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Congratulations to Debra Dominski and Nate Sonnenberg for being chosen to work as camp counselors in Japan. This summer they will be working with junior high school students in Nagasaki and staying with Japanese host families.
Have fun, you guys!!
The evening began with Bubblegum Crisis, a futuristic tale of a group of four women, one of whom is a up and coming rock star, that moonlight as cyber-punk crime fighters. It was the typical good guy vs. bad guy story, but the bad guys weren't completely destroyed leaving an opening for the rest of the series. The style of animation in this video is fair compared to other well known Anime. It was neither as colorful as Ranma 1/2, Rumiko Takahashi's tails of a young person who changes between male and female when splashed with water, nor as realistic as Katsuhiro Otomo's ground breaking science fiction epic Akira.
The Tale of Genji had a higher quality of animation, which was a definite plus for viewing pleasure. The story was about a prince who had numerous mistresses. The indirect plot in this subtitled version was hard to follow. Matching the characters with the proper Japanese names was a little difficult for the average American. Despite this drawback it was interesting to see another side of Japanese animation. Hopefully we'll be able to have another animation festival next year.
--Scott Dempsky
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to the top of the page.Instead of spreading messages, the words in Dr. Inada's poem spoke to our hearts. He did not say how bitter he was about his experience of being relocated to a camp as a child. However, there were strong feelings expressed in his poems. For those who could not attend this event, I would recommend reading his poems in his book, Legends from Camp, Coffee House Press, 1993.
At the end of the evening, Dr. Inada quoted a poem from Peace is Every Step by the Buddhist monk, Thick Nhat Hanh, about the pleasure of doing dishes. Today, we are in a hurry all the time. We worry about what is coming next: quizzes, exams, papers due, laundry, dishes and so on. He interprets that the present is being pulled away by the future and there will no longer be a present. Only the future and the past are left in our time. We should appreciate every minute we have. Summer is almost here!! Let's enjoy the summer and the present moment of life.
--Junko Nakamura
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to the top of the page.The speaker was Lawson Inada, who was taken from his home in Fresno
His grandpa had to sell his car, home, and business because they had
to go.
They were placed in an internment camp when Lawson was only three.
But what really hit home was that Lawson had to give up his dog "Jimmy".
He wrote poems about the lives of the different people he met along
the way.
He told us about the camp at the Fresno Fair Grounds, a place where
he used to play.
There were poems about a lost little boy, magic marbles, and the woman
who was white.
They were filled with an innocence and love that could not be denied.
I smiled and laughed but mostly I could have cried.
What amazed me most was that the poems were void of spite.
Where was the rage? Where was the anger?
All I could see was this spirit filled stranger!
Freedom is the basic inherent right we hold so dear in this nation.
But it was not fully realized by this man until "Denver Station".
He said that with practice, we could write poetry, and perhaps maybe
I can!!?
All I know for sure, is that on one very special Thursday night, I
met a beautiful man!
--Greg Rebek
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