- In the midst of the harsh economy, Asian American non-profits may have it the worst.
- The San Francisco Chronicle spotlights Hawaii’s Nisei veterans.
- Better yet than never: Hollywood’s newfound respect for anime.
Entries categorized as ‘100th Infantry Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team’
Thursday bullets
November 13, 2008 · No Comments
Categories: 100th Infantry Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team · Entertainment · Japanese Americans · Manga
Tagged: anime, chysanthemums, nisei, non-profit
Wednesday bullets
July 30, 2008 · No Comments
- Despite high levels of smoking, Japanese hearts are staying healthy thanks to fish.
- Former internees in San Jose preserve their history through oral histories.
- “Big Dreams, Little Tokyo,” a movie about a Japanese American sumo wrestler, is starting to make waves in film festivals.
- 442nd soldiers are the inspiration for a DC comics mini-series called Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion.
Categories: 100th Infantry Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team · Food · Japanese American internment
Tagged: 442, fish, the lost battalion
New issue out in stores!!!
March 24, 2008 · No Comments
Having a hard time starting your work week off? Be sure to pick up the new edition of The Hawaii Herald, maybe that’ll make the week go by quicker.
Catch up with former New York Mets slugger, and current star of Japan’s Chiba Lotte Marines, Benny Agbayani.
Find out what happened at the 2008 Living Treasures dinner . . .
and how the Hakuoh University Handbell Choir is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Plus, Editor Karleen Chinen’s piece on the 65th anniversary of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and a sidebar on the club’s first hapa leader, Bill Thompson; columns by Cedric Yamanaka (actually Cedric’s mother, who is the guest host for this issue) and Shara Yuki Enay; and much more!
The Herald is available at Borders Books and Music in Kaneohe, Waikele Center and Victoria Ward Center; Best Sellers in downtown Honolulu; Shirokiya; the Kahala, Kaimuki, McCully, Waimalu and Waipahu Times Super Markets; and the Hawaii Hochi Office building located at 917 Kokea St. We can also be reached at (808) 845-2255.
Categories: 100th Infantry Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team · Updates
Tagged: new issue, 100th Infantry Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team, benny agbayani, bill thompson, hakuoh university
Only the Brave at the Hawaii Theatre!
March 24, 2008 · 2 Comments
Last week the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii hosted a DVD Release Screening of the 2005 film Only the Brave, starring Lane Nishikawa, Jason Scott Lee and the late Pat Morita at the Hawaii Theatre. The film centers around Jimmy Takata, a Wahiawa native, played by Nishikawa, who leads the 100 Infantry Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team to save a platoon of Texans trapped deep in a German forest. Takata survives the war but is haunted by a series of flashbacks as he remembers his combat exploits and the prewar lives of his soldiers.
Many of the actors made an appearance at the event, including writer/director Nishikawa, who spoke about the ambitious task of financing and creating the film. The Hawaii Herald was in attendance and made sure to document the festivities.
There was a huge turnout for one of the rare chances to see a movie at the Hawaii Theatre.
An Only the Brave poster took center stage in the V.I.P. room.
DVDs were available for purchase at the event.
V.I.P. guests had to chance to do some mingling before the show started.
And, of course, some fantastic food was provided.
The stars of the movie were on-hand before and after the show to sign autographs.
Jason Scott Lee (right) poses with 442nd veteran Bert Nishimura, who used to talk pidgeon over the radio during WWII to confuse anyone who might be listening.
(Photos courtesy of Maile Fuchshuber)
Categories: 100th Infantry Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team · Entertainment · Japanese American internment · Japanese Americans
Tagged: 100 Infantry Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team, hawaii theatre, jason scott lee, jcch, lane nishikawa, only the brave
Lesson of the day: don’t doubt the Nisei
March 14, 2008 · No Comments
There’s no question that the Nisei generation is extremely cohesive and resilient. Another example of that comes from this article by Susan Gilmore of the Seattle Times: When concerns were raised over whether the government and private donors should fund the maintenance of Seattle’s Nisei Veterans Hall, the Nisei vets banded together and helped raise 2.5 million dollars.
The money was not for maintaining the structure, which the vets bought in 1951 for $1,000 after being denied entrance into the Veterans of Foreign Wars legion, it was for completely remodeling it. The hall holds dance classes, houses parties, offers a place for veterans and their families to socialize, organizes public speaking arrangements and, most importantly, reopens tomorrow.
Categories: 100th Infantry Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team · Japanese Americans
Tagged: 100th Infantry Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team, nisei vetarans hall, seattle
Stories from WWII-era AJAs hit the Portland stage
February 7, 2008 · No Comments
Alton Takiyama-Chung, a former Honolulu resident who now lives in Portland, is bringing the story of the 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team to the stage.
The 49-year-old actor tells the Oregonian’s Julie Sullivan that his two-man play (along with musician Mike Van Liew), “Okage Sama De,” is a collection of stories from World War II-era Japanese Americans. There’s even a performance video of him in the link.
These are stories of what it was like to be in internment camps and go to war or serve in the Military Intelligence Service as translators in the Pacific. It’s the story of Takejiro Higa, who was born in Hawaii, grew up in Okinawa and helped plan the invasion of Okinawa and what it was like to go to where he grew up carrying a gun, wondering if he was going to meet his uncle or his cousins. Or Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese consul in Lithuania, who wrote transit visas to allow Polish Jews to escape the Nazis. And the story of Solly Ganor, an 11-year-old Lithuanian Jewish boy who survived Dachau and was rescued by the 442nd at the end of the war.
“Okage Sama De”opens in Portland on Feb. 8, 9, 15 and 16. Takiyama-Chung says he plans to come back to Hawaii for the 65th reunion of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
Categories: 100th Infantry Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team · Entertainment
Tagged: 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, plays, portland
