June 1999

Japanese Genealogy
One my taiko course classmates is a sansei (third-generation Japanese American) from Los Angeles CA. She told us that while home this past Memorial Day long weekend, she was able to go to the Japanese American National Museum and look up her family tree in the records they have on file. When it comes to genealogical research, Nikkei-jin face some obstacles that people whose heritage language is English do not usually have to consider. These are outlined on my new Japanese Genealogy page, along with some (hopefully) helpful links.
Many performing members of Portland Taiko came to help out with tonight's lesson. They treated us to a rousing rendition of Matsuri. I got to meet PT co-directors Ann Ishimaru and Zack Semke.
(27 June 99)
During a gloomy overcast Portland weekend, what is there to do but go to the local movie house?
- Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace (USA 1999; Dir: George Lucas)
  I wanted to wait for the crowds to die down before going to see this latest installment of the Star Wars saga. It seems I waited a bit too long -- I was one of only ten people at this screening, so there wasn't much anticipatory energy in the cavernous theatre before the lights went down. Once the show began, though, I was carried off to all the new worlds created by Industrial Light and Magic. Particularly thrilling were the Naboo underwater sequence and the pod race on Tatooine. The vast Senate chamber was also well done. Yet when it was over, this story introducing Anakin Skywalker (father of Luke and the future Darth Vader) left me without a lasting impression -- a feeling shared by others, judging by the lack of repeat business. Points off, too, for the use of thinly disguised racial stereotypes in a movie which the makers have said is aimed at children.
- This Is My Father (USA/Ireland 1999; Dir: Paul Quinn) 1/2 [ STILLS]
  A burned-out, cynical middle-aged high-school teacher (James Caan) travels to Ireland in search of the father he never knew. An old woman in his mother's home town tells him a poignant story of pre-War times, when class distinctions and religion conspired tragically to keep lovers apart. In finding his roots, he is inspired to once again enjoy his work. The leads are perfect: Aidan Quinn as a lumbering but sincere tenant farmer and Moya Farrelly as the vivacious teenage daughter of his landlady. Stephen Rea has a great cameo as a sex-obsessed priest who tries to scare some morals into the congregation. The sermons are hilarious -- they almost make one think it might be fun to be Catholic!
- The King of Masks (China 1999; Dir: Wu Tianming)
  Wang (Zhu Xu), an aging street performer in pre-revolution China, comes to the realization that his art of mask changing will die with him unless he trains an apprentice. By tradition, the secrets can only be taught from father to son, so he visits an orphan market and is sold a boy, who he adopts. A visually rich film with many engaging performances, especially child actor Zhou Ren-ying as the talented but troublemaking Doggie.
(26-27 June 99)
Gomikan Taiko
Taiko (Japanese drums) are traditionally made from a single hollowed-out piece of wood and can cost several thousand dollars each. Even American-made wine-barrel taiko are expensive. So how can one afford to practice Renshu (The Taiko Practice Song) at home? In the past, taiko groups have used old car tires as practice "drums", but now a more realistic yet inexpensive alternative is available, thanks to the wonders of plastic! In my taiko class this evening we spent part of the time building gomikan taiko (garbage can drums). (I helped a classmate with her drum rather than making my own -- I have fellow apartment dwellers to answer to.) The procedure is quite simple: cover the mouth of a new, clean plastic garbage can or laundry tub with about four layers of packing tape. The key is to put enough tension in the tape and to use a receptacle that is sturdy enough to retain its shape. And don't forget to put a brick or two inside as a weight, otherwise you will be chasing your taiko around as it jumps away after each beat!
I also learned from one of my classmates that Portland was one of the filming locations for Come See The Paradise, British director Alan Parker's 1990 film about the World War II internment of Japanese Americans. Some members of the local Nikkei community got to be part of the film cast.
(20 June 99)
Weekend Walkabout
This was a rare weekend with good weather AND (now that the Spring Term at OHSU is over) no homework to do, so I wandered around town a bit:
- Oregon Nikkei Women: A Proud Legacy
  
  Mrs. Goto drives a truck
  Russellville OR, circa 1917
  I finally made it down to the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center when they were open (hours are limited by the availability of volunteer staff). The current exhibit shows the history of Nikkei women in Oregon, from the first picture brides to today's role models. This is a well done display of words, images and objects. There is one man's written proposal to his picture bride, her letter agreeing to marriage, and a paper full of her practice signatures in English as she prepared for life in America. In a wartime letter to her husband, a nisei woman offers to correspond in English or Japanese, "but writing in Japanese gives me a headache." Particularly effective was the "Internment suitcase", which asks the viewer to imagine what they would pack if they had to leave home taking only what they could carry, as many Japanese Americans did during World War II. Go see this exhibit before it closes on 29 August 1999!
  Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center, 117 NW 2nd Avenue, Portland OR 97209. Tel: (503) 224-1458. Exhibit hours: Fridays and Saturdays 11:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m., Sundays Noon-3:00 p.m.
- Just Be, Inc.
  Next door to the ONLC is a store that sells toys and action figures to do with Japanese television series like Doraemon, Mazinga Z, Kamen Rider V3, Kikaida Zero One, Ultraman and the more recent Pokemon. The proprietor is a 27-year-old man from Gunma Prefecture, who came to Oregon four years ago to study at Portland Community College. His first business was to send things American to Japan, like Nike shoes and Levis jeans. This current venture is very specialized, but appears to be succeeding through internet marketing.
- World Eats
  The food area of the Old Town Saturday Market, just off Ankeny Square, has booths that offer cuisine from around the world -- Greece, Hungary, England, Japan, Thailand, Mexico and (my current favorite) Tibet. Enjoy your lunch while listening to live music from the nearby stage.
- Summer Cup
  Luckily for me, most of the clientele at the Virginia Cafe (725 SW Park Avenue, Portland OR, (503) 227-0033) was sitting outside enjoying the sun, so I was able to convince bartender Tammy to tune one of the bar's televisions to Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final. ("Well, OK. Nobody is watching TV anyway.") One game, three overtime periods and a quantity of Old Lompoc India Pale Ale ( ****) later, the Dallas Stars emerged as this year's National Hockey League champions. In the end, it was a case of big payroll over small(er) payroll, but the pesky Buffalo Sabres put up a tough fight and made a good case for sensible player salaries. Mid-June is long after any reasonable person should care about ice hockey. The NHL has promised that next year's playoffs will end at least one week earlier.
(19 June 99)
For Goodness Saké
This evening I attended a saké tasting at Uogashi Restaurant in Old Town, hosted in part by Anzen Importers and Yuuyake Shimbun, the Portland Japanese community newspaper. About 60 people heard how a mixture of rice, koji (enzyme) and water can be made into at least 5 different styles of saké: junmai-shu (saké with no additives), daiginjo (saké brewed from rice milled to 60% or less), honjozo (saké to which a small amount of alcohol is added), taru saké (saké aged in cedar barrels), gen-shu (undiluted saké) and "infused saké", Momokawa's new line of saké with nashi (Asian pear), black raspberry, yuzu (citrus) and hazelnut flavours (exclusive to the U.S.!). Saké consumption is falling in Japan, but growing in America. Almost all the 20-odd saké we tasted were made in America. (Notable exception: Otokoyama from Hokkaido.) The U.S. presently has seven saké breweries, located in areas known for their high quality water, such as Colorado (1), Northern California (5) and Oregon (1). We learned about saké brewing and saké tasting parameters from Marcus Pakiser, an American who has lived in Japan, worked for Hakushika in Golden CO, and now represents Momokawa Brewing in Forest Grove OR, about a 45-minute drive west of Portland. He said he knew he would have to tell us the important things early, because after the first few samples we would be too boisterous to pay close attention. He says he has made senbei (rice crackers) out of saké kasu, what is left over after the raw saké is squeezed out of the fermentation mixture -- apparently children who eat those crackers get red cheeks!
- Saké History
- Saké World Web site by John Gaunter, writer of a semi-monthly column on saké for The Japan Times
- Saké Association of America
Proceeds of this saké tasting went to the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center. Uogashi Restaurant (107 NW Couch Street, Portland OR 97209) offers courses in sushi making and Japanese cooking. Call 503-242-1848 or fax 503-242-1862 for more information.
(12 June 99)
Maruoka Taiko
The appearance of this amateur Japanese drumming group at the 1999 Rose Festival is the first part of a cultural exchange agreement between Portland and Maruoka, a small Japanese city about the size of Corvallis OR. Things didn't get off to a good start this sweltering afternoon, as the day's Festival Stage program was put behind schedule by a local young girls' jazz dance group running overtime (the stage moms in the audience were staunchly unapologetic). Maruoka Taiko (~15 members, mostly women in their 20s to 50s) then took the stage, but lost much of the audience when they opened with a slow, lengthy dramaticized folk tale that could have used an English translation. The group was hampered by bad pacing, long "dead spots" and a curious thing I can only call karaoke taiko -- solo o-daiko drumming to a taped instrumental synthesizer track. People were able to relate better to the more conventional group drumming that closed the 45-minute show. An unusual sidelight was an artist who painted Japanese scenes on the white backdrop during the performance.
(12 June 99)
Quality Health
The 07 June 1999 edition of Maclean's, Canada's national newsmagazine (equivalent of America's Time or Newsweek) featured its first-ever Health Report, "an exclusive ranking [that] shows how 16 cities stack up in health services." Edmonton (where I trained) was #1! Toronto (where I trained some more and worked) was #2! (To be fair, not much separated the "top" from the "bottom" -- kudos for Canadian health care.) This is a manifestation of the growing Quality Movement that is attempting to finally bring accountability to the world of medicine. It illustrates the power shift that is taking place in medicine, from doctors to patients (consumers). Health informatics and Outcomes Research play a large part in collecting health care data and calculating quality indicators.
- Agency for Health Care Policy and Research
- Choosing Quality Health Care
(11 June 99)
NQ, NQ, NQ -- Are You A Nerd?
The 1999 Spring Term in Medical Informatics at OHSU comes to a close this week. I am slightly concerned that I have been spending more time with my computer than people, so I took the Nerdity Test. My Nerdity Quotient is 37.60% (188/500), which puts me in the category of "Closet Nerd"!
(09 June 99)
Everest Exposed
This evening I took in a slide presentation by Emmy Award-winning mountaineer/filmmaker David Breashears, who was in Portland to promote his new book High Exposure. He provided a behind-the-scenes look at the making of his film Everest, which involved taking an IMAX camera (Canadian technology!) and a team that included the son of Tenzing Norgay to the summit of the world's highest mountain. Breashears appeared very much at ease speaking in front of the capacity audience at First Congregational Church, which was more or less equally split between men and women. He noted how Mt. Everest in the 1990s has become just another commercialized tourist destination, and effectively conveyed the need for awe and respect for nature with his account of the tragic, avoidable deaths of many package tour "clients" and their guides during his filming in May 1996 (a subject also covered in Jon Krakauer's book Into Thin Air and The Climb by Anatoli Bourkreev & G.W. De Walt).
(08 June 99)
Taiko: Voice of Heritage
Most young North American Nikkei cannot speak, read or write the Japanese language, but one way they can voice their heritage is through the physical and musical blend that is taiko (Japanese drumming). This evening I started an introductory taiko course put on by the local drumming group Portland Taiko. The eighteen students are a mixed bag: people who became interested in taiko after seeing a Portland Taiko performance, some who have attended PT's Adult Workshops in the past, parents whose kids have enjoyed PT's Children's Workshops, and people who did taiko in Japan while teaching English. Only a few are of Japanese heritage. One person came all the way from Salem OR, about a one-hour drive from Portland. We all were hurting a bit after the abdominal crunches and push-ups that are part of the warm-up routine. In addition to drumming technique, the learning agenda for the coming weeks includes building practice drums and making bachi (drum sticks).
- "Anything but quiet" Taiko in America
- Taiko by Seattle Kokon Taiko's Stan Shikuma
- San Francisco Taiko Dojo Beautiful site with sound samples
Three taiko groups from Japan will perform in Portland during the Rose Festival:
(06 June 99)
There's an update at the Nikkei Nexus
(05 June 99)
Portland Rose Festival
Portland's biggest tourist attraction begins today. Native Portlanders at school and at work tell me this is a major civic event. I have the next three weeks to discover more about it.
(03 June 99)
Portland Penguins?
The 1999 National Hockey League playoff season is proving more eventful than most. It started with the retirement of The Wayner, continued with the remarkable run of the Toronto Maple Leafs (just ended last night with a loss to the Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern Conference final), and now features a bankruptcy court drama surrounding the fate of the Pittsburgh Penguins. There is a rumour that the franchise might be moved here to Portland! Apparently it would not be the first time for a professional hockey team in Portland to be called The Penguins; according to veteran Western Canadian sportswriter Jim Taylor, there was a team by that name in the Pacific Coast League of the 1940s.
(01 June 99)

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