1998 Formation of the California Japanese American Community Leadership Council
- Brought together, for the first time, the leaders of major Japanese American community groups from across the state.
1999 Creating a California Nikkei Leadership Agenda Symposium – San Jose (July 1999)
Identified four key focus areas:
- Leadership Development
- Diversity and Identity
- Preserving our Japantowns/Cultural Preservation
- Resource Development
2000 Nikkei 2000 Empowering Our Community for the 21st Century – San Francisco (April 2000)
National Conference addressing:
- Leadership
- Inclusive Nikkei Community
- Preserving and Creating Culture and Nikkei Values
- Japantown Preservation
- Political Involvement and Support
- Family plays a key role in our future
- Coalition Building and Global Networking
- Financial Resource Development
Leadership Program to Japan (September 2000)
- Organized in partnership with the Japanese Foreign Ministry
2001 Senate Bill 307 – Preservation of California’s Historic Japantowns in San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles
- First piece of legislation in the nation to address the preservation of an ethnic community through a cultural preservation planning approach
Spectrum: Broadening the Views of Young Nikkei – Los Angeles (April 2001)
- National Japanese American Youth conference
Youth and Young Adult Leadership Development Planning Project – Call to Action
Preserving California’s Japantown Legacy
- California Civil Liberties Public Education Program grant to create historic markers
Leadership Program to Japan (March 2002)
- Organized in partnership with the Japanese Foreign Ministry
Hapa Issues Forum: Diversity and Inclusion Conference
Proposition 40 and Senate Bill 307
- Implementation of funding for historic and cultural preservation of Japantowns.
Nikkei Cultural Survival (Ties that Bind 2) – Los Angeles (April 2002)
Identified several focus areas:
- Leadership Development
- Connect the Community, Inclusivity
- Cultural Preservation of Place
- Preserving Language and Cultural Practices
- Infrastructure Development
Nikkei Community Internship Program (Summer 2002)
- 13 college students placed at 9 Japanese American community organizations in Southern California.
Why We Care: A New Generation Looks at U.S.-Japan Relations – Los Angeles (August 2002)
A panel discussion with:
- The Honorable Taro Kono, Member of Parliament, Japan
- Dr. Mitchell Maki, Acting Dean, College of Health and Human Services, CSULA
- Toshiaki Miura, Washington Correspondent, American General Bureau, Asahi Shimbun
- Eric Akira Tate, Attorney, Morrison & Forrester LLP, President JCCCNC
- Teresa Watanabe, Journalist, Former Japan Correspondent, Los Angeles Times
- Irene Hirano, moderator, Executive Director, Japanese American National Museum
2003 Leadership Program to Japan (March 2003)
- Organized in partnership with the Japanese Foreign Ministry
- Expanded to areas outside of California
Nikkei Community Internship Program (Summer 2003)
- 12 college students placed at 8 Japanese American community organizations across California.
Three Japantowns Taiko Concert Series (Fall 2003)
- October 4 – San Jose
- October 11 – Los Angeles
- November 23 – San Francisco
Leadership Program to Japan (March-April 2004)
- Organized in partnership with the Japanese Foreign Ministry
- Delegates included Nikkei leaders from California, Hawaii, Houston, Portland, Seattle, and Washington D.C.
Nikkei Community Internship Program (Summer 2004)
- 13 college students placed at 11 Japanese American community organizations across California.
- Past and current NCI interns presented and led discussions on the young Nikkei perspective of the community’s future at the California Japanese American Leadership Symposium
California Japanese American Leadership Symposium – Little Tokyo (July 2004)
- Assessed the current state of the California Japanese American community
- Cultural and community preservation, youth participation, caring for our elders, and political leadership development were among the focus issues.
California Japantowns Cultural Preservation Planning Symposium (October 2004)
- Gail Dubrow, Associate Professor in the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Washington
- Donna Graves, Arts and Cultural Planner, former Executive Director of Power of Place, Los Angeles
- Diane Matsuda, Executive Officer of the California Cultural and Historical Endowment
2005 California Japantowns Cultural Preservation Planning Symposium (June 2005)
- Joe Tasutake, Japanese American Museum of San Jose
- Gail Dubrow, Associate Professor in the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Washington
- Donna Graves, Arts and Cultural Planner, former Executive Director of Power of Place, Los Angeles
California Japantown Landmark (June 2005)
- Unveiled in San Francisco Japantown at the CCLPEP conference
- Unveiled in front of Issei Memorial Hall, San Jose the fall of 2005
- Unveiled at Union Center for the Arts, Little Tokyo, Los Angeles on August 16, 2006
Nikkei Community Internship Program (Summer 2005)
- 12 college students placed at 11 Japanese American community organizations across California.
- 50 alumni of NCI at the conclusion of the 2005 program
- formation of an NCI alumni group.
2006 Preserving California’s Japantowns
California Civil Liberties Public Education Program grant
- Statewide project ot document historic resources 43 pre-World War II Japantowns
- Principal researchers: Donna Graves (Arts and Cultural Planner) & Gail Dubrow (University of Minnesota)
- launched http://www.californiajapantowns.org website
Nikkei Community Internship Program (Summer 2006)
- 14 college students placed at 11 Nikkei community organizations across California.
- 5th Anniversary celebrated at a community luncheon at the JCCCNC on August 18th.