July 2000

    Stateside Canada Day | Nikkei Nexus Update | Real Americans | Photos in Your Palm: Eyemodule for Handspring Visor | Ties Talk Archive Update: Views of Japan | Game On -- In Tokyo | An Evening With George Takei: Star Trek's Sulu | Taiko Building | Sweat and Swelter Tour of Japan

  • Sweat and Swelter Tour of Japan
    I leave today for the cauldron that is summer in Japan.
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    (29 July 2000)

  • Taiko Building
    This weekend I learned how to make a taiko (Japanese drum) from local Asian American drumming group Portland Taiko.
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    (22-23 July 2000)

  • An Evening With George Takei: Star Trek's Sulu
    Japanese American actor George Takei came to Portland this evening to appear at a benefit screening of his favorite Star Trek movie, 1991's Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (or, as he calls it, Captain Sulu to the Rescue). His plane from Seattle was delayed, then one of the local television news crews corralled him outside the theatre for an interview. Luckily the Klingons in attendance (in full battle regalia) got impatient and went out to get him! Before the show, he gave a short speech about how Star Trek was a special television series, his interest in preserving the past, in the form of old movie theatres in Los Angeles, and the importance of striving for a better future.


    "Live long and prosper!"
    George Takei and I give the Vulcan salute
    Afterward, there was an autograph session. When my turn finally came, we exchanged meishi (business cards) the Japanese way, and chatted a bit in Japanese. I know his aunt, who lives in Toronto -- there must be fewer than six degrees of Nikkei separation! These days he is busy doing voices for animated films like Walt Disney's Mulan and serving as a board member for organizations such as the National Japanese American Museum.

    • To The Stars
      George Takei's autobiography, featuring a moving account of the Internment and Questions of Allegiance from a child's perspective
    • The Excelsior Campaign
      A group that wants to bring back old-style Star Trek in the form of a new television series about the adventures of the U.S.S. Excelsior under the command of Captain Hikaru Sulu, played by George Takei

    Tonight's event was organized by the local Friends of the Parkinson's Center, whose efforts support research into Parkinson's disease, in part at Oregon Health Sciences University. Mr. Takei is a role model not only for being an Asian face on the popular screen, but also for his commitment to Nikkei community affairs. Meeting him was a huge thrill, but I was very disappointed at the lack of turnout to this event by the local Japanese and Asian American community and OHSU people. I think I was the only one from either group there!
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    (22 July 2000)

  • Game On -- In Tokyo
    Before Molson's recent "Rant", the best beer commercial on Canadian television was the one by Labatt that showed how a street hockey game could spontaneously erupt between businessmen and other pedestrians in the financial district of downtown Toronto. Only in Canada, you say? Not any more! Here is a link that was recently sent my way:

    On its "How to tell you're in Canada" page, An American's Guide to Canada writes, "A guy can get onto a bus wearing goalie pads, a helmet -- everything but the skates -- and nobody gives him a second look." Add the Tokyo subway to the list! (Actually, such a person would get second and third looks in Tokyo.) Hmm, maybe I should bring my hockey stick the next time I go to Japan ...
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    (12 July 2000)

  • Ties Talk Update: Views of Japan
    Many Nikkei-jin (people of Japanese descent living outside of Japan) have never been to the land of their ancestors, and (IF they are interested) must learn whatever they know about it from second- or third-hand information. This leads to some interesting, though not entirely accurate, perceptions of life across the Pacific. Though frequent visitors to Japan might have a bit more direct experience to base their opinions on, their view has its limits as well. Even Japanese nationals are not immune, if they have not been home in a while. Read about this on the Views of Japan and Views of Japan (II) threads in the Ties Talk Message Archive.
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    (11 July 2000)

  • Photos in Your Palm
    I got my latest gadget to work: the eyemodule digital camera for the Handspring Visor handheld computing device. The Visor is just like a Palm Pilot, but its advantage over its competitors is the Springboard slot on the back, into which various modules can be plugged, depending on the task at hand (pun intended). One of these modules is the eyemodule camera, a tiny device that can take pictures in black-and-white or colour:

    The photos are stored in your Visor until you synch with your desktop computer, or you can share photos by "beaming" them to another handheld device. The resolution isn't the greatest (what do you expect for $150?), but I could see this being convenient for, say, those doctors or nurses on the go in a hospital ward or clinic, who need to take photos of patients and are already carrying around a handheld device.
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    (09 July 2000)

  • Real Americans
    This summer I am taking another Japanese drumming course taught by Portland Taiko. This week the class discussed the controversy surrounding a proposed inscription for the National Japanese American Memorial, which is presently under construction in Washington D.C.

    The debate centers on the decision in 1942 by the Japanese American Citizens League to assist the U.S. government in the implementation of the presidential order to send Japanese Americans to internment camps. To people like JACL leader Mike Masaoka (author of the inscription), this cooperation demonstrated Japanese American loyalty to the U.S. Not all Japanese Americans felt that way: there were others who protested the relocation and demanded that their constitutional rights be restored.

    Similarly, on one side there were the nisei soldiers of the 442nd and MIS, who fought during WW-II even while their families remained behind barbed wire. On the other side were the resisters, who refused to serve until their families were released from camp.

    Which ones were the real patriots? Whose principles and ideals were most true to the spirit of America?

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    (04 July 2000)

  • There's an update at the Nikkei Nexus. Despite its new ".com" address, Nikkei Nexus is still very much a volunteer operation. The spirit of online volunteerism is under attack as the Internet becomes increasingly commercialized. I see that on About (formerly "About.com" -- the ".com" suffix is apparently passé), the guides for the Asian American Culture and Japanese Culture sites have quit.

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    (04 July 2000)

  • Stateside Canada Day
    With the 4th of July holiday coming up, some Americans have asked me whether Canadians have a national celebration. Yes we do, and today is it! Happy Canada Day! Being Stateside, I didn't do much other than have a bowl of maple-flavoured oatmeal for breakfast.

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    (01 July 2000)

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