Japanese — Page 2

Mochitsuki 2012 – Year of the Dragon (29-January-2012)

January 22, 2012 by Dave Leave a Comment

The 16th annual Mochitsuki community fair, Portland’s annual Japanese New Year Celebration, takes place Sunday, January 29, 2012 at Scottish Rite Center (1512 SW Morrison) from 11am to 4pm.

I attended last year’s festival and enjoyed it immensely – especially the sake samples and food! Last year there was separate ticketing for some of the stage performances, but they’ve streamlined things this year with general admission ticketing that lets you enjoy both the fair and the stage shows.

At the food court buy delicious food prepared by Chef Naoko, Ka Pa Hula Makani Kolonahe, Shigezo Japanese Restaurant, and more.

SakeONE will be offering sake samples, and will have bottles for sale. Daigo Sensei will be demonstrating calligraphy, Ikebana International will help you create beautiful New Years flower arrangements. See demonstrations by Obukan Kendo, and play a Taiko video game with Portland Taiko.

Visit the Mochitsuki website for a full list of food and activities and stage performances.

Tickets at the event are $12 for adults, $9 for seniors and students with ID, and $5 for children ages 2-12. Buy tickets in advance online or at several locations around town and save a couple dollars off the ticket prices.

Weekend Amusements (January 13-16, 2012)

January 12, 2012 by Dave Leave a Comment

Don’t let the mid-January doldrums get to you, there are plenty of fun things to do this weekend, and Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Don’t miss PFM’s winter market on Saturday, and please peruse the lovingly curated list of events and activities below!

Friday

Where to Watch Portlandia In Portland

Updated for 2012: season 2!
Don’t have a TV? Don’t have the Independent Film Channel? Watch Portlandia, if you’re into that sort of thing, at the Portland venues listed below.
Portlandia season 2 airs of Fridays, beginning on January 6, 2012. [more]

Saturday-Monday

Fee Free Days at Fort Vancouver

In celebration of Martin Luther King Junior Day (Monday, January 16), admission is free to all National Parks from Saturday, January 14 through Monday, January 16.

This includes Fort Vancouver! [more]

Saturday

J.R.R. Tolkien Birthday Bash

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien‘s birthday is actually January 3rd, but the McMenamins’ 2012 J.R.R. Tolkien Birthday Celebration takes place this Saturday, January 14 at the Kennedy School (5736 NE 33rd).

“Elves, wizards, ents, orcs and all others are welcome to join us for this celebration of one of the 20th century’s most influential authors.” [more]

107ist Annual General Meeting

We are pleased to announce that we have finalized the date and location for our Annual General Membership Meeting.

The meeting will be open to current members of all ages. In addition, you are invited to bring one guest to the meeting who does not need to be a 107ist member.

Important: Because space is limited, both Members and guests must RSVP for the meeting & movie [more]

Sunday

Free Museum Family Day Celebrating Japanese Prints

Join this lively celebration of Japanese printmaking on Free Museum Family Day. Make woodblock prints, create mini-ikebana flower arrangements and transform into fantastical Kabuki characters. Don’t miss this day of traditional and contemporary Japanese visual art, music, dance, and theater. [more]

Buckman-Kerns Brewfest 2012

The second annual Buckman-Kerns Brewfest returns Sunday, January 15, 2012 to The East Burn (1800 E. Burnside), from noon until 8pm.

The neighborhood breweries taking part in this rare January brewfest include Buckman Village Brewery, Burnside Brewing Co., and more! [more]

Monday

Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?'”

Each year, Americans across the country answer that question by coming together on the King Holiday to serve their neighbors and communities.

The MLK Day of Service is a part of United We Serve, the President’s national call to service initiative. It calls for Americans from all walks of life to work together to provide solutions to our most pressing national problems. [more]

And for even more weekend events and activities, check out the Dave Knows Calendar, and visit Around the Sun, Blogging Portland on the Cheap, PDX Pipeline, and Oregon Events at OregonLive.com.

“The Streets of Chinatown” Comic Release (12-January-2012)

January 9, 2012 by Dave Leave a Comment

The Dill Pickle Club, Portland’s creative cultural club, presents the release of DPC Oregon History Comics vol. 5: The Streets of Chinatown this Thursday, January 12, 2012.

Author and journalist Sarah Mirk will lead a discussion on the history and changes to the Chinatown community and will be joined by two important community leaders: Henry Sakamoto, one of the founders of the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Endowment and Mary Leong, neighborhood historian.

The presentation takes place at the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center (121 NW 2nd) from 5pm to 7pm. A public reception and light refreshment will follow. Guests can also view the permanent exhibit “Oregon Nikkei: Reflections of an American Community” at the center.

Visit the Dill Pickle Club website for more details on this event, including an interview with Harry Lau, the artist and illustrator of the “The Streets of Chinatown” comic.

August 3, 1990: Japanese American Historical Plaza Dedicated

August 3, 2011 by Dave Leave a Comment

Portland’s Japanese American Historical Plaza was dedicated on August 3, 1990. More than a thousand people attended the dedication, including many Japanese-Americans with family who were interned during World War II (The Oregonian, 4-August-1990).

The simple curved plaza of walkways of squared-off stepping stones and a long leaning wall of Northwest Cascades mountain basalt sits north of Burnside at Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

Landscape architect Robert Murase, who at age 4 was interned with his family, worked for a quarter century to establish the monument. Finally, with the help of Portland real estate magnate Bill Naito and others who donated money for and worked on the project, the Japanese-American Historical Plaza was dedicated.

Randy Gragg described the project in The Oregonian on August 5, 1990:

The effort was clearly worth the trouble. Besides being the first memorial to Japanese internment in the country, the plaza has all the markings of becoming Portland’s most nationally important and enduring monument.

If memorials are created in part to heal, few things can serve the purpose better than to erect a monument to the mistake that caused the ill. Maya Lin proved this with her design for the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Breaking the tradition of figurative sculptures memorializing war heroes and battles, she instead gave the country an experience to have. Visiting her memorial leaves you with an impression — a deep, unforgettable feeling — rather than an easy image.

Murase has attempted something similar. The Willamette River allowed him to base his plaza on the oldest traditions of Japanese garden design in which a creek or river is always located to the east. And, being north of Burnside Street, the plaza is across the street from what was a bustling Japanese community before internment effectively erased it.

Murase has fused these features. The plaza will function as a public gathering spot, a pleasant path to stroll, a history lesson and a memory of a community that once was.

Four months after Pearl Harbor, more than 100,000 people, guilty of nothing except being of Japanese descent, were rounded up on the West Coast. They were jailed without probable cause, much less charges or trials. In 1988 Congress passed legislation apologizing on behalf of the government. Eventually $1.6 billion in reparations were paid to internees and their heirs.

Photo credit: faces (japanese american historical plaza) by brx0 on flickr, used under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.

Obonfest (6-August-2011)

August 2, 2011 by Dave Leave a Comment

Honor your ancestors at the 2011 Obonfest on Saturday, August 6 from 3pm until 9pm.

Sponsored by and held at the Oregon Buddhist Temple (3720 SE 34th, at Powell Blvd), Obonfest features:

Food items: yakisoba, yakiniku, yakitori, shave ice, manju, chirashi sushi, beer garden, soft drinks, Spam musubi

Program: Tanuki Taiko, Portland Taiko, Martial Arts Demonstration, Temple Talks, Bon Odori (public dance)

Vendors: Michiko Selby (Oshie art using chiyogami paper), Miwa McCree (massage), Kaori Oya (Shiatsu massage), Hiroshi Ogawa (Japanese Pottery), Margie Yap from Sweet Persimmon (handmade purses and meditation products), Karen Fullerton (notecards and art), Kinokuniya Bookstore (Japanese books, music, misc items)

Others: Omiyage shop, T-shirt sale, children’s corner, raffle

Yup, a beer garden and spam musubi!

Visit the event web page for more details, including the schedule. Obonfest takes place at the Oregon Buddhist Temple (3720 SE 34th – at Powell).

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