{"id":20642,"date":"2023-12-24T20:00:29","date_gmt":"2023-12-25T04:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/?post_type=socaljapan&#038;p=20642"},"modified":"2023-12-23T16:43:06","modified_gmt":"2023-12-24T00:43:06","slug":"2023-12-24","status":"publish","type":"socaljapan","link":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/socaljapan\/2023-12-24\/","title":{"rendered":"December 24th 2023 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;\"> December 24th 2023 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\/jofp4SHafVU\" 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 width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>Sadao S. Munemori Memorial Square<\/h2>\n<p>Saturday, December 9th was the unveiling ceremony of the Sadao S Munemori Memorial Square located in front of Glendale City Hall.<\/p>\n<p>This is a project by the Glendale City Council to commemorate fallen soldiers.<br \/>\nThe intersection in front of the Veteran\u2019s Memorial has been designated as Sadao S. Munemori Memorial Square.<\/p>\n<p>Glendale is Sadao Munemori\u2019s hometown. He was a Nisei who served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team for the European Theater of Operations during WWII.<br \/>\nFor sacrificing himself to save comrades in Italy, he became the first Japanese American to be awarded the highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor.<\/p>\n<p>Glendale mayor, the director of Go For Broke National Education Center, Consul General of Japan LA, and a relative of Sadao Munemori, James Nakakihara attended the ceremony.<\/p>\n<p>A reception was held inside the city hall, and related individuals celebrated Sadao Munemori\u2019s service for the country.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>Minister of Foreign Affairs Commendation 2023<\/h2>\n<p>Earlier in August of this year, Toshio Ueno was commended by Japan\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for his career-long devotion in promoting Japanese cuisine and Sake in the US.<br \/>\nDecember 6th was the presentation ceremony at the official residence of Consul General of Japan LA.<\/p>\n<p>Every year, Japan\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs honor those who contributed towards international friendship and goodwill of Japan and the US.<\/p>\n<p>Ueno joined MTC, Mutual Trading that specializes in importing\/distributing Japanese food.<br \/>\nHe was involved in the establishment of the Sake School of America by MTC, which focuses on Japanese alcoholic beverages, primarily sake. Currently, he serves as the school&#8217;s Executive Instructor.<\/p>\n<p>He has been endorsing Japanese Sake sommelier and Shochu advisor certifications for 12 years.<br \/>\nHe has certified 2700 people.<\/p>\n<p>That is how Ueno was recognized by Japan\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for spreading Japanese culture in the US and was commended.<\/p>\n<p>Ueno wishes to expand his school and enlightenment to Europe and Central America as well.<\/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>Kagura in Los Angeles<\/h2>\n<p>A Kita-Hiroshima kagura performance was held at the Aratani Theater in Little Tokyo on November 19th.<\/p>\n<p>Kagura is an artform that is dedicated to the Gods in the form of songs and dances.<br \/>\nIt is said that kagura started 1300 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>The tradition of kagura can be seen throughout Japan however, Kita-Hiroshima is particularly known for its vibrant Kagura performances, with about 70 kagura groups.<\/p>\n<p>The town of Kita-Hiroshima made this performance possible, and 18 performers from different kagura groups volunteered to perform.<\/p>\n<p>The group performed \u201cMomiji-gari\u201d, where the protagonist fights a demon living deep in the mountains.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYamata-no-Orochi\u201d, a story based on Japanese mythology, was performed at the second half.<\/p>\n<p>Passionate acting, elaborate costumes, a beautiful ladies changing into a demon, and an intense battle with a serpent.<br \/>\nThe stage was filled with lots of exciting elements and captivated the audiences.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<li>Sadao S. Munemori Memorial Square<\/li>\n<li>Minister of Foreign Affairs Commendation 2023<\/li>\n<li>Kagura in Los Angeles<\/li>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":20644,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"socaljapan_category":[319],"socaljapan_tag":[],"class_list":["post-20642","socaljapan","type-socaljapan","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","socaljapan_category-2023-12-december"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/socaljapan\/20642","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=20642"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/socaljapan\/20642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20643,"href":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/socaljapan\/20642\/revisions\/20643"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"socaljapan_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/socaljapan_category?post=20642"},{"taxonomy":"socaljapan_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jhollywoodnet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/socaljapan_tag?post=20642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}