DC Chapter attended, along with Noriko Sanefuji, museum specialist for the National Museum of American History, to answer questions about an exhibit table at the event featuring photographs and items related to the Japanese American experience during WWII. Several mentions of the new American History Museum exhibit: Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans during WWII were also made during the discussion.

Thank you to the Harvard Kennedy School DC Alumni Council for inviting me to be a part of the group to discuss this important topic. As co-president of the JACL DC Chapter, I hope we will continue to engage in these timely and critical conversations.

Close to 100 people turned out for the 19^th annual Cherry Blossom Freedom Walk, which took place on Saturday, April 1 at the National Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism in Washington, D.C. Those in attendance came out to see, hear, and support the National Japanese American Memorial Foundation and the other sponsoring organizations in their mission to remind the public of the struggles and sacrifices made by people of Japanese ancestry who were deprived of their civil rights during WW II.

The event kicked off with Nen Daiko and a rousing taiko performance, followed by the MC of the event, Jeff Moy, vice president of public affairs for JACL, opening the program by recounting a personal story of his grandmother being forced to evacuate from her home in 1942. This was followed by DC Chapter co-President Ron Mori who told the story about his aunt, Yoshiko Mori who was incarcerated in Rohwer during the war. Ron also brought along a couple of rare and personal artifacts including his aunt’s war relocation leave pass that she used to travel from Rohwer to a job in Chicago.

Speakers for this year’s event included many notable individuals, including Diana Mayhew, president of the National Cherry Blossom Committee; Richard Bradley, chair of the National Cherry Blossom Committee; Lauren C. Vaughan, secretary of the District of Columbia; Minister Takuya Sasayama from the Embassy of Japan; Cal Shintani, chair of NJAMF; and Michael Cardarelli, president of the Japanese American Veterans Association.

This year’s keynote was delivered by Ms. Peggy Nagae, lead attorney in the Minoru Yasui case. Peggy’s remarks were very moving and powerful and were a call to action for all of us to never forget and to continue to work on protecting and preserving civil rights for all of us.

The event concluded with a walk around the National Mall, led by the Mt. Airy Baptist Church Troop & Pack 508.

As always, there was a very strong JACL presence at this event with both co-presidents of the DC Chapter Georgette Furukawa-Martinez and Ron Mori, co-vice president Nikki Yamashiro, Vice President of General Operations Michelle Amano, and board members Craig Shimizu, John Tobe, and Lauren Yamagata in attendance. Former National JACL President Larry Oda and his wife Anne, former national JACL President Floyd Mori and his wife Irene, and longtime and former DC Chapter President Gerald Yamada and his wife Nancy were also there to lend their support.

The co-sponsors of this event were DC Chapter of JACL, Ekoji Buddhist Temple, Japanese American Veterans Association, and the National Japanese American Memorial Foundation.

We also live tweeted the event! You can find us on Twitter at: @jacl_DCchapter.

It was a poignant and memorable event that we were glad to see so many people come out in support, and as always and we can’t wait for next year’s walk. 

We hope you had a wonderful 2016 and are enjoying the start of the Year of the Rooster.

The DC Chapter continues to be strong, with a healthy mix of individual, family and youth members of all ages and backgrounds. Our chapter activities and its successes could not take place without your continuing support and participation. We are very thankful for the ongoing leadership of John Tobe, and his tireless work to continue to keep our Board and DC Chapter a relevant link to our history, traditions, community service and advocacy.

We are also humbled by the support given to us by current and former Board Members, as we transition into our new roles as Co-Presidents’ of the DC Chapter. It is our vision that we continue to engage chapter members of all ages, and to build an even stronger chapter with a diverse offering of programs that will honor our past and open new areas of discovery. In particular, we are excited about this summer’s 48th Annual JACL National Convention to be hosted in Washington, D.C.

John Tobe is the JACL National Convention Chair, and our DC Chapter will be working closely with him as we get closer to the convention in July. Needless to say, the convention takes more than a village to successfully run. There will be many opportunities to volunteer in the coming months that will be communicated in upcoming NewsNotes and emails.

In this time in America, it is important for all of us to share our collective stories and to make sure history does not repeat itself. Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to seeing you at upcoming chapter events.

Your Co-Presidents,

Georgette Furukawa-Martinez and Ron Mori

Our holiday Mochitsuki event is fast approaching – December 5, noon-2pm, at North Bethesda Middle School. Come and have lunch, participate in mochi pounding (below), buy handmade gifts from the Crafty Ladies, and listen to the JBE band! Preorder your bento lunch (and holiday mochi!) online via Eventbrite. For more info, email jaclwdc@gmail.com or see page 5 of the Winter 2015 News Notes.

Find out more about Prime Minister Abe’s DC visit, the Memorial Day event at Arlington Cemetery, and upcoming events like the Annual Picnic! Also, read about the honor bestowed on long-time member Dr. Ray Murakami by the Japanese government, and check out the feature on Amy Uyematsu – sansei poet. All in the Summer News Notes!