{"id":19684,"date":"2022-08-28T20:00:52","date_gmt":"2022-08-29T03:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/?post_type=socaljapan&#038;p=19684"},"modified":"2022-08-27T03:20:04","modified_gmt":"2022-08-27T10:20:04","slug":"2022-08-28","status":"publish","type":"socaljapan","link":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/socaljapan\/2022-08-28\/","title":{"rendered":"August 28th 2022 O.A."},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p><\/p>\n<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"> August 28th 2022 O.A.<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<div class=\"youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nxT6ZvmLD5o\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>2022 Nisei Week<\/h2>\n<p>The largest Japanese American festival in LA, Nisei Week Japanese Festival was held in Little Tokyo.<br \/>\nThis year marks the 80th time for Nisei Week.<br \/>\nIt was held virtually for the past 2 years due to the coronavirus, so the festival took place in Little Tokyo for the first time in 3 years.<\/p>\n<p>Saturday, August 13th was the Coronation at the Aratani Theatre where this year\u2019s Nisei Queen was chosen.<\/p>\n<p>The Coronation also had audiences for the first time in 3 years.<br \/>\nThe candidates were dressed in their kimonos as the crowd cheered them on in the opening.<\/p>\n<p>There were 7 candidates this year. Emily Shigeko Kumagai from San Fernando Valley Japanese American Community Center.<br \/>\nFaith Sumiko Nishimura from Venice Japanese Community Center &#038; Venice-West Los Angeles JACL.<br \/>\nMaile Tabata Yanguas from the Japanese Restaurant Association of America.<br \/>\nAudrey Emi Nakaoka from Gardena Evening Optimist Club.<br \/>\nLorie Hatsuko Meza from Pasadena Japanese Cultural Institute.<br \/>\nAmanda Akiko Hiraishi from East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center.<br \/>\nAnd Kristine Emiko Yada from Orange County Nikkei Coordinating Council.<\/p>\n<p>The queen is chosen based on their interview with the judges, presentation, and communication skills.<\/p>\n<p>For entertainment, former Earth, Wind and Fire guitarist Sheldon Reynolds played his hit songs and liven up the stage.<\/p>\n<p>The candidates showed up on stage wearing Tadashi Shoji\u2019s gowns for the second half of the Coronation.<\/p>\n<p>After the Q&#038;A session with the host comes the result.<\/p>\n<p>The queen and court will act as the ambassador for the Japanese American community in LA and attend various events as well as be involved in the community.<\/p>\n<p>The following day, 14th was the grand parade.<br \/>\nThe parade started off with the veterans that fought in WWII, Korean, Vietnam, and Gulf War.<br \/>\nThis year\u2019s grand marshal was George Sugimoto who is a veteran and a businessman.<br \/>\nThe parade marshals were figure skaters Maia and Alex Shibutani.<br \/>\nConsul General Akira Muto also participated in the parade as he will be leaving LA for ending his term.<br \/>\nMany people representing cultural activities, local officials, and different businesses participated in the parade.<br \/>\n&#8220;This year\u2019s official parade songs were \u201cKawachi Otokobushi\u201d and \u201cOne Wish.\u201d<br \/>\nThe dance was choreographed and led by \u201cNihon Buyo Azuma\u201d, followed by many different Nihon Buyo schools in LA.&#8221;<br \/>\nIt was a parade that showed how diverse the Japanese culture is in the US, from sports, entertainment, and anime, to Japanese cars.<br \/>\nThe parade ended with the queen and court that were chosen the day before.<\/p>\n<p>Saturday, August 20th was the \u201cPlaza Festival\u201d in front of the JACCC.<\/p>\n<p>Different goods and services, food stands, and a beer garden was made available.<br \/>\nJapanese food demonstration was also done on stage as well.<\/p>\n<p>This year, the staple event \u201cGyoza Eating Contest\u201d was not held, but instead the \u201cGyoza Making Contest\u201d took its place.<\/p>\n<p>The queen and court of last year were split into 3 teams making gyozas.<br \/>\nWithin the time limit, the contestants had to make gyozas with the provided ingredients and neatly plate them.<\/p>\n<p>Only, some of the ingredients were out of the ordinary, like snacks and even tofu!<\/p>\n<p>But thanks to their year-long activity in the Japanese American community, the former queen and court all made unique gyozas full of ideas.<\/p>\n<p>On the final day, Sunday the 21st was the \u201cTaiko Gathering\u201d at the JACCC Plaza, showcasing Japanese taiko groups from across SoCal, which many came to see.<\/p>\n<p>Ondo Public Street Dancing and Closing Ceremony was held at 1st Street. Different Nihon Buyo schools and organizations danced with the public.<br \/>\nFrom a professional to an amateur, young to old, many people gathered around and danced together, making a great finale.<\/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>2022 Nisei Week<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":19688,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"socaljapan_category":[291],"socaljapan_tag":[],"class_list":["post-19684","socaljapan","type-socaljapan","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","socaljapan_category-2022-08-august"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/socaljapan\/19684","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=19684"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/socaljapan\/19684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19687,"href":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/socaljapan\/19684\/revisions\/19687"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"socaljapan_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/socaljapan_category?post=19684"},{"taxonomy":"socaljapan_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/socaljapan_tag?post=19684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}