Nisei Week

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Nisei Week is a annual festival celebrating Japanese American culture and history in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. Nisei means 2nd generation in Japanese, describing the first American born Japanese. Nisei Week draws tens of thousands of participants each year, from both the Japanese community and Southern California area. Festivities are held over one month, though the main attractions are held during the primary week of the festival in mid-August.

The first festival was held August 13, 1934, founded by the JACL during the Great Depression. The festival has been running continuously, except the years during and immediately after Japanese internment. Nisei Week is currently run by the nonprofit Nisei Week Foundation. Nisei Week celebrated its 50th aniversary in 1990. [link][link]

Nisei Week's mascot is "Aki", an akita inu [link]. Aki was created by renowned mascot artist Dick Sakahara.

Nisei Week's celebrations will be held on August 12th and 13th along with Tofu Festival in 2006.

Contents

1 Festivities

1.1 Nisei Week Parade
1.2 Go For Broke and U.S. 100th Infantry Battalion Exhibits
1.3 Nisei Week Car Show
1.4 Nisei Week Queen and Court
1.5 Nisei Week Street Arts Fair
1.6 Tofu Festival
1.7 Nikkei Games

2 External links
3 See also

Festivities

Nisei Week has many attractions and exihibitions, which change annually, though many traditions remain each year.

Nisei Week Parade

The Nisei Week Parade takes place on Sunday of Nisei Week, featuring highschool marching bands, ondo groups, martial art dojos, elected parade marshals (usually celebrities), Japanese and local politicians (such as the Mayor of Los Angeles), a mikoshi shrine, floats, pagent queens, taiko players, etc. Spanning several hours, the Nisei Week Parade lasts longer than the Rose Parade due to its many participants and slow walk pace of traditional Japanese dancers.

Go For Broke and U.S. 100th Infantry Battalion Exhibits

After WWII, exhibits were introduced about internment camps and Japanese American veterans, including those of the U.S. 100th Infantry Battalion. JA veterans march every year in the Nisei Week Parade.

Nisei Week Car Show

The Car Show was introduced in 2004, and features import cars along with competitions for cash prizes [link]. The Car Show celebrates Japanese and Asian American influence and foundations in the import scene.

Nisei Week Queen and Court

The 2nd annual Nisei Week introduced the Nisei Week pagent and Nisei Week Coronation Ball [link], where nikkei females were awarded for their community service. New queens and princesses (part of a court marked by year) are inducted annually and featured prominently on float during the Nisei Week Parade.

Nisei Week Street Arts Fair

Originally similar to an matsuri or carnival, a street festival was held over the weekend, featuring games, crafts, and rides for children, along with food and arts vendors. Since 2000, the carnival has been removed, but Street Arts has remained; Street Arts features Southern California crafts and food vendors.

Street Arts and the carnival were always open to the public, with no admission fee. Street Arts continues to be an alternative to Tofu Festival's admission based system. The upcoming 2006 Nisei Week festival will feature a matsuri, held by the Japanese Student Network [link], further relieving the need for Street Arts to heavily cater to children.

Tofu Festival

Tofu Fest was added as a subcommittee to Nisei Week in 1996, focusing on Japanese cuisine and obon like atmosphere. As its name suggests, tofu is the primary ingredient of dishes and the cultural icon of the festival. Tofu Fest also features a large array of sake and beer, supplementing Little Tokyo's own beer gardens and Street Art's vendors.

Due to Tofu Fest's wider cultural and material appeal, along larger funds to work with (Tofu Fest charges admission into its area), it has outgrown Nisei Week's Street Arts fair -- Tofu Fest's first fair had over 8,000 visitors. [link]

Nikkei Games

The Nikkei Games offers competition and activities for Japanese American sports leagues, and open events such as running for children. It also features martial art competitions and exhibitions. [link]