MIS

Shooting for the 3rd movie in the American Nikkei series, “MIS”, took place on February 26th in Alhambra. Director of American Nikkei history films, “Toyo’s Camera” and “442”, Junichi Suzuki was on hand to interview 10 veterans from the MIS, who were gathered for a New Year’s celebration, about their MIS duties and experiences. Suzuki decided to document the MIS for his 3rd feature documentary.

The MIS (Military Intelligence Service), was America’s secret WWII bilingual intelligence service made up mostly of Nikkei soldiers. They were such a deep rooted secret that their existence remained a secret from American history for many years, even after the war had ended.

Shooting for “MIS” has already finished in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles. Next, they will be shooting on location in Hawaii, San Francisco and Japan. “MIS” is scheduled to be released in April, next year.

LAEDC

On February 16th, the LAEDC conference, which was sponsored this year by the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation, featured presentations and talks focusing on current economic trends and forecasts. Chief Economist, Nancy Sidhu, Ph.D., spoke about the economy of Los Angeles and how this year, we can expect a recovery and increase in the international trade, hi-tech, entertainment and tourism industries. Sidhu also gave her report about the Japanese and American economy relations based on studies and research over the past year, stressing the importance of increased investments.

This year, 600 business, government employees and educators were in attendance. The venue was full of expectations of economic recovery.

JBA

JBA held a Seminar on February 25th based on the theme “California’s Economic Performance This Year. Can We Fully Recover?” The seminar was led by Union Bank Director of Economic Research, Keitaro Matsuda. The venue was full of West Coast economist who had high expectations of Matsuda’s performance at the seminar.

Matsuda announced that he expects the pace of America’s recovery to accelerate this year. For that to happen, however, job growth is very important, he said. At this point, California boasts the second worst unemployment rate in the country. He expects though, that Japanese companies will be a contributing factor to the economic recovery.

Union Bank and UFJ Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi

Union Bank and UFJ Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi donated a total of 10,000 together towards the Japanese American National Museum.

On March 1, the check presentation was held and Union Bank’s President, Masashi Oka gave a speech.

President Oka stated that in 1975, before his position at Union Bank, the Japanese American Community helped him when he opened California Tokyo Bank. He expressed his appreciation during the speech.

President Oka of Union Bank and Executive Officer Ookura of UFJ Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi signed the check.

The Japanese American Museum received the National Medal and because of this achievement, they hope to be active in their support.

Academy Gift Lounge

On the day before the 83rd Academy Awards, an event was held at Paramount Studio Theater. Many celebrities attended this gift lounge event. From actors in Hollywood and stars from Sports, TV, Music. At the gift lounge, these celebrities can take home any of the products they like as a gift!

Gift lounges are held before a big award ceremony such as the Grammy show and only a limited amount of people are allowed in.

This event is actually a gateway to marketing. The companies give out their number one product to the celebrities in order to popularize it.

There were many products that stood out. Accessories made from Swarovski Crystals that is loved by women of all ages. There were also interesting products…
You push the button inside and the liquid starts to harden.
“So warm!”

We found 3 Japanese companies at this event.
There may be a huge break for some of the products from this event!