Since 1934, (except during years of Internment) Japanese Americans have made their way to "Little Tokyo" (Lil' Tokyo; J-Town; Japanese Town) in Downtown Los Angeles, in the month of August to give the area businesses support and to enjoy a variety of cultural celebrations. These celebrations include things Japanese, American, and Japanese American. Nisei Week has only expanded over the years to include more and more events that reflect the growing interests of the community; tea ceremonies, ikebana, ondo, a [beauty] pageant, a parade are now flanked by karaoke contests, car shows, anime exhibitions, the off-and-on gyoza-eating contest, hip-hop gatherings, youth-oriented taiko group performances, films, etc.
How do all these events fit within the span of a week? It doesn't. Nisei Week is now FOUR WEEKS LONG, but "Nisei Month" doesn't have the same ring to it. Nor is it organized or geared toward actual Nisei who probably quietly shake their heads at the very inclusion of scantily clad women and even the existence of a car show during Nisei Week.
To me, one of the funniest aspects of the Nisei Week of today--besides the fact that it's actually a month--is the inclusion of other festivals within a festival. Nisei Week, a festival in itself, is also host to: JANM Summer Festival, Plaza Festival, a Film Festival, until recently the Tofu Festival, Nebuta Festival, and the Tanabata Festival.
The nebuta and tanabata are recent adoptions by our community from Japanese festivals in Aomori and Sendai, respectively. I have been to both in Japan and can say our Los Angeles fests are as one would expect, watered down. However, the inclusion of these traditions has been overwhelmingly successful in bringing back a younger generation by giving them something new (to us) and collaborative to work on.
After work and before heading home yesterday, I walked by the Tanabata celebration taking place in the JANM courtyard. It was lovely. Many handmade tanabata kazari hung overhead--each worked on by individuals and community organizations. A taiko group played as people began to gather. A stage was set up and LAPD Deputy Chief Terry Hara was on the mic introducing emcee actress, Tamlyn Tomita--both are very active in the community. I saw a lot of people I know from working in the area for years.
Here are some photos.
More on Flickr.
Tamlyn Tomita waiting for her cue to go onstage.
The purple one in the center has a JANM logo.
That one in the foreground is shaped like a hamburger!
I like the soda cups too.
I like the soda cups too.
That's definitely a Japanese American one.
I ran into a friendly face: Ms. Letsugo, maker of a beautiful kazari.
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