August 22nd 2021 O.A.

Dodgers Japanese Heritage Night

Sunday, August 8th was Japanese Heritage Night at the Dodger Stadium in LA.

The Dodgers hold various cultural and social events for different communities, and the Japanese American community was introduced before this game.

First was a taiko performance.

Then came 2019 Nisei Queen & Court and were welcomed by the audience.

Amy Machida sang the Japanese National Anthem along with the Star Spangled Banner.
Mr. Tokuda, a Japanese American veteran, did the first pitch and Dodgers manager, Dave Roberts born in Okinawa took the ball.

The Dodgers played the Angels, and fans of Shohei Ohtani were also there enjoying the game.

2021 Nisei Week Virtual Experience

Saturday, August 14th was the Nisei Week Japanese Festival.
The event was called “Nisei Week Virtual Experience” and streamed online like last year due to the spread of COVID-19.

Nancy Okubo is this year’s President of the Nisei Week Foundation, and this year’s theme was: “Ibasho, A Place to Call Home”.
Little Tokyo, the place where we call home, was featured.
Local businesses and cultural organizations were introduced, and different awards were announced.

Taiko, bon dance and rap music were performed live, and American karate Olympian, Sakura Kokumai performed different moves.

The 2021 Nisei Queen contest was also held. 6 candidates appeared and introduced themselves.

Jaime Sunny Hasama, who was sponsored by Venice Japanese Community Center and Venice-West Los Angeles JACL, was crowned as this year’s queen.
She and the court will work as the US/Japan goodwill ambassador until 2022.

You can watch the “Nisei Week Virtual Experience” on the Nisei Week YouTube channel.