The Pan American Nikkei Association, otherwise known as PANA, will have their COPANI convention hosted by San Francisco this September from the 20th through the 22nd.
The Berkeley JACL will be awarding scholarships to those interested in attending the convention but do not have the financial means to do so. Berkeley JACL youth and young adult members (age 35 and under) will be given priority but all applications are welcome.
This year’s COPANI convention will be the 20th biennial convention since the inaugural convention organized by Mexican Nikkei and hosted by Mexico City in 1981. The COPANI convention’s vision is to “Foster a socially, technologically, and commercially well-connected Pan American Nikkei community moving toward the future,” per the organization’s website. The convention will be a unique opportunity for Japanese Americans of Japanese Latin American and Non-Japanese Latin American descent to connect with Nikkei outside of the U.S. to foster relationships and collaborate with the greater Japanese diasporic community.
The Berkeley JACL chapter awarded scholarships to 6 high school seniors, one college undergraduate, and presented its Pioneer Award to Lee “Cubby” Nakamura during its April 29th awards luncheon held at Richmond Country Club in Richmond.
The chapter awarded scholarships to the following high school seniors based upon their academic
achievements, community involvement, school activities, work history, JACL involvement, written
essay, letter of recommendation, and group interview.
Luka Uchiyama (Castro Valley HS) will attend Cal Poly SLO and will major in bioresource and agricultural engineering – Luka is the recipient of the Bea Kono Memorial Scholarship.
Alexander Tsuetaki (Durham Acadamy – North Carolina) will attend Tufts University and major in computer science/science technology and society – Alexander is also the recipient of the Dan/Kathleen Date Memorial Scholarship.
Kailee Nabeta (Rio Americano HS – Sacramento) will attend Boise State University as a kinesiology major – Kailee is also the recipient of the Terry Yamashita Memorial Scholarship.
Jared Akiyama (Berkeley HS) will attend San Francisco State University and major in journalism.
Alyssa Cho (El Cerrito HS), will attend Domican University as an occupational therapy major.
Sydney Wong (El Cerrito HS) will attend San Jose State University and major in graphic design.
The chapter also awarded a college undergraduate scholarship to Maya Kashima. Currently attending Berkeley City College, Maya will transfer to UC Berkeley in the Fall as a media studies major.
The chapter recognized long time major sponsors Union Bank (Dimitry Bokman) and memorial scholarship donors: the Beatrice Kono family (George Kono), the Terry Yamashita family (Reiko Nabeta), and the Dan/Kathleen Date family (Gail Yamamoto).
The scholarship committee includes: Alix Ching, Mark Fujikawa, Tiffany Ikeda, Vera Kawamura, Neal
Ouye, Al Satake, Sharron Sue, and Ron Tanaka (Chair).
The 14th Annual Berkeley JACL Baseball and Bento event will take place on Saturday August 12, 2017 at 6pm, when the Oakland A’s play the Baltimore Orioles!
In addition to plaza infield seats, a delicious bento dinner and a bottle of water, there will be a fireworks show! All this for only $42!
We only reserved 75 tickets for this popular event. The deadline to purchase tickets is July 15, 2017.
On April 22, 2017, the Berkeley Chapter celebrated Ron Tanaka as our chapter unsung hero at the JACL NCWNP District Awards Banquet and Celebration in Danville. Ron Tanaka is the chair and driving force behind Berkeley JACL’s robust scholarship program, which this year awarded 12 scholarships for incoming college freshmen.
Berkeley JACL paid tribute to its scholarship recipients and Pioneer Award honorees at a luncheon on April 30. Pictured are (seated, from left) Junko Taniguchi, Courtney Tamaki, Kelsey Hirota, Rachel Hirota, Martha Castro and Kyra Kawamoto and (standing, from left) Carolyn Adams, Reiko Nabeta, Jonathan Shindo, Mia Li, Cailyn Sakurai, Toshio Steimetz, Amelia Huster, Hope Fa-Kaji, George Kono, Al Satake and Ranko Yamada.
The Berkeley JACL chapter awarded scholarships to 12 high school seniors and presented Pioneer Awards to Al Satake and Ranko Yamada during its April 30 awards luncheon held at Richmond Country Club in Richmond, Calif.
The chapter awarded scholarships to 12 high school seniors based upon their academic achievements, community involvement, school activities, work history, JACL involvement, written essay, letter of recommendation and group interview.
This year’s scholarship recipients are:
Martha Castro (College Prep High School) will attend Pomona College and major in molecular biology. She is also the recipient of the Dan/Kathleen Date Memorial Scholarship.
Hope Fa-Kaji (Berkeley High School) will attend Rice University and major in mechanical engineering.
Kelsey Hirota (Berkeley High School) will attend the University of California, San Diego, as a computer science major.
Rachel Hirota (Berkeley High School) will attend the University of California, Davis, as an animal sciences major. She is also the recipient of the Carolyn Adams Family Scholarship.
Amelia Huster (Berkeley High School) will attend the University of California, Santa Cruz, as an undeclared major.
Kyra Kawamoto (Albany High School) will attend the University of Hawaii as a marine biology major.
Mia Li (College Park High School) will attend Seattle University and major in international business.
Akira Roueche (Berkeley High School) will attend California State University, Fullerton, and major in kinesiology.
Cailyn Sakurai (El Cerrito High School) will attend Chapman University as a biological science major.
Toshio Steimetz (Berkeley High School) will attend the University of California, Santa Barbara, as an undeclared major.
Courtney Tamaki (Albany High School) will attend the University of California, Berkeley, as a genetic/genomic development major. She is also the recipient of the Terry Yamashita Memorial Scholarship.
Junko Taniguchi (Lowell High School) will attend Smith College as an undeclared major. She is also the recipient of the Bea Kono Memorial Scholarship.
Also during the awards luncheon, the chapter honored Al Satake and Ranko Yamada with its Pioneer Award, which recognizes those with the vision, compassion and energy to lay a foundation for building the Japanese American community into the active and vibrant one we share today, as well as linking past leaders with our future leaders.
In addition, the chapter recognized longtime major sponsors Union Bank (Dimitry Bokman), Wells Fargo Bank (Vance Oishi/Jonathan Shindo) and memorial scholarship donors from the Beatrice Kono family (George Kono), the Terry Yamashita family (Reiko Nabeta), the Dan/Kathleen Date family (Gail Yamamoto) and the Carolyn Adams Family.
Members of this year’s scholarship committee were Mark Fujikawa, Tiffany Ikeda, Lindsey Kuwahara, Vera Kawamura, Neal Ouye, Al Satake, Sharron Sue and Chair Ron Tanaka.
The Berkeley JACL chapter awarded scholarships to 6 high school seniors, one college undergraduate, and presented its Pioneer Award to Lee “Cubby” Nakamura during its April 29th awards luncheon held at Richmond Country Club in Richmond.
