July 2, 2002

Happy 4th of July!

Don't forget that the 4th is more than just picnics and fireworks (illegal in most areas) Look at these sites for a review of what it's really all about:

http://wilstar.com/holidays/july4.htm, http://www.american.edu/heintze/fourth.htm

Obon

Philippine dance

MISSION STATEMENT:

Promote full utilization of the capabilities of the Enterprise's employees and champion the betterment of the company and community. Promote interest in Asian Pacific issues and culture and act as a bridge to all groups within our community.

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ed. by Douglas Ikemi

This will be the last newsletter for a while, until maybe about Aug. 6 if US customs let me back into the country. So, don't throw away this copy of the calendar until then!

The internet site is back at:

Our own domain name, apa-pro.org, stands for Asian Pacific American Professionals. www.apa-pro.org/ gives you a menu of AP organization websites.

Back issues of the newsletter for all of 2000, 2001, and 2002 are available on the website if you want to look up some past event.

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APPA Board Meeting Schedule for 2002:

Evening meetings will be at the Hilton Garden Inn, 2100 Mariposa Ave.(corner of Nash)310/726-0100. Noon time meetings will be on Raytheon premises

Schedule for 2002:

July 10 (W) at 6 pm

Aug. 13 (Tu) at 12 pm

Sept. 11 (W) at 6 pm

Oct. 10 (Th) at 12 pm

Nov. 13 (W) at 6 pm

Detailed calendar is attached this week and is available on the internet at www.apa-pro.org in Acrobat and Excel formats. Events go into the calendar that I don't mention here. Please send in information on cultural events and news items. Thanks to those who have.

Long range calendar items:

July 13 Una Storia Segreta: A Discussion About the Italian American Internment and Evacuation During World War II. Lecture and Book Signing at the JANM. 1:30 PM

July 14 First Rate Anime at the JA CCC Japan America Theatre, 244 S. San Pedro St., Downtown Little Tokyo. Miyazaki's "Princess Mononoke" in both English (1PM) and the original Japanese (5PM). This was the movie Disney didn't know how to market, but it was the top selling film in Japan until "Titanic" came along. Miyazaki's latest film, "Spirited Away" has since blown away Titanic.

July 21 Samurai films at the JACCC Japan America Theatre, 244 S. San Pedro St., Downtown Little Tokyo. "Zatoichi meets Yojimbo" at 1PM and "Lone Wolf & Cub" at 5PM, $8 each.

July 27-Oct. 13 Passports to Friendship: Celebrating 75 Years of US-Japan Friendship Doll Exchange, JANM

July 28 Nisei Week Fashion Show and Luncheon featuring Tadashi with K-Broadway Dance Group, Omni Los Angeles Hotel, 251 S. Olive St., LA, Boutique opens 10AM, Luncheon 12noon. $50, call Shigeko at 310-551-1225

August 4 Cuban Japanese Women: From a Nisei and Sansei Perspective, panel discussion at the JANM, 1:30PM

August 10 APEX Short Hiking Trip Saturday. Please R.S.V.P. with Hua Ling, Director of Cultural Affairs one week before the event. Hua Ling (hua@apex.org) will send out detail information and direction the Wednesday before the event via e-mail. If you would like to carpool with someone, please give me your contact information and I will help you out one week before the event. Thank you and I will see you soon. Members: Free, Non-Members: $5.00 per person

August 11 Cowboy Bebop the Movie at the Eqyptian Theater in Hollywood, 5PM. Japanese with English Subtitles. Preview of Sony Pictures release. Based on one of the more important anime series. Also Ghost in the Shell and X on Aug. 16, 9:45, and Spriggan on Aug. 23 at 10:15PM. www.egyptiantheatre.com

August 17 "Dreaming of You" Nisei Week Benefit Dinner Dance, Silent Auction/Raffle. The Belmont Room at the Quiet Cannon, Montebello Municipal Golf Course, 901 N. Via San Clemente, Montebello 323-724-4500. 6PM-Midnight, DJ, dressy casual attire, full course dinner and no host bar. $45 before July 25, $50 afterwards. All proceeds benefit Nisei Week Festival Committee and Keiro Senior Health Care. Contact Peggy 323-727-9989 or Laura 626-333-5604.

Aug 24-25, 2nd Annual US Sumo Open at UCLA, www.usasumo.com, 310-288-3641, afreund@ucla.edu

Sept. 7 the TRW Travel Club visits both the Hsi Lai Buddhist Temple and the Autry Museum of Western Heritage. $55. Call Anne Lopin 310-812-8270

Sept 8 Boyle Heights: The Power of Place opens at the JANM

The Pacific Asia Museum (46 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena, 91101, 626-449-2742) Family Festival schedule for 2002, Saturdays, 1-4:

July 20 Origami Festival

Aug. 17 Flavors of India

Sept. 21 Lacquer Ware of Myanmar

Oct. 19 Pakistan Festival

Nov. 16 Buddha: Faces of Enlightenment

Dec. 14 Pasko Sa Nayon

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July 4-7 Anime Expo 2002 at the Long Beach Convention Center. The biggest Anime convention in the US. www.anime-expo.org

July 6 West Covina Buddhist Temple Obon Festival, 12-9:30PM. Kendo, karate, judo, classical Japanese dance, taiko, bonsai, ikebana, gardening, kimekomi dolls, and obon dancing in the evening, 1203 W. Puente Ave., West Covina, 91790 626-913-0622

July 7 Bridge USA Summer Festival at the Torrance Cultural Arts Center, $3, 10AM-7PM

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And the Next Weekend (since there won't be any newsletter then)

July 10 APPA Board Meeting

July 13 Una Storia Segreta: A Discussion About the Italian American Internment and Evacuation During World War II. Lecture and Book Signing at the JANM. 1:30 PM

July 14 First Rate Anime at the JA CCC Japan America Theatre, 244 S. San Pedro St., Downtown Little Tokyo. Miyazaki's "Princess Mononoke" in both English (1PM) and the original Japanese (5PM). This was the movie Disney didn't know how to market, but it was the top selling film in Japan until "Titanic" came along. Miyazaki's latest film, "Spirited Away" has since blown away Titanic.

July 13 & 14 Los Angeles Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple Obon* The main Nishi hongwanji temple in Los angeles. Carnival, cultural performances and exhibits Odori (Japanese folk dancing) begins at 7 pm on Sat. and 6:30 pm on Sun. 812 East First Street, Little Tokyo, Downtown Los Angeles, CA 90012 Call for event time- (213) 680-9130

July 13 & 14 Zenshuji Soto Mission Carnival (Japanese food and games), Karaoke performances, taiko Performances by Zendeko Japanese folk dancing on Sunday only. 10am-9pm both days 123 So. Hewitt St. Downtown Los Angeles (Little Tokyo) Call for information: 213.624.8658 Website:www.zenshuji.org

July 14 Pacific Asia Museum Authors On Asia Series presents Helie Lee author of "Still Life with Rice" 2PM, free admission, reservations 626-449-2742, x20

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Last Weekend

On Saturday I went to see

"Fighting Separate Wars: Heroes Abroad, Outsiders at Home", Film Screening and Discussion" at the JANM, , Following the screening of excerpts from Looking Like the Enemy, directed by Robert Nakamura and written and produced by Karen Ishizuka, a diverse panel of World War II veterans look back and reflect on the experience of choosing to serve in the armed forces of a country in which their own civil rights were not (always) protected.

Actually there were also excerpts from a film about Pilipino veteran rights (or the ignoring of them by the government) and a Pilipino veteran was there to talk about his experience in the war and how he decided to become an activist. The Japanese American panel had only two speakers, a World War II vet and a Vietnam vet who served as an Army officer, but both had interesting stories. I had heard references to the antagonism during World War II between Hawaiian and mainland Nisei soldiers, but I hadn't realized how bad it was till it was controlled. The Vietnam recollections included a chilling description of being rousted up in the middle of the night to be dropped into a firebase that was on the verge of being over run, and then being shot at by an American soldier ("...and he was a lousy shot because he missed at 15 feet.")

I also went out to see "Windtalkers," the John Woo epic ostensibly about Navajo code talkers in the Marine Corps during WW II. As in the case of "Episode 2" here you have a great idea and great visuals with a really bad script. This film is even gorier than "Blackhawk Down" or "Saving Private Ryan." The movie does kind of work as a portrait of the tortured sould portrayed by Nicolas Cage. Cage plays a Japanese speaking Marine searching for redemption in death after having led his men in an earlier battle to their deaths. Not enough about code talkers.

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Well, it's Obon season again. Every Japanese Buddhist Temple or community cultural center is having some kind of festival or carnival. This is a uniquely American practice. Real Japanese (ones directly from Japan) have told me that Obon is not observed this way in Japan. Sort of like Cinco de Mayo--people I know from Mexico tell me it's not a big event in the old country. Probably the St. Patrick Day's celebration in Chicago is like none in Ireland. Immigrant or affinity groups in this country have a tendency to create special festivals and celebrations that help reinforce their identity. The result is many opportunities for free entertainment and eating junk food-one of the reasons I love living in LA. Obon, if you're into Joseph Campbell or James Fraser, is your typical summer solstice festival. It's purpose is to appease the spirits of the dead. As I've mentioned before, it has parallels in the Hispanic Day of the dead during the winter solstice. For more info on obon, start at http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2286.html. My experience is that obon festivals in the US, are open to the public and a lot of the events really aren't religion specific. So, find out when your local Buddhist temple or church is having its obon festival and drop in for your helping of cultural entertainment and junk food. If you go, do respect the sacred areas of the temples and remember that the revelry is usually low key.

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To Philippine dance enthusiasts,

"FROM ACAPULCO TO MANILA: AN UNTOLD PACIFIC RIM STORY"

JULY 13-14 AT FORD AMPHITHEATRE

Danza Floricanto/USA and Kayamanan Ng Lahi Philippine Folk Arts transform the treasures of the Spanish galleon trade into a spectacular evening of dance.

Two of L.A.'s premier world-dance companies, known for their spirited expression of folk traditions and breathtaking costuming, discover mutual cultural connections in a program entitled "From Acapulco to Manila: An Untold Pacific Rim Story". For nearly three centuries of Spanish trade, the cultures of Mexico and the Philippines intermingled. Danza Floricanto/USA, Los Angeles' oldest professional Mexican folkloric troupe, and Kayamanan Ng Lahi, the area's most critically acclaimed Filipino dance company, explore this cultural crossover with the joyful expression of dances and music that are distinct as well as similar between their cultures. "Acapulco to Manila" weaves works from the repertory of both companies with new choreography for sections the troupes dance together.

Showtimes: 8 p.m., Saturday, July 13 and 6 p.m., Sunday, July 14 Location: John Anson Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood, off the 101 Freeway. Ticket Prices: General admission, $20 with a $12 ticket for full-time Students Ticket Purchase: Call 310-391-2357 or e-mail kayamanan@earthlink.net.

The Ford Amphitheatre is located at 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East off the 101 (Hollywood) freeway just north of Hollywood Bowl and south of the Universal Amphitheatre. The Ford is disabled accessible and portable wireless listening devices are available upon request. On-site, stacked parking costs $5 per vehicle. Non-stacked parking is available for $3 per vehicle with validation (available at the amphitheatre) in the city-owned parking structure at 1718 North Cherokee in Hollywood, 1.3 miles south of the amphitheatre, and at 3400 Cahuenga Blvd. West, 1.8 miles north of the amphitheatre. A free shuttle runs to the Ford from the non-stacked parking lots starting 2 hours prior to curtain.

This event is part of the Ford Amphitheatre 2002 Season, a multi-disciplinary arts series produced by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission in cooperation with Los Angeles County-based arts organizations. For a complete season schedule, directions to the theater, parking information, and box dinner menus, log on to www.fordamphitheatre.org."Acapulco to Manila: An Untold Pacific Rim Story" is supported, in part, by the California Arts Council's Organizational Support Program and the National Endowment for the Arts' Traditional Arts Program.

BACKGROUND ON "ACAPULCO TO MANILA" COMPANIES

Kayamanan Ng Lahi Philippine Folk Arts (KNL), a critically acclaimed non-profit based in Los Angeles. Founded in 1990 by Joel Jacinto, Barbara Ele, Ave Jacinto and Boy Angos, the group is committed to presenting and promoting the richness and diversity of Philippine culture through dance and music.KNL's artistic approach is based on anthropological research which result in a strong and appropriate translation of folk life from the village to folkloric presentations to the stage. Kayamanan Ng Lahi has played a leadership role in providing technical assistance and training, consultation, and providing innovative and culturally appropriate programs in folk dance education, instruction and planning to numerous student, community folk dance groups throughout California and across the United States. KNL holds weekly workshops for children and adults and perform in various public and private functions throughout the year. Noted for its extensive repertoire, costumes and music ensembles, L.A. Times' premier dance critic described the group as ".consistently exciting and a triumph of enlightened cultural preservation." For more information, go to www.kayamanan.org

Founded in 1975, Danza Floricanto/USA is the oldest existing professional Mexican folk dance troupe in Los Angeles. Floricanto began when a group of school teachers wanted to provide their students with a living cultural experience. Founder/Artistic Director Gema Sandoval is devoted to illuminating her Mexican-American heritage through dance. In recent years, Sandoval has begun to stage theme works in addition to traditional regional dances of Mexico. Sandoval proved her ability to handle sweeping historical themes in Epopeya Mestiza (Mestizo Epic) for which she won the Lester Horton Dance award for Best Staging of Traditional Dance. Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead, a celebration in dance of the Mexican holiday honoring the deceased, was praised at its Los Angeles premiere in November 2001 as "poignant, whimsical and infectiously entertaining" (Los Angeles Times). In April 2002 she premiered Chicanos, The Spirit of Aztlan, a full-evening work tracing the evolving culture that has linked the American Southwest and Mexico since ancient times.

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Washington Post article links: