Nima-kai Traditions
Discover Nikkei invites its global Nikkei community to share how they celebrate various traditions in these special Nima-kai community projects.
Check this page to find out about current projects and see photos and videos from past activities.
Itadakimasu! Celebrating Our Virtual, Global Community
In summer 2024, we asked our Nima-kai community to help us create a video celebrating our worldwide community. Food plays such an integral role in our identities and is often connected to our fondest memories. So we asked you to share your favorite cultural dish, then “pass it” to the person beside you. All the submissions were edited together to form one long video of people sharing food around the worldwide dinner table.
Thank you to everyone who submitted a “Pass the Food” video, to Asuka Lin for editing the final video, and to Will Scott for his work on this project. We hope you enjoy the video!
Past Nima-kai Photo Activities

Oshogatsu
(New Year’s)
2021
Oshogatsu Foods
Oshogatsu is the most important holiday in Japan and for Nikkei communities and families around the world. They celebrate the new year with important traditions and lucky foods like ozoni, toshi-koshi soba, and osechi-ryori.
Discover Nikkei invited its global community to submit photos to share how they celebrate the new year with food. They have been compiled into a video by volunteer Alison Skilbred. The accompanying stories are shared in an article by volunteer Kimiko Medlock. Enjoy!