From Above Photo Exhibit

Rev. TK Nakagai hosted a panel discussion about nuclear bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Upper West Side in New York.

2014 Asian American & Pacific Heritage Festival Kick Off

Executive director of CAPA, Dancing group Gen and Corky Lee discuss plans for this years 35th Asian American & Pacific Heritage Festival starting next week.

Presentation at Fushimi resturaunt included an introduction of show details and a brief performance by Dance Group Gen.

Randy Gener Prayer Vigil

The Fil-Am Press Club of New York and the Philippine Consulate General of New York held a prayer rally for Randy Gener, who is one of their members, at the Philippine Center on 5th Avenue.

Pucho Web Solutions Raffle Winner

Lucky Raffle Winner, Kimio Wheaton

Pucho Web Solutions participated in first ever Holiday Raffle at Japanese-Americans, Japanese in America (JAJA) December 2013 meeting in New York City. The lucky winner, Kimio Wheaton, will receive expert guidance, from Pucho Web Solutions, in setting up website traffic reporting which will give him valuable information to optimize his online business. Kimio plans to use his prize with a new web site he is currently planning for a 2014 debut. 

WW Medical Spa Grand Opening Reception

WW Medical Spa Grand Opening

Dec 8, 2013: WW Medical Spa opened a clinic in lower level of their Headquarters in Elmhurst Queens.

The event was held from 11 AM until 3 PM. for customers, vendors, friends and the media.

MTA Holiday Nostalgia Special Subway

Vintage NYC MTA Subway

Surprised to catch MTA New York City Transit vintage subway cars from 1950s on a trip to a reception party at WW Medical Spa in Elmhurst Queens.


There was a hoard or people dressed up in vintage clothing riding subway.

OCA-New Jersey 35th Anniversary Holiday Ball

Giiny Gong and Betty Lee Sung Cake Cutting Ceremony

December 7, 2013, Organization of Chinese in America New Jersey Chapter (OCA-NJ) celebrated its 35th anniversary in Totowa, NJ.

Atmosphere was festive. Everybody had good cheer.

Serve the People

Serve the People: The Asian American Movement in New York charts a history of Asian American activism, organizing, and cultural production in the 1970s, the first exhibition to focus on New York as a center of this national phenomenon. Through posters, leaflets, newspapers, film, and music, Serve the People shows how Asian American identity was shaped by reclaimed histories, revolutionary politics, feminist awareness, third worldism, and community organizing. The culture created by young activists and artists in the movement embodied their ideals, speaking to the excitement and urgency of the time.

Chinese protest ABC, Disney and Jimmy Kimmel

On Saturday November 9, 2013 in Times Square from noon until 2PM there was a protest against ABC's Jimmy Kimmel show.

Protesters did not like use of comedy to bring up a dark subject that they took personally. They are so hurt and even afraid of passive aggressive violence from other members of society.

There is an old American Proverb that goes like:

Out of the mouths of babes (oft times come gems).

Children occasionally say remarkable or insightful things. For example: Mr. and Mrs. Doyle were quietly bickering in the kitchen when their seven-year-old daughter came in and said, "You guys should get counseling." After a surprised pause, Mrs. Doyle remarked, "out of the mouths of babes." Child: Don't eat so much candy, Mommy. Candy is bad for your teeth. Mother: out of the mouths of babes oft times come gems.

Kilowatt performance for 2013 New York Marathon

Kilowatt performing for 2013 NYC Marathon

The Kilowatt band has been performing for runners of New York City Marathon for a few years now.

Last year, Super Storm Sandy abruptly cancelled New York Marathon. This year, Kilowatt is back in action.

Ruinism by Gabriel Biderman; Night Photographer

Thank You so Much!

I won a raffle for a huge print by Gabriel Biderman. I first met Gabe at BH Event Space. I attended his class twice.  His night photography seminar was very interesting. There are so many definitions of time. Such as Civil, nautical, and astronomical twilight. In his presentation, Gabriel also went into details about camera setting and equipment to be used for night photography. He became one of my favorite instructors. What a coincidence it was to win raffle for his print.

2013 Japan Block Party

Master of Ceremonies

Great weather today but uneven lighting conditions at today's event. Clear sky creates areas that are both too dark and too light on subjects. Images can also suffer color cast if one side is lit by direct sunlight while other portions of image are in shade because color temperature of  shade about 40% higher than sunlight.

Walk to Feed Hungry NYC raises >$15K USD

Reverend TK Nakagai

2012 Walk to feed hungry Event raised over $15,000 USD.

Danny Chen Birthday Card Campaign

Private Danny Chen, a Chinese-American solider from Chinatown New York, recently died while stationed in Afghanistan. Danny would have turned 20 on May 26, 2012.

As part of a larger initiative to raise awareness regarding the circumstances of his death, the Organization of Chinese Americans-New York Chapter (OCA-NY)  is leading the Danny Chen Birthday Card Campaign.

Reni Mimura Maid Show

Originally, Maid cafe concept originated from Japan. Due to its popularity, Maid cafe's have been opening around the world. For example:

• MeiDolls in Philippines
• CosCafe in Singapore
• Maid Cafe Brno in Czech Republic

And now, New York City has its own Maid Cafe. Every month Reni Mimura performs at Amber Cafe in West Village of New York City. 

So what is Reni Mimura Maid Cafe like?

Reni Mimura Maid Cafe offers a menu similar to those of more typical cafés. Customers can order coffee, other beverages, and a wide variety of entrées and desserts. However, in maid cafés, waitresses service customers with a Moe attitude which adds to the image of the waitress as an innocent but pampering maid. For example: Everyone is greeted with "Welcome home, Master (Mistress)" (お帰りなさいませ、ご主人様！ Okaerinasaimase, goshujinsama).

About 40% of customers where female. The rest were young men. The average age was about 20 years old. Everybody sits down at small tables with a drinks to watch Reni Mimura sing and dance with her partners. There is lots of audience participation with Reni Mimura as well as other customers. Games and activities include:

• Thank you for being born (Celebrating birthday of the month)
• Welcome to the Maid show (Welcoming new guests)
• 30 second speech time (Guests can promote their talent, work website whatever)
• Congratulation Achievement (Guests can announce their achievement)
• Moe Moe Jyanken (Cute Akihabara style of Rock, Paper and scissor and a winner gets a free gift)

Customers attending Reni Mimura Maid Cafe participate in the performance. In addition to food and beverages, the audience participates in the show. Everyone has opportunity to introduce himself to the audience, sing and dance with Reni Mimura.

The performance included the hit "My Shy Master."

Maid cafés were originally designed primarily to cater to the fantasies of male otaku, obsessive fans of anime, manga and video games. Otaku (おたく / オタク?) is a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga, or video games.

The image of the maid is one that has been popularized in  manga and anime series, as well as in gal games. Important to the otaku attraction to maid cafés is the Japanese concept of moe (萌え, pronounced "moe") , which generally describes a love for anime, manga or video game characters. More specifically, moe refers to adoration for young or innocent-looking female characters who are adorable and cute in appearance.

Another song I like is Shining Star.




DNA Song

Visiting a maid cafe in Tokyo not convenient for most people, but now everyone attend a Reni Mimura Maid Cafe in New York City.

Today, the maid café phenomenon attracts more than just male otaku, but also couples, tourists, and women. Though the waitresses at maid cafés are sometimes interpreted as objects of romantic or sexual desire, they can also be viewed as simply aesthetically appealing figures. One female patron of maid cafés explains, “Sitting here and admiring how pretty the girls are is like admiring a flower”.

If you have never been to a Maid Cafe, then you must experience Reni Mimura Maid Cafe at least once in your life. If you are visiting New York a tourist, Reni Mimura Maid cafe is an act that your whole family will enjoy. Especially teenagers who are fans of anime and manga.

Reni Mimura performs every month at Amber Cafe in West Greenwich Village of New York City. She has been in New York since 2009 and is the only Maid Cafe show in New York.

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New York Arabic Orchestra benefit concert for Japan

I was commissioned to do a video shoot about 3 hours before the event.
I arrived at the site five minutes before the start time. I was able to shoot
about 45 minutes of video before camcorder battery died.

The show was still going on, so I decided to shoot still photos. I was in
a pew in second column on left side of church. I could not move from
the position without disturbing the patrons watching the concert.

So instead of using a stand, I quickly used the video tripod as a stand.

Strobe setting for second curtain flash to capture motion of musicians.
Used an bounce flash technique I learned from Niel Van Niekerk.

Strobe was bounced of a white area of stone wall on camera left.
Furthermore, the strobe was gelled to match the hot lights on the subjects.

Ambient light was measured using a light meter and off camera strobe

was used as fill light. Shutter speed was very low, under 1/15 second,
but compensated by camera's image stabilization.

Flash triggering was done using camera's built-in wireless triggering
instead of radio triggers.

Light level was so low, camera could not auto focus. All shots
were take with manual focus. Luckily, the viewfinder has focus
confirmation indicator.

Camera was set to auto white balance and corrected in post processing
using Olympus Viewer2 software. In addition fine tuning of exposure,
contrast, picture mode and lens correction was also done in Viewer2.


Equipment used at shoot:

• Olympus FL-36R strobe 
• Mounted on stand with adapter.
• Gel strobe using Cinch Strap
• Polaris Meter to measure ambient light 
• Lens: 40-150mm zoom

New York Arabic Orchestra raised over $1600 in donations to help victims of the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the Japan relief. 

• Bassam Saba - a leading figure of Arabic music
• April Centrone - Percussionist
• Nobuko Miyazaki - shinobue player
• Sonny Ochiai Ensemble, Classical Okinawan music
• New York Taiko Aikokai

The benefit concert was held at The Park Avenue Christian Church.

Tweet

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New York Day of Rembrance 2011

In recognition pf the approaching 10th anniversary since 9/11, Japanese American United church continues the important work of healing and reflecting over the internmentm while simultaneously considering how we as a community can stand next to another in a similar time of peril.


Program Title
9066 / 9-11: Japanese American and Muslim and Arab American Communities

In Crisis,In Solidarity,In Justice,In Compassion

Program Content

• Moment of silence for Japan
• JANM Video: 9066 to 9/11
• Janan Delgado, Park51
• Enemy Alien trailer
• Musical Performance
• Remembrances: Frank Emi and the resisters
• Candle-light ceremony

Shot was done using available light in the church. The lighting was a mix of fluorescent and tungsten. There was a projector screen in the background and it was used as a reference color to white balance all the photographs using Olympus Viewer2 software. 

• Olympus 40-150mm Zuiko Digital Telephoto Zoom Lens

Performance: Composer/flutist Nobuko Miyazaki performing an original piece reflecting shared experiences of Japanese Americans and Arab and Muslim Americans, featuring poetry by Janice Mirikitani and Suhei Hammad. With April Centrone (percussion), John Vergara ( oud - Arabic lute), Olivia Oguma and Nora Armani.


The New York Day of Remembrance Committee is a non-profit, as-hoc committee of volunteers whose primary mission is to organize an annual "Day of Remembrance" commemorating the experiences of the over 120,000 Japanese Americans unjustly incarcerated during World War II.


The New York Day of Remembrance Committee members

• Michael Ishii
• Tsuya Hohri Yee
• Mariko Masaoka-Drew
• Donna Tsufura
• Alix Mariko Webb
• Stan Honda
• Naomi Iwasaki

More information on William Hohri, Frank Emi and the resisters.


Event held at Japanese American United Church.


Please participate in JustOneCrane project of Save the Children Japan. There cranes symbolize our hope that Japan will be able to start healing on this long journey to recovery, and the donations will go to support the younger generation of Japan who will become an integral part of the process.

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Saturn Series Poetry Reading

Featuring poet Tina Chan and singers Stanley Wu and Andrea Parodi.
Show produced by Su Polo. Hosted at Nightingale Lounge in NYC.

Products used at this shoot.

• Olympus FL-36R Strobe
• LumiQuest Gel Holder  
• Olympus 14-40mm Zuiko Digital Wide Angle Zoom Lens
• Olympus 40-150mm Zuiko Digital Telephoto Zoom Lens

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2011 Lunar New Year Event / Fashion Show

AsianInNY hosted “Lunar New Year Event / Fashion Show” in New York's famous Chinatown. 
Shots were taken at very low shutter speed with fill-flash mode and high ISO settings. 


Products used at this shoot.

• StroboFrame Quick Flip 350
• Olympus FL-36R Strobe
• Olympus FL-CB05 Off-camera flash cable
• LumiQuest Gel Holder  
• LumiQuest Pocket Bouncer
• Olympus 14-40mm Zuiko Digital Wide Angle Zoom Lens
• Olympus 40-150mm Zuiko Digital Telephoto Zoom Lens

The 2011 Lunar New Year Event / Fashion Show featured artists, designers,
models, performers and dignitaries.

• MC/rapper Young Kin
• David Shen Dance Group
• Jack K. Eng
• Air Tabigue
• Way Zen: Designer for JSong Collection
• Teresa Lee and PaperDoll band
• Pamela J Powel
• Janet Zheng: Designer for Janet Zheng Menswear

The event was hosted at Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA) at 62 Mott Street in New York City in cooperation with

Greater Chinatown Community Association (GCCA).

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Rally in support of Cordoba House

As a national controversy is growing over the building of the proposed Cordoba House, New Yorkers will welcome Muslims to downtown Manhattan on Sunday August 22. 

The Coalition to Stop Islamophobia announced today that it will gather near the proposed site at the former Burlington Coat Factory location on Park Place Sunday to “counter racist messages and attacks against Muslims and Islam,” and to “welcome Cordoba House.” 

Opponents of Cordoba House say they will come to New York Sunday “to push back against those attempting to impose harsh Shariah Islam, stealth jihad or terror on our nation.” 



New Yorkers to Say “Welcome Cordoba House” at Sunday Gathering to Stop Islamophobia. Visible street presence to counter foes of so-called “Ground Zero Mosque”. Rally was held at Church & Warren Streets in Manhattan. The name Cordoba house was changed to Park51.