A picnic was held for the residents of Sakura Gardens retirement home in Boyle Heights on June 10th. This event is annually held by the volunteer group, Friends of Keiro and the residents enjoyed having lunch with entertainments. Former chairman, Betty Yumori who has volunteered for over 40 years stated “Please enjoy the delicious meals along with the fantastic performance” in her greetings, and John Peters, representative of the Northstar which runs the retirement home stated “Thank you to all the volunteers who are supporting this home and made this event possible.” Habit hamburgers were served at lunch, and about 130 people enjoyed music, dance, ukulele performance and door prizes.

North America’s biggest Japanese animation convention, Anime Expo was held from July 1st to the 4th at LA Convention Center. Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation organizes the event and this year marks the 26th year. Many Japanese companies as well as local distributors and streaming services announced their newest anime, games and movies. Guests from Japan participated in concerts and talk panels.　The fans are all excited for the various cosplays. Many dressed as their favorite characters and took pictures, as well as enjoying the event with their friends.　At the main event, Masquerade, fans battle in teams by showing off their cosplays and performances.　32 teams participated this year from all over the US.　Extreme Costumes won this year and surprised the audience with their cosplay that they put together, costing them about thirty-thousand dollars.　The winning team received $3,000 and will participate in the cosplay world competition that will be held in Nagoya, Japan.　100,000 people attended this 4 day event and enjoyed Japanese animation from different angles.