bmwracer wrote:

My vote goes to Lindsey Sugimoto.

My mistake... I got the names mixed up... My vote goes to Ashley Arikawa... Not that it matters now.

Was at the Nisei Week festivities all day today... The Taiko demonstrations were really good.

The parade ran long as usual... Tamlyn Tomita slipped by me until the emcee Helen Ota mentioned her name over the speaker system.

Speaking of Helen, she let her hair grow out and it looked like she lost some weight was well... She got my vote as Nisei Week Queen back in the day.

I wonder if anybody went to the Gyoza contest on Saturday. They moved it from JACCC to one of the parking lots over by the Go For Broke Memorial. I guess they were charging $5 to get in because they were also having some kind of ramen thing that cost another $8.The idea of eating ramen in 90 degree weather on a black top parking lot didn't really appeal to me so I didn't go.

I hope that $8 covered everything and they weren't charging $8 per bowl of ramen.

Sure wish they would bring back the Tofu Festival.

gaijinmark wrote:

I wonder if anybody went to the Gyoza contest on Saturday. They moved it from JACCC to one of the parking lots over by the Go For Broke Memorial. I guess they were charging $5 to get in because they were also having some kind of ramen thing that cost another $8.The idea of eating ramen in 90 degree weather on a black top parking lot didn't really appeal to me so I didn't go. I hope that $8 covered everything and they weren't charging $8 per bowl of ramen.

I was at the Ramen Festival in Torrance last year and they charged $8 per bowl... And it wasn't a very big bowl.

And on top of that the lines were disgustingly long.

Now that, to paraphrase Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons, the "worst Nisei Week ever" is over, not doing anything September 9th and got $10 to spare? 30th anniversary of "Wax on, wax off": http://www.janm.org/events/film/

The special guests are director John Avildsen, Ralph Macchio, and Pat Morita's daughter, Aly.

L.A. Japanese Film Festival (aka L.A. Eigafest) starts Sept. 12th: http://www.laeigafest.com/

Hokkaido Fair at Torrance Mitsuwa starting Sept. 18th: https://www.mitsuwa.com/ai1ec_event/hokkaido-torrance-2/?instance_id=1474&lang=en

And if you into these things: http://www.japanese-city.com/calendar/events/index.php?eID=32770

Just a reminder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qarDED7j4w4

And here's the link to the free tickets:http://www.fujisankei.com/fci-news/laeigafest_2014.php

Deadline is 8am Pacific Time Friday.

Tohoku Fair at Torrance Mitsuwa, Oct. 16-19:http://www.mitsuwa.com/ai1ec_event/rising-tohoku-food-fair-torrance-san-jose-stores/?instance_id=&lang=en

I'm not a Hello Kitty! fan myself. In fact, I don't understand it all. But if you're in the L.A. area the Japanese American National Museum is having a Hello Kitty! exhibit from now until April: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/miranda/la-et-cam-hello-kitty-quintuples-attendance-japanese-american-national-museum-20141013-column.html

November 1st and 2nd: http://japanfair.org/

Samurai exhibition at the LACMA (5905 Wilshire) from now until February: http://www.lacma.org/samurai#about-the-exhibition

Speaking of Hello Kitty!: http://laist.com/2014/10/31/socal_is_getting_the_first_hello_ki.php

Not Little Tokyo, but within a 50 mile radius: http://www.hbjapanesefestival.com/

They tried this last year and came up pretty short but they're going to try again this year. If you're in the L.A. area on April 18th and not doing anything else, bring your ukulele: http://www.jaccc.org/laukuleleexpo

West LA's Sawtelle Neighborhood Finally Gets the Japantown Recognition it Deserves
by Farley Elliott Mar 3, 2015,

www.eater.com

A City Council vote made things official.

Time for some neighborhood renaming. Per Rafu Shimpo, L.A.�fs own Japanese daily news source, the Sawtelle/Little Osaka/West L.A. neighborhood has officially been designated as Sawtelle Japantown. It's nice to see perhaps the best eating street in all of Los Angeles finally get the neighborhood name it deserves.

The naming solidification is long overdue, as the multi-hyphenate neighborhood has worked through a handful of nicknames over the decades. Now the designation is etched in stone on one of those blue neighborhood signs, following last week�fs 14-0 City Council vote in favor of the motion.

More than just the final phase of otherwise fluid naming issues for the area over the years, the new Sawtelle Japantown designation has plenty of cultural significance. "We�fd like to get recognition for the historical presence of the Japanese community in West Los Angeles," noted local historian Randy Sakamoto during the long campaign to bring the name change about, adding that the longstanding race restrictions of the early 1900�fs helped to form the predominantly Japanese area.

Rafu Shimpo offers more color on the backstory to the long naming debate over on their site. It�fs a worthwhile read for anyone interested in understanding the power behind a name �\ or anyone who just wants to send their friends to the right neighborhood the next time they try to all meet up at Tsujita.

gaijinmark wrote:

Samurai exhibition at the LACMA (5905 Wilshire) from now until February: http://www.lacma.org/samurai#about-the-exhibition

Saw this exhibit before it ended.

^ Very cool.

bmwracer wrote:

^ Very cool.

It was an amazing exhibit. If I remember correctly the pieces on display were from a private collection(s) too.

The state of preservation is excellent despite these suits being hundreds of years old.

Tu_triky wrote:

The state of preservation is excellent despite these suits being hundreds of years old.

Rust-Oleum.

bmwracer wrote:

Rust-Oleum.

Haha.