An example of a display area at JCCCW. Photo by Nat S.
It has been 70 years since the signing of Executive Order 9066
which led to the mass roundup, removal, and incarceration without due process
of over 110,000 Japanese Americans. This period in U.S. history is a stunning
reminder of the fragility of our civil rights.
On 16.June.2012, the Northwest Nikkei Museum, which is at
the recently renovated Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington (JCCCW),
officially opened a new exhibit, Art
Behind Barbed Wire:A Pacific
Northwest Exploration of Japanese American Arts and Crafts Created in World War
II Incarceration Camps.
Please
see JCCCW for more information about this exhibit and the
cultural center itself as a valuable local resource.Hours are Monday through Friday, from 10am to 4pm, and by
appointment on Saturdays.Guided
tours for individuals or groups will also be available upon request.
The JCCCW, which is comprised of three structures, is an
historical site itself, having served as transitional housing for Japanese-American
families returning home from their incarcerations after WWII.
The Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington, 1414 S. Weller St Seattle, (206) 568-7114. Photo by Nat S.
Whether or not you’ve already visited the Bainbridge Island
Historical Museum or the Japanese American Exclusion Memorial on Bainbridge
Island, a visit to the JCCCW and its current exhibit is highly recommended.
Items on display were largely made using objects—scrap wood,
pebbles, even tiny lakebed shells-- found around the bleak camps.The range of items on
display is wide:e.g., inlaid furniture,
paintings, ink drawings, paper ephemera, pebble vases, various sizes and types
of carved wood objects.
Approach to Minidoka”, watercolor by Masao “Mike” Kawaguchi. Photo by Nat. S
Some works were done by trained artists, such
as Masao Mike Kawaguchi.Mr.
Kawaguchi worked for Disney before and after the war, and for Hanna
Barbera.During WWII he served
in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in Italy, France and Germany;
and for military intelligence in Guam and Iwo Jima. He painted scenes of everyday life in the incarceration
camps when he was on furlough to visit his family imprisoned at Minidoka, Idaho
and Heart Mountain, Wyoming.What irony.
“Chow Line” by Masao “Mike” Kawaguchi. Photo by Nat S.
All items in the exhibit attest to an astonishing strength, creativity
and perseverance of Japanese Americans forced from their homes, land and
livelihoods to live under adverse conditions in incarceration camps.
Carved bird pin by Hanzo Shimokawa. Photo by Nat S.
On a personal note:my husband’s grandfather, who’d been a resident of Hawaii, was
imprisoned at incarceration camps run by the Department of Justice on the U.S.
mainland.One of the pins
carved by Grandfather in the camp is included in the exhibit.Grandfather’s only son served in the 442nd during
WWII.
This flyer came with email from Rachel, who is the events coordinator at SJG - everyone is invited to attend in support of the Garden:
Come to a summer evening party in the Japanese Garden and enjoy taiko drums, shakuhachi flute, wandering geisha, sushi and salmon, wines and sake. This year’s party includes an opportunity to bid on round-trip business tickets to Tokyo, sculpture by Gerard Tsutakawa, original Mariners package, an evening at Nishino’s, and more.
aleks: Children's day is a national holiday in Japan, celebrated on
May 5th each year. How the Japanese children celebrate the day? In SJG
they get to learn origami, zen gardening, play-dressing up in kimonos and
yukatas, watch Japanese puppetry and taiko drummers - all 'educational'
fun. Is it the same in Japan or different? Do children play games we should
learn about and maybe teach here, too?
Keiko:In modern
day Japan, the parents are expected to take children out to places, such as
Tokyo Disneyland, local zoo or a park to have fun together. In many cases,
fathers are often very busy for their long working hours and long commute. This
day is a good reminder that children need to have fun with their parents.
SJG Children's Day • 5/28/12 - fun with Koi feeding
a: How about food? Is there a type of food associated with Children's
Day? Here it would probably be ice cream. Are there some treats that
Japanese children especially love and expect that day?
There seem to be different kinds of chimaki all over Asia.
But chimaki for me is Japanese glutinous rice cooked in wrappings of bamboo
shoots skin (or bamboo leaves.) I have read that its origin is portable food
for soldiers over a thousand years ago. Chimaki could have been eaten for days
(weeks?) after it had been prepared. I think the story is believable because
the chimaki is traditionally cooked in lye (yes, you've read it right), which
is caustic solution made by leaching wood ash (aku= 灰汁) capable of killing bacteria.
In Kagoshima prefecture from where my parents are, chimaki
is called akumaki. (Maki means roll.) I think akumaki is close to its original
form because of Kagoshima's long distance from central area of Japan; Kagoshima
preserved many kinds of old fashioned food and customs. Once a year, our
relatives in Kagoshima sent us a package of akumaki wrapped in bamboo shoots
skin. The glutinous rice had a unique flavor from aku but had no other ingredient.
It was not even sweet on its own. While it could be eaten cold, my mother
sometimes steamed them and we ate the cut sticky pieces with soybean
flour (kinako 黄粉)
mixed
with sugar. It was a treat.
Speaking of chimaki, here is an old Japanese children's
song, "Seikurabe = Comparing Height," in which a child thinking of his
big brother marking his height on the pillar while eating chimaki:
"The mark on the pillar was from two years ago.
My big
brother marked it for me while eating chimaki on May 5th.
Yesterday, I
compare my current height with the mark
and
found out that I grew only by the length of haori strings."
I had no idea what "the length of haori (Japanese
style jacket) strings" meant since haori was not my everyday attire. The
song is from the1920s when Japanese style clothing was still common in everyday
life. (For your information, the length of haori strings is 10 cm or so
= 3.5 inches.) The second verse describes the hills and mountains
comparing their heights and concludes at the end that Mt. Fuji is number
one even without its cap of snow.
Every time we had chimaki, my mother sang this song
thinking of her own big brother who had passed away young. Up until 1990's, all
the Japanese children learned this song at elementary school. I bet all of your
fellow guides from Japan know this song!
Kashiwamochi is a rice cake with sweet red
bean paste wrapped in oak leaf. At this time of the year, you can purchase
this special treat at your local Japanese grocery store (Hint: starting with U)
in Seattle and Bellevue or from your local Japanese sweets makers.
SJG Children's Day • 5/28/12 - Japanese puppets
a: Are they any Japanese words associated with the celebrations you
can think of that we could learn?
K: How about “Kodomo 子ども(children)
noの (of) hi 日(day)”?
a: I read on Kids Web Japan about children's kyogen recital
in Yokohama one year - is children's theater common as Kodomo no hi
entertainment and have you seen any such performances?
K: Wow. I
have never heard of children's kyogen. It must have been very unique
experiment. The ideas of children’s theaters are novel in Japan.
SJG Children's Day • 5/28/12 - Origami station
a: Can you share your memories of Kodomo no hi?
K: The Children's Day has been
always a part of "the Golden Week" when many of us can relax and do
what we want to do instead of going to school or work.
a: So, there is no school on Kodomo no hi? Or does
Kodomo no hi simply falls on the Golden Week? I googled GW and am no wiser -
seems to me that it is a string of holidays commonly used for family
vacation - or that is how I understand this wiki entry. Can you enlighten us?
K: You are
right. GW is a string of holidays for family vacation. It is a big deal for
Japanese families since it is not so easy to take vacation from work for many
Japanese workers. Depending on how you and your company manage your work days,
it can be a vacation of whole week or more.
Also, the Japanese school year begins in April and many
of us are under a lot of stress by the end of the month. Adjusting in the new
environment is a lot of work. I think that GW is a nice break from it.
a: In most places I lived the end of April and beginning
of May would be simply too cold to go for vacation, people wait for warmth of
July and August; is Japan different that way? Is the weather good at that
time?
K: Beginning
of May is a beautiful season. It is before the infamous rainy season starts. I
believe that for most people in Japan, May is associated with flesh greens and
flowers everywhere.
Happy
KODOMO NO HI to all who managed to remain KIDS
in
their hearts from Keiko and aleks : )
SJG Children's Day • 5/28/12 - Kimono Room (in TCR) - - one has to dress properly for strolling the Garden
! Reminder for docents: Continuing Education
Meeting next Thursday, June 14th at 10:00. The speaker will be Carolyn Staley of Carolyn Staley
Prints, and her subject will be "Japanese Seasons and Gardens in Antique
Prints and Books."
