Nima-kai
Nima-kai Search
I am yonsei, descendant of people in Wakayama. I visited Japan last month for the first time, and fell in love with the culture, the people, and the overall feeling when I was there.
Mission and History Through innovation and excellence in taiko, Portland Taiko affirms Asian American pride, inspires audiences, builds community, and educates about our heritage and culture. Portland Taiko blends the tradition of Japanese taiko drumming with a sense of Asian American identity, creativity, and empowerment. Formed in 1994 by Ann Ishimaru, Zachary Semke, and Japanese American community activists, Portland Taiko started with one homemade taiko and practice drums made from car tires. With community support, the group built and purchased new drums, presented its first full-length concert in 1997, and became a non-profit organization and toured North America in the early 2000s. To date, Portland Taiko has reached over 1 million audience members at more than 1500 performances at theaters, schools, community events, and festivals.Portland Taiko performs throughout Oregon and Washington and offers classes and workshops. In 2024, the organization relaunched its summer internship program.
Hello! My name's Gian-Luca. My mom's Africo-Puerto Rican, my dad's Japanese-Brazilian. I speak English, Spanish, and Portuguese fluently, but my Japanese is super rusty. I'm currently working on improving that, especially since I plan on going to graduate school in Japan (Tōkōdai, woot woot!). I'm currently in school, double majoring in Computer Sciences and Sustainability, and double minoring in Environmental studies and Architecture. Crazy, right? I know. In any case, I love horses, tech, science, museums, coffee, wasabi peas, obscure, intellectual toys (Newton cradle, rubik's cubes, Maneki neko, and beer. Hello:)
Kuramoto Family in Gardena, CA, early 1900's. Born in Tokyo, Japan 1955; mother born in Gardena, CA 1917; grandfather Jirokichi Kuramoto, b. 1866, Japan; strawberry farmer; arrived prior to 1900 by ship to Seattle, WA; worked railroad in WA, OR, CA; until settling first in Kern County, then Gardena, CA. Married Kiyo Hashimoto 1900? Sold farm to Mr. Knotts of Knotts Berry Farm prior to WWII and returned to Tokyo, Japan with his family. Mother returned to States 1959 [mother married my father (US military) in 1954]. I am very happy to be part of Discover Nikkei.
The mission of the Oregon Nikkei Endowment is to preserve and honor the history and culture of Japanese Americans in the Pacific Northwest, to educate the public about the Japanese American experience during World War II, and to advocate for the protection of civil rights for all Americans. In 1990, the Japanese American Historical Plaza was completed at the north end of the Tom McCall Waterfront Park in Portland. Conceived and guided by the Oregon Nikkei Endowment and designed by the late Robert Murase, the Plaza, along with its narrative of sculpted stones, stands as a permanent memorial to the lives of Oregon Nikkei and their determined pursuit of liberty, equality, and justice as American citizens. With funding from the Meyer Memorial Trust and support from the Japanese National Museum in Los Angeles, the Oregon Historical Society and the Portland Nikkei community, an exhibition honoring the first Issei pioneers in Oregon was developed in 1993. It was while researching "In This Great Land of Freedom: The Issei Pioneers of Oregon" that the Nikkei community was alarmed to find that historical documentation relating to these early settlers was rapidly disappearing. The prospect of losing forever the legacy of their Issei forebears quickly moved the community to action. An Oregon Nikkei Endowment committee was formed, and work began in earnest to locate a site for what would one day become the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center. By 1996 and with the help of the late Bill Naito, the committee had located a potential site owned by the H. Naito Corporation on Northwest Front Avenue across from the Japanese American Historical Plaza. Negotiation for acquiring the property and bringing it up to city building codes began, but were suspended upon the untimely death of Mr. Naito. Subsequently, Sam Naito and the H. Naito Corporation proposed an alternative site in Portland's Old Town on NW Second Avenue. In September of 2004, the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center relocated to 121 NW Second Avenue, the current home of the Legacy Center.
I am Manager of the Minidoka Swing Band - a tribute band remembering the music that made life bearable behind barbed wire in the Japanese American Internment camps of WWII. Named after the Minidoka Internment Camp near Twin Falls, ID
Henry Amick is Education Manager at Oregon Nikkei Endowment. He has been providing museum services since the late 1980s. He was the director of education for the publicly operated museums of the City of Detroit, heritage research fellow in Sweden, and educational adviser to the creation of the Arab American National Museum. Amick earned a BA in History from Albion College, an MS in Preservation from Eastern Michigan University, and a Certificate in Cultural Leadership from the University of Victoria (Canada). He has a specialization in effect of environments on enhancing human potential.
Discover Nikkei Updates
Tuesday, December 9
Hosted by traci kato-kiriyama
Featuring Aaron Caycedo-Kimura, Erica Isomura, and Syd Westley
