Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/1740/

Food preparations for Keirokai

They have months planning of it, and they say to the smallest details who's going to decorate the room, and for example, they serve an ozoni, or some soup. I think maybe it's miso, maybe it's just miso but it has what they call a mitsuba that they put a little leaf that has the three petals, there are three leaves, and they have to be tied in a ribbon. And so before... I think it needs to be planted, or trimmed, I don't know 15 days before so when the leaves are the right size to be harvested, and served in the soup.

So stuff like that logistically, they've been working about who's buying the shiitake that goes in the stew, or the seaweed for the wraps, whatever it is they work months, and they have a spreadsheet already, and the list of tasks, and everything. But that is usually organized, the food is cooked by the fujin-bu, it's a group of females. And that's what they pride themselves that they're serving them food that specially all Japanese, or as Japanese as we can make it with whatever we have available in Colombia.


Colombia communities events food Japanese Colombians Keiro (organization)

Date: September 22, 2019

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Yoko Nishimura

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Monica Teisher was born in Cali, Colombia in 1974 to an Issei father and Nisei mother. She and her large extended family were active in the Cali Japanese community, the largest in Colombia. She moved to the United States after marrying a U.S. citizen of Eastern European Jewish descent. They and their daughters spend vacation time in Colombia, participating in community events. (May 2020)

Glaser,Byron

Growing up in a Japanese American community

Illustrator and designer

Ota,Vince

Little contact with Asians growing up on the east coast

Japanese American Creative designer living in Japan

Sogi,Francis Y.

The Kona Island community

(1923-2011) Lawyer, MIS veteran, founder of Francis and Sarah Sogi Foundation

Bannai,Lorraine

The importance of Japanese American role models in childhood community

(b. 1955) Lawyer

Bannai,Lorraine

Recognizing issues of dual identity in the nisei generation

(b. 1955) Lawyer

Bannai,Lorraine

Heightened awareness of identity as a Japanese American

(b. 1955) Lawyer

Oda,Margaret

Memories of family dinners

(1925 - 2018) Nisei educator from Hawai‘i

Oda,Margaret

Symbolic New Year’s foods prepared from scratch

(1925 - 2018) Nisei educator from Hawai‘i

Hirose,Roberto

Growing up with some Japanese families (Spanish)

(b. 1950) Nisei Chilean, Businessman

Hirose,Roberto

The various realities of Nikkei in Latin America (Spanish)

(b. 1950) Nisei Chilean, Businessman

Yamada,Luis

Suffering in World War II (Spanish)

(b. 1929) Nisei Argentinean

Watanabe,Margarida Tomi

Relief fund to support Japanese communities (Japanese)

(1900–1996) The mother of Nikkei Brazilian immigration

Watanabe,Margarida Tomi

Role of Assistancia Social dom Jose Gaspar (Japanese)

(1900–1996) The mother of Nikkei Brazilian immigration

Abe,George

Taiko Community

(b. 1944) taiko and flute performer

Mizuki,Peter

Appreciation of Japanese food

Sansei Japanese American living in Japan and Kendo practioner