Venice-West LA JACL

08/12/2024

Our chapter has had a busy summer. Last night, Morgan Mayuko Gee was crowned Nisei Week Queen before a large gathering in Little Tokyo. Morgan, 26, was co-sponsored by the Venice Japanese Community Center and our chapter. A graduate of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, she is a sales manager for Omni Hotels & Resorts. Seia Watanabe, a National JACL board member and shown third from left, was named First Princess. Congratulations to all of the Nisei Week court members.

06/29/2024

It’s summer time, so come out and stop by our JACL chapter booth at this year’s West Los Angeles Buddhist Temple Obon Festival on Saturday and Sunday, July 27-28.

They’ll be plenty of food, games, music, dancing and taiko performances. As in the past, our chapter will be selling corn on the cob, chashu bao and popcorn.

It’s a pleasure to join Rev. Koho Takata and his congregation in celebrating this summer tradition.

07/22/2023

Delegates from across the country are here this week in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo district for the 2023 JACL National Convention. Due to the hotel workers’ strike, staff and board leadership had to work around the clock to change accommodations for hotel guests and find new locations for virtually all of its programs and events.

Top, National President Larry Oda, shown with a panel of board members and other leaders at the Japanese American National Museum, addresses members about the state of JACL and its relevance going forward. Bottom left, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass welcomes delegates during an evening reception on Wednesday at the Terasaki Budokan. A luncheon hosted by the National Youth/Student Council at the Nishi Hongwanji Buddhist Temple brought together a large gathering for food and cultural traditions.

07/22/2023

If you are coming to the West L.A. Obon this weekend, there is relaxed street parking on most of the adjacent streets near the temple on Saturday and Sunday.

07/18/2023

The West Los Angeles Buddhist Temple will be hosting its Obon Festival on July 22-23 with food, games, dancing and taiko performances. Stop by our JACL chapter booth for corn on the cob, chashu bao and popcorn.

It’s a pleasure to join Rev. Koho Takata and his congregation in celebrating this summer tradition for the first time in four years.

02/16/2023

The Venice-West Los Angeles JACL is pleased to offer scholarship awards to high school seniors and incoming or current medical school students.

Application details can be found on the national JACL website: www.JACL.org/scholarships. Top high school students are eligible for both national and chapter awards.

Deadline to apply for high school seniors is March 6. Deadline for the medical school scholarship is June 1.

For questions, please contact us at [email protected].

08/22/2022

Jaime Hasama, 2021 Nisei Week Queen, left, congratulates this year’s Miss Western Los Angeles Faith Nishimura after the 80th Nisei Week Coronation program in Little Tokyo last week. Nishimura, 21, will be part of the Nisei Week Court led by this year’s queen, Kristine Yada, who was sponsored by the Orange County Nikkei Coordinating Council.

Hasama and Nishimura were both co-sponsored by the Venice Japanese Community Center and Venice-West L.A. JACL.

The program marked the return of an in-person coronation event that had been interrupted only once before due to World War II.

In addition to serving in her role on the court, Nishimura will continue her undergraduate studies at Loyola Marymount University. Congratulations, Faith!

06/28/2022

Faith Nishimura, second from left, was formally introduced as this year’s Miss Western Los Angeles on Saturday at the Venice Japanese Community Center’s annual summer festival.

A senior this fall at Loyola Marymount University, Faith will be among seven candidates at this year’s Nisei Week Coronation program on Aug. 13 in Little Tokyo.

Faith was congratulated by reigning Nisei Week Queen Jaime Hasama, center, and is joined by candidates, from left, Audrey Nakaoka, Gardena Evening Optimist; Maile Yanguas, Japanese Restaurant Assn.; and Kristine Yada, Orange County Nikkei Coordinating Council.

The Venice-West Los Angeles JACL chapter and VJCC serve as co-sponsors of the Miss Western L.A. program.

Good luck, Faith, and best wishes to everyone on this year’s court.

03/14/2022

A Slice of Summer Fun in Spring

USC’s Nikkei Student Union pulled out all the stops in hosting its first in-person Culture Night program in more than two years with a nod to everyone’s favorite summer event - Obon.

A large gathering of students and supporters were treated on Friday night to many familiar JA summer festival traditions. There were carnival games, performance by Kazan Taiko, singing by Liuwenda Gao and a raffle. Of course, you can’t have an Obon without odori, and all attendees gathered around the taiko drums and participated in Japanese folk dancing.

02/24/2022

The Venice-WLA JACL chapter is pleased to offer scholarship awards to high school seniors and to incoming or current medical school students.

Application details can be found on the National JACL website: www.jacl.org/scholarships.

Deadline to apply for high school seniors is March 4. Deadline for the medical school scholarship is June 1. For questions, please contact us at [email protected].

02/24/2022

Shoutout to the UCLA Nikkei Student Union (NSU) for an entertaining and thoughtful program celebrating its 36th annual Cultural Night last Saturday before a packed crowd at Royce Hall. There was a good story revolving around identity, interspersed with taiko, odori and modern dance performances. Thanks for a great show!

02/18/2022

"I have always believed that great nations do not ignore their most painful moments — they confront them with honesty and, in doing so, learn from them and grow stronger as a result. The incarceration of Japanese Americans 80 years ago is a reminder to us today of the tragic consequences we invite when we allow racism, fear, and xenophobia to fester." - President Joe Biden

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/02/18/day-of-remembrance-of-japanese-american-incarceration-during-world-war-ii/

Eighty years ago, on February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, stripping people of Japanese descent of their