![[ Yamanashi Kyoyukai Friendship Club Logo ]](yamanashilogo.jpg)
|
Yamanashi Kyoyukai Friendship Club |
| Welcome! | About Us | Contact Us | Calendar | Membership | Newsletter | Logo Items | Links | What's New? |
Newsletter Archive
|
February 2004
Yamanashi Kyoyukai Friendship Club Happy New Year, Akemashite Omedeto Gozaimasu! Here we are going into our New Year 2004. I hope every member has gone to Omiya Maki on New Years day and prayed for a good and healthy new year. This is the year of the Monkey and in many ways the Chinese and Japanese Shinto belief is that this will be a very gifted year. We the Board of Officers and Directors have new members for the 2004/2006-year. The Club would like to express our humble appreciation to our past President Mr. Walter Ozawa and his wife Gayle. Mr. Ozawa has awakened our Yamanashi Kyoyu Kai with an abundance of advancements due to his wide spread business and public contacts. We have had many successful activities some of which we did not have in the past years. We also must not forget our past president, Mr. George Kajiwara, whom for many, many years has kept our Yamanashi Kyoyu Kai alive. George did this alone with minimum help. Our hats off to Mr. George Kajiwara also. Our new Officers and Board of Directors for the 2004/2006-year are: President: Mr. Dean Asahina Board of Directors: New Directors: Mr. Takashi Horiuchi Mr. Walter Ozawa Mr. Kelvin Yoda The above Club Officers and Board Members will lead our Friendship club to various activities for the coming years. Our long time Board of Director member, Mr. Ken Yoda will retire as of March 10, 2004. Mahalo to Mr. Yoda's hard work these past years. He and his wife Miyeko and daughter Kathy have helped the club during the Shinnen Enkai and also during our successful summer picnic. As for activities for 2004, we have the following set for your enjoyment:
Other activities as they develop will be announced to members with further information. If any member has anything that would be of interest and wish to present it to the Club members, please call any one of the Officers or Directors so we can put it in motion. We would like to hear from you regarding your family activities in any area, sports, birth, death, aging into Golden Year (80 Years Old) or your child graduation. Has anyone gone to Vegas lately (who hasn't)? Well, anyone hit a Jackpot?? Has anyone excelled in any sports activities or perhaps a family member has. How about golf, basketball, bowling, soccer, junior baseball, or anything of interest, we'd like to let our members know. These news tidbits are geared to bring members closer as a true club friendship. Some examples from our Officers and Board Members: Mr. and Mrs. Walter Ozawa have made many trips to Japan and have many interesting tales to tell. They have taken many pictures and are willing to share their trip experience with any club member. Give them a call (373-2415) or if there are enough members who are interested in learning about their trip a gathering could be arranged at the hall of Izumo Taisha. Mr. George Murasaki can make arrangements with Honolulu Community College for free personal computer classes. Give George Murasaki a call (737-3631) to learn about computers. Mr. George Kajiwara, although retired from the insurance business, will be happy to talk with you if you have any questions regarding insurance. Give George Kajiwara a call (395-8313). If you need any blessings; newborn, house, car, etc. call Rev. Amano (538-7778) and he will be able to give you that blessing and help with your other needed blessing. If you have any questions regarding construction, call our President, Mr. Dean Asahina (595-6452), who is the President of Universal Contracting Company. Although he is a very busy person he will take time out to help consult with you. If you need a lawyer who could help you with Wills or Living Wills, call on Mr. Richard Miyao (521-4550), who is the CEO of Izumo Taisha. He will be happy to help you. In this day and age legal help is something we need and is very important to our lives. On a happy note, Mr. and Mrs. Ken Yoda celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in November 2003. Keep it going Ken and Miye. Do you know what the meaning behind the Yamanashi symbol? The surrounding frame represents the beauty of Yamanashi through Mt. Fuji and the symbol of Takeda Shingen (a famous 16th century warlord) The inner symbol represents three people, the mountains of Yamanashi and peace and harmony. YOUR newsletter can only be interesting if members submit their news on interesting activities. So we call upon you to submit any information you may have just to keep up with friends of the club. Hopefully, the next newsletter will be sent out in April 2004. The club will be looking forward to receiving your information to be printed in the next newsletter. Wouldn't it be interesting if every member sent in the name of the birth place of your Father, Mother Grandfather, Grandmother or Great Grandfather and Great Grandmother. If you know, can you drop us a line of what part of Yamanashi Prefecture they had come from? Even if they were "local" born, that will be fine too. This would be of great information for your children's family tree. The club can put it together and make a booklet and give it to all members of the Club. We look forward to your contributions. Mahalo, Thank you, Arigato. | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
November 2002
Dear Members, The Board of Directors would like very much to have a closer relationship with our club members. We would like you to enjoy being a member of our friendship club and to keep you abreast of what is going on in our club. To do this, we have come up with the idea of publishing a Newsletter with the possibility of sending it out every three (3) months. We understand all of you have your lives to live, you all have lives to live; you all are involved in your own activities; you may be busy with other clubs you belong to; as well as keeping up with your children's sports activities. We are hoping, through this newsletter, you may develop some interest in perhaps incorporating some of your activities with members of our friendship club. In 2002, so far we have had three successful activities; the annual New Year Dinner banquet at Washington Place, our Summer Picnic at McCoy Pavilion, and our Tsukimi Moon viewing at Kawaikui Beach Park just two weeks ago. We are confident that those who attended these functions were enthusiastic about them and enjoyed themselves. We are happy to have sponsored the events and want to continue build camaraderie among our members. If you enjoy going out with friends, this is a good indication that you may enjoy getting together with fellow members if you were able to call them by first name, and might even call them to just chat or go for lunch, or perhaps join in each others' activities. We have many young families, friends and children so we don't have to wait for summer to gather together for a fun day at the park. For example, we could have a pot luck picnic with other families and their children to enjoy a weekend, without a formal club get together. On the reverse side of this letter is an outline of the type of newsletter we are proposing to publish. We hope members will enjoy the newsletter, and will send in items of interest that we can add to make it more meaningful. We also hope to include photographs to the newsletter. The newsletter will include names and phone numbers for you to call in interesting tid-bits to add to the newsletter, such as your million dollar winnings in Las Vegas, or new grandson being born! We hope to publish a newsletter every three months with our first by our 2003 Shinnen Enkai (New Years Party.) Board member and past Kyoyukai President George Kajiwara has volunteered to serve as Newsletter Editor, and Kelvin and Janet Yoda have volunteered to do the layout, set-up, printing and mailing of the newsletter. Thank you, George, Kelvin and Janet! YAMANASHI KYOYUKAI FRIENDSHIP CLUB NEWSLETTER FORMAT Page 1 CLUB INFORMATION: To be provided by board members.
Page 2 MEMBERS INPUT AND INFORMATION:
Page 3 PHOTO PAGE:
Please send your newsletter items to one of the following:
|
|
June 2002
Aloha! It has been some time since we sent out a newsletter! Gomen nasai! Sumimasen deshita! 80th Anniversary Commemoration and 2002 Shinnen Enkai a Success! Some 130 members, family members and guests attended our Shinnen Enkai at Washington Place in March and enjoyed the opportunity to visit this historic residence and to enjoy each others company in a very unique setting. Thank you all for participating! Mrs. Vicky Cayetano was a surprise visitor (although she lives there!) and warmly greeted and congratulated Yamanashi Kyoyukai on our 80th Anniversary. Lieutenant Governor Mazie Hirono also dropped by to visit with us and after sharing her warm comments about us, she stayed on to walk around and to personally meet and greet our members. The atmosphere was very special with live music of flute and harp in the background, and a special menu from L'Uraku Restaurant. Thanks to VP Dean Asahina for providing an excellent display of historic photographs of the organization, some which actually date back over 80 years of Yamanashi Kyoyukai history! The food must have been excellent because we had no leftovers and comments were heard that we want more next time. This writer noted that poor Dean Asahina was so busy he didn't have time to eat, and then when he did, the food was all pau! Auwe, but at least we know the food was good! There were many door prizes that were gathered and organized by Mrs. Gayle Ozawa. Over 80 family gift bags with omiage for our attending families were also distributed at the end of the function. Your Board of Directors and family members worked hard the Friday before to pack, store and transport the family gift bags to Washington Place on Saturday. Gokuro sama deshita! It was a great start for our new year! We will be looking forward to your attendance and participation at our next year's Shinnen Enkai, with MORE food and fun. To accommodate our older members we will be considering holding our party during lunch rather than at night. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu! UH Endowed Forum at Convention Center a Special Event. March was a busy month for the Yamanashi Kyoyukai. All our members received invitations from the University of Hawaii to participate in the Colleges of Arts and Sciences Endowed Forum Series on Universal Values on March 25 at the Hawaii Convention Center. 400 people attended. The event featured essay contest winners from Hawaii high schools on the subject of "Values and role models." Also feted were seven middle and high school students from Lafayette, Indiana, their teacher Ms. Leila Meyerratken, and a HUGE "120,000 Tassel Tapestry" or quilt measuring 19 feet by 41 feet in size. The Convention Center ballroom was chosen because of the size of the quilt, which would not have fit in most ballrooms in Hawaii. (A hotel ballroom would have been big enough, but the cost was prohibitive.) The three top essays were read by their respective authors, and there were many tears shed by those in the audience who appreciated the wonderful and touching messages shared by the students. The essays were followed by a presentation by the students and their teacher Leila Meyerratken on the quilt which honors the Americans of Japanese Ancestry (AJA) veterans of World War II. It was a very unique and special tribute as the quilt was designed and sewn by students from middle America, most if not all of whom had never met an Asian person before they began their project. The quilt's theme was on peace and justice, and the values exhibited by AJA soldiers of WWII who overcame wartime prejudice to fight for recognition and to prove their loyalty to America. The University of Hawaii will host a Fall Forum on values later this year tentatively set for December 3, 2002 at the Japanese Cultural Center featuring Korean Values as part of the Korean Centennial celebration in Hawaii. Yamanashi Kyoyukai members will be included on the forum mailing list. Takeda Shingen, Yamanashi Warrior and Legendary Leader. On June 23 at the monthly Board of Directors meeting at Izumo Taishakyo Temple, VP's Dean Asahina and Takashi Horiuchi will be presenting a short talk on Takeda Shingen, a legendary leader of Yamanashi, Japan who lived from 1521 to 1573. If you watch the current television series, "Matsu and Toshie" on KIKU TV, you can get a sense of Oda Nobunaga and the era during which they lived. Takeda Shingen was a skilled, and feared, military leader and fielded the greatest calvary brigade of the era. His power was evidenced by his victories over Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobunaga in 1571, forcing Ieyasu to flee. Thank you, Dean and Takashi. Yamanashi Kyoyukai Annual Picnic Saturday July 20. Our Annual Picnic which was not held last year is tentatively scheduled for Saturday July 20th, the day before our O-Bon Service. Please mark your calendars for now, as the location has not been finalized. We are carefully considering accessibility, parking, program and convenience for our members who may be reluctant to participate if the location does not carefully address these issues. Please be patient on this project as we would like to increase the number of participants. Yamanashi Kyoyukai O-Bon Service at Nu'uanu Soto Zen Temple on July 21. Board member George Kajiwara informs us that the annual O-Bon Service for Yamanashi Kyoyukai members is scheduled for 11:00 p.m. at the Soto Mission of Hawaii, 1708 Nu'uanu Avenue, Phone 537-9409. This annual memorial service is to honor and remember our ancestors. For those interested in enjoying the Bon Odori held by the temple, the Soto Mission of Hawaii Bon-Odori is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, August 16 - 17. Future Events to Remember!
|
|
January 2002
Aloha! Shinnen Omedeto gozaimasu! Happy New Year and Best Wishes for 2002! The first thing you should have noticed is the address above. We finally have an address for our mailings, and it also reflects your Board of Directors' efforts to re-energize our organization. We are excited with the prospect of meeting and interacting more regularly, with special activities designed for our members to learn and appreciate things about Yamanashi, our traditional and cultural furusato. The Board will be meeting on the second Sunday of every month, unless there is a conflicting holiday or event. I want to apologize for the long delay in communicating with you. The Board recognizes that the entire club has not held any major activities for some time, and world events of the past several months have not helped in our planning. However, members of your Board have been meeting to reestablish activities and events for everyone. Attached you will find a schedule of events planned for the year 2002, our 80th Anniversary. Shinnen Enkai and Annual Meeting. Please save Saturday, March 2, 2002, 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of Yamanashi Kyoyukai Friendship Club. Governor Benjamin Cayetano has graciously invited us to use the Governor's mansion, Washington Place for our annual meeting and New Year's party. Many of our members have never been inside this beautiful home, so it should be a very special occasion for everyone. We will be sending more information shortly. Because we may be limited in the number of people the Governor's home will accommodate, please make sure you save the date and respond early! Traditional and Cultural Events. We will be holding several traditional and cultural events to allow members to learn more about our ancestral homeland, Yamanashi. For example, we often hear about our Yamanashi folk hero, Takeda Shingen. He is a legendary hero in Yamanashi history, but how many really know about his exploits and why he is so important? We are planning to have a short Sharing Session on Takeda Shingen in June. Also, we often want to know more about Chado, or Tea Ceremony, but it is so formal that we are too shy about asking questions. We have scheduled another informal Sharing Session where we can come casually dressed and learn about tea, touch and handle the implements, and ask questions without being embarrassed about protocol. Regular Monthly Board Meetings. The Board Officers will be holding monthly meetings at the Izumo Taishakyo Temple at 215 N. Kukui Street every second Sunday of each month, unless there is a holiday or other conflict in schedule. Reverend Daiya Amano, a member of the organization has graciously invited us to use the temple's facilities. The meetings are open to anyone who wants to listen and observe the Board. The attached annual calendar shows the planned meetings and events. If you have any questions, please call Walter Ozawa at 373-2415. Monthly meetings will allow the officers to work with and get to know each other to help the Yamanashi Kyoyukai become a robust and active organization. Some of the meetings will be combined with a traditional or cultural activity and the Board meeting will be shortened to accommodate the activity. March 25, 2002 University of Hawaii Nisei Veterans Endowed Forum Series. Yamanashi Kyoyukai members will be invited to attend and participate in a special event at the Hawaii Convention Center sponsored by the University of Hawaii, focused on "Values." Part of an endowed series of forums on universal values, this event will feature a remarkable young middle school teacher from Indiana who decided to teach her students about racism, loyalty and justice through the Nisei veteran experience during World War II. Her students and their entire community learned tremendous lessons through her efforts and ultimately created a huge, 19 feet by 41 feet quilt incorporating actual memorabilia from Nisei veterans and others from World War II to honor and remember the AJA veterans. The teacher, Ms. Leila Meyerratken has been invited to come to Hawaii, along with some of her students, to display their quilt and tell their story of lessons learned about values to live by. Attendance at the forum is absolutely free, with a nominal charge for a bento lunch if you want. Yamanashi Kyoyukai Letterhead and Logo. Mark Ozawa, a graphics designer and son of member Gordon Ozawa is assisting us with a design for our logo and letterhead. We will be incorporating the official Yamanashi prefectural symbol with a Hawaiian theme that will be used on all our correspondence, to emphasize our unique ties to Yamanashi here in Hawaii. We will also begin regular contact with Yamanashi Prefecture so that we can receive more information and material to help us appreciate our cultural heritage. Because we are a friendship club, we want to foster better understanding and appreciation of our ancestral ties. Board Officers. The current Board of Directors for the organization are: Walter M. Ozawa - President We have asked George Kajiwara, Past President, to chair the Nominating Committee made up of Rev. Daiya Amano, George Murasaki, and Kenneth Yoda to develop a slate of officers for the next two years. The Board felt that the officers should serve on two year terms to allow for continuity of programs and service to our members. If you have any ideas or input in this process, please contact George at 395-8313. We will be holding our next election on March 2, 2002. Thank you. Thank you for your patience and support during this past year. We will look forward to seeing you during a very exciting new year of meaningful activities. Walter M. Ozawa |