California State University Dominguez Hills

UNDERSTANDING JAPAN IN THE WAKE OF THE EARTHQUAKE-TSUNAMI-NUCLEAR CRISIS

In great misfortune,
The strong hearts of a people,
Forge a deep mirror.

—John Hearn, Earth Sciences

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, DOMINGUEZ HILLS

Unveiling of Third Commemorative Painting, Booksigning Celebrates 50th Anniversary

California State University, Dominguez Hills is proud to announce the unveiling of a third painting in a series that commemorates the university’s 50th anniversary. “E Pluribus Unum” was created by South Bay artist Hatsuko Mary Higuchi and will be presented to the campus and local community at a reception at 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 12, in the University Library. The evening will include a reading and book signing by Dr. Don Hata, emeritus professor of history, of the fourth edition of “Japanese Americans and World War II: Mass Removal, Imprisonment, and Redress,” which he wrote with his late wife, Dr. Nadine Ishitani Hata, in 1974. Read more...

Special Session: Japanese Culture and Contemporary Society
April 6, 2011; 4:00-6:45
Film - "A Taxing Woman"; followed by discussion on various aspects of Japanese culture and contemporary society to provide context for understanding the Tsunami and earthquake. -SBS A104

Dr. Jung-Sun Park

Japan from the late Tokugawa period to the present
Western impact on traditional Japan and the Japanese response;
The development of a modern state, economy, and society

Registration: College of Extended Education: (310)-243-3741

For class contents and syllabus, Professor Kato: ykato@csudh.edu

Spring Intersession Class Schedule: http://www.csudh.edu/springin

This course explores modern history of Japan from the 19th century (the late Tokugawa period) to the present.  Japan’s modern era began with the forceful opening of the country by the West. 

The first half of this course examines the samurai revolution (Meiji Restoration), the following modernization efforts, and the rise of fascism and imperialism, which eventually led to the Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Empire, and the defeat of the World War II.

In the second half of the course, we examine the post-war Japan’s society, politics, economy, and culture.  How did Japan recover from the World War II defeat and make an “economic miracle”?  The course also covers the recent tsunami and earthquake disaster and its effects on Japanese

society, culture, and public psychology.

Syllabus

We Help Each Other

By Soji Kashiwagi

I’m not an expert on Japanese culture and customs, but as I observe what’s happening in Japan after the earthquake and tsunami I am confident that the country and its people will eventually recover and rebuild their lives because of one key concept and way of life that is deeply embedded in the Japanese spirit:

“Otagaisama.” Helping each other, mutually.

More so than “gaman” (to endure), “shikata ga nai” (it can’t be helped) and phrases meant to inspire like “Gambaro Nihon” (Let’s Be Strong, Japan), Otagaisama was put to work immediately after the disaster, and is continuing on to this day. On TV we saw complete strangers reaching out and rescuing people off of roof tops. People with very little left themselves were giving up food or declining aid because “there are so many others who need it more than we do.” The idea of looting, which is in direct conflict with Otagaisama, is a completely foreign concept to the vast majority of Japanese people.

We help each other. We don’t steal their stuff.

Because of Otagaisama and their strength and spirit, the Japanese people of Northern Japan will recover, but it’s going to take time, and it’s going to take a lot of money. And they won’t be able to do it alone. That’s where we can help.

So far, I have been heartened and impressed by our community’s willingness to step up and support the Japanese people in this great time of need. Earthquake relief funds have been established, and donations from our community in the millions of dollars are reaching the Japanese people with the greatest needs.

But it’s clear that the need is not going away anytime soon, and we need to keep giving. However, there have been some in our community who have expressed a reluctance to support Japan, saying that they can’t relate, or they don’t have a close feeling or personal connections, or that Japan’s past behaviors toward the U.S. have had a negative impact on Japanese Americans. Therefore, they find it difficult to be sympathetic or supportive.

While I understand these feelings, I return to the concept of Otagaisama. If you look at our history in this country, Otagaisama was key to our survival from day one when the Issei first arrived. Living in hostile environments where they often faced extreme prejudice and hatred, the Issei quickly realized they had to help each other in large ways such as pooling their money and providing loans, and in small ways, through everyday random acts of kindness.

This spirit of mutual support, cooperation and understanding got them through their early days in this country, the Great Depression and especially during the war years in America’s concentration camps, and the extremely difficult post-war resettlement period. Just like the Japanese in Japan, Japanese in America used Otagaisama to endure, survive and eventually rebuild their lives.

In fact, after the War when Japanese Americans were forced to restart their lives with nothing but $25 and a train ticket home, Issei and Nisei, who had very little to support themselves and their own families here in the U.S. did something quite remarkable: They gathered boxes, filled them with food, clothing and other necessities and sent them to relatives in war-torn and devastated Japan.

The feeling then was simply, “We may not have much, but they need this more than we do.”

One box may not seem like much, but one box multiplied by hundreds or even thousands sent by Issei and Nisei to Japan, and it becomes an act of kindness and an offering of hope that is still remembered to this day.

I was reminded of this on a recent trip home to San Francisco for the 44th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival. Each year, during the annual Queen coronation, the story of the Fujiyasu Furisode Kimono is told. Since 1973, this kimono company, based in Tokyo, has donated a precious furisode kimono for the festival’s new queen.

The reason for this generous donation goes back to after the War. When the situation in Japan was turning from desperate to hopeless, these boxes from America all of a sudden began arriving. The president of the Fujiyasu Kimono Company, Mr. Seishichi Ato and his family were among those fortunate to receive these precious gifts so many years ago, and with it was a chance to rebuild their lives and country.

Seishichi Ato never forgot this, and the annual kimono donation has been his way of repaying a kindness to the Japanese American community.

In my own family, my mother’s cousins from Hiroshima told us a couple years ago they still remember the boxes of coffee, chocolates and pencils that my grandparents sent there after the atomic bomb destroyed their entire city. My father’s cousins in Wakayama told my father they were the envy of their school because of the clothing my grandmother had sent to them. These simple acts of kindness had never been forgotten.

Otagaisama. We help each other.

And now, after Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan stated that Japan is facing its worst disaster since World War II, it’s time for us to give again.

Otagaisama is part of our history and tradition. I’m proud to say that this is so, and happy to be carrying on in the tradition of our Issei and Nisei elders. It is part of who we are as Japanese Americans, and as human beings.

***************

In this spirit, our theater group, the Grateful Crane Ensemble, will be performing a benefit show for Japan disaster relief on Saturday, May 14 at 4 p.m. at the Orange County Buddhist Church in Anaheim.

“The Best of Grateful Crane” show will feature the best songs and numbers we have performed over the past ten years of our existence. Japanese favorites such as “Koko ni Sachi Ari,” “Yawara,” and “Kawa no nagare no youni” as well as American classics such as “Moonlight Serenade,” “At Last” and “I’ll Be Seeing You” will be featured.

I hope you can come out, and show your support for Japan.

100% of ticket proceeds will be donated to the Northern Japan Earthquake Relief Fund, which has already raised nearly $1.6 million in direct relief funds for Japanese people in the most affected areas. The fund, established by the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC) in San Francisco, was selected because 100% of donated funds are going for direct relief (with no administration fees taken out), and the fact that the JCCCNC has contacts in place and a track record of providing earthquake relief for Japan when it raised $600,000 during Kobe quake in 1995.
Benefit show sponsors include the Grateful Crane Ensemble, actor Rodney Kageyama, Hiroshi and Sadako Kashiwagi, Tak & Terry Kosakura, Tomiye Sumner, FIA Insurance Services, Fukui Mortuary, Soji & Keiko Kashiwagi, Masayo Nishikawa and the Orange County Buddhist Church.
“The Best of Grateful Crane” show will feature the singing of Jason Fong, Haruye Ioka, Keiko Kawashima, Darrell Kunitomi, Kurt Kuniyoshi, Aimee Machida, Merv Maruyama, Mary Kageyama Nomura, Helen H. Ota and Fusako Shiotani. The newly formed Grateful Crane Youth Singers will also perform. The group includes Aimee Machida, Alyssa Nakamoto, Erika Mariko Olsen and Miko Shudo.
The “Best of Grateful Crane” band includes Scott Nagatani, Danny Yamamoto, Lisa Joe and Gordon Bash.
A donation of $50.00 per person is requested for this special benefit show. The Orange County Buddhist Church is located at 909 S. Dale Avenue in Anaheim. Free parking is available. For tickets and information, call the Grateful Crane ticket line at 310/995-5841.

Rafu Shimpo also has Japan news and resources here.

From Jim Baxter, Resident Director (Yokohama) Indra Levy, Executive Director (Stanford)
Inter-University Center Yokohama [alum@iucjapan.org]:

1) International NGOs
Japanese Red Cross
Direct Relief International
https://secure.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6617251/k.7E71/Donate_to_the_Japan_Earthquake_Tsunami_Children_in_Emergency_Fund/apps/ka/sd/donor.asp
Second Harvest

<http://www.2hj.org/index.php/eng_home>

2) Japanese NGOs
JEN
AMDA

Our Visiting Scholar from Japan, Yayoi Kato, has provided the following links to help understand the magnitude of the crisis.

Newly Homeless in Japan Re-Establish Order Amid Chaos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE2GnSQFqJs&NR=1
The clip of the tsunami hitting Miyagi, English source

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AamvilJkxS0&feature=related
Japanese source, Tsumami hits Kamaishi, Iwate, filmed from the minute’s before tsunami warning, coming of tsunami, then destruction.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ann27T6JTek&feature=related
Japanese source, Kisennuma, Miyagi, amateur video, people help each other from flooding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM3HDODpieY&feature=related
Japanese source, NHK (national television) clip, running cars toppled by the coming waves.

Our CSU Dominguez Hills Students led by the Office of Student Life and Multicultural Center are raising awareness of the Japanese Relief Efforts by sponsoring origami crane making to send 1000 cranes to Japan with donations.

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Our Visiting Scholar from Japan, Yayoi Kato feels this is a beautiful expression of support as the Crane is the National Bird of Japan and crane making is a Japanese tradion. She sent along these links for those that might be interested:

Origami Cranes

Crane Making

More Ways to Help

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For an idea of the geological forces involved in the earthquake:

This picture from Google Earth helps us understand the enormity of the earthquake.  The map below shows that Japan sits at the convergence of four lithospheric plates:

Eurasion/Chinese Plate, North American Plate, Pacific Plate, and Philippine plate. As these plates collide, the release energy resulting in earthquakes. For a history see: A History of Geology