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Dear friends and family,

On behalf of the Nisei Week Foundation, I would like to thank you all for your continued support. Many of you have included the Nisei Week Japanese Festival as part of your family summer tradition for generations, and for that we are so grateful. We hope you continue this tradition and join us for the 2021 Nisei Week Virtual Experience on Aug. 14.

The virtual program will feature live streaming and pre-recorded segments and will air on the Foundation’s YouTube channel. It will celebrate the best of what Nisei Week fans have come to love about the festival, including the announcement of the 2021 Nisei Week queen and court, who will serve as goodwill ambassadors for the upcoming year. The program will also honor the individuals and organizations who have made significant contributions to our community and take you behind the scenes of various small businesses in the heart of Little Tokyo.

This year’s theme is Ibasho. Ibasho is a Japanese word that means “a place to belong” and I found the theme fitting following an extraordinary year of unprecedented circumstances the COVID-19 pandemic brought. During this time, I realized the importance and strength of community. I witnessed the resilience of the Little Tokyo community taking on challenges and coming together to find innovative ways to help and support one another. This theme resonates so deeply with me as Little Tokyo is my ibasho, the place where I belong.

We hope that as you join us for the Virtual Experience this summer, it reminds you of all the great things about Little Tokyo and Nisei Week. And most importantly I hope this encourages you to make plans to join us in person in 2022 for the long awaited 80th Nisei Week Japanese Festival!

All the best,

Nancy Okubo,

2021 President

Nisei Week Foundation