Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center

Join us as we honor the legacy of Bill and Sam Naito with an exhibition focusing on the history, work and legacy of the two Portland brothers. This exhibit features historic family potographs and ephemera in addition to archival images from our collection. Scheduled to run through January 10, 2010.

Bill and Sam Naito – ...A Portland Story focuses on the establishment of the family business in 1920 by their father Hide, being "thrown out" of Portland during the forced resettlement of Japanese Americans during World War II, the reestablishment of the business, and ultimate success of their many ventures.

Photos courtesy of the Naito Family.Read More

You Gotta Have Wa is a classic work about the cultural conflict between Japan and America, as seen through the common sport of baseball. It was written in 1989 at the height of US-Japan trade difficulties. It received considerable media attention, including three reviews from the New York Times in the span of one year ...and a feature in Time Magazine. The author appeared on many TV shows, including Larry King Live and the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour and Bill Clinton even mentioned in a press conference that he was reading the book. The book was required reading at the Japan Desk in the State Department, as well as at several American universities, and went through 22 printings. The Japanese translation was a bestseller and was named one of the best non-fiction books of the year.

Now, in commemoration of You Gotta Have Wa's 20th anniversary, an update has just been published. It contains a new introduction and a lengthy afterward describing in great detail how the US-Japan equation has changed (as well as how it has not) and how that is reflected in the sport of baseball. Special focus is given to the influx of Japanese stars to Major League Baseball and the recent migration to Japan of a succession of American managers, led by Bobby Valentine and Trey Hillman, and the difficulties they have faced.

To reserve your spot, please call Japan-America Society of Oregon at 503-552-8811.Read More

Girl Genius is a self-described "gaslamp fantasy comic" and the brainchild of creators Phil and Kaja Foglio from Seattle, Washington. Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center will host a selection of original artwork from the collection of the creators spanning the run of the story from its initial publishing in 2001 through to the... soon-to-be-released Volume 8. This artwork, along with text illustrating the process and history of the story give the public a chance to see a strong female lead character—rare in mainstream comics.

The story features "adventure, romance and some mad science" and the title character is Agatha Heterodyne. In an interview with Comic Book Resources News Phil Foglio describes the heroine, "Our story concerns Agatha Heterodyne, the long lost and here-to-for unsuspected heir to an ancient family of mad scientists who everyone had thought safely long gone. Because of who and what she is, everyone either wants to control her or kill her. Comedy ensues."

Girl Genius is a nominee for the Best Graphic Story in science fiction’s 2009 Hugo Awards, and the 2008 winner for both Outstanding Comic and Outstanding Writer from the Web Cartoonists’ Choice Award. Girl Genius is loved by devoted comic readers and new fans alike. "Girl Genius, from start to finish is pure, unadulterated fun… with almost every page, I had a blast and a hunger for more ADVENTURE, ROMANCE, and MAD SCIENCE" – The Webcomic OverlookRead More

Cupcake Day
Tuesday, July 21
at Cupcake Jones

Cupcake Jones a locally owned bakery in Portland's Pearl District will be donating 5% of their proceeds to Oregon Nikkei Endowment for one day, July 21st.

Buy cupcakes in person and O.N.E. will receive 5% of what you spend.

Got a party, wedding, special event coming up? Order yo...ur cupcakes on July 21st, Benefit Day, for any future event and we will receive the 5% donation for your order.

So, eat cupcakes on the 21st or eat cupcakes later, we benefit either way when you purchase on July 21st. Satisfy your sweet tooth, help Oregon Nikkei Endowment and support a local bakery.

Cupcake Jones
www.cupcakejones.netRead More

Join us as we host Dave Conklin to speak about the food culture of Portland and Japantown in the early twentieth century. Dave was recently awarded a Master’s degree from Portland State University focusing on how the food cultures of the Issei and the majority population of Portland and Oregon interacted and influenced... each other, or, in a word, "globalized." His research will be presented Thursday, June 18th at 7pm at the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center.

Dave Conklin’s area of research has concentrated on food cultures of the Issei or "first generation." Issei refers to the group of Japanese who emigrated to the United States between the 1880s and 1924. Portland’s Japanese food scene in the years before World War II featured restaurants, food manufacturers, and grocery stores. Culinary cross-cultural interaction and influence between the Japanese community and the larger Portland population was pervasive, and interest in the food and drink of Japan increased dramatically after the Lewis and Clark Exposition of 1905. "The 1910s and 1920s was really a boom time for Portland’s Japanese community, at least for food," said Dave Conklin.Read More

The Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center is proud to present Nikkei Roses, an exhibition highlighting the Nikkei community and Rose Festival. The exhibit runs will feature photographs and artifacts from the archival collection of Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center.

The Rose Festival has always been an exciting time in Portland, and for... the Nikkei community it was an important yearly event. The Rose festival queens and princesses, Boy Scout troops, baseball teams and community groups from a variety of Japanese organizations were a visible and integral part of the Portland festivities.

"The parade comes over the Burnside Bridge. We can see it almost head on. The highlight, of course, was seeing the Japanese float,” describes George Nakata, watching the Rose Parade from the roof of the Pomona Hotel at 2nd & Burnside which his family managed before WWII.” “I remember Fumi Sakano being the queen one time. I remember the Boy Scouts drum and bugle corps. We would look for those the bugle corps and the Japanese float on the Rose Festival Parade."

Exhibit Hours -- Exhibit hours are Tues – Sat 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sun 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free for Friends of the Legacy Center, $3 for general public.Read More