Mitsubishi Tokyo UFJ and Union Bank Donate 20,000 Dollars to Nisei Week

Mitsubishi Tokyo UFJ and Union Bank donated 10,000 dollars each to the Nisei Week Foundation on July 26 at the Union Bank office in Los Angeles. Union Bank, which has been working with the Japanese community in Los Angeles for over 100 years, has also been a long time supporter of Nisei Week. The donations will be used for the Nebuta festival. This year’s budget for Nisei Week is 250,000 dollars.

Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Eighty four-year-old Kazu Suyeishi is a hibakusha, a survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bombing. Sixty-five years later, memories of the devastating tragedy still haunt her. Every year, she holds a memorial service at the Koyasan Temple in Little Tokyo, where she has the chance to speak to the public about the horrific experience. This year, she invited Darrell Miho, a photographer who is making a documentary about the hibakusha, as a guest speaker. Miho, who has encountered over 300 hibakusha, spoke to the audience about the stories he has heard. On the other hand, Japanese chanson singer Kumiko, uses her songs to pass down the hibakusha’s voices. Kumiko’s song “Inori” is about Sadako Sasaki, a young victim of the Hiroshima bombing. Sasaki, who died at age 12, became the model of the Children’s Peace Monument located in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, which commemorates the thousands of child victims of the Hiroshima bombing. Kumiko sang at a charity dinner concert held by Shigeko Sasamori, a hibakusha.