Asian Pacific Directors
Coalition – Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Celebration
Saturday, May 3,
11am-5pm
Armory Food & Event
Hall, Seattle Center
The festival is part of
the Seattle Center Festál series. It is free and open to the public.
For event schedule and
list of participating vendors, see website: https://seattlecenter.com/events/featured-events/festal/aanhpi-heritage-month-celebration
Tsuru for Solidarity – Japanese American Community Call to Stop Repeating History!
Saturday, May 3, 2025,
2pm – 4pm
Blaine Memorial United
Methodist Church, 3001 24th Ave S, Seattle
Tsuru for Solidarity
joins with Densho, Minidoka Pilgrimage Planning Committee, Nikkei Student
Union, and Seattle Chapter JACL in calling for a community meeting to discuss
disturbing moves by the federal government that echo the treatment of Japanese
Americans during WWII. In the past few
months, the federal government has invoked the WWII experience of Japanese
Americans as an example, even a blueprint, for how and why they can round up
immigrants, detain them without hearing or charge, and hold them indefinitely
in mass detention sites. The media have commented on the similarities to JA
incarceration during WWII, and those caught in the immigrant roundup have cited
the Supreme Court decisions in the Korematsu and Endo cases as examples of the
dangers to civil liberties and the right of all to freedom under the law and
Constitution of the United States. This community meeting will kick off a much-needed
discussion on how the Seattle JA community can and should respond. Registration
link: https://actionnetwork.org/events/gathering-of-the-seattle-japanese-american-community?source=direct_link&
JCCCW – Kodomo no Hi 2025 (Children’s Day
2025)
Sunday, May 4, 11am – 5
pm
JCCCW 1414 S Weller St,
Seattle
Mark your calendars and
get ready to delve into the mysteries of yokai at Kodomo
no Hi (Children’s Day) at the JCCCW! Yokai are supernatural beings from
Japanese folklore – some are said to inhabit everyday objects, some are mimics,
and some even more closely resemble humans! From the kappa to tengu, there are
hundreds of different yokai – each with their own unique quirks and
appearances. Come discover the most famous yokai and make some fun yokai-themed
crafts! Translator and yokai specialist Zack Davisson will be giving a fun-filled presentation all
about these mysterious beings. This FREE all-ages event will also feature live
martial arts demonstrations, taiko drumming, tea ceremony demonstrations, and
local food vendors. You won’t want to miss it!
More information: https://www.jcccw.org/kodomo-no-hi/
Seattle Rep – New
Play Reading: No No Boy
Thursday, May 8, 7:30pm
Poncho Forum at Seattle
Rep
Join Seattle Rep for
a public new play reading of No-No
Boy, adapted by Frank Abe
from the classic 1957 novel by John Okada. No-No Boy tells
the story of Ichiro Yamada as he returns to Seattle after two years in a
Japanese American incarceration camp and two years in prison for refusing
conscription into the U.S. Army during World War II. Ichiro searches for
answers and a sense of justice in the face of hostility from his family and
community. Adapted by Frank Abe from the novel by John Okada. Directed by Leslie
Ishii. Tickets: $15.
Information and
tickets: https://www.seattlerep.org/events/special-events/new-play-reading-no-no-boy
Friends of Mukai – Day
of Exile Ceremony: Memorial Sculpture Design Unveiling
Sunday, May 18, 10am –
11am
Ober Park, 17130
Vashon Hwy SW, Vashon
Friends of Mukai on
Vashon Island is honored to announce they have received a $45,000 grant from
the T-Mobile Hometown Grant Program to construct a memorial sculpture at Ober
Park to honor the legacy of the 111 Vashon residents of Japanese descent who
were expelled from their homes on Vashon Island on May 16, 1942, in response of
Executive Order 9066. That Executive Order, signed by President Franklin Roosevelt
on two months earlier, directed the expulsion of 120,00 persons of Japanese
descent living in the Westcoast “Zone of Exclusion” into inland concentration
camps.
An unveiling event
for the design of the statue will be held at Ober Park at 10:00AM on May 18 at
Vashon’s annual Day of Exile ceremony. The public is invited to attend the
ceremony! Construction of the installation is planned for completion this year.
For more information:
https://mukaifarmandgarden.org/events/vashons-annual-day-of-exile-ceremony-memorial-sculpture-unveiling/