Every year, the Japanese American Service Committee hosts their “Holiday Delight” or Kodomo Matsuri. This is a fabulous time to pick up many hand made cards and gifts.
The indoor festival starts at 10:00 AM, Saturday, November 12th, and will feature Japanese Food (home style) and refreshments, a Silent Auction and the exhibit from The Legacy Center.
Like many visible minority experiences, the Japanese American experience, especially in Chicago where Asian Americans were a tiny minority for many, many decades, is unique. While many of the cultural and social issues of visible non African American minorities are common between Latino, Asian, and Native Americans, each has their own story to tell. Specific group experiences are woven from the fabric of both cultural programming and the demographics and socio-economic experiences for each cohort and the generational opportunities or exclusions that shaped their outlook, and lives. Keith Uchima shares a well written piece which captures the essence of the times, for most all Sansei (third generation Japanese Americans)
The JASC was born out of the need to help Americans of Japanese descent to resettle after they were finally released from the concentration camps borne out of Executive Order 9066. Many did not return to the West Coast because everything they owned was destroyed, stolen, looted or pillaged, and they no longer had a home as they knew it, to return to.
There will also be performances by the JASC Tsukasa Taiko Drumming, Fujima Ryu of Chicago (Japanese Dancing), and of course an appearance by Santa Claus. Donations can also be made to the organization.
The Japanese American Service Committee is located at:
4427 N. Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60640
773 275-0097
For this event, parking is also available at the Philadelphia Romanian Church of God, 1713 W. Sunnyside, and at the New Black Ensemble Theater Cultural Center at 4450 N. Clark, at Sunnyside.
