Final SF Performance! KINTSUKUROI follows members of the Ito family from their pre-war life in San Francisco’s Japantown to the concentration camps of the American West to the battlefields of Europe as they struggle to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives.

KOHO’s Matsuri House: Japanese Festival Fashion Pop-Up & Fundraiser: Experience the joy of wearing 浴衣 Yukata, the summer festival kimono, during the Cherry Blossom Festival! KOHO aims to transform and educate our visitors on Matsuri festival fashion and energize Sakura Matsuri though fashion and visual displays. We hope audiences walk away with knowing more about this tradition as an artisan medium. We will have a few Yukata and accessories for sale. On most days, we will conduct a workshop on how to fold and store your yukata and how to dress. Bring your own Yukata, and sign up for a limited slot for us to help dress you! RSVP to get notified as soon as we release the timeslots!

4/12 Sat, 11am - 3pm Yukata Purchase and Dressing

4/12 Sat, 3pm Yukata workshop

4/13 Sun, 11am - 3pm Yukata Purchase and Dressing

4/13 Sun, 3pm Yukata workshop

4/19 Sat, 11am - 3pm Yukata Purchase and Dressing

4/19 Sat, 3pm Yukata Workshop

4/20 Sun [Parade day], 11am - 3pm Yukata Purchase only

Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival

April 12-13 & 19-20, 2025

Welcome to the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival®, one of California’s most prominent celebrations of Asian traditions and the largest Cherry Blossom Festival on the West Coast. All are welcome to join in the festivities as we celebrate Japanese and Japanese American culture with you, live and in Person again!

Support our Festival by becoming a sponsor, volunteer, and/or attendee of this popular Japanese American community event. This event is free and open to the public.

Since 1968, the Festival serves to cultivate the continued alliance between Japan and the United States, using culture as its bridge. Each year, over 220,000 people attend this dazzling display showcasing the vibrant colors and grace of the Japanese culture and the rich heritage and diversity of the Japanese American community.

This year, we are excited to announce that while the Peace Plaza is undergoing renovations, our Festival is not scaling back and in fact, we are expanding! On the first weekend (April 12-13), we will be adding a block of Sutter Street, bringing our Festival to even more parts of our beloved Japantown community.

This year also marks the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In recognition of this, our Community Marshal will honor the Hibakusha—survivors of the bombings—and their descendants. It is a meaningful moment to reflect on history and to reaffirm our commitment to peace.

Whether you are here to enjoy cultural performances, savor delicious food from our nonprofit food vendors, or cheer on the Grand Parade, we hope you will take a moment to appreciate the spirit of this Festival. There is something for everyone, and we cannot wait to share this special time with you.

Music for the Ocean is a set of new compositions and improvisations by violinist/composer Chad Cannon, accompanied by pianist Hui Wu. The program builds empathy with and concern for the ocean by telling science-based stories about sound and marine life through music. Sounds from the ocean (such as hydrophone recordings of whale song from 6000m below the surface, and coral reef recordings), watery electronic soundscapes, and projected imagery (including underwater photography and abstract art) all come together to form an immersive, unforgettable experience. Audience members learn about human-created sounds and their effect on marine life, and hopefully come away from the performance eager to contribute to ocean and marine life conservation projects.

Chad Cannon is a composer interested in the intersection of history, cultures, and human stories. Recent credits include the Oscar-winning Netflix documentary film American Factory, Sony PlayStation's Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut (Iki Island Expansion), and HBO's Night is Not Eternal.

In 2023 he received a News and Documentary Emmy nomination for Exposing Muybridge. He is the arranger and orchestrator for the world-traveling Joe Hisaishi Symphonic Concert: Music from the Studio Ghibli Films of Hayao Miyazaki, and is the co-founder of Asia/America New Music Institute (AANMI). He is a graduate of Harvard, Juilliard, and the Sundance Composer Labs.

• This is a free community concert. Attendees are encouraged to reserve tickets here. Unticketed walk-ins are permitted based on availability, but ticketed patrons will be seated first. Unclaimed tickets will be released 10 minutes before the start time. Seats are unassigned.

• Performances and screenings in Tateuchi Hall are suitable for ages 7 and up. To ensure the best experience for all guests, children should be able to sit quietly during the performance (approx. one hour).

• CSMA’s 2024-25 Community Concert Series is supported by the Applied Materials Foundation and the Rotary Club of Los Altos. Thank you to our sponsors!

The Japantown Cultural District Scavenger Hunt kicks off at the JCD Visitor Center on April 12! How to participate:

1. Pick up a flyer at the Visitor Center.

2. Visit the above 5 stores/restaurants and take pictures of their storefronts or signboards.

3. Return to the Visitor Center and upload your photos to social media.

4. Receive Limited Edition Myaku Myaku stickers as a reward!

Reserve your seat at the Spring Tea Ceremony! This traditional event is held annually to celebrate the transition of the beautiful seasons and to enjoy a peaceful moment with friends and family.

There will be 4 tea ceremony sessions on April 12th, 2025 (Sat) at 11:00 am, 12:00 pm, 1:00 pm, and 2:00 pm at the historical Kanso-An tea room in Hokka Nichibei Kai Building.

We will be serving traditional Japanese Green Tea and Sweets at the ceremony. You will have the opportunity to experience the Tea Ceremony and learn about its Rich History and Cultural significance. Participants can choose to sit on the Tatami floor or bench seat.

Each session is about 45 minutes. Please arrive at least 10 minutes before the event. We can not guarantee your attendance at the ceremony if you are late.

SOCKS REQUIRED. White color is preferred per the examples of traditional Tabi socks.

RSVP by April 11th, 2025. If you have any questions or special requests, please do not hesitate to contact us at hokka.nichibeikai@yahoo.com

We look forward to sharing this special occasion with you!

Online Reservation: $28 + fees (Credit card)

Nichibei Kai Member: $18 (w/Promo Code) + fees

Walk-in: $33 non-members, $23 members (Cash only) *Based on availability, first-come, first-serve

KOHO’s Matsuri House: Japanese Festival Fashion Pop-Up & Fundraiser: Experience the joy of wearing 浴衣 Yukata, the summer festival kimono, during the Cherry Blossom Festival! KOHO aims to transform and educate our visitors on Matsuri festival fashion and energize Sakura Matsuri though fashion and visual displays. We hope audiences walk away with knowing more about this tradition as an artisan medium. We will have a few Yukata and accessories for sale. On most days, we will conduct a workshop on how to fold and store your yukata and how to dress. Bring your own Yukata, and sign up for a limited slot for us to help dress you! RSVP to get notified as soon as we release the timeslots!

4/12 Sat, 11am - 3pm Yukata Purchase and Dressing

4/12 Sat, 3pm Yukata workshop

4/13 Sun, 11am - 3pm Yukata Purchase and Dressing

4/13 Sun, 3pm Yukata workshop

4/19 Sat, 11am - 3pm Yukata Purchase and Dressing

4/19 Sat, 3pm Yukata Workshop

4/20 Sun [Parade day], 11am - 3pm Yukata Purchase only

Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival

April 12-13 & 19-20, 2025

Welcome to the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival®, one of California’s most prominent celebrations of Asian traditions and the largest Cherry Blossom Festival on the West Coast. All are welcome to join in the festivities as we celebrate Japanese and Japanese American culture with you, live and in Person again!

Support our Festival by becoming a sponsor, volunteer, and/or attendee of this popular Japanese American community event. This event is free and open to the public.

Since 1968, the Festival serves to cultivate the continued alliance between Japan and the United States, using culture as its bridge. Each year, over 220,000 people attend this dazzling display showcasing the vibrant colors and grace of the Japanese culture and the rich heritage and diversity of the Japanese American community.

This year, we are excited to announce that while the Peace Plaza is undergoing renovations, our Festival is not scaling back and in fact, we are expanding! On the first weekend (April 12-13), we will be adding a block of Sutter Street, bringing our Festival to even more parts of our beloved Japantown community.

This year also marks the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In recognition of this, our Community Marshal will honor the Hibakusha—survivors of the bombings—and their descendants. It is a meaningful moment to reflect on history and to reaffirm our commitment to peace.

Whether you are here to enjoy cultural performances, savor delicious food from our nonprofit food vendors, or cheer on the Grand Parade, we hope you will take a moment to appreciate the spirit of this Festival. There is something for everyone, and we cannot wait to share this special time with you.

Free livestream via Zoom

3 films + discussion with filmmakers

Murder in the High Desert (20 min) by Emiko Omori

Wakasa Spirit Stone (7 min) by Glenn Mitsui

Spirit Rock (4 min) by Claudia Katayanagi

James Wakasa was shot and killed by a guard on April 11, 1943 at Topaz concentration camp during WWII. Join us to discuss buried history, his WWII monument, and the Wakasa Spirit Stone, a washi sculpture made by camp survivors and descendants that is being taken in remembrance to the places where camp inmates were shot and killed by the military.

The J-Town Community Clean-Up has been a very successful effort led by the Japantown Community Benefit District. The J-town Community Clean-Up is also a great opportunity for groups and organizations to get involved in Japantown!

In order to provide all participants tools needed to clean our neighborhood we are limiting the number of volunteers to 30 for each Community Clean-Up date. This number will allow us to effectively use the volunteers time to clean our community.

Throughout the cleaning we will have community photographers taking photos of all the hard work. These photos will be shared on our social media as well as our Keeping Japantown Connected e-news that goes out to the community, City agencies/departments and to the general public. By signing on to this Google Form you have given us permission to use the photos taken during your volunteer time.

Bay Area Convening: connecting our history of Japanese American WWII incarceration to the current moment and uniting against mass detention and deportation @ KOHO

2 - 4PM

Topaz Collages - The Art of Jeanie Kashima - Artist Presentation

Eugenia "Jeanie" Kashima was the first baby born in Topaz (Central Utah) Concentration Camp, on September 22, 1942. Seventy-eight years later during the initial stages of the COVID epidemic Jeanie would revisit her birth via art. This journey would produce the collages here.

Her family lived in Berkeley before the war where her grandfather Seizo Oishi owned a wholesale carnation nursery in Richmond, CA, and her father was a landscape architect. Persuant to E.O. 9066 her mother, father, and older brother were forced from their home and sent to Tanforan "Assembly Center" before being transfered to "Central Utah War Relocation Center," later known as Topaz.

The idea of these collages began with the discovery of family photographs, during the COVID quarantine. Each photo by Edna Horiuchi/Discover Nikkei photo was only about two by three inches.

The family was photographed by her uncles, both of whom had volunteered to serve in the US Army 442nd Regimential Combat Team. Cameras were not normally allowed in camp but her uncles snapped pictures of the family while on leave.

In 2020, Jeanie enlarged these photo images and added them to her mixed media to create the collages. Her mix of the historic images blended with her artistic interpretation add to the richness and depth of life in Topaz, and her return to Topaz in 2022.

These collages have been shown at at the Visions Museum of Textile Art in San Diego.

On Saturday, March 15, 2PM NJAHS hosts Jeanie Kashima's "Artist Meet & Greet program and discussion. Kashima's art is currently on display at the NJAHS Peace gallery in Japantown, 12 Noon- 5PM & first Sats of each month. EVENT IS FREE. Please RSVP (light refreshements provided)

​The World Agri-Tech Summit in San Francisco provides a unique opportunity for global key players in the agricultural technology and related industries to meet and exchange insights. In conjunction with the summit, leading Japanese Agri-Tech companies and startups will showcase their latest technologies and collaborations that address pressing challenges in the industry.

​Both California and Japan aim to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045 and 2050, respectively. This session will explore climate change mitigation strategies through the lens of Agri-Tech innovation. This program is generously hosted by the Consulate-General of Japan in San Francisco and the Japan Society of Northern California.

Date & Time: 
Monday, March 10th from 3:00p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
*Doors open at 2:30 p.m.

​Location: Digital Garage
717 Market Street, Suite 100
San Francisco, CA 94103

WELCOME TO THE 14TH ANNUAL FILMS OF REMEMBRANCE

Films of Remembrance is the premier showcase of films commemorating the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans in American concentration camps during World War II.

In addition to our San Francisco and San Jose screenings, this year, thanks to our Presenting Sponsors, we are excited to expand Films of Remembrance to TWO Southern California locations: Little Tokyo in Los Angeles and Gardena, Calif.

We hope that you can join us for one of our in-person screenings. In March, most of these films will be available for streaming. Sign up for our mailing list to be notified.

For 2025, in–person screenings will be held in four cities: San Francisco; San Jose; Little Tokyo, L.A.; and Gardena, Calif. Each venue will host five programs, including panel discussions with filmmakers after each screening. There will be special Filmmaker Receptions after the programs in San Francisco and Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo.

WELCOME TO THE 14TH ANNUAL FILMS OF REMEMBRANCE

Films of Remembrance is the premier showcase of films commemorating the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans in American concentration camps during World War II.

In addition to our San Francisco and San Jose screenings, this year, thanks to our Presenting Sponsors, we are excited to expand Films of Remembrance to TWO Southern California locations: Little Tokyo in Los Angeles and Gardena, Calif.

We hope that you can join us for one of our in-person screenings. In March, most of these films will be available for streaming. Sign up for our mailing list to be notified.

For 2025, in–person screenings will be held in four cities: San Francisco; San Jose; Little Tokyo, L.A.; and Gardena, Calif. Each venue will host five programs, including panel discussions with filmmakers after each screening. There will be special Filmmaker Receptions after the programs in San Francisco and Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo.