{"id":16994,"date":"2018-12-30T20:00:46","date_gmt":"2018-12-30T22:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/?post_type=socaljapan&#038;p=16994"},"modified":"2025-06-28T17:06:40","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T00:06:40","slug":"2018-12-30","status":"publish","type":"socaljapan","link":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/socaljapan\/2018-12-30\/","title":{"rendered":"December 30th 2018 O.A."},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p><\/p>\n<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>December 30th 2018 O.A.<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<div class=\"youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VOlLJCOnXKs\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>Hollywood Christmas Parade<\/h2>\n<p>Sunday, November 25th was the Hollywood Christmas Parade and the LA Nebuta participated.<br \/>\nThe Hollywood Christmas Parade is popular since many celebrities and characters appear at the event.<br \/>\nThis is their 87th year.<\/p>\n<p>This year is the 4th year for the LA Nebuta to participate.<br \/>\nAlong with local 120 members of the \u201cLA Nebuta Bayashi Hozonkai\u201d, 50 people from Japan participated as well.<\/p>\n<p>A party happened the day before at the Aomori Kenjin Kaikan in Little Tokyo and strengthen the bond of the members.<\/p>\n<p>More and more people come and participate from Japan, and students from Aomori came this year.<\/p>\n<p>TV host, Nancy O\u2019Dell started the parade as the grand marshall.<br \/>\nFollowed by marching bands and character balloons entertaining the people.<\/p>\n<p>And comes the Nebuta.<br \/>\nThe musical \u201cOhayashi\u201d group from Japan and the Hanetos liven up the parade.<\/p>\n<p>This year, the nebuta is \u201cKintoki\u201d that the LA Nebuta Hozonkai and Nebuta builder from Aomori created together.<\/p>\n<p>The group walked the 3.2 mile road with a powerful performance as 100 thousand people cheered for them at the center of Hollywood.<br \/>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>LA Auto Show<\/h2>\n<p>This year is coming to an end.<br \/>\nLet\u2019s take a look at the 2019 model cars from the LA Auto Show that happened at the LA Convention Center from December 9th.<br \/>\nFirst up is the 2019 Toyota Prius.<\/p>\n<p>Also, the four-wheel drive system has been added for the first time for the Prius sold in the US.<br \/>\nThe fuel efficiency is 52 gallon\/mile when set at the city mode and became one of the best 4WD cars with good mileage.<br \/>\nThe cargo space also expands when the backseat is laid flat.<br \/>\nThe SUV market is exploding however, this model answers the need of the 4WD sedan market.<\/p>\n<p>And another car calling attention is the 2020 model of Toyota Corolla.<br \/>\nIt is the first hybrid model sold in the US.<br \/>\nThe fuel efficiency is 50 gallon\/mile with a 1.8 liter engine.<br \/>\nIt comes with Toyota Safety Sense where the integrated radar scans objects and people, preventing collisions.<br \/>\nThe entertainment system is also upgraded.<\/p>\n<p>The Prius will be available from January, 2019 and the Hybrid Corolla will be on the market from Spring 2019.<\/p>\n<p>This is Mazda, they are currently constructing a new factory along with Toyota in Alabama.<br \/>\nMazda\u2019s newest and fully changed Mazda3 known as AXELA in Japan made its world debut at this event.<br \/>\nWhile focusing on the very basics of running, turning and stopping, Mazda is also perfecting their very own SKYACTIVE technology that allows excellent performance and safety at the same time.<br \/>\nThe Mazda3 is built with the next generation gas engine, \u201cSKYACTIVE-X\u201d that has the compression-ignition of diesel engines.<br \/>\nWith the design concept of Japanese \u201cKodo (Spirit Motion)\u201d, the body has a smooth line and a strong presence as it reflects lights and shadows.<br \/>\nThe newest \u201cMazda3\u201d will be available Spring 2019.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>The Emperor\u2019s Birthday Celebration<\/h2>\n<p>The Emperor\u2019s 83rd birthday was on December 23rd, and his majesty\u2019s birthday celebration was held at the official residence of the Consulate General of Japan in LA on December 11th.<br \/>\nReceptions are held throughout the world celebrating the Emperor\u2019s birthday. Since December 23rd is Christmas season, it always happened earlier in LA.<br \/>\nConsul General Chiba made a speech at the ceremony and reflected on LA\u2019s Japanese American community.<\/p>\n<p>Congressman, Al Muratsuchi and guests also stated their joy.<br \/>\nAnd an appreciation letter celebrating the friendship of two countries was handed from the government representative to the consul general. Later, George Takei made the toast.<\/p>\n<p>480 guests of Japanese organization representatives, city and government officials enjoyed Japanese cuisines and sake served at the reception. They also socialized as they enjoyed the tea ceremony demonstration held outdoors.<br \/>\nEveryone celebrated the Emperor\u2019s last birthday of the Heisei Era as his majesty will abdicate the throne as of April 30th, 2019.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>2019 Economic Outlook<\/h2>\n<p>Wednesday, December 12th was the Bank of the West 2019 Economic Outlook announcement held at San Gabriel.<\/p>\n<p>Bank of the West is a bank affiliated with the major banking group, BNP Paribas that has its HQ in San Francisco.<br \/>\nAsia business HQ, Pacific Rim annually holds an economic outlook for the upcoming year.<\/p>\n<p>Chief Economist, Scott Anderson stated \u201cEconomic growth of the Asia-Pacific region will continue in 2019 however, it shall slow down as the economy will deteriorate globally.\u201d<br \/>\nAnd \u201cThe US Federal Reserve Board may raise their interest rate twice however, it shall stop there due to the condition of the global economy.<\/p>\n<p>Head of the Pacific Rim Banking Division, Yukinori Nishio stated \u201cIt is important for companies expanding their business opportunities overseas to understand cultural differences and must work hard so problematic issues will not rise.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] December 30th 2018 O.A. [\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text] [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text] Hollywood Christmas Parade Sunday, November 25th was the Hollywood Christmas Parade and the LA Nebuta participated. The Hollywood Christmas Parade is popular since many celebrities and characters appear at the event. This is their 87th year. This year is the 4th year for the LA Nebuta to <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/socaljapan\/2018-12-30\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":16998,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"socaljapan_category":[212],"socaljapan_tag":[],"class_list":["post-16994","socaljapan","type-socaljapan","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","socaljapan_category-2018-12-december"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/socaljapan\/16994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/socaljapan"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/socaljapan"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16994"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/socaljapan\/16994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21827,"href":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/socaljapan\/16994\/revisions\/21827"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"socaljapan_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/socaljapan_category?post=16994"},{"taxonomy":"socaljapan_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/socaljapan_tag?post=16994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}