I was unaware of everything that was happening in the media while I was away.

Alliance for Asian American JusticeThis years recipients are Gabrielino High School senior Ava Yamashita and Mark Keppel H.

the PJCI presents the Amy Utsunomiya Memorial Youth Community Service Award to high school students who exhibit dedication to serving the greater Pasadena area.by KAY OSORIOA performance by Kodama Taiko.to introduce its new Board of Directors and award yearly scholarships to deserving students.

A performance by Kodama Taiko was followed by a welcome address by 2025 PJCI Co-president June Chin and greetings by the current Miss Pasadena JCI Carina Sakimura.Photos by MIKEY HIRANO CULROSS except where notedThe Pasadena Japanese Cultural Institute hosted its annual luncheon on March 2 in Pasadena.

Hiroko Masuda and Chin bask in applause after a masterful koto performance.

Vice president Mark Sugiyama led a toast to the new year and the more than 120 guests in attendance enjoyed a deluxe chicken and salmon bentoKanji SaharaThe Japanese American National Museum (JANM) mourns the passing of Kanji Sahara.

and visionary in the Japanese American community.During World War II he was incarcerated at the Santa Anita temporary detention center in California and the Jerome and Rohwer concentration camps in Arkansas.

Sahara became a JANM docent and a leader with the Tuna Canyon Detention Station Coali-tion.his knowledge and dedication to connecting this history to the present and shaping the future will be profoundly missed.