Potluck & Conversation with Keiko Tsukayama, Master of Traditional Ryūkyūan Cuisine

Date: Oct. 26, 2024

Time: 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.

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KEIKO TSUKAYAMA, Master of Traditional Ryūkyūan Cuisine, will be joining us at this month's Nuchaashii Potluck Gathering! Tsukayama-san will be in person for a casual talk and will cook something for potluck attendees to enjoy. (Note: This is NOT a hands-on cooking workshop or demonstration)

In person potluck at the OAA Center's Yamauchi Bldg. in Gardena, California, and online via Zoom!

RSVP: tinyurl.com/nuchaashii24

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The Okinawa Association of America (OAA) and Okinawa Memories Initiative (OMI) are excited and honored to welcome Keiko Tsukayama, a master of traditional Ryūkyūan cuisine in Okinawa, to their annual World Uchinaanchu Day celebration on October 26 (Saturday), 4 - 6 p.m., in Gardena, California. The event will be part of the OAA’s monthly Nuchaashii Potluck Gathering, which is free to attend with one potluck dinner dish. RSVP required due to limited space: tinyurl.com/nuchaashii24, (310) 532-1929. Long distance guests can join online via Zoom (starting from 4:30 Pacific).

Tsukayama-san will be in person for a casual talk and will cook something for potluck attendees to enjoy. (Note: This will not be a hands-on cooking class or demonstration)

Schedule

• 4:00 – Potluck starts at the OAA Center’s Yamauchi Building
• 4:30 – Online via Zoom starts; self-introductions (in-person and online attendees have the option to introduce themselves using simple Okinawan language phrases)
• 5:00 – Conversation with Keiko Tsukayama
• 6:00 – Close

The OAA Center is located at 16500 S. Western Ave., Gardena 90247. Limited on-site parking accessible behind the buildings off 165th Place. The event will be in the Yamauchi Building, the facility nearest the gate. The Zoom link will be emailed to RSVP’d guests on the day of the event (please check your spam or promotions folder just in case).

World Uchinaanchu (Okinawan) Day
At the closing ceremony of the 6th Worldwide Uchinaanchu Taikai (2016) in Naha, Okinawa – a massive global “homecoming” for the Okinawan diaspora – the late Governor Takeshi Onaga officially declared October 30 as “World Uchinaanchu Day” in honor of the first Okinawan emigrants who fearlessly traveled across the world and the communities they formed. The idea was proposed by Andres Higa and Tadashi Andres Ysa Urbina, third-generation Okinawan descendants from Argentina and Peru, respectively. This date was selected because the Taikai takes place at the end of October every five years.

OAA’s Monthly Potlucks
The OAA’s monthly Nuchaashii Gathering (last Saturdays, 4 - 6 p.m.) was started in 2017 by Executive Director Yuko Yamauchi to create a welcoming and informal space for community members to meet and break bread. During lockdown, Nuchaashii continued online via Zoom and became a monthly respite for community members near and far. In-person potlucks returned in 2022 and the get-togethers are now “hybrid” every other month to maintain the long distance connections made during the pandemic.

Awarded as one of 2023’s California Nonprofits of the Year, the Okinawa Association of America, Inc. (OAA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that is dedicated to preserving and promoting Okinawan culture. Formed by first generation Okinawan immigrants, the OAA has grown into a multi-generational organization that hosts numerous events throughout the year including cultural lectures, performances, social gatherings, and senior-focused activities. 2024 marks the organization’s 115th anniversary as well as the 25th anniversary of the OAA Center in Gardena. For updates, please visit www.oaamensore.org or follow @oaamensore on Facebook/Instagram.

Launched in 2014, the Okinawa Memories Initiative (OMI) is a public history project with a team of faculty, staff, alumni, graduate and undergraduate students. OMI employs methodologies of experiential learning and community service to explore the dramatic changes in life, society and environment experienced by the islanders in the aftermath of the Battle of Okinawa. Training and employing up to 75 undergraduate and graduate students to do oral history interviews, archival research and processing, and media production in collaboration with partners in Okinawa and among the Okinawan diaspora in North America, OMI has conducted 7 research exhibitions on historical photography and 30 oral histories in Okinawa to date. More information: www.omi.ucsc.edu

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