Welcome to the Sakura Sisters Blog!

We had the opportunity to represent the Matsuyama-Sacramento Sister City Corp (MSSCC) at the California State Fair in Sacramento. We were in the parade in Corvettes! We got to see the whole fair without walking on feet! This was our third time in a parade together, but it was quite different this time without floats. We believe it was an interesting experience for everyone, as this was the first time the Northern California Cherry Blossom Court was invited. Thank you, MSSCC! This was a great way to further outreach outside of the Bay Area, as Sacramento is inclusive of Northern California.

Los Angeles was our second Royal JA Sister City trip destination where we visited the 68th Annual Nisei Week Japanese Festival in Little Tokyo. We made connections with the Japanese American community in Southern California by learning and observing both differences and similarities between our Japantown and Little Tokyo.
After our visit to Old Pasadena, we were warmly welcomed by the Nisei Week Hospitality Committee members in Little Tokyo. It was great seeing our friends from Seattle, Hawai’i, and LA.

The next day, on Saturday the 16th, we visited the Japanese American National Museum where we were all touched by the great importance of our heritage.
We also attended a lunch with our representatives from our sponsor, Union Bank of California.
Later that evening, we attended the grand dinner and coronation of the 2008 Nisei Week Japanese Festival Queen Pageant. At the dinner, we met many distinguished guests from such locations as the city of Nagoya, Japan, the Sister City of Los Angeles. We also got to meet the MCs of the special night: Ms. Tamlyn Tomita and Mr. David Ono.

This was taken prior to the Nisei Week Parade on the 17th (2008 Nisei Week Court included):

This was our second time on a float in a parade and it reminded us of our own Grand Parade back in April. We were able to see more of Little Tokyo and the visiting people who waved back at us with smiling faces.

The next day, we spent the whole day at Disneyland and California Adventures in Anaheim. The fun continues!

Having dinner right by Disneyland and spending the rest of the night riding fun rides in Disneyland was an awesome way to end our second trip. We miss everyone so much and are very grateful for everyone’s love, support, and efforts in making this trip also memorable.

MAHALO! ALOHA! …Until we meet again in Hawai’i! Congratulations to the new 2008 Nisei Week Queen & Court! For more info on the Nisei Week Japanese Festival, please visit: http://www.niseiweek.org/

It was a warm day in San Francisco’s Japantown- a great day to volunteer at the Nihonmachi Street Fair!

Team Sakura Sisters participated in the 2008 AIDS Walk San Francisco. In the foggy Golden Gate Park, we completed the 6 mile (10 km) walk to help raise funds for AIDS patients through the AIDS Foundation. Thank you to all of our AIDS Walk sponsors!

Team Sakura Sisters Total Raised: $1,207.00

Summer means Obon Season! We had a wonderful time dancing Odori at the Sacramento Obon, one of many local bazaars we visited in Northern California. Special thanks to Midori and family for hosting us at their home!

Good food, island music and entertainment, and warm weather! We had a fun and relaxing afternoon volunteering at the JCYC Island Jam children’s booths.

We were very honored to represent the Northern California Japanese American community at the Greater Seattle Japanese Community Queen Scholarship event in Seattle, Washington. There we joined with our sister city courts from Honolulu, Los Angeles and Seattle to celebrate our Japanese heritage. The Seattle Hospitality Committee were very generous to host us and tour us around the city. All of the Courts attended the Greater Seattle Japanese Community Queen Scholarship Program Coronation, where the 2007 Court said their good-byes and the new 2008 Court members were crowned. We enjoyed Seattle very much and are excited to see everyone again at Nisei Week in Los Angeles!

We were invited to the 25th anniversary celebration of KIMOCHI, Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides culturally sensitive care for seniors primarily serving the Japanese American community. We were very happy to volunteer at the event assiting with the raffle to raise money for the programs and services that Kimochi, Inc. provides. We were especially happy to see the Consul General Yasumasa Nagamine and his wife, Mrs. Nagamine along with Mr. Hata from JAL. It was also exciting for us to meet Ross Mirkarimi, the Supervisor for District 7 which includes Japantown, and the Masters of Ceremonies Jon Sasaki, a Bay Area News Reporter. For more information on KIMOCHI, Inc. please visit

The Asian Heritage Street Celebration is an important event for the Asian American community to share our diverse cultures while celebrating our common heritage. It is a festival but more than that, it is a forum for us to express issues that concern the Asian American community. This year the AsianWeek Foundation chose San Francisco’s Japantown to host the event and we were very happy to represent the Northern California Japanese American community in welcoming all at the Asian Heritage Month celebration, event kick-off, and the street fair.