Aug 27th 2017 O.A.
2017 Nisei Week The Coronation
The largest event in the LA Japanese American community, the 77th Nisei Week had its climax last week. Various events like the Tanabata festival were held in Little Tokyo. The Coronation choosing the Nisei Queen happened on Sunday, August 19th at Little Tokyo’s Aratani Theater. This event started from 1935 along with the Nisei Week choosing the Nisei Queen of the Japanese American community for that year, and has been an annual event since. The candidates are all women under 25 years old and are recommended by each Japanese American organizations in LA. 7 competed this year. The theater was filled with supporting family and friends of the candidates. Candidates spent 3 months together learning dances, speech and Japanese cultural manners. At the stage, they all performed their best in those areas. The candidates get judged by the community leaders based upon their manners, Q&A response and personality. After everyone did their best, the results came in. The 77th Nisei Queen Jordyn was presented with a gown and tiara from last year’s queen. Kristy Yoneda was chosen as 1st Princess and Kelly Sera was chosen as Miss Tomodachi. The queen and her court will participate in various community events until next year’s Nisei Week. They will also be going to LA’s sister city, Nagoya, Japan and various locations as the goodwill ambassador of the LA Japanese American community.
2017 Nisei Week Grand Parade
Sunday, August 20th was the main event, the Grand Parade. This year’s theme was “Ohana.” This means “family” in Hawaiian, and was aimed for the audience and the community to unite during the parade. The war veterans that fought in WWII, the Korean War and the Vietnam War led the parade and responded to the cheers. Corey Nakatani was the Parade Marshal. Nakatani is a 3rd generation Japanese American and is a top rated jockey in the US who also competed in the Kentucky Derby. The Grand Marshal was Rose Matsui Ochi. Ochi is a LA born Nisei who experienced the concentration camp with her family during the war. Post war, she became a lawyer and an activist for human rights. 140 Japanese businesses and cultural organizations followed afterwards. Mikoshi floats and Nebuta festival happened in the climax and lively performances continued. At the end, the queen and court that were chosen the day before, waived and responded to the crowd. The Nisei Week ended with a cheerful parade.