Nichi Bei Foundation

10/17/2026

Federal agencies have alleged after an investigation that the UC Berkeley School of Law discriminated against white and Asian applicants based on race.

A joint investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Education found that the school violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race or color, the DOJ said in a news release on Sept. 9.

The school also went against the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in a 2023 case — Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard — which banned race discrimination in higher education, the DOJ said.

“Berkeley Law School’s deliberate efforts to circumvent the Supreme Court’s decision in SFFA demonstrate a complete disregard for the rule of law,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon from the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division in the news release. “The Department will continue to aggressively pursue compliance from schools who attempt to racially manipulate their student bodies in violation of federal law.”

Read more here: https://www.nichibei.org/2026/10/berkeley-federal-agencies-allege-law-school-discriminated-against-white-asian-students/

10/16/2026

Madame Michiya Hanayagi, the renown Northern California instructor of Japanese classical dance, passed away Sept. 7, 2026 at the age of 97. Hanayagi, a post-war immigrant to the United States, was instrumental in teaching traditional Japanese dances, especially for annual Bon Odori in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her presence in the arts community was so strong that few referred to her by her legal name.

Hanayagi’s daughter Eileen Tanaka started dancing at two and a half years old, first taking lessons from her mother every morning before school.

She described her mother as a strong and self-sufficient woman who was eager to share her knowledge of Japanese art, culture and tradition with anyone who wished to learn,

“Her commitment to teaching and preserving these traditions became an important part of her life, and her influence will continue through the many people she taught, inspired, and touched along the way. I too am grateful to have learned from her and to carry forward the values she lived by,” Tanaka said.

Read more about Madame Michiya Hanayagi here: https://www.nichibei.org/2026/10/michiya-hanayagi-pioneer-japanese-classical-dance-teacher-remembered/

10/15/2026

For more updates on this year’s Films of Remembrance, follow the new Films of Remembrance page TODAY! ⭐️🎞️

10/15/2026

VOTE early! https://vote.ca.gov/

Early voting begins TODAY! Received your ballot? Drop it off at a secure drop box location, in person, or return it by mail! If you choose to mail your ballot, we recommend mailing it back as soon as possible after you receive it, or at least 7 days before Election Day to avoid any potential postal delays. After that, consider returning it in person at a drop box location, or head into your local United States Post Office and request a hand-stamped postmark.

Find all of your options at CAEarlyVoting.sos.ca.gov.

10/15/2026

Lovers of all things Okinawan flocked to the Hawai‘i Convention Center in Honolulu during the Labor Day weekend, Sept. 5 and 6, for the 44th Okinawan Festival. The festival is sponsored by the Hawaii United Okinawa Association and planned by its 50 sonjinkai, or member clubs, most of them organized around the home village of their members’ Issei ancestors.

This annual celebration of the Okinawan cultural heritage is staffed solely by volunteers and is an opportunity for the Okinawan community to work together and share its music, dances, arts, culture, food and heritage with festival attendees — fellow Uchinanchu; people who are not ethnically Okinawan but enjoy Okinawan culture; and the curious.

Read more here: https://www.nichibei.org/2026/10/uchinanchu-heritage-celebrated-at-hawaiis-44th-okinawan-festival/

10/14/2026

Since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term in office, U.S. nonprofits have endured challenges to their budgets.

Among the many entities facing these cuts, the Asian Women’s Shelter in San Francisco notably learned that their recently awarded $500,000 grant to support their work was terminated as it no longer aligned with the administration’s priorities. The three-year grant, which the organization had only just started to tap into, had $480,000 left in its account before it was canceled in 2025.

While the Asian Women’s Shelter’s plight is particularly notable and shocking given the challenges domestic violence organizations focused on serving vulnerable minorities face, they and other organizations in Northern California have also experienced further local and national challenges that have become only more apparent with the Trump administration’s anti-diversity, equity and inclusion policies and cuts to public welfare.

Read more here: https://www.nichibei.org/2026/10/a-complicated-situation-for-domestic-violence-shelters-funding/

10/13/2026

Konko Church of San Francisco Rev. Masato Kawahatsu died from complications of pancreatic cancer on Sept. 14, 2026 at Kokoro Assisted Living in San Francisco’s Japantown. He was 80.

Alice Kawahatsu said he considered himself “Mr. Thank You” and wanted to bring laughter to everybody. She added that he took a laughter yoga class several years ago, where the instructor “taught him how to laugh even during kind of challenging times…”

“I see him kind of in the spiritual world, still laughing, still smiling and we miss him dearly, and physically, he’s not with me, but I can see so many things that he’s taught me,” she said.

The family will hold a celebration of life on Saturday, Nov. 14, 11 a.m., at the Konko Church of San Francisco, 1909 Bush St. in the city’s Japantown.

Alice Kawahatsu said the family is accepting tamagushiryo (offerings), which can be made out to Konko Church of San Francisco: In memory of Rev. Kawahatsu. The family requests no flowers.

Read more about him here: https://www.nichibei.org/2026/10/rev-masato-kawahatsu-mr-thank-you-passes/

(Photos from Alice Kawahatsu & Nichi Bei News)

10/12/2026

Lea Salonga on Sept. 4. became the first Filipina with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, honored for her groundbreaking Broadway career, highlighted by her Tony Award-winning performance in “Miss Saigon.”

“This is surreal,” Salonga said as she accepted the honor during a ceremony in front of the Pantages Theatre. “I have walked down this street many times. I’ve stepped on a lot of famous people, and now people get to step on me. Which feels strangely appropriate for show business.

“ … I was a little girl in the Philippines who loved to sing and perform,” she said. “I started working when I was very young, and I certainly didn’t have some grand plan for how any of this was supposed to unfold. I just knew that I loved doing it. This career has taken me to places I never imagined I would go, introduced me to some extraordinary people, and allowed me to keep doing what I love.”

Read more here: https://www.nichibei.org/2026/10/walk-of-fame-star-honoring-lea-salonga-unveiled/

10/11/2026

Sports franchises, take note: This is how you celebrate a community.

While pro teams across the country have dabbled in promotions that target various ethnic groups, the Golden State Valkyries set a new standard on Sept. 18 with an epic Japanese Heritage Night. A festive atmosphere buzzed in and around the Chase Center that Friday, as the home squad hosted the Portland Fire for a game which doubled as one big Nikkei party.

Speaking with Nichi Bei News moments before the presentation ceremony, Hatakeyama commended the Valkyries franchise on their thoughtful planning of Japanese Heritage Night, remarking, “I love that their approach is really community-centered.”

She pointed out that “they’re bringing in community groups that we see at our own festivals, in our own Japantowns.” With these groups getting “highlighted and uplifted here in front of a wider audience,” she said, “it’s showing that our culture doesn’t just belong in designated places … it belongs everywhere.”

Read more about the event here: https://www.nichibei.org/2026/10/party-time-in-ballhalla-valkyries-serve-up-highlight-reel-of-culture-and-community-at-japanese-heritage-night/

(Photos by Scott Nakajima Photography)

10/10/2026

Authorities have publicly identified the second of two men who died in a fiery Labor Day plane crash at Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport.

Flight instructor Frederic Hewett, 37, was aboard a Cessna 172 that went down at the Serra Mesa general-aviation airport shortly before 5:30 p.m. on

Sept. 7, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Hewett died at the scene of the accident along with the other occupant of the aircraft, Roger Shimizu, 45, the agency reported.

The four-seat plane appeared to stall during a landing approach, its left wing dipping down before the aircraft spun to the ground and burst into flames, according to a preliminary report from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Read more here: https://www.nichibei.org/2026/10/victim-of-fatal-montgomery-field-airplane-crash-idd/