JAMsj E-News
Japanese American Museum of San Jose
May 2012
In This Issue
Learning from the Past: The Japanese American Experience
Gila River and Mama: The Ruth Mix Story
Sake San Jose
Nothing Left In My Hands
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Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony
JAMsj volunteer and SJSU Online News reporter, Jessica Savage, interviews Military  Intelligence Service (MIS)  veteran, Moffet Ishikawa, during the recent Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony. Click here to watch the video.

 

 


JAMsj Volunteer
Consider becoming a JAMsj volunteer by checking out our volunteer opportunities.or by attending the next docent training workshop.



Learning from the Past: The Japanese American Experience

Sunnyvale Public Library presents California Reads Programs

Learning from the Past:
The Japanese American Experience

Sunnyvale Public Library
665 W. Olive Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94086

 

 

The Sunnyvale Public Library has partnered with JAMsj in presenting a series of programs, "Learning from the Past: The Japanese American Experience."  These programs are designed to promote discussion about democracy and human rights through literature.  

 

Dr Michael Omi   farewell to manzanar   meenakshi mukerji

 

May 14 at 7 p.m. - Dr. Michael Omi, Professor of Asian American Studies at UC Berkeley, will speak about the racial politics leading to the removal of Japanese Americans living on the West Coast to internment camps during WWII.

 

May 23 at 7 p.m. - Book discussion of Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne W. Houston.   

 

May 26 at 2 p.m. - Modular Origami for Teens and Adults workshop presented by Meenakshi Mukerji.

 

June 9 at 2 p.m. - Storyteller Megumi will perform a series of vignettes, "Stories of Strength and Hope," that are focused on personal memories of Japanese American detention camps.  Megumi will also bring Japanese folk tales to life. This event is recommended for ages 8 and up. 

 

June 12 at 7 p.m.- Discussion with Japanese American internment camp survivors,

 

July 11 at 7 p.m. - Film screening of Days of Waiting, followed by a discussion of the film and of the book,  Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford.

megumi   internment poster   hotel on corner of bitter and sweet

days of waiting


For additional information visit the Sunnyvale Public Library's website: www.sunnyvalelibrary.org or call (408) 730-7300.

 

Gila River and Mama: The Ruth Mix Story
Gila River and Mama film

 

Gila River and Mama: The Ruth Mix Story

 

May 20, 2012 

1:00 p.m. 
Japanese American Museum of San Jose
535 N. Fifth Street
San Jose, CA  95112

The Japanese American Museum of San Jose (JAMsj) and Contemporary Asian Theater Scene (CATS) proudly present a free screening of "Gila River and Mama: The Ruth Mix Story" on Sunday, May 20, at 1:00 pm at JAMsj.  This film documents the experience of 15-year old Ruth Mix who volunteered at the Gila River Japanese American internment camp and was the only Caucasian nurse's aide in the camp hospital. Her mother, Frida Mix, worked as an elementary school teacher at the same camp. Both of them lived on the site in a barrack.

 

 

Claire Mix, Ruth's daughter, produced this fascinating documentary to share her mother's experiences in the camp. The story offers a unique perspective from a Caucasian volunteer who witnessed the deplorable living conditions and brutal mentality of a nation.

Following the screening, Claire Mix, producer, and Charles Class, executive producer, will host a question-and-answer session.

 

Due to limited seating, registration is required. To find out if space is still available, please contact either JAMsj or CATS.

   

Contact JAMsj at (408) 294-3138 or send email to aggieidemoto@gmail.com. Contact CATS at (408) 867-4525 or send email to  Atyrequest@aol.com.   

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Sake San Jose

 

Sake San Jose
2012 Sake San Jose

 

Sake San Jose

May 24, 2012

5:30 p.m to 8:30 p.m. 

San Jose Japantown

 

 

Join us for the seventh annual Sake San Jose event on Thursday, May 24, 2012, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Meet up with friends and family as you leisurely walk through historic Japantown San Jose (on Jackson Street, between 3rd and 7th Streets) alive with music. Visit the Japanese American Museum of San Jose, as well as the many shops and businesses to taste an assortment of both domestic and international sakes, all for a great cause.  

 

 

 

Registration opens at 4:30 p.m. with the opening ceremony beginning at 5:00 p.m. 

Proceeds from Sake San Jose will benefit the Yu-Ai Kai Senior Service, a nonprofit senior center in Japantown.  Visit the Sake San Jose website for event registration information. 

 

 

JAMsj Book Club

Nothing Left In My Hands:
The Issei of a Rural California Town 
 
By Kazuko Nakane  


June 2, 2012
1:00 p.m. 
Japanese American Museum of San Jose
535 N. Fifth Street
San Jose, CA  95112


 

 

Nakane's detailed research and firsthand interviews with those living in the Pajaro Valley in the early 1980s piece together a portrait of early Japanese American experiences. This portrait covers the lives of buranketto men (bachelors who traveled from job to job with little more than a blanket around their shoulders), the arrival of picture brides from Japan, and the discrimination that the Japanese immigrants faced. Without Nakane's prescient efforts to preserve these stories, much understanding of early immigrant experience in this country would have been lost. Now, with its republication, Nothing Left in My Hands is again available to those interested in the history of California's immigrants and their contributions to American culture.

 

The book club is always open to new members. Selections are chosen collaboratively at the end of each meeting and align with the JAMsj mission: the celebration of Japanese American art, history, and culture. Books may be purchased at the JAMsj museum store. If you have questions, please contact Aggie Idemoto at (408) 268-4440 or aggie@jamsj.org.  

 

JAMsj Calendar of Events

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Japanese American Museum of San Jose (JAMsj)
535 N. Fifth Street
San Jose, CA 95112
Tel: (408) 294-3138
Email: mail@jamsj.org
www.jamsj.org