NikkeiWest--Northern California Japanese American Newspaper

By J.K. Yamamoto/Photo by Roy Yamada

BERKELEY—The Contra Costa JACL, one of the oldest chapters of the Japanese American Citizens League, celebrated its 75th anniversary on April 11 at H’s Lordships Restaurant in the Berkeley Marina with about 100 people in attendance.

The theme was “Remembering the Past, Serving the Present, Persevering for the Future.”

The chapter was organized in April 1935 with William Furuta as its first president. Other chapter founders include Hideo Ajari, Tom Morodomi, George Mikuno, Akiko Yamamoto Toriyama, June Toriyama, George Yamauchi and Matsuko Yamauchi.

After disbanding in April 1942 because of the internment, the chapter was reorganized in February 1953 as the Richmond-El Cerrito JACL with Heizo Oshima as president. It was renamed the Contra Costa JACL in 1957. Marvin Uratsu was the luncheon’s lone representative of chapter presidents from the 1950s.

Opening remarks at the luncheon were made by Kathy Aoki, who is chapter co-president with Esther Takeuchi. James Oshima, a two-time past president, served as master of ceremonies.

Rev. Royce Tanaka of East Bay Free Methodist Church in El Cerrito gave the invocation and benediction. He recalled hearing a Nisei member of the congregation talk about the difficulties he faced because of prejudice.

“He couldn’t get certain jobs because of his race, even though he might have been more qualified than others based on his education and work experience,” Tanaka said. “On top of that, as he worked, he didn’t get promotions like others. What was most profound for me, though, was what he said … He did what he needed to do in order that his children and others would have the opportunity even though he didn’t have those opportunities.”

Tanaka said it was a privilege to speak at the anniversary event “because many of those represented in JACL are the reasons why myself and those of my generation have the opportunities and privileges that we are blessed with today.”

The National JACL was represented by President Larry Oda from Monterey, who offered his congratulations. He was accompanied by his wife, Ann. Al Satake and his daughter Meredith represented Berkeley JACL.

“You’ve always been very supportive in following the mission of JACL, f ighting discrimination but also looking after your elders and preparing your younger members for leadership,” Oda said.

Other special guests included Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia, San Pablo Mayor Leonard McNeil, Hercules Mayor Kris Valstad, and Hercules City Councilmember Joanne Ward.

Congratulatory messages were also received from Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, JACL National Executive Director Floyd Mori, JACL Northern California-Western Nevada-Pacific District Governor Alan Nishi, and NCWNP Regional Director Patty Wada.

Filmmaker Ken Kokka, who is working with the chapter to document the history of Japanese Americans in the Richmond-El Cerrito area, particularly families in the nursing business, was also recognized. The film will be part of the Rosie the Riveter Memorial Park in Richmond and will also be shown on the Internet.

Award-Winning Filmmaker

The guest speaker, local filmmaker Steven Okazaki, was introduced by Aoki, who was proud to say that he is a member of Contra Costa JACL.

He is a 1991 Academy Award winner for his documentary “Days of Waiting,” the story of artist Estelle Ishigo, a Caucasian who was interned with her Japanese American husband during World War II, and the recipient of an Emmy Award in 2008 for his HBO documentary “White Light/Black Rain,” which focuses on survivors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

His documentaries “Unfinished Business,” “The Mushroom Club,” and “The Conscience of Nhem En” were also nominated for Oscars. His other films include “Troubled Paradise,” “Hunting Tigers,” “Black Tar Heroin,” “Life Was Good,” and a romantic comedy, “Living on Tokyo Time.”

Okazaki was accompanied by his wife, journalist and author Peggy Orenstein, and their daughter, Daisy.

He noted that when one joins JACL, one can join any chapter anywhere in the country. Explaining his choice of Contra Costa, Okazaki cited the chapter’s work on redress for Japanese American internees and support of atomic bomb survivors living in the Bay Area. He also noted that long-time activists Ernie and Chizu Iiyama, both of whom attended the luncheon, are chapter members.

A native of Venice in Los Angeles County, Okazaki was “the artist of the class” in school and was always asked to make posters for events. He said that he tried to major in art when he enrolled at San Francisco State University in 1972, even though “realistically, I didn’t see a way of making a living as a fine artist” and “wasn’t that anxious to go into commercial art.”

When told that there were no more openings for art majors, he grabbed the school catalog and searched for alternatives. Growing up in L.A., he had not considered a career in film because it seemed that the only way to break into the industry was through connections — for instance, a friend who landed a role in a commercial told him, “My uncle cuts this Hollywood producer’s hair, and that’s how I got the job.”  But when Okazaki saw film listed as a major in the catalog, he reconsidered.

He thought at the time, “That might be interesting. It’s a visual art and it would be good for me because I was feeling that I wanted to learn a craft … more tangible and viable than just painting.” The advantage of film over fine arts, he said, is that most people are “intimidated” by paintings and say “That’s really interesting” whether they like a painting or not, but with films, “everybody is an expert” and can immediately say what they like and why.

Unfortunately, there were no openings for film majors either. “But just having gone through that process, I decided to be a filmmaker,” he said.

Okazaki also took an Asian American studies class with Steve Nakajo of Kimochi Inc. as the instructor, and worked with seniors and youth in Japantown as part of the class requirements.

When he graduated, he “just wanted to make movies” but did not have a particular subject in mind. He was a fan of the great European and Japanese directors, but would have been happy to make monster movies or “teenagers in jeopardy” movies.

Okazaki started out making educational films for children, including some about ethnicity. When the passage of Proposition 13 eliminated state funding for his projects at Churchill Films, he started directing commercials. He “slowly started getting better pay and better jobs,” but “didn’t find the work that interesting.” He said his decision to quit that line of work came when he was shooting an AM/PM Mini Market commercial starring Dracula.

Another turning point came when Okazaki was asked by his mother to help his sister, who was attending SFSU, with a history project on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After going to UC Berkeley’s Pacific Film Archive and seeing several documentaries about the atomic bomb that did not feature a single survivor, he found a survivors’ group in San Francisco and arranged to meet them.

He invited his sister to the meeting and was told, “Oh, I forgot to tell you. I dropped that class.” He decided to attend the meeting anyway and was asked to show one of his films. He picked “Americans,” which was about kids with multiracial backgrounds in San Francisco’s public schools.

The meeting was held in Japantown with about 40 survivors, mostly women, in attendance. After seeing his film, one of them said, “I think we should have Mr. Okazaki make a film about us. All those in favor, raise your hand.” Everyone agreed, and he found himself committed to making the film. “They looked my mom, they looked like my aunt, and they looked like my grandmother, and what a jerk if I would be if I didn’t try to make the film.”

Thus, “it was my sister’s fault” that he became a documentary filmmaker, he said. “Otherwise, I’d be a rich, cynical person living in Los Angeles right now.”

The experience of making “Survivors” (1982) taught him what “a great privilege” it is to produce documentaries and tell people’s stories to the world. He ended up directing two more films about Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

His next project was “Unfinished Business,” focusing on the court cases of Fred Korematsu, Gordon Hirabayashi and Min Yasui, who challenged the constitutionality of the internment.

Although he has done other films on Japan and Japanese Americans, he has also explored other topics to avoid being “bracketed” as a maker of historical documentaries. Describing his film on young heroin addicts in San Francisco as an example, Okazaki said what’s important is that the topic be “compelling.”

In each case, he said, people have gone out of his way to help him when they find out he is making a documentary about them. “It’s like you just catch a wave. The enthusiasm and the need for that film just pushes you through.”

“Each project for me has been a kind of life experience,” he said, even though his most recent film, “The Conscience of Nhem En,” was also “painful” to make because it dealt with survivors of the Cambodian genocide. “You cannot help being affected by that … It was a really powerful experience for me.”

Okazaki added that with today’s digital cameras, which can shoot “literally anywhere,” the variety of subjects that can be documented “keeps expanding.” He admitted that when he used film, he would sometimes “secretly turn off the camera” when an interview got boring in order to save money.

Subjects of his upcoming films include Oxycontin addiction, homelessness in Los Angeles, the rock band Wilco, and the Heart Mountain internment camp in Wyoming.

Everyone who attended the luncheon received two DVDs containing five of Okazaki’s films, plus a booklet featuring background information on the chapter, photos of activities over the last 20-plus years, and reflections from past presidents, board members and scholarship recipients.

The event concluded with a group photo.