The 82nd Nisei Week Japanese Festival

The 82nd Nisei Week Japanese Festival happened for 9 days from August 10th through 18th at Little Tokyo.

Nisei Week is a festival that shares and spreads the history, culture, and tradition of Japanese and Japanese American people to the US.

Saturday, August 10th was the coronation at the Aratani Theatre for the Nisei Queen who will act as an ambassador of the LA Japanese American community.

6 candidates were nominated from different Japanese organizations throughout LA.
Candidates practiced their manners, dance, and speech for the last 3 months until the event.

Candidates performed their best as their family and friends cheered them on.

And came the final result.
Morgan Mayuko Gee was crowned as the 2024 Nisei Queen.

Seia Loraine Watanabe was named the First Princess and Amy Ryoko Kubo was chosen as Miss Tomodachi.

The queen and court will represent the Japanese American community for the entire year, and attend various events domestically and internationally.

Sunday, August 11th was the Grand Parade.
People from all over LA came to see the highlight of Nisei Week and filled the streets.

First came the veterans of WWII, Korean, and Vietnam War, and they were greeted by a round of applause.

The choreography of this year’s dances were by Hanayagi Rokufumi Shachu.
Followed by government officials, representatives of various organizations, community contributors, and cultural groups making an appearance, and performed in front of the cheering audience.

This year’s parade marshall was actress and comedian, Amy Hill.

Grand marshall is ABC7 news anchor, David Ono.

Various individuals, organizations, and traditions of the Japanese American community were introduced such as: martial arts, Japanese dance, anime, and mikoshi.
The parade culminated with the appearance of the LA Nebuta.

Lastly, this year’s queen and court made an appearance and answered to the crowd with their elegant smiles.

August 17th and 18th was the Plaza Festival held at the plaza in front of the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center.

There were booths offering food, goods, and services lined up attracting visitors with a variety of Japanese foods and cultures.
Various taiko drumming groups also performed on stage, filling the venue with the excitement of a summer festival.

The annual L.A. Tanabata Festival, held in conjunction with Nisei Week every year was also held at the Japanese American National Museum.

This year’s theme was “Peace,” and unique decorations were made by kenjinkai, Japanese American organizations, and individuals.
Free workshops were also held with both children and adults participating in making decorations.

And then came the closing ceremony.
This year marks the 140th anniversary of the establishment of Little Tokyo, so a commemorative ceremony was held first.

The festival concluded with a street dance performance. Along with each traditional Japanese dance group in the community, the Nisei Queens, VIP guests, community organizations, and audience members joined together in a circle and danced the Ondo to close out this year’s Nisei Week.

Sake in the Park

Friday, July 26th was the, “Sake in the Park,” a sake and food event in Downtown LA.

This is a fundraiser event held by the non-profit organization, Little Tokyo Service Center and this year marks the 16th time.
It is one of the largest sake and food events in Southern California.

The event used to be held at the plaza in front of the JACCC in Little Tokyo, but the size expanded and was held at Grand Park in Downtown LA this year.

More than 40 sake breweries participated in this all-you-can-eat and drink sake and food event.
This was made possible by the event partner Mutual Trading which offered approximately 90 brands of sake, shochu, local beer, and spirits.

LTSC works to address a variety of community issues, including support for the elderly and homeless.

Many food booths were set up at the event to serve snacks for sake.
Attendees tasted different sake and food pairings and compared sake drinks to deepen their knowledge of sake.

The program also featured an amateur shochu cocktail contest in which 5 community groups competed. Approximately 1,000 people attended the event.
Everyone enjoyed themselves while helping the fundraiser.