The 22nd Annual Mutual Trading Japanese Food & Restaurant Show

Mutual Trading held their 22nd annual Japanese Food & Restaurant Show at their headquarters in downtown Los Angeles. This restaurant show opens to food retailers, food service business owners, trade professionals and chefs. Over 74 food and beverage vendors from Japan showcased their newest products to local businesses. Noritoshi Kanai, President of Mutual Trading, says that due to the economy, this year, “B-kyu” (low-priced) Japanese dishes such as curry rice, ramen and udon are popular. However, restaurant owners say that consumers still expect high-quality and taste, making it difficult to balance food cost and customer satisfaction.

Southern California Haiku Study Group

The Southern California Haiku Study Group, founded in 1997, studies how to read and write the Japanese form of poetry. Once a month, they meet at the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena. Haiku follows a form, consisting of three phrases of 5, 7 and 5 moras. However, because of the differences in the Japanese and English languages, the Southern California Haiku Study Group, as well as the Haiku Society of America, does not follow the form. The definition of a haiku is a short poem, usually that can be said in one breath, that uses imagistic language to convey the essence of an experience of nature or the season intuitively linked to the human condition. When the group was first founded, they only had two members—now 65. Haiku is one of the fastest types of poetry growing worldwide.

Asahi Gakuen Athletic Meet

Asahi Gakuen held its annual athletic meet on October 2 at its Santa Monica school. The school’s 250 students enjoyed Japanese games such as Kiba-sen and Kouhaku Tama-ire. These students study every Saturday with Japanese text books, while regularly going to school during the weekdays. This day, the students left their text books in their book bags and had a fun day under the California sun.