July 2012 - Japanese American Citizens League

THE
GRAINS OF RICE
Cincinnati Chapter Japanese American Citizens League
July 2012
Shirayamadani at the Cincinnati Art Museum
(row 1)Dr. Kinji Tanaka, Dr. Elizabeth Fowler (Assistant Prof. at Syracuse University),
Ms. Anita Ellis (Deputy Director-curatorial affairs at CAM), Setsuko LeCroix, Jacqui Vidourek, Paul Tanaka
(row 2) Helen Rindsberg, Gordon Yoshikawa, Dr. Gary Eith (Dean of Business Division at Lakeland
Community College), Frances Tojo, Carolyn Baricklow (Assistant to the Executive Director, JASGC), Reiko
Tanaka (row 3) Adam Hartke (Agenda 360), Asami Ono (Japan Outreach Coordinator, JASGC), Hiroko
Nishiyama, Kono Naegele, Mariko Hayase.
Members of JACL and JASGC gathered on July 19 at Spring Grove Cemetery for a memorial service who passed away July 19, 1948.
Mr. Shirayamadani was born in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, around 1861. He joined the staff of Rookwood Pottery in 1887 as the first
foreign-born decorator. He created many wonderful art products, one of which received the gold medal at the Paris Exposition in
1900. It was sold for $350,750.00 at an auction at Cincinnati Art Galleries, LLC in 2004. He worked at Rookwood until his death in
1948 except for a period of time when he returned to Japan – probably to teach from around 1912 to 1921.
Ms. Anita Ellis took the group on a tour of the many ceramic painted vases. Dr. Elizabeth Fowler shared her expertise which helped us
to appreciate Mr. Shirayamadani’s art.
PRESIDENT’S COLUMN
By Betsy Sato
What is usually a slow season for our local JACL
chapter has been pretty busy since March.
Over St. Patrick’s Day weekend, our chapter hosted
the Midwest District Conference at the downtown
Hyatt Regency Hotel. It was two days of business
meetings with some fun activities tossed in. I want
to thank Frances Tojo, Gordon Yoshikawa, Hiroko
Nishiyama, and Kazuya Sato for their help in
organizing the logistics. Jacqui Vidourek and I
served as delegates to the meeting. Hearing back
from the participants, one of the highlights was our
tour of the Freedom Center.
Cincinnati took the international spotlight in early
July with the arrival of thousands of mostly young
people from all over the world for the World Choir
Games. Some of our JACL members worked as
volunteers with the Choir games—as guides,
interpreters and doing what needed to be done.
JACL partnered with the JASGC to participate in
the Global Village on Fountain Square. JACL’s
booth was there on the first day, in the 100 degree
heat. Thank you event organizers for the misters
that helped us keep cool (or at least avoid
heatstroke). Our display featured Tanabata. We
asked people to write their wish on a piece of paper
and tie it to bamboo branches. We also wrote
names in Japanese. A very unscientific poll of the
wishes revealed a large number for world peace and
harmony…very appropriate for choir games. I was
more prosaic and wished for rain. JACL members
also collaborated with the Gifu Sister group as they
played hosts to the Mukunoki Choir—a group of
about 20 girls from age 6 to 13. They sang for the
re-opening ceremony of Washington Park.
At about the same time as the World Choir Games,
the JACL National Convention was happening in
Seattle. Our delegate was Chad Yoshikawa, a
Cincinnati Chapter member who lives near Seattle.
Please see his report elsewhere in the newsletter.
From all reports, the Convention was a success and
we have an enthusiastic and capable group of
national officers to provide leadership into the
future.
Having enthusiastic and capable leaders is the key
to the strength of any organization. It is about time
to select leaders for the Cincinnati Chapter. I will
be stepping down as president at the end of my term
in January. We need some new leaders to come
forward, preferably in a younger demographic. Us
old folks have been doing a good job, I think (feel
free to disagree), but if our chapter is to really thrive
we need some new blood who can develop
programs and events to appeal to the new
generations. It was heartening at last year’s LA
convention to see almost half of the delegates
without discernible grey hair. I don’t know if Chad
did a hair check this year. The point is, I hope some
of you in the younger generations will step up to a
leadership position in our local JACL. There is a
lot of potential to grow the organization and lead it
into a strong voice for the AAPI community in
Cincinnati and the nation.
PERSONALS
Condolences
Jo Okura passed away on March 13, 2012, at the
age of 76. Surviving are daughter Shelly, brother
Al Berst and sister Janet Berst. She was a long-time
member and supporter of Cincinnati JACL.
Carol Sterrett, daughter of the late Kaye and
Marnelle Watanabe, passed away on March 7,
2012. Surviving are son Scott,
sister Donna and brother David Watanabe.
Mitzi Kato, 90, passed away on June 7, 2012, at her
home in Land O’Lakes, Florida. She enjoyed sixty
years of marriage to Ichiro Kato whom she met in
the Granada Internment Camp in Colorado during
World War II. In 2006 Mitzi and Ichiro moved to
Florida. She is survived by son, Dennis Kato and
his wife Janet, her daughter, Diane Kuzma, along
with four granddaughters, Jennifer, Erica, Donna,
Kelly and grandson, Gregory.
DONATIONS
Cincinnati Chapter gratefully acknowledges the
following donations:
Kono Naegele, Cincinnati OH
Yoriko Suhr, Cincinnati OH
In memory of Jane Murata
Prudential Financial, Cincinnati OH
Masaji and Tae Toki, Cincinnati OH
In memory of Carol Sterrett
Masaji and Tae Toki, Cincinnati OH
Okura Family Scholarship
in memory of Jo Okura
Fred and Nicolle Rauch, Cincinnati OH
The Leiberg Family, Columbia MD
Patti & Leon Leiberg, Washington DC
James and Peggy Tojo, Cincinnati OH
Stephanie K. Bowman, Cincinnati OH
Gordon Yoshikawa, Cincinnati OH
Donna L. Labemeier, Cincinnati OH
Frances Tojo, Cincinnati OH
Mary & Leo Gabbard, W Harrison OH
Elizabeth H. Kirk, Portage WI
Betty R. Newman, Milford OH
John & Frances Berst, Lemont IL
The Bigham & Dates Family, Cincinnati
Alma P. Bobb, Hershey PA
Hiroshi & Hiroko Nishiyama, Cincinnati
Donna L. Labermeier, Cincinnat i OH
Peggy McDaniel, Cincinnati OH
Friends of PNC, Cincinnati OH
Doug & Ann Sand, Cincinnati OH
Raymond Miciek, Dacula GA
DeeDee Smith, Dacula GA
Marty Miciek, Dacula GA
Lisa Hess, Dacula GA
Carol Knight, Dacula, GA
Jodie & Tim Binning, Cincinnati OH
Barbara & John Neumann, Cincinnati
Jill Nishiyama, Dayton OH
David & Sherry Gomanous. Kenilworth
Ann Conway, Cincinnati OH
Theresa Okura. Chicago IL
Donald & Marilyn Okura, Dublin OH
Masaji & Tae Toki, Cincinnati OH
Mary L. Long, Cincinnati OH
Shiro & Fumiko Tanaka, Cincinnati
James Takeuchi Scholarship
in memory of Mitzi Kato
Dennis & Janet Kato, San Antonio TX
Masao Kato, Oakland CA
Frances Tojo, Cincinnati OH
Tomi Omori, Cincinnati OH
Gordon Yoshikawa, Cincinnati OH
WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS
Paula Hensley and Family
575 Roundbottom Rd.
Milford, OH 45150
David Tojo and Family
3091 Saratoga Lane
Glenview IL 60026
Frank Satogata
5288 Birchknoll Ct.
Cincinnati OH 45230
JACL National Convention
2012
Chad Yoshikawa
Svetlana, Chad, Maksim
I served as the Cincinnati delegate for the JACL
National Convention in Bellevue, Washington from
July 5th to July 8th, 2012. The convention was held
at the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue -- a small but
thriving city east of Seattle filled with skyscrapers
and home to high-tech companies such as
Microsoft’s Bing and the Expedia travel site.
The experience was eye opening. Coming in to the
convention, I had no idea how things worked, who
would attend, and what would be decided. It was
my first convention - I was a ‘convention newbie’.
Mr. Smith goes to Bellevue, Washington “You’re the Cincinnati Delegate, but you live in
Washington?” was a question that I got asked more
than a few times. Yes, my wife Svetlana, son
Maksim, and I currently reside in Kirkland,
Washington, only a few minutes from the
convention center. I’m still on the Cincinnati JACL
Board, though, having lived there from 2003-2008
during my tenure at graduate school at the
University of Cincinnati. Previously, my only
government experience was a ‘mock government’
program during high school and so at the beginning
of the conference, I was confused to as whether I
was a “proxy” or a “delegate”. By the time the
convention ended I knew what these terms meant.
I didn’t go in alone -- a newly-minted friend of
mine from Google, Jeff Oldham, had scheduled a
lunch with me the week before in Kirkland on the
Google campus since he knew we would both be
attending. Jeff represented the San Jose JACL
Chapter and had a horse in the race for JACL
President - Jeff Yoshioka. San Jose is a wellfunded JACL organization and had a half-dozen or
more representatives attending. There were “Jeff
Yoshioka” labeled granola bars, Hawaiian-styled
leis, etc. making Jeff Yoshioka’s presence a strong
one at the convention. The Cincinnati JACL Board
was recommending that I vote for candidate David
Lin, however. For the first time, I understood the
role of a “delegate” at a “convention” -- having
heard about “delegates” and “conventions” over and
over again by political pundits and other talking
heads on the national news channels with regards to
the U.S. Presidential race. Could I vote with with
my heart (for Yoshioka) or was I required to vote
with the Board’s wishes? Yoshioka seemed to have
more charisma of the two candidates, but I
understood that David Lin had many years of
dedicated JACL service at the regional and national
level. Since President was the only contested race, I
was conflicted.
Registration My convention started off by picking up a name
badge on Thursday, July 5th, at the Hyatt Regency.
I wandered over to the desk labeled “Y” for
Yoshikawa -- the “Y’s” were more popular at the
JACL convention than most academic conferences
I’ve attended, which drew a smile to my face. I was
given two ribbons to attach to my badge -- one a
blue “Delegate” ribbon and the other a bright red
ribbon labeled “Thousand Club - Life”. There
were some, but not many of these red ribbons
floating around the convention halls. I felt a bit of
pride wearing this ribbon, remembering that
Frances Tojo had gifted me with this lifetime
membership to JACL a few years earlier. Thanks
Aunt Frances.
After registration in the afternoon, I was a bit lost.
There were several National Committee meetings
going on in parallel sessions. Which one should I
attend? Should I attend at all? I found one that
looked interesting -- the “Program for Action”
committee -- and went up to the 3rd floor of the
hotel to attend. On the way there, though, I saw a
familiar face -- my Googler friend Jeff Oldham -sitting in on the “Resolutions” committee and
decided to drop in there, instead.
Resolutions Committee Meeting The Resolutions Committee was considering a few
“emergency resolutions” -- resolutions that had not
been submitted by the resolution deadline, but could
be considered for a floor vote by the delegates.
Most, if not all, seemed like ‘no brainers’ to me -for example, resolutions to recognize the
importance of Federal and Hawaii state healthcare
benefits to Micronesians. Micronesia comprises
several islands, part of which make up the Marshall
Islands, which many of us remember as being the
site of U.S. atomic tests back in the 1940s. I had a
somewhat personal connection to Micronesia,
having lived with a group of Micronesians back in
my time at U.C. Berkeley. One of most interesting
facts that I learned during that time is that the
Micronesian “Kin Group” was different than the
Western “Nuclear Family”; Micronesian cousins
were more akin to our brothers and sisters.
I sat down at the Resolutions Committee table and
started asking questions. Long ago, after going
through a few academic conferences during my first
stint at grad school, I decided to drop my usual filter
and speak whenever possible. After all, this was
my first JACL convention and who knows if it
would be my last. I thought I’d better take
advantage of the opportunity to interact.
“Why shouldn’t we adopt all of the resolutions?
What harm would there be?” was one of my first
questions. One particular resolution recommended
creating a Lawrence Carr Award. The resolution
was an emergency since the funding for the award
only materialized a few days before the convention
-- well after the due date. I quickly fired up my
laptop to find out who Lawrence Carr was. (If you,
like me, don’t know who Lawrence Carr was, do a
quick internet search. In my book, he defines
bravery and it probably cost him his political
career.) This seemed like another “no brainer” -the award was well-funded and there was no
material cost to the JACL. I probably broke
protocol more than a few times. The committee
was gracious, but I (slowly) realized that I wasn’t a
Committee member and should be more of a
passive observer. Thank goodness I realized this
just in time to not raise my hand during the
Committee vote! All of the emergency resolutions
passed -- not that they were voted on, but all were
recommended as worthy for a floor vote later the
next day. Now I knew what was going on -- the
Committees were deciding what made it to the floor
and what didn’t. Suddenly, the phrase about U.S.
bills being “stuck in Committee” had a much more
visceral feel to me. The JACL certainly has less
politicking than other national, or even regional
governments, and seems to do what is right and in
the best interest of the organization as whole. I can
imagine, however, how lobbyists and political
donations can influence members of our United
States Congress to hold bills ‘in committee’ and
prevent a floor vote. Committee positions are
valuable, indeed.
At the end of the meeting, I was invited to the
“Youth Buffet Dinner” by someone who was too
young to realize how old I am. I politely declined
and drove home to get ready for the 8AM Council
meeting the next day.
National Council Meetings Here is where the fun began. I arrived a bit later
than 8AM, due to a conflicting morning work
meeting over video conference. During my work
conference call, I was pinged by Stephanie Nitahara
over Gmail Chat. I had a bit of a rough night with
Maksim waking up more than a few times during
the night, but any illusions I had about being able to
sleep in and saunter in around noon vanished as I
realized that this was the part of the convention that
was important. I quickly drove back
to Bellevue, picked up my green voting card from
Elaine Akagi, and sat down at the Midwest District
Council (MDC) table. During this first session,
there were no votes but checking the schedule I
realized that there were going to be several votes in
the next session that day. This first session
involved mostly a budget reading and the
announcement that there was a very generous $1.2
million estate donation by a JACL member who
recently passed.
After lunch, and a very entertaining oratorical
contest by JACL youth members, we had our first
vote. There were a few votes during the session,
but the most memorable was one that would
establish new membership categories, something
that was determined could raise more funds for the
JACL. This resolution was controversial because it
defined the membership dues in the JACL
Constitution itself -- the entire table of membership
dues would become a part of the Constitution and
only changeable by a two-thirds majority vote every
two years. The resolution seemed like a good idea,
but the implementation seemed flawed. Many in
the audience agreed.
What followed was an incredibly interesting hour of
debate followed by about 10 minutes of ‘this is just
too long’. There were amendments to modify the
table, strike the table, and whether the graphical
table constituted “five words” or not. (Five words
of change is the limit of an amendment). There
were quite a few objections that we weren’t
following procedure, mostly brought forth by the
same elder statesman whom I don’t remember and
wouldn’t name even if I did. There were multiple
votes to extend the debate, the first few I voted for
and the rest I voted against. The projections for
revenue increase to JACL, to me, seemed to
outweigh any objections to the exact wording of the
resolution. “If we didn’t get it exactly right, that
should be o.k” I thought and it reminded me of the
Google mantra to ‘launch and iterate”. Nothing is
perfect, especially legal matters. Finally, we had an
up or down vote. A two-thirds majority was
needed to modify the JACL Constitution. The final
vote: 56 yays and 29 nays. ONE VOTE SHORT
OF PASSAGE!!! It reminded me that every vote
counts.
Awards Ceremony The awards ceremony was highlighted by a special
award given to Seattle news anchor, Lori
Matsukawa. Mrs. Matsukawa was given the
“National Convention Community Achievement
Award”. She was definitely the A-lister at the
event, judging by the amount of flash photography
when she accepted her award. The award
presenter’s description of Mrs. Matsukawa’s JACL
involvement was moving and encouraged me to do
more for the JACL community.
Conclusion I had a fantastic time at the 2012 Convention and it
was a pleasure seeing the energy of the JACL youth
first hand. I can trust that we have a good base to
continue our fight as a civil rights organization. I
urge anyone reading to re-up their membership and,
if possible, increase their involvement in the JACL.
We do great work and it’s important to make your
voice heard. It is through your membership that we
are able to lobby Washington and make a real
difference in this world where civil rights are being
taking for granted. Even though the Redress was
recognized many years ago, there is a continuing
need to right the wrong of the Japanese Internment
and ensure that everyone is treated equally and
without prejudice.
By the way, I decided to vote with the guidance of
the Cincinnati JACL. Our pick, David Lin, won
with about three-fourths of the vote! CY
The Cincinnati Chapter of the JACL
Cordially invites you and your family and friends to the
ANNUAL POTLUCK DINNER
Date: Sunday, August 19, 2012
4:00 pm
5:00 pm
6:00 pm
Social Hour
Potluck Dinner
Raijin Taiko (formerly Cincinnati-Dayton Taiko)
Sakura Ladies Chorus
Bon Odori
Location: Hyde Park Bethlehem Methodist Church
Madison Road and Hyde Park Avenue
Sakura Ladies Chorus Fund Raising June 2012
Thanks to the generosity of Toyota Motors NA
winners of the 2012 JACL Reds Raffle were able to
enjoy the Toyota Suite at Great American Ball Park
to watch the Cincinnati Reds play the Milwaukee
Brewers.
Winners were: Carol Pitzer, John McDaniel, Hiroko
Nishiyama, Ken LeCroix, and Kazuya Sato.
Asian Culture Festival
at The Museum Center
At Shirayamadani gravesite: (row 1) Mariko
Hayase, Hiroko Nishiyama, Kono Naegele, Frances
Tojo, Jacqui Vidourek, Betsy Sato (row 2) Gordon
Yoshikawa, Kazuya Sato, Dr. Elizabeth Fowler,
Carolyn Barricklow, Reiko Tanaka, Dr. Kinji
Tanaka, Paul Tanaka (photo taken by Peter Tanaka)
Yo (Yoichi) Sato passed away on May 8,
2012 in Dayton, OH. He is survived by his
wife of 61 years, Yaeko; sons Richard (San
Francisco) and Toshio (Dayton). Yo
worked for McCall’s for 27 years and
Dayton Metropolitan Housing Authority for
11 years. He was a charter member of the
Dayton JACL. He was ever present at the
joint Dayton-Cincinnati installation dinners.
He will be missed.
Kitaro Shirayamadani 1861 – 1948
At Cincinnati Art Museum (see front page for
names)
JASGC Sakura Matsuri Dinner
THE GRAINS OF RICE
Cincinnati Chapter
Japanese American Citizens League
7761 Gwenwyn Drive
Cincinnati, OH 45236
www.cincinnatijacl.org
2012 CALENDAR
August 19
Potluck Dinner
Hyde Park Bethlehem Methodist Church
Madison Road and Hyde Park Avenue
4:00 Social Hour
5:00 Dinner
6:00 Entertainment
Bon Odori
September 27
National JACL Gala
J. W. Marriott Hotel
Washington DC