Asian American Donor Program
Facebook @AADP.org, Instagram @aadp_org, Twitter @aadp, YouTube @aadpasia
Asian American Donor Program (AADP) is dedicated to increasing the availability of potential stem cell donors for patients with life threatening diseases curable with a stem cell transplant. Please help Japanese patients with blood cancer by signing up as a stem cell/marrow donor! Japanese donors make up just 0.4% of the Be The Match donor registry which makes it hard for Japanese patients to find their lifesaving match. To sign up as a donor, go to our website and a registration kit will be mailed to your home.
Boy Scouts Pack and Troop 58
Facebook @KonkoSF
Troop and Pack 68, the predecessor to Pack & Troop 58, began on October 12, 1939, under the sponsorship of the Konko Church of San Francisco. Pack & Troop 58 was reinstituted on November 11, 1948, after the Japanese community returned to San Francisco. Pack & Troop 58 has become fully integrated with the Japanese community, becoming assimilated into American society and its scouts coming from all ethnic groups and communities.
Buddhist Church of San Francisco
Facebook @buddhistchurchsf, Instagram/YouTube @BuddhistChurchofSanFrancisco, Twitter @bcsfsangha
The Buddhist Church of San Francisco (BCSF) is a Buddhist temple founded in the Jodo Shinshu school of Pure Land Buddhism (Mahayana). It was established in Japantown in 1898 and initially served Japanese and Japanese Americans in the San Francisco Bay Area. Today, while continuing to honor its Japanese heritage, BCSF celebrates its welcoming spirit as a multi-ethnic, multicultural, and multi-generational community inspired by the teachings of Shinran.
California-Japan Sister Cities Network
Facebook @caljapansistercities
California-Japan Sister Cities Network (“CJSCNâ€) provides support to the sister city and friendship city relationships between California and Japan to nurture and cultivate long-lasting international relationships. Through its activities of enhancing and strengthening these relationships, CJSCN will promote peace and prosperity.
Cupertino-Toyokawa Sister Cities, Inc.
Facebook @CupertinoToyokawa, Instagram/Twitter @Cupertino_CBF
Cupertino-Toyokawa Sister Cities, Inc. (CTSC) is a non-profit organization entrusted by the City of Cupertino to design and implement cultural programming, and nurture the sister city relationship with Toyokawa, Japan. The sister city relationship celebrates its 43nd anniversary in 2021, wherein they built a friendship through the annual student exchange program and quinquennial (every five years) adult exchange program. CTSC holds the annual Cupertino Cherry Blossom Festival (CBF) on the last weekend in April.
Japanese American Museum of San Jose
Facebook/Instagram/Twitter @JAMsjOfficial, Twitter @JAMsj_JP
The Japanese American Museum of San Jose showcases a unique collection of permanent and rotating exhibits chronicling more than a century of Japanese American history. Visitors will learn about early immigration of Japanese to America, their leadership in the agricultural community, their incarceration during World War II and the challenges they faced, while adapting and contributing to West Coast communities. Follow their website to learn more about virtual programming.
Japantown Community Congress of San Jose
Facebook @JCCsj
The mission of the Japantown Community Congress of San Jose is to advocate for the preservation of the historic and cultural heritage of San Jose’s Japantown and promote efforts to sustain and enhance the diversity, vibrancy, and viability of this community as a legacy for future generations. We hope to preserve San Jose Japantown so that future generations can enjoy the rich culture and history of the area, through the maintenance of the monuments and youth and safety programs.
Hokka Nichi Bei Kai, also known as Japanese American Association of Northern California (JAANC), is the oldest Japanese American community organization, established in 1895 to better relations between America and Japan, and Americans and Japanese. JAANC supports a variety of disciplines in the Japanese culture by providing facilities for cultural programs. They house the finest Tea Ceremony facility (Chashitsu) outside of Japan and showcase the Bunka Hall of Fame, in recognition to those who made significant contributions in introducing Japanese culture to the Northern California region.
Millbrae Japanese Culture Festival
Facebook @MillbraeJapaneseFestival
Our festival is an opportunity to bring the diverse communities of Millbrae and its surrounding cities on the Peninsula and the San Francisco Bay Area together to celebrate many aspects of Japanese culture. The City of Millbrae, Millbrae Chamber of Commerce, and Millbrae Community Television (MCTV) are main sponsors and promote the festival enthusiastically. We also depend upon financial sponsors who have helped us over the years.
National Japanese American Historical Society
Facebook @nationaljapaneseamericanhistoricalsociety, Instagram @njahs1980, Twitter @NJAHS
NJAHS was founded in 1980 in San Francisco as “Go For Broke, Inc.,†whose purpose was to promote the history and accomplishments of Japanese American veterans of the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team and the Military Intelligence Service who distinguished themselves during World War II. As the organization evolved, it changed its name in 1983 to the National Japanese American Historical Society (NJAHS), a membership-supported institution dedicated to the collection, preservation, authentic interpretation and sharing of historical information of the Japanese American experience for the diverse, broader national and global community.
Nichi Bei Foundation
Facebook/Twitter @nichibei, Instagram @nichibeifoundation, YouTube @NichiBeiWeekly1
Nichibei.org is a community news hub with a Japanese American and pan-Asian American focus. Our site embraces the goals of the Nichi Bei Weekly — the English-language, Japanese American newspaper from which it has sprung — to keep the community connected, informed and empowered. We proudly take the rich tradition of quality journalism produced by the Nichi Bei Weekly’s predecessor, the historic Nichi Bei Times, and mix it in with the mission of the non-profit Nichi Bei Foundation, our parent organization. Nichibei.org is here to provide a portal for sharing pan-Asian American opinions and ideas and for preserving history and culture through our online archives and resources.
Nihonmachi Little Friends
Facebook @NLFChildcareSF
Nihonmachi Little Friends (NLF) is a private, nonprofit childcare center with a mission to provide Japanese/English bilingual, educational childcare in a multicultural context for preschool through elementary school-aged children from throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Located in San Francisco’s historic Japantown, NLF is committed to providing high-quality, affordable child development services that foster a child’s self-esteem and confidence. Using a partnership among teachers, students, and their families, NLF promotes a stimulating learning environment that encourages children to develop to their full potential and become active participants in their communities.
Nisei Week Foundation
Facebook/Instagram @niseiweek, YouTube @NiseiWeekFoundation
The Nisei Week Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that produces the annual festival, Nisei Week Japanese Festival, which celebrates Japanese and Japanese American culture in the historic Little Tokyo community of Los Angeles. Their mission is to promote Japanese and Japanese American heritage and traditions while bringing together the diverse communities of Southern California through arts and cultural education.
Rosa Parks Elementary JBBP
Facebook @RosaParksElementarySF
Rosa Parks Elementary Japanese Bilingual Bicultural Program is an unique public elementary school program integrating authentic instruction and experiences in Japanese language and culture with San Francisco Unified School District’s daily core curriculum. In partnership with the Japanese American community, San Francisco’s first elected Board of Education established JBBP in 1973 to preserve and share the legacy of Japanese Americans and Japanese language and culture with future generations of San Franciscans. Language instruction by native-Japanese speaking teachers in the context of authentic cultural experiences, as well as access to the program by any interested elementary school student, were the defining priorities of JBBP’s pedagogical model.
SF Taru Mikoshi Ren
Facebook @TaruMikoshiRen
Taru Mikoshi originated at the time of the 1868 Meiji Restoration. When the Meiji Emperor entered Edo (Tokyo) Castle, one of the many things he did was to invite the heads of each of the approximately 1,500 communities within Tokyo to the castle and present them with a barrel of sake, similar to the one we carry. Spontaneous festivities erupted throughout Tokyo, and after they finished drinking, citizens carried the empty sake barrel on a platform for four days to show their deep appreciation and unconditional support for the new government. SF Taru Mikoshi Ren has carried the Mikoshi since the first Cherry Blossom Festival in 1968.
Soto Mission of San Francisco – Sokoji
Facebook/Instagram @sokojisf, Sokoji, Soto Zen Temple of San Francisco’s YouTube
Soto Mission of San Francisco, Sokoji, was founded and dedicated on December 8, 1934 (the date of the Jodoe – Buddha’s attaining enlightenment). Through the strong support from congregation members, Sokoji reopened after World War II, then relocated to its current location at 1691 Laguna Street in 1984 after four years of construction. The temple reflects a Japanese architectural style, both in the interior and the exterior. Sokoji has continued to be a place for not only the Japanese American community but for all people of different backgrounds to practice their Soto Zen beliefs and Zazen (Zen meditation).
The Center/JCCCNC (Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California)
Facebook @LikeJCCCNC, Flickr/Twitter/YouTube @JCCCNC, Instagram @jcccnc_sf
The Center or Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC) strives to meet the evolving needs of the Japanese American community through offering educational, cultural, recreational, and social programs, affordable services, and facility use for nonprofit organizations in Japantown. They wish to preserve and promote the Japanese American cultural and historical heritage, and to enhance understanding and appreciation among the Japanese American community, American public, and people of Japan.