Giant Robot Store and GR2 News

Any excuse to write about Brian’s Shave Ice is a great one. But this time it’s more than just about Shave Ice, it’s about Camp Musubi. They were having a fundraiser. Until just a bit earlier in the day, I’ve never heard of this Camp. It’s a Japanese American Day Camp for middle schoolers to learn a little bit of something about their history. In our world that’s increasingly getting busier and bombarded with news from almost everywhere except Asian America, this is important. I’ll also add it’s important for Japanese Americans especially when it seems that “our” numbers are shrinking along with visibility in many public arenas. Sometimes when visiting film festivals, art schools etc, I wonder where the Japanese Americans are? There’s often none. That’s filmmaker Tad Nakamura enjoying a very tiny serving of shave ice. Go large!   That’s Erika Olsen devouring size large. POG, Rootbeer, and Lihing Mui with Dole Whip in the center. That’s how the champs do it.
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Paul Kitagaki Jr, photographer unearthed some Dorothea Lange photos from the Internment experience and coupled them with some more recent photos and stories that are now hanging at the San Bruno Bart station which is where Tanforan Race Track, an assembly center for Japanese American was located and 70 years ago. A great concept, history, and the station will probably get more visitors than a gallery show. Take a look at the photos and read the stories. They never get old. SF Gate.
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Yes John Wooden maybe gets that title, but Yoshihiro Uchida is 92 and is the coach of the San Jose State Judo team. He’s been coaching 66 years. That has to be some kind of record. 45 Championships in 51 years. Is that a record too? While some of us try to find a way not to work, this man appears to have figured it all out. A Japanese American, his story is typical of many. Concentration camp, fighting in a war, and then finding a life afterwards. From zero to hero. (NY Times – Yoshihiro Uchida)
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