Kizuna 2020: Nikkei Kindness and Solidarity During the COVID-19 Pandemic
In Japanese, kizuna means strong emotional bonds. In 2011, we invited our global Nikkei community to contribute to a special series about how Nikkei communities reacted to and supported Japan following the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Now, we would like to bring together stories about how Nikkei families and communities are being impacted by, and responding and adjusting to this world crisis.
If you would like to participate, please see our submission guidelines. We welcome submissions in English, Japanese, Spanish, and/or Portuguese, and are seeking diverse stories from around the world. We hope that these stories will help to connect us, creating a time capsule of responses and perspectives from our global Nima-kai community for the future.
* * * * *
Although many events around the world have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have noticed that many new online only events are being organized. Since they are online, anyone can participate from anywhere in the world. If your Nikkei organization is planning a virtual event, please post it on Discover Nikkei’s Events section! We will also share the events via Twitter @discovernikkei. Hopefully, it will help to connect us in new ways, even as we are all isolated in our homes.
Stories from this series
Dreaming of travel to Japan
Jan. 3, 2021 • Gil Asakawa
During the last week of October, there was a lot on my mind, including Covid-19 and the ongoing pandemic, and of course the November U.S. elections. But I also found myself at a moment in time, looking back one year that week to a 2019 family trip to Japan, and looking forward to next year with the hopes that we’ll be able to return. Longtime readers know I was born in Japan and moved to the U.S. when I was …
Virtual Bunka no Hi 2020
Dec. 29, 2020 • Japanese Cultural & Community Center of Washington
Located in Seattle, the Japanese Cultural & and Community Center of Washington (JCCCW) offers many quality programs to fulfill its mission, “To build and grow a central gathering place for sharing and promoting Japanese and Japanese American culture and heritage.” Our programs include community events, the Northwest Nikkei Museum, and the Seattle Japanese Language School, the oldest Japanese language school in North America. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, most of these programs went online in 2020. One of our popular …
2020: trust and mutual aid against coronavirus
Dec. 28, 2020 • Enrique Higa Sakuda
In December, after almost nine months, I met up with several friends on two occasions, both in open spaces, outdoors (one of them in a park). It was strange, especially because of the greetings, without hugs as is customary with dear and old friends, replaced by a shy pat on the shoulders, a fist bump or what is usual now, a slight tilt of the head from a distance, Japanese style. . At the La Unión Stadium Association, the sports …
Japanese Canadian Art in the Time of Covid-19 - Part 5
Dec. 14, 2020 • Norm Masaji Ibuki
Read Part 4 >> Gaman (我慢) is a Japanese term of Zen Buddhist origin which means “enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity”. The term is generally translated as “perseverance”, “patience”, or “tolerance.” — From Wikipedia Nobody likes hanging in a state of uncertainty. One of the real blessings of being able to practice any kind of art at this time is that it gives us a point on which to focus. If you’ve ever practiced a martial art, …
Giving Thanks During COVID
Dec. 8, 2020 • Sharon Yamato
What began last March as a few months of social distancing has now turned into the prospect of long-term isolation as COVID19 increases at a staggering rate. As a proud member of the senior population considered “high risk,” I can personally attest to the stresses and strains of home confinement. Perhaps the greatest deprivation has been the loss of social interaction except for who we can see on a phone or computer screen — with Skype, FaceTime, and Zoom becoming …
Vallejo Sameshima's transparent writing
Dec. 4, 2020 • Javier García Wong-Kit
When one reads Miguel Ángel Vallejo Sameshima (Lima, 1983) it is possible that one feels that one already knows him. His writing, the characters that parade through his stories, some of his experiences or cultural references sound spontaneous and transparent, although these occur in Granada, Lisbon or Prague, some of the settings of his most recent book: My Father's Glasses (The 3 types, 2020), which he wrote in about 50 days and which he has published in digital format. His …