ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS January - February

M/M Stanley Chow $125

M/M Chiemi Yukimasa $1,000

(life membership) Isamu Murakami $200 (in memory of Masako’s 8th Anniversary)

Jim & Harriet Noe $65

P. Gin $50

Lynn Hori $40

Glenn Yata $200

M/M Sho Kitayama $40

M/M John Ciranna $40

M/M Ben San Miguel $20

M/M Richard Sakoda $50

M/M Kenny Yukimasa $100

M/M Yuso Kurihara $95

M/M Haruto Miyataki $20

Whittier Landscape Gardeners Assn $100

Thank you for your kind generosity and continuing support..

友

達

Southeast

Carnival is just around the corner (July 25th and 26th). For those who would like to

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Tomodachi

P R E S I D E N T ’ S M E S S A G E

Volume 19, Issue 2 March 2014 Newslet ter

Southeast Japanese School & Community Center 14615 S. Gridley Rd. Norwalk CA 90650 Website: www.sejscc.org 562-863-5996

Hi Everyone! Japanese School held their annual New Year’s party on January 25. This year’s event was a potluck and there was a lot of delicious food to choose from. The Japanese School students entertained their family, friends, and special guests with singing and dancing. They are a talented group. A raffle was held at the end of the evening and everyone took a gift home. The theme for the Appreciation Dinner this year will be “Island Style”. Preparing the Ono dishes will start on Saturday afternoon. The menu will be Kalua Pork, Potato Mac Salad, Miso Green Beans, Chinese Chicken salad, Island Style Chicken, Kalbi (Short Ribs), Rice, Inari, Hapia and Desserts. The dinner will be held on April 13th Sunday so please join us in the festivities and our honorees. March is upon us and it’s time for the center clean up. The date is set for Sunday March 23 from 9am to 12pm. We need several volunteers from each group to help out in this effort. We will be cleaning the walls, washing the windows, and gardening. Don’t forget to bring your gloves, and rakes! No activities will be schedule during the cleanup hours. The center belongs to all of us, so please come on out and help. Refresh-ments will be served to all the volunteers. Thank you for your support. Thank you to everyone for your continued support throughout the years. I look forward to seeing you all in our upcoming events.

Richard Shinomoto IN THIS ISSUE

President’s Message p. 1 Japanese School p. 2 Hikari Taiko p. 3 Norwalk Youth Sports p. 3 Norwalk Dance Club p. 4 Norwalk Kendo p. 5 Nikkei Seniors p. 6 Calendar p. 7 Norwalk Judo p. 7

Recognition Awards Dinner April 13, 2014 4:30 PM

Outstanding Service Awardees for 2014

“Johnson” Long Sensei, Judo Kirk Iwami, NYS

Special Recognition to NYS team Blue Angels Plus High School Scholarship Awardees

Tickets are available through Club reps or Call (562) 863-5996

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Students from all classes participated in the school-wide nengajo contest. Please view their work on the bulletin boards in the hallway. The theme for this year is the year of the Horse. Every student voted for the best one in each age divi-sion. Winners were awarded prizes at the New Year Party. (see photo) The families enjoyed the New Year party with entertainment by the students who sang and danced. This year there was a con-test for the best rice dish and the best noodle dish. Everyone voted and the winners were Chiyako Ishibashi and Akiko Sanruk. On February 1st, Japanese School students observed Setsubun by eating the number of beans equal to their age for good luck. The students learned about the tradition of getting rid of bad luck by throwing roasted soy bean and bringing good fortune into their homes.

J A PA N E S E S C H O O L On February 15th all teachers attended a workshop at our school. We were very fortunate to in-vite two nationally well known teachers to present an all day workshop. Mr. Yo Azama from North Salinas High School was awarded “Teacher of the Year” from the American Council of Teaching of Foreign Language. Mr. Azama has served on various committees including the AP Development Committee. Currently, he is teaching Japanese 1, 2, 3 and AP Japanese. Dr. Yoshiko Saito Abbot is Chair of the School of World Languages and Cultures. She has been actively involved in Professional Development activities regionally and nationally. Her area of expertise is in Professional development of for-eign language teachers. She has served on many re-gional and national committees and boards. The theme was “Effective Instructional Approaches to teach Japa-nese in the target language and reading strategies.” 95 teachers spent the entire day learning new activities and techniques using only Japanese during the lesson. We had wonderful feedback from all teachers.

Winners of the rice and noodle contest

Winners of the Nengajo Contest

Teachers Workshop

New Year Party

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Mary Jane Mayeda

This summer Hikari Taiko will have a 5 week children’s workshop. June 22nd to July 20th Sun-days at 1:30 pm for 1 hr. They must be age 9 thru 12. Class is limited so if you are interested please call or email Mary Jane. 562-924-1454 or mjm-hikari@aol.com We will perform for the cultural festival on Saturday, July 26th around 5:00 pm. Hikari performed for a wedding held at the Muckenthaler Center in Fullerton. We also per-formed for the Chinese new year event in Alham-bra.

Reminder... April 5 Will be “Family Fun Nite” Children are welcome to play free for prizes! (RSVP by March 19th) Host: NYS Serving Penne di Pesto with Chicken,

Mostaccioli with Marinara Sauce, salad, rolls, pie.

BINGO 6:30 pm May 3 Host: Dance Club serving Chicken wings, mac salad and rice

Dinner served at 6 pm First Saturday Of the month

Come join us!

H I K A R I T A I K O

N O R W A L K Y O U T H S P O R T S

Hot Shots 8th Grade girls ended their Winter sea-son 9-0. They are starting Spring season playing in Sr Upper Bronze Division.

By Kandi Kawakami

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Connie Ciranna

Norwalk January Winter Social Dance 2014 Even though it hasn’t felt like winter yet, the danc-ing goes on, whether hot or cold, for the 69 guests from Gardena, Langley, NDC, & friends. Thanks to our chairperson, Helen Hikiji, we en-joyed some “Char Siu Bau” since the Chinese New Year is celebrated at the end of January. Helen pro-vided us with a tossed green salad & Harriet Yamada & Jean Ikemoto made the green jello salad. Thanks to the kitchen helpers, Helen, George, Jean I., & Aileen Muraki. After the delicious snack, Edna Kurihara led the dancers in two line dances, “Little Sheba” & “Circle Waltz”. Our DJ, Yuso, played a great variety of songs to start out our New Year with dancing.

N O R W A L K D A N C E C L U B

February International Dance Social

We thank our dance hostess & host, Harriet Yama-da & Jim Noe, for providing all 82 guests with a deli-cious snack of Italian meatballs, Mardi Gras Coleslaw, a Hawaiian Roll, & a couple slices of sweet oranges. We also thank Helen H. & Aileen Muraki for helping out in filling the plates for all the guests from Gardena, Langley, NDC, & friends. With all that good food, it was good to see so many dancers on the floor doing two Line dances led by Edna K., the “Original Cucaracha” & the “Sophisticated Swing”. It was also nice to see so many participating in the Mixer with our DJ, Yuso K. providing the music. Please keep the date March 22, for NDC’s “Spring Fling”.

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Southeast Japanese School & Community Center Activities List If you are interested in any of the activities at the Center, please contact the person listed below

Southeast Gakuen: Kimie Matsumoto 562 863-5996 Hikari Taiko: Mary Jane Mayeda 562 924.1454 Ikebana (Flower Arrgmt): Ogawa Sensei 714 893.1245 Norwalk Nikkei Seniors: Toby Fusato 562 .860.7368 Japanese Classical Dance: Akemi Jensen 562 691.2764 Guitar Class: Yuji Hata 562 695.1908 Norwalk Youth Sports: Rich Tamaki rytamaki@yahoo.com Na Wahine ‘O Kawena: Karen Toyoshiba 562 863-5996 Judo: Bill Matsubara 562 483 9374 Hawaiian Karaoke Club: Stan Shimomura 562-865-9672 Kendo: Jean Kodama Sensei email: norwalkkendo@gmail.com Ukulele Class: Kamaki Keawe 714-928-7157 Karate: Brock Nishimura 714 826.9128 Norwalk Dance Club: Edna Kur ihara 714 847.1173

N O R W A L K K E N D O D O J O

The Kubota Memorial Kendo Tournament was held Jan-uary 26th in Torrance. Congratulations to Yoon Courtney for winning 3rd place in the women’s yudansha division. Amano Shotaro and Yoon Brian each made it to the quarter finals (court finals) in the very difficult 3dan-4dan division, and Chang Jeffrey won his court final match, securing 3rd place in the division. As part of the Kubota taikai opening ceremonies, Tekin Korhan participated in the iaido demonstration, and Nguyen Emil sensei performed kendo kata with Tauchi Satoshi sensei from Costa Mesa Dojo. Henmi sensei also received a lifetime achievement award for his many years of service to both Southern California Kendo Federation and All United States Kendo Federation. We thank him for coming out of retirement to help Emil and Satoshi prepare for their kendo kata embu! The Steveston Kendo Tournament was held February 8th in Steveston, Canada. Congratulations to Yoon Courtney for winning 1st place in the 1dan and below ladies division! Yoon Courtney, Yoon Brian, and Nguyen Emil were also mem-bers of the SCKF senior; unfortunately they lost in the court final against Chinook Dojo, which took 1st place.

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The All United States Kendo Championships will be held in San Diego at the end of June. We have been host-ing Team SCKF practices at Norwalk Dojo. At the Febru-ary practice they announced Team SCKF members. Three kenshi from Norwalk Dojo made the team: Yoon Courtney (junior youth girls), Chang Jeffrey (men’s), and Kodama Jean (women’s). Good luck everyone! Also in February, we hosted a practice with Ohori High School students from Fukuoka, Japan. They were part of the team which won last year’s Gyokuryuki High School Championships this past summer, placing first out of 574 schools. There was a tremendous turn out at the practice, and it was a great experience for everyone. Norwalk Kendo Dojo practices Mondays from 7:00 to 8:30 pm and Fridays from 7:30 to 10:00 pm. We also practice iaido from 9 to 10:30 pm on Mondays. New members are welcome; beginners are accepted at the start of each odd month. Please see our website at http://www.eanet.com/norwalk for infor-mation about Norwalk Kendo Dojo, including upcoming and past events as well as how to join, or send email to norwalkken-do@gmail.com.

Norwalk Kendo Dojo hosted godo geiko with Ohori High School Team Champions (photo by Dennis Ralutin)

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The Nikkei Seniors welcomed the New Year, 2014 with a catered luncheon celebration. Sue Nagamine and Toby Fusato co-chaired the festive event. Caterer, Eric & Diane Kela severed a deli-cious Hawaiian-style menu and The Aala Park Sere-naders, under the leadership of Bette Kurihara and John Yanagihara provided the live entertainment of American, Japanese and Hawaiian songs along with hula dancers Sue Nagamine, Betty Oshiro, and Toby Fusato, all members of the Nikkei Seniors. As a spe-cial treat, John Yanagihara, Calvin Kunimoto and Ken Matsuno also danced the hula and an impromptu finale hula by Caterer Eric Kela. The Nikkei Seniors were honored to have the Long Beach - Las Vegas Group join us in this celebration. There are many activities that the Seniors will be doing this year so anyone interested in joining our club, please contact Toby Fusato.

N I K K E I S E N I O R S Toby Fusato

S E J S C C B O A R D M E M B E R S

If you wish to contact any of the board members, please call the Center and leave a message. Jim Niiro Calvin Chang

Lynn Chang

Linda Kusuda

Kimie Matsumoto

Fred Matsumoto

Mas Onoda

Richard Shinomoto

Tosh Teramoto

Bob Yamada

Carrie Nakatani

Ted Yoshimura “Tomodachi”, 14615 Gridley Rd., Norwalk CA 90650. Tel: 562-863-5996. Published 6 times annually by the Southeast Japanese School and Community Center. A no charge newsletter informing all participants of activities on a one per household basis. Bulk Mail Postage Paid at Norwalk, CA. Editor: SEJSCC Staff; Advertising & Mailing: SEJSCC Staff, Mas Onoda, Gakuen PTA and Norwalk Nikkei Seniors.

CALENDAR

By June Uyekawa N O R W A L K J U D O D O J O

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Advisory Committee Mtg-1st Wed Monthly 7pm Center Bd Mtg-2nd Wed Monthly 7 pm

Mar 1 Nerio Scholarship Application Due 1 Monthly Bingo 6:30 pm 15 NYS Jr Banquet 6:00 pm 23 Center Clean up 9:00 am Apr 5 Monthly Bingo 6:30 pm 13 Recognition Dinner 5:00 pm 26 Monthly Ballroom Dancing 6:00 pm May 3 Monthly Bingo 6:30 pm 17 Gakuen Speech Program 5:00 pm

Our official 2014 newsletter starts off with the 85th Annual San Fernando Kohaku Judo Tournament on January 26th. We were well represent-ed with 10 competitors, with 6 of them coming home with trophies. A big woot woot to the following:

Juliana Lemus 1st place

(and only 7 years old !)

Ariana Lemus 3rd place

Weston Uyekawa

Kyle Morishima 1st place

Conor Uyekawa

Joshua Chen 3rd place

Kay Sugahara 2nd place

Joshua Nam 1st place

Billy Matsubara

Albert Lee

On February 1st, Norwalk Judo Dojo had the pleasure of hosting the Nanka Senior/Masters Practice led by Tokuza Takahashi from Tenri Judo Dojo. Please look out for announcements for other practices as well as Nanka Junior Practices.

February 23rd is the next tournament with West Covina Judo hosting in La Puente. It proves to be another learn-ing experience for all the judo-ka. For continued listings of future tournaments, please go to www.nankajudo.com website. Some notable tournaments this year, the Ryoku Judo Invi-tational Tournament in Las Vegas May 25th and this year’s USJF/USJA Junior and Senior Nationals will be in Honolulu, Hawaii. What a way to spend the 4th of July week-end ! Check out the calendar, come enjoy a Sunday with us at a tournament. I end with a quote from the Judoinfo.com website--- “I thought all the time I was learning how to win; But I real-ize now: To win is no more, no less, than to lose. Judo is the way to the most effective use of both physical and spiritual strength. By training you in attacks and defenses it refines your body and your soul and helps you make the spiritual essence of Judo a part of your very being. In this way you are able to perfect yourself and contribute some-thing of value to the world. This is the final goal of Judo…discipline.” Jigoro Kano

Please support Japanese School

Purchase Marukai Gift Certificates

Available in $10 denominations

Ask any Board member Also available at the Monthly Bingo

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David B. Akiyoshi, D.D.S. Family Dentistry

1133 W. Gardena Blvd. Gardena, California 90247 Senior Discounts (310) 327-7165 Sat. & Eve. Appts.

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Norwalk CA 90650

Southeast Japanese School & Community Center

“Tomodachi” A Bimonthly Newsletter

March 2014

Norwalk CA 90650

Cerritos Center Office 18616 South Gridley Road

Artesia, CA 90701

Tel. (562) 865-7917

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Maha Rayan Branch Manager Vice President