welcome to tokubo.com

Pictures have been posted by Ryan for the 2010 Tahoe Weekend!!!

Best wishes for 2010!!!!

We’ve opened part of the gallery to include the family holiday cards.  If you’d like your’s added, please shoot me a picture (or I’ll scan them in when we get them).

Chance and Kara

Mia and Ava 2009

This would probably qualify to being as close to a real press release, as I’ve ever done for this site. The Japanese Community Youth Council (JCYC) in San Francisco recently relocated their offices.

But the best news is that they announced a new major donor, Hiro Tokubo.

“One of the things that we decided to do in honor of that very generous gift was to dedicate this building in the memory of his parents.”

A photo of Moriye and Mariko Tokubo is prominently displayed in the building along with a brief profile. Mr. Tokubo arrived in Seattle from Hiroshima in 1919. Mariko Takemoto arrived from Yamaguchi in 1932, and the two got married. They raised eight children and owned a successful tofu and grocery business in Fowler.

(Comment: the original article had a misspelling of the name.  I have sent an email to correct it.)

“Their legacy of devotion to family and community will serve as an enduring inspiration to all of us who have benefited from their struggles and perseverance,” the profile reads.

“My connection with JCYC goes back to the early 1980s when I was involved with the board. … There’s something about that bond that never left,” said Tokubo, who moved to the East Coast and was away from the Bay Area for almost 20 years.

Noting that his parents sent all eight of their children to college, Tokubo said, “I think my parents would be very proud if they could be here tonight … knowing what JCYC does and how it reflects their own values.”

The original article can be found here.  The JCYC’s newsletter page is here.

We all send our thanks to Hiro for giving back to the community as well as honoring the family’s history.

I was passed an email by my mom earlier.

It’s a little somber, but I think it is really worth sharing.

==============================================

Hi there,

I wrote this song “Infinite Sky” a few years back, and finally found the block of time to record it in my home studio. I pulled some photos off of the internet and made a slideshow/video of it. It is about the Japanese-American internment camps and the events surrounding that chapter of American history. I figured that you would be interested in viewing/hearing it. Please let me know what you think of the song and video, and if you liked it, please send the link along to anyone you think who would appreciate it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHCJzufHbwI

It is dedicated to the Nissei (2nd generation) Japanese-American citizens who went through the experience, and especially to my grandmother, Miharu Masuda, who was born in Hollister, CA.

Michael M. Masuda

Physics & Astronomy

EVCC Adjunct Faculty

Ryan started uploading his pictures.  I’m working on mine now as well.

The now annual Tahoe gathering is just around the corner. Look forward to seeing everyone there!

Hi everyone,
Happy holidays from the tokubo.com webmaster. Things I still have on tap, but have not gotten around to over the past few months.
- Better gallery
- Better integration with the sub-sites
- Post more information
- Update the backend to a newer version of wordpress.

These are still on my to-do list, but I am one of the lucky few who get to work through the holiday season. Plus Chance and Kara are pretty good at keeping me busy.

–Todd

I’ll have pictures of the Fresno meeting up shortly. Also, there will be some general cleanup happening with the website shortly. It looks like the hosting company moved our site to some much better servers, so the gallery seems to be faster. I’ll also be upgrading to the newest version of blog SW. I may try to consolidate all of the blog entries so we have an easier time seeing things like Glenn and Cyndi’s updates.

If you have pics, please send them todd at tokubo dot com.

Thanks to everyone who came up to Tahoe for the weekend.

A special thanks to:

• Brian for being the catalyst for everything.
• Uncle Russell and Aunty Sally for the use of the house.
• Aunty Michi and my dad (Shig) for prepping the food.
• And to everyone who made sure all the kids (the next generation kids) had fun.

Man… do I look like a giant in this picture or what?