IDEA Odyssey Gallery presents “Balik/Ibalik”, an exhibit of new photographs by Carina A. del Rosario. In this new work, the artist documents her recent trip to the Philippines after a 22 year absence and explores the intersections of language, culture, family and place. Opening reception is Thurs., Feb. 2 from 5 – 8pm.  On view through March 31. Del Rosario gives an artist talk on Feb. 11 from 1 – 3pm. 666 S. Jackson.  Open Th., Fri. and Sat. from noon to 5pm or by appointment. (206) 462-1359 or go to www.ideaodysseygallery.com.

Opening Feb. 9 at Seattle Art Museum downtown is “Gauguin Polynesia – An Elusive Paradise.” Through April 29. Paired with the famed Gauguin paintings of the South Pacific are 60 sculptures, jewelry and functional objects from the native cultures of the South Pacific. SAM, 1300 First Ave., Seattle. Visit: www.seattleartmuseum.org.

Batkhurel Bold, the dynamic principal dancer of Pacific Northwest Ballet (originally from Mongolia) stars in the new production of “Don Quixote.”  Ten performances only from Feb. 3 – 12 at McCaw Hall at Seattle Center. Call (206) 441-2424 or go to pnb.org.

Krys Lee was born in Seoul, raised in California and Washington, and studied in the United States and England. She now lives in Seoul. In her debut book of short stories entitled “Drifting House” (Viking), she revisits characters she knows and the pressures of life in both Korea’s and Korean Americans in the U.S.  She reads at the University Book Store in Seattle on Wed., Feb. 8 at 7pm. 4326 University Way NE. Call (206) 634-3400.

If you are interested in the music of taiko, the Japanese traditional drum then try these upcoming concerts. Seattle University, Minidoka Pilgrimage Planning Committee and Friends of Minidoka present “Day of Remembrance 2012 Taiko Fest” set for Sun., Feb. 19 from 1 – 5 p.m.  The concert features over 7 Seattle taiko groups all performing on the same stage. Seattle University’s Pigott Auditorium. Located at 901 – 12^th Ave., Seattle.  Tickets available through Brown Paper Tickets or go to http://www.minidokapilgrimage.org/. Internationally known drumming group, “TAO: The Way of the Drum” perform on Fri., Feb. 3 at 8 p.m. Moore Theatre in downtown Seattle at 1932 – 2^nd, Seattle. Tickets at www.stgpresents.org or call (877) 784-4849.

The UW World Series presents  Shen Wei Dance Arts with performances at UW’s Meany Hall Feb. 2 – 4 at 8 p.m. Each piece incorporates visual and storytelling elements from the theater, Chinese opera, Eastern philosophy, traditional and contemporary visual art and sculpture. There will be a pre-show talk in the main auditorium by Chung Xinwei of the UW Dance Department at 7:10 p.m. Call (206) 543-4880 or go to www.uwworldseries.org for details.

Hawaiian singer/songwriter John Cruz makes a welcome return to Seattle’s Triple Door on Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m. Growing up in a family with a record collection well-stocked with Motown, Cruz also blends traditional Hawaiian music with Reggae, pop, soul and blues that amounts to a soulful, original island sound. Cruz is also a masterful guitarist with a full sound coming from a solo guitar back-up to his vocals. The Triple Door at 216 Union St. downtown. Go to (206) 838-4333 or www.thetripledoor.net for details.

This year’s 7th Annual Children’s Film Festival   features a number of films from Asia and South Asia in their program. Through Feb. 5. Northwest Film Forum at 1515 – 12th Ave. Call (206) 329-2629 or go to www.nwfilmforum.org.

“Hungry Planet: What the World Eats” is a fascinating photo exhibit that takes 10 families from around the world and looks at what they eat, day in and day out. Opens Jan. 28 and remains on view through June 10. UW’s Burke Museum, 17th Ave. NE and NE 45th in Seattle. Call (206) 544-5590 or go to www.burkemuseum.org.

Opening Jan. 27 at the Uptown Cinemas is “Norwegian Wood” which played at last year’s SIFF. This marks the film’s regular run. Adapted from the best selling novel by Haruki Murakami and directed by acclaimed director Tran Anh Hung (The Scent of Green Papaya), the film tells the story of a young Japanese couple and their friend in a relationship torn asunder by death. In Japanese with English subtitles. 511 Queen Anne Ave. Call (206) 324-9996.

Author Diane Fujino is the author of two books on powerful Asian American community activists. She penned “Heartbeat of Struggle: The Revolutionary Life of Yuri Kochiyama (see mention of the documentary film on Kochiyama above) and her look on Afro-Asian coalition builder Richard Aoki entitled “A Samurai Among Panthers: Richard Aoki on Race, Resistance and a Paradoxical Life” (University of Minnesota Press) comes out in April She makes a surprise visit here on Friday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. in what’s sure to be a provocative and timely talk on activists in the community. Fujino is associate professor of Asian American Studies at UC Santa Barbara. Elliott Bay Book Company, 1521 – 10th Ave. Call (206) 624-66000 or go to www.elliottbaybook.com.

“Within/Without” by sculptor June Sekiguchi  looks  at extremes of emotion in the life of the artist. Overjoyed at an invitation from Prince Nithakong Somsanith of Laos, for an artist residency, Sekiguchi was simultaneously shocked with the sudden death of a parent. Out of this comes a site-specific installation in scroll-cut wood and gilded bamboo, a temple of transcendence, sorrow and joy – with responsive sound and light elements by Rob Mills and Spar Wilson. Augmented with new wall-hung sculptures. On view now with a  reception on Feb. 2 from 5 – 8 p.m. and an artist talk set for Feb. 2 at 3 p.m.  ArtXchange Gallery 512 First Ave. S. Call (206) 839-0377 or go to www.artxchange.org . The artist’s residency in Laos was sponsored by 4Culture.

Christian Bale stars in Zhang Yimou’s “Flowers of War” which opens Jan. 20 at a Seattle Landmark Theatre. Bale plays a renegade American posing as a priest who trys to protect Chinese children during the Japanese invasion of Nanjing in 1937. Screenplay by Liu Heng and Yen Geling based on Geling’s novel.

Visual Arts

Takahito Sekiguchi, a visiting ceramic artist from the University of Tokyo and currently resident artist with Tacoma Community College showcases his work at KOBO at Higo Feb. 18 – March 17. Opening reception is Sat., Feb. 18 from 4 – 6 p.m. Kobo at Higo, 604 South Jackson. info@koboseattle.com. Call (206) 381-3000.

ONTOLOGUE is a touring art entity that specializes in exhibitions and publications. At SOIL Gallery, they present “Parliament of Things”, a group show. Kentaro Ikegami will do a performance piece utilizing the gallery reception catering and shintoist traditions. Opens Feb. 2 from 6 – 8 p.m. and remains on view through Feb. 25. 112 – 3^rd Ave. S. Go to soilart.org for details.

Noted Seattle ceramic artist Patti Warashina has work in the group show entitled “Around The Bend And Over The Edge: Seattle Ceramics 1964 – 1977”  from Feb. 11 – May 6 at UW Henry Art Gallery in the North Galleries, 15^th Ave. NE & NE 41^st At. Go to henryart.org or call (206) 543-2280.

Winston Wachter Fine Art presents “New Paintings” by Hiro Yokose. Through Feb. 23.  203 Dexter Ave. N. Call (206) 652-5855 or go to www.winstonwachter.com.

“Journeys” is a group show of local artists influenced by travel. The work of Romson Regarde Bustillo is included. Through Feb. 11. SAM Gallery located at 1220 Third Ave. Call (206) 343-1101. SOIL Gallery at 112 – 3rd Ave. S. in Seattle.

Cambodian-born artist Soheap Pich immigrated to the US with his family to escape the Khmer Rogue and attended art school here, earning an MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. After a few years of meaningless jobs less than conducive to making art, he returned to his home country where he transitioned to sculpture using rattan and bamboo which suggests Cambodia’s basket-weaving tradition. He comes to Seattle’s Henry art Gallery to construct an installation entitled “Compound.” On view till April 1, 2012. Henry Art Gallery on the UW campus located at 15th Ave. NE & NE 41st. Call (206) 543-2280 or visit www.henryart.org for details. On the third floor, explore a new show entitled “The Seattle Art Museum & Seattle Artists in the 1930s and 1940s” which celebrates the work of Northwest artists whose careers were fostered by the director and patrons of the museum. Includes work by Mark Tobey, Morris Graves and Emilio Amero. SAM Next series is Seattle Art Museum’s contemporary art exhibition program intended to shed light on cutting-edge contemporary young artists and the work they are doing. Selected sixth in the series is New York-based multi-media artist Mika Tajima. Tajima combines painting, sculpture, design, performance, video and sound to create immersive installations that expand the possibilities of each medium. On view through June 17, 2012. SAM is located at 1300 First Ave. in Seattle. Call (206) 654-3100 or go to www.seattleartmuseum.org for details.

“North, South, East, West” is a group show curated by June Sekiguchi at University House in the Wallingford neighborhood. It looks at the multicultural fabric of America as exemplified by Seattle artists from Ethiopia, Poland, Vietnam, Iraq etc. Includes work by Carina del Rosario Minh Carrico, Tina Koyama and others. The show will be on display until Feb. 13, 2012. University House, 4400 Stone Way N. at N. 45th, Seattle. Call (206) 545-8400.

“Painting Seattle: Kamekichi Tokita & Kenjiro Nomura” curated by Barbara Johns remains on view till Feb. 19, 2012. In the 1930’s these two artists documented the landscape of the city and the farmland on weekends and ran their day job of sign-painting on the weekdays. You can still find evidence of their daily labor in signs around Japantown and ID/Chinatown from the “Blue Funnel Line” sign on a door near the Wing to the curtain of painted ads of neighborhood businesses once in the Nippon Kan and now in the Wing’s little theatre. But their own painting of cityscapes and landscapes won recognition in the 1930’s as well. Tokita died too young from poor health after getting out of an internment camp but Nomura would live long enough to see his work turn abstract and receive the honor of being the first Seattle artist to get a one-person show at Seattle Art Museum. Tours of the show will begin on weekends at noon starting at the Fuller Garden Court. Coming March 15 and on view till August 5, 2012 will be a show entitled “Colors of the Oasis, Central Asian Ikats” which features 40 colorful robes created during the 19th century using the labor intensive process known as ikat. All at the Seattle Asian Art Museum, 1400 Prospect Ave., Seattle. For more information, call (206) 654-3100 or visit www.seattleartmuseum.org.

 Early February brings   First Thursday Historic Hotel Tour at a discount on Feb. 2 from 10am – 8 p.m. Former Museum director and writer Ron Chew reads from his new book entitled “Remembering Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes: The Legacy of Filipino American labor Activism” on Feb. 2 at 6pm. Other continuing activities include the following – Jan. 21 – March 31 is the Historic Hotel & Chinatown Discovery Tour with a Lunar New Year twist. Call (206) 623-5124×133 for details. On Sat., Feb. 18 from 1 – 3 p.m., learn how to make food paintings with Romson Regarde Bustillo as part of Family Fun Day. On Sat., March 17 from 1 – 3 p.m., Mizu Sugimura teaches a Japanese Art Workshop as part of Family Fun Day. Special exhibition opening reception for “Asian American Arcade” on Feb. 9 from 6 – 8 p.m. Follow video games out of the arcade and into the art gallery where related artworks explore questions of identity, community, imagination, learning and the power of play in our lives. “Meet Me at Higo: An Enduring Story of a Japanese American Family” is a new show of a famous neighborhood general store that just opened. On view until Spring 2012. Accompanied by a catalogue with essay written by Ken Mochizuki. Also new is “From Fields to Family: Asian Pacific Americans and Food” which explores the traditions, techniques and mouth-watering stories of food through culture and cooking techniques passed on through home and restaurant over the years. “Vintage Japantown through the lens of the Takano Studio” is another show which looks at portrait photography from one studio active from the 1930’s to the early 1940’s. Studios like this once thrived in the neighborhood and captured the everyday life of its inhabitants. Through Feb. 12, 2012.   On Sat., Feb. 18 from 1 – 5 p.m., the museum sponsors three film screenings in commemoration of the 70^th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 that led to the imprisonment of Japanese Americans. Free. “Conscience and the Constitution” by Frank Abe screens at 1 p.m. “With Honors Denied” by Yukiko Kubo Shiogi is at 4 p.m. and “Transcending: The Wat Misaka Story is at 4:20pm. Go to http://wingluke.org/events/upcoming.htm for details. For information on all of the above, go to www.wingluke.org or call (206) 623-5124.

Artists Susie J. Lee, Henry Tsang and Jin-Me Yoon were selected to participate in “The 10th Northwest Biennial” which will be on view through May 2012. Work was selected by TAM curator Rock Hushka and independent art curator Renato Rodrigues da Silva. (253) 272-4258 or go to www.TacomaArtMuseum.org.

The work of Joseph Park is included in a group show entitled “Yesterday’s Tomorrow” on view at Museum of Northwest Art through March 14. The show showcases futuristic work that reflects the Northwest’s rich history of embracing traditions of industry and innovations of technology. 121 South First St. in La Conner. (360) 466-4446 or go to www.museumofnwart.org.

The work of Roger Shimomura is on view through March 10 at Gonzaga University’s Jundt Gallery in Spokane. 502 E. Boone Ave. (509) 323-6611 or go to www.gonzaga.edu/jundt Shimomura’s work is also in a group show at the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. entitled “Portraiture Now: Asian American Portraits of Encounter”. Through Oct. 14, 2012. Go to www.npa.sl.edu/exhibit/encounter/visit.html. After the show closes, it will tour including venues in Washington State.

Coverage of early Japanese American history in the region is included in the permanent exhibit at White River Valley Museum, 918 “H” St. S.E. in Auburn. Call (253) 288-7433 or go www.wrvmuseum.org.

The Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center preserves the history and culture of Japanese Americans in the area. Their permanent exhibit is “Oregon Nikkei: Reflections of a Community.” “Forthcoming shows will be “Kokeshi: From Tradition to Tools,” “Coming Home: Japanese Americans in Portland After WWII” and “Roger Shimomura: Shadows of Minidoka.” Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center, 121 NW 2nd Ave. in Portland. Call (503) 224-1458 or e-mail: info@oregonnikkei.org.

The Portland Japanese Garden offers the serenity of a Japanese garden plus numerous classes, art shows and workshops year around. Portland Japanese Garden, 611 S.W. Kingston Ave. Call (503) 233-1321.

The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene has the following exhibits.  Coming next spring is a show entitled “Visions of the Orient: Western Women artists in Asia, 1900 – 1940.” Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, 1430 Johnson Lane, Seattle. Call (541) 346-3027.

“Hiroshima: Photographs by Miyako Ishiuchi” on view through Feb. 12. This noted Japanese photographer chose the objects she photographed from more than 19,000 personal effects left behind by those who perished in the bombings. Museum of Anthropology, 6393 NW Marine Dr., Vancouver, B.C. Call (604) 822-5087 or go to www.moa.ubc.ca.

Performing Arts

STG presents the Nan Hai Art Center’s “Celebrate the Year of Dragon” on Feb. 3 at 7:30pm. At the Paramount at 911 Pine St. (425) 576-8880 or go to www.nanhaishow.com. Tickets at stgpresents.org or call (877) 784-4849.

Improv comedy troupe Pork Filled Players charge into the year of the dragon with a new comedy/music cabaret entitled “Spam 0 Rama” on Wed., Feb. 15 at 7:30pm. Theatre Off Jackson at 409 – 7^th Ave. S. Tickets at brownpapertickets.com/event/221651 or go to www.porkfilled.com.

Miyagi Kai koto performance group will have a New Year’s performance on Sun., Feb. 5 at 1pm. At the Hokubei Houchi Foundation’s The North American Post Nagomi Teahouse Space. Free.  519 – 6th Ave. S. Call (206) 725-4958 or e-mail: info@hokubeihouchi.org.

David Choi performs at VERA Project on Fri., Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m. Near Warren Ave. N. & Republican at Seattle Center. Tickets at www.etix.com or call (206) 956-VERA.

The University of Washington Simpson Center for the Humanities presents a lecture program on Japan at KOBO at Higo. UW Japanese Art History Associate Professor Cynthea J. Bogel will talk about “Food, Drink and Ritual: Scenes behind Japanese Buddhist Temple Life” on Sat., Feb. 4 at 5 p.m. Kobo at Higo, 604 S Jackson. Call (206) 381-3000.

Saturday University Lecture Saturdays Feb. 18 – April 7 at 9:30 a.m. At Seattle Asian Art Museum’s Stimson Auditorium. Feb. 18 brings UW Prof. Chris Murray who will talk about “Health Trends in Asia over Three Decades of Growth (1980-2010). Feb. 25, UBC Prof. Abidin Kusno and UW Tacoma Associate Prof. Lisa Hoffman will talk about “Greening Cities: Possibilities and Practices in Indonesia and China”. Visit seattleartmuseum.org or call (206) 654-3121.

The Seattle Symphony’s new season comes with a new conductor, Ludovic Morlot and some surprises. Some highlights include the following – Mei Ann Chen guest conducts the symphony in the annual “Celebrate Asia” program with guests Jie Ma on pipa, Hahn-Bin on violin and Cuong Vu on trumpet. Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m. Jennifer Koh is violin soloist on March 22, 24 & 25 performing Brahms’ Violin Concerto under the baton of Morlot. On April 16 at 7:30 p.m., Myung-Whun Chung and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra come into town with Wu Wei on sheng performing a mix of Eastern and Western compositions. For a complete schedule, call (206) 215-4747 or go to www.seattlesymphony.org.

Film/Media

“All’s Well, End’s Well 2012” is a   Chinese romantic comedy starring Donnie Yen and others. Currently at Seattle’s AMC Pacific Place 11. 600 Pine St. (206) 652-8908.

The Written Arts

“Embracing Diversity in the Arts – Random Reflections on the Coming Tide of Change” is an article by Ron Chew that appears in the Fall 2011 issue of GIAreader- ideas and information on Arts and Culture” as published by the national arts organization, Grantmakers in the Arts. Call (206) 624-2312 or try gia@giarts.org.

Seattle poet Paisley Rekdal had her poem selected for the anthology entitled “Best American Poets” for 2011. The poem is from a forthcoming book of poems entitled  “Animal Eye” due out in Feb. 2012.

Examiner contributor Yayoi Winfrey has a self-published book now on Goggle Books   (http://books.goggle.com/books?id-QjhZPQAACAAJ@source=gbs_na/links_s) and an essay in a forthcoming textbook on Asian and Pacific Islander Americans (http://www.abc-clio.com/product.aspxisbn=9781598843545). Also check out her new art website at http://ww.yayoilenawinfrey.com.

Art News/Opportunities

A “Nikkei Writing Workshop” for Seattle area Japanese to record their memories of WW II takes place on Sat., Feb. 11 from 1:30 – 4 p.m. If interested, contact Atsushi Kiuchi at akiuchi@aol.com or call (206) 568-7114. At the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington at 1414 S. Weller St.

Washington Lawyers For the Arts present their “Annual Evening Tax Workshop For Artists And The Attorneys Representing Them” on Wed., Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. At West of Lenin Theater at 203 n. 36^th St. Call (800) 838-3006.

Artists practicing in craft, literary, media and music arts in Washington State are eligible to apply for the 2012 Artist Trust Fellowship. Deadline is Feb. 26, 2012. Go to www.artistrust.org for details.

The Wing issues an invitation to participate in “Beyond Talk 2”, a forthcoming exhibit on race at the Wing Luke Museum. In 2004, the museum had a show entitled “Beyond Talk: Redrawing Race. In 2013, a new exhibit on race opens. The community is invited to share in conversations on issues of race to provoke ideas for the new show. Talks take place in Feb. March, April and May at various neighborhoods throughout Seattle. To participate and get details, contact Exhibits Developer Mikala Woodward at mwoodward@wingluke.org or call (206) 623-5124.

A series of Ikebana classes are offered at Cottage House in  Seattle’s Volunteer Park Conservatory. Jan. 10 – Feb. 7. 1 – 3 p.m./ Feb. 21 – March 13, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. For registration, go to www.seattle.gov/parks or call (206) 684-5177. For more information, go to www.ikebanahq.org.

Applications are now being accepted for the Neddy at Cornish, an annual artist award program supported by the Behnke Foundation and based at Cornish College of the Arts in memory of Robert E. (“Ned”) Behnke. Cash awards and a group exhibition given to selected Puget Sound artists. To see application, go to www.cornish.edu/neddy. For additional information, contact Jennifer Ward at (206) 315-5801 or e-mail jward@cornish.edu.

Columbia City Gallery is an artist-run collective that represents over 30 local multi-media artists. The space has a Guest Gallery which showcases artists that reflect an ethnically diverse neighborhood. Do you have a great exhibit idea to propose or need more information? Go to  art@columbiacitygallery.com or email Lauren Davis at lauren@columbiacitygallery.com.

Poets & Writers’ Readings/Workshops Program offers small grants for literary events taking place in Seattle and covers writers’ fees for public readings and workshops. Go to www.pw.org/funding for details.

The Ethnic Heritage Art Gallery showcases emerging and established artists of color from ethnic and cultural communities. For details and deadlines, e-mail: EthnicArtGallery@Seattle.gov.

There is a deadline of March 1, 2012 for US artists interested in applying for the US/Japan Creative artist’ Program. Multi-disciplinary artists will work in Japan at a project or study of their choice. A grant award will cover housing, living and professional expenses and travel costs will be covered as well. Go to www.jusfc.gov for full details.

Though Seattle Art Museum has temporarily suspended all their art councils, due to financial problems, some members of   the Asian Art Council stay in touch as a non-profit known as Friends of Asian Art Association. In their Dec. 2011 newsletter is an interview with Pakistani sculptor Humaira Abio who recently exhibited at ArtXchange Gallery. She lives in Seattle but also works out of a studio in Lahore, Pakistan. For details, go to FriendsofAsianArt@earthlink.net.

Award-winning Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives”) does more than movies. He is also an installation artist with a background in architecture as well. Now, several new publications focus on his work. “For Tomorrow Tonight” Edited by Maeve Butler & Einear O’Raw  (Irish Museum of Modern Art) looks at his body of work in film. “Primitive” looks at a multi-media project that comes out in several genres. The director focused on a village of farmers accused of being communists by the Thai army. Attacked by the army, the inhabitants flee into the jungle. The director worked with the young men of this village to document their struggle. A multi-film installation at a gallery, an on-line installation at Animate Projects and a limited edition artist’s book by CUJO.

Local artist Paul Komada is one of five new members who will join the Soil Art Collective. Their work will eventually appear in the SOIL Gallery at 112 – 3^rd Ave. S.  Go to www.soilart.org for details.

One of the most prolific is the 68-minute documentary “Kash: The Legend and Legacy of Shiro Kashino.” In it, filmmaker Vincent Matsudaira profiles men who served in the 100th Battalion 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II. Focusing on Shiro “Kash” Kashino, Matsudaira presents a straightforward tale of conflict that transcended the battlefield.

The all-Nisei division with its slogan, “Go for Broke!” was the most decorated of WWII. Yet, soldiers of that unit found themselves in a peculiar situation. While their families were herded into concentration camps, and in spite of being American-born citizens, they were treated like foreign enemies. With Japan attacking U.S. interests, many felt their only option was proving their loyalty by joining America in fighting overseas. The irony of having loved ones trapped behind barbed wire, while battling on behalf of those who held their families as hostages, was not lost on those Nisei.

Born in Seattle in 1922, Kashino lost both of his parents at an early age and was raised by older siblings. Like other Japanese Americans on the West Coast, he was interned along with his family. After volunteering for the 442nd, he distinguished himself in combat. Yet, in spite of earning six Purple Hearts, two Bronze Stars and a Silver Star, Kashino — once a platoon sergeant — came home a private. Wrongly implicated in a bar room brawl, he faced a court martial, was twice thrown into a stockade, had his medals taken, and his rank stripped. It wasn’t until 40 years later, encouraged by his wife Louise, family and friends, that he sought exoneration — all the time enduring setbacks while suffering from cancer.

Until he became ill, Kashino was reluctant to revisit what had occurred during the war. But his wife convinced him that younger generations like their three daughters needed to know the truth. In fact, one daughter recalls being unsure during her childhood whether her father fought on the Japanese or American side in WWII.

Skillfully threading archival stills and footage throughout interviews, Matsudaira guides the viewer towards an emotionally charged experience. The last interview Kashino participated in is deeply moving. In one chilling scene, he remembers that upon seeing a German POW camp in Italy, he thought it looked like Camp Minidoka where his family was imprisoned.

On January 14, Congressional Gold Medals were presented to Seattle Regional Veterans of the 442nd and the Military Intelligence Service. Sadly, “Kash” was not there to receive his overdue justice.

For more information, or to buy a DVD, visit: www.kashthemovie.com. Purchases can also be made to benefit Nisei Veteran’s Committee: www.seattlenvc.org.

Another film about another war, “David and Kamal” is a Japanese production directed by Kikuo Kawasaki. Although it takes place during a time of uneasy peace between Palestinians and Jews, it portrays the potential for battle at any moment.

Just nine-years old, Kamal works the streets of Jerusalem hustling tourists and charming them into buying his postcards, only “three for a dollar.” Harassed by teenage bullies, he’s admonished by his stern grandfather for not making enough money and for losing the precious postcards to the bullies. Dreaming of becoming rich someday, Kamal spots his opportunity in a Jewish American boy visiting his father.

David, who lives in the U.S. with his divorced mother, is wary of vacationing with his workaholic father, Joseph, who charges his son to his girlfriend, Raisa. Weak with asthma, David clings to his coin collection, disappointed by his indifferent dad. While shopping with Raisa, David is robbed of his rare coins by Kamal.

Furious, he gives chase and the boys race through streets filled with dark passageways and sudden dead-ends. But soon, they find themselves fighting together against common enemies; settling their differences in ways that adults wouldn’t.

In English, Hebrew and Arabic, the DVD is available at: www.elevenarts.net.

Yet another war film hit theaters on January 20. Chinese director Zhang Yimou’s long-awaited “The Flowers of War,” depicting the massacre of Nanking, was scheduled for a press screening, but cancelled due to snow. Check local listings for show times.

The latest reminder of this fact involves a review in the New York Times on December 9, 2011, by critic Edward Rothstein about the new museum at Powell, Wyoming, called the Heart Mountain Interpretive Learning Center. Rothstein, in looking for reasons why this mass incarceration took place, implies that it was in part, a response to a problem of prewar affinities between Japan and these immigrants who lived on the West Coast, that these affinities were so strong that Japanese Americans were a security threat. It was badly researched and another rationalization of why this had taken place. It is saddening that after all these years, we Japanese Americans are still the suspicious parties.

One remedy for these distorted and false views of that history is to get to more honest and truthful depictions of the camps, and this year, we have the DVD version of Frank Abe’s strong and authoritative film, “Conscience and the Constitution.” First released in 2000, this documentary which focused on the story of the Heart Mountain Resisters who challenged the government’s drafting of Japanese American young men into the army, gave us a good overview of the situation, and was widely praised as an important film about the incarceration itself and the divisions within the Japanese American community at the time. Narrated by poet Lawson Inada and filmed by Phil Sturholm, this award-winning documentary gave us a deep look at the mass incarceration and has been widely shown throughout the country and garnered high praise for bringing to the forefront episodes which have been ignored and marginalized in the dominant narrative of the concentration camps.

Now, “Conscience and the Constitution” has been released as a two-disc collector’s edition with two extra hours of bonus features. As Abe notes, he has added some fascinating asides, previously unseen photos, expanded interviews like one with Ben Kuroki, a war hero who expresses his regret at the vehemence with which he denounced the resisters. In including an original featurette, “The JACL Apologizes,” the story is brought up to date. In 2002, there was a ceremony held in San Francisco by the JACL to formally extend an apology to the resisters for its role in harassing them during the war and afterward. This was a major public acknowledgement of one of the great divisions within our community as it struggles to come to an understanding of the past.

For those of us who have been deeply interested in understanding our history, the extras on this DVD expand and illuminate pieces that we didn’t know. For instance, it is riveting to see Mike Masaoka’s rebuttal to critics in a 9:06 minute-long clip at one of the JACL’s conventions. Another Masaoka audio interview by Frank Abe (at 19:07 minutes) amplifies this man’s complicated, troubled role as the JACL leader during the war. He played a major role as a spokesperson for the community and also for quite a lengthy period after the war. These are invaluable pieces to fit into the puzzle of the incarceration and how it turned out.

As Abe put it, “The film shows the price one pays for taking a principled stand. It’s also about two responses to injustice: collaboration or resistance.” As such it should be seen by every Asian American and also in all American classrooms.

Frank Abe’s new DVD of “Conscience and the Constitution” can be ordered direct by visiting: www.resisters.com or by calling (800) 343-5540. It is also for sale at Kinokuniya Bookstore at 525 S. Weller, Seattle.

I visited the store as a young boy and continued going there as an adult. Now the exhibit, “Meet Me at Higo: An Enduring Story of a Japanese American Family,” brings back memories.

Seeing “Meet Me at Higo” takes me back through my childhood and days as a young community activist again. In this case, history seems to repeat itself.

Near life-size cut-outs of the Murakami sisters greeted me as I walked up to the cash register and display case in the exhibit.

To me, the Higo Variety Store was more than just a business to purchase the little things to make our lives more convenient. The Higo Variety Store was part of a thriving community called Japantown or Nihonmachi.

The Higo Variety Store was one of the numerous businesses in the vibrant history of Nihonmachi, during a period when the area around Jackson and Main Streets were alive with restaurants, barbershops, laundries, tailor shops, jewelry and flower stores.

After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt passed Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, ordering the evacuation of 110,000 Japanese Americans.

On April 30, 1942, the Japanese American community was uprooted, rounded up and sent to internment camps.

The Murakami family, parents Sanzo and Matsuyo, daughters Ayako and Masa, and son Kazuichi were sent to the Minidoka Internment camp where they lived behind barbed wire for three years.

Daughter Chiyoko died in 1937 at the age of 22. According to the exhibit text, she kept a diary in 1936 that chronicled the last year of her life.

That same year, Sanzo built the Jackson Building, then moved Higo’s from its previous location where the Sun Ya Restaurant is now.

Some tenants, Julius Blumenthal and Maurice Zimmer who ran Jackson Loan, took care of the building and boarded up the store.

Since the Murakami’s owned a home and business, they were among the first to be released from Minidoka in January 1945.

In the early 1960s, I knew nothing about the internment of Japanese Americans. During this period, Asian American history was left out of the school text books.

I must have been seven or eight years old when I began playing with some Japanese American friends on King Street, across from the post office. My friends and I would break wooden boxes apart and sharpen them into swords by rubbing them on the pavement.

When I had a few cents to spend, I’d cross busy Jackson Street to the Higo Variety Store and spend time looking at their selection of toys.

Masa and Ayako were always there to greet me, along with their small dog. Masa was more outgoing. Ayako was more reserved as I recall.

Masa had a welcoming but inquisitive gaze. She put up with me, the young snot-nosed kid who visited their toy section each week.

She would stare at me through her glasses and ask “Aren’t you the laundry woman’s boy?” After several visits she figured out my mother ran the Re-New Cleaners on Maynard Avenue.

I’d stand there, looking over the selection of toy guns and party poppers. Those are the fireworks where you pull the string, it goes bang then confetti comes flying out.

I’d stare at the colorful kites hanging from the ceiling and beautiful Japanese fabrics.

I could afford the balsa wood airplanes at a dime each. I’d put the propeller on, twist it around as the rubber band tightened and let it fly at the Chong Wa playfield. When the planes broke, I’d blow them to pieces with firecrackers.

For years, the window displays remained unchanged. The cardboard boxes of various products would fade from the sunlight.

As I got older, I helped Donnie Chin start the International District Emergency Center (IDEC) in the late 1960s to early 1970s. By this time I was in high school and there was a rising sense of community activism. Young people were strategizing about ways to start social service programs to help out our seniors.

I grew my hair long, past the shoulders as a form of rebellion and personal expression.

Donnie and I went on patrol wearing bright red or yellow jumpsuits to keep the peace and watch over the elderly.

Sometimes we’d carry batons. Later we started swinging nunchucks.

Our route always took us to Jackson Street, past Crockett’s electronics repair shop, a Filipino gambling joint, a tailor, a pet store and then to Higo’s Variety Store.

“We always stopped by Higo’s on patrol. She (Masa) always asked us how we were doing and thanked us for stopping by,” said Chin.

At Higo’s, IDEC bought nails, tacks, rope and tools. Donnie and I used the things we bought to remodel his grandfather’s Canton Alley storefront into the emergency center.

When I began volunteering for the International Examiner and carrying a camera around Chinatown, Masa would see me as she swept the sidewalk in front of Higo’s.

“My how you’ve grown up. I’ve known you since you were a little boy,” Masa reminded me repeatedly.

Years later I returned once again to the store as a photographer, doing a portrait of the Murakami sisters that would be featured in the International Examiner and now in this exhibit.

When John Hom, The Wing’s operations manager arrived in Seattle from Montana in the early 1980s he looked for a store to shop at.

“I knew it as a place to look for a rice cooker. I went to check it out. I asked around Chinatown and people referred me to Higo. It was like the five cent stores in Montana. I remember the sisters, they were nice people,” Hom said.

Ayako died in 1999. The store closed in 2003 when Masa was no longer able to care for the store.

I went to the closing sale and bought a back scratcher and shoelaces. Masa later passed away in 2010.

The spirit of Higo lives on in the form of Kobo at Higo. Owners Binko Chiong Bisbee and John Bisbee have maintained some of Higo’s atmosphere and merchandise.

The last time I saw Masa, she was at the Keiro Nursing Home and did not remember me.

But I remembered her. How could I ever forget?

Today’s Kobo at Higo store is located at 602 to 608 S. Jackson Street, in the International District. Visit www.koboseattle.com.

“Meet Me at Higo: An Enduring Story of a Japanese American Family” is on view at the Wing until May 27. It is accompanied by a catalog with an essay written by Ken Mochizuki. Wing Luke Museum, 719 South King St., Seattle. Call (206) 623-5124 or go to www.wingluke.org.

Seattle’s Annual Lunar New Year Festival takes place Sat., Jan. 28 from 11am – 4pm at Hing Hay Park at Maynard Ave. S. & S. King St. With Dragon and Lion Dancers and a food walk with $2 Tasting Menu at participating restaurants. Also a children’s costume parade contest. Go to SeattleChinatownID.com for details.

The UW World Series presents  Shen Wei Dance Arts with performances at UW’s Meany Hall Feb. 2 – 4 at 8pm. Each piece incorporates visual and storytelling elements from the theater, Chinese opera, Eastern philosophy, traditional and contemporary visual art and sculpture. There will be a pre-show talk in the main auditorium by Chung Xinwei of the UW Dance Department   at 7:10pm. Call (206) 543-4880 or go to uwworldseries.org for details.

Hawaiian singer/songwriter John Cruz makes a welcome return to Seattle’s Triple Door on Feb. 5 at 7:30pm. Growing up in a family with a record collection well-stocked with Motown, Cruz also blends traditional Hawaiian music with Reggae, pop, soul and blues that amounts to a soulful, original island sound. Cruz is also a masterful  guitarist with a full sound coming from a solo guitar back-up to his vocals. Also of note, Lucy Wu and Geoffrey Castle do a Chinese New Year’s Concert on Mon., Jan. 23 at 7:30pm. The Triple Door at 216 Union St. downtown. Go to (206) 838-4333 or thetripledoor.net for details.

This year’s 7^th Annual Children’s Film Festival  (see related article in this issue) features a number of films from Asia and South Asia in their program. Runs Jan. 26 – Feb. 5. Northwest Film Forum at 1515 – 12^th Ave. (206) 329-2629 or go to www.nwfilmforum.org

“Mountains That Take Wing – Life, Struggles & Liberation” is a documentary film directed by C. A. Giffith & H. L. T. Quan. Come to the screening and a follow-up discussion with the filmmakers. Angela Davis is a respected writer/scholar and key figure in Black American progressive politics and education. Yuri Kochiyama is a legendary political figure, organizer and leader in Asian American progressive politics and instrumental in reaching out to other ethnic American communities. She cradled Malcom X’s head when he was assassinated in New York. A co-presentation of Seattle Art Museum, Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center’s African American Film Festival’s  Underground Railroad Series, Northwest African American Museum and Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific Experience. The film screens on Sat., Jan. 28 at 2 p.m. Admission is free but you must make reservations to ensure a seat.  Seattle Asian Art Museum’s Stimson Auditorium is located at 1400 E. Prospect in Volunteer Park. Try box office@seattleartmuseum.org. Seats not claimed on the day of the event will be given out 10 minutes before the screening on a first come-first served basis.

“Hungry Planet: What the World Eats” is a fascinating photo exhibit that takes 10 families from around the world and looks at what they eat, day in and day out. Opens Jan. 28 and remains on view through June 10. UW’s Burke Museum. 17th Ave. NE and NE 45th in Seattle. Call (206) 544-5590 or go to www.burkemuseum.org.

Opening Jan. 27 at the Uptown Cinemas is “Norwegian Wood” which played at last year’s SIFF. This marks the film’s regular run. Adapted from the best selling novel by Haruki Murakami and directed by acclaimed director Tran Anh Hung (The Scent of Green Papaya), the film tells the story of a young Japanese couple and their friend in a relationship torn asunder by death. In Japanese with English subtitles. 511 Queen Anne Ave. Call (206) 324-9996.

Author Diane Fujino is the author of two books on powerful Asian American community activists. She penned “Heartbeat of Struggle: The Revolutionary Life of Yuri Kochiyama (see mention of the documentary film on Kochiyama above) and her look on Afro-Asian coalition builder Richard Aoki entitled “A Samurai Among Panthers: Richard Aoki on Race, Resistance and a Paradoxical Life” (University of Minnesota Press) comes out in April She makes a surprise visit here on Friday, Feb. 10 at 7pm in what’s sure to be a provocative and timely talk on activists in the community. Fujino is associate professor of Asian American Studies at UC Santa Barbara. Elliott Bay Book Company, 1521 – 10th Ave. Call (206) 624-66000 or go to www.elliottbaybook.com.

“Within/Without” by sculptor June Sekiguchi  looks  at extremes of emotion in the life of the artist. Overjoyed at an invitation from Prince Nithakong Somsanith of Laos, for an artist residency, Sekiguchi was simultaneously shocked with the sudden death of a parent. Out of this comes a site-specific installation in scroll-cut wood and gilded bamboo , a temple of transcendence, sorrow and joy – with responsive sound and light elements by Rob Mills and Spar Wilson. Augmented with new wall-hung sculptures. On view now with a  reception on Feb.2 from 5 – 8 p.m. and an artist talk set for Feb. 2 at 3 p.m.  ArtXchange Gallery 512 First Ave. S. Call (206) 839-0377 or go to www.artxchange.org. The artist’s residency in Laos was sponsored by 4Culture.

Perennial Northwest favorite, ukulele player extraordinaire Jake Shimabukuro   returns for two engagements in  the Puget Sound. His first show is Jan. 19 at 7:30 p.m. at Edmonds Center for the Arts at 410 Fourth Ave. N. (425) 275-9595 or edmondscenterforthearts.org. His second show is on Jan. 20 at Tacoma’s Rialto Theatre at 7:30 p.m. 310 S. Ninth St. Call (253) 591-5984 or visit www.broadwaycenter.org.

Singer/songwriter Emi Meyer has generated quite a following in Japan but she was raised in Seattle. Catch her in a local free performance at Seattle’s Sorrento Hotel at 900 Madison St. On Friday, Jan. 20, 2012.  Visit http:/emi-meyer.com/index.html for details.

The Denmark-bred brothers Chris Minh Doky (bass) and Niels Lan Doky (piano) burst onto the contemporary jazz scene in the 80’s. Their sound blends the energy of the New York scene (both brothers lived and worked in New York with the pastoral folk elements of Scandanavia). Now Chris leads a strong band called the Nomads with drummer  Dave Weckl and makes a rare Seattle appearance at Jazz Alley on Jan. 17 – 18. 2033 – 6^th Ave. downtown. (206) 441-0720 or go to jazzalley.com for details.

Christian Bale stars in Zhang Yimou’s “Flowers of War” which opens Jan. 20 at a Seattle Landmark Theatre. Bale plays a renegade American posing as a priest who trys to protect Chinese children during the Japanese invasion of Nanjing in 1937. Screenplay by Liu Heng and Yen Geling based on Geling’s novel.

Visual Arts

Examiner contributor/visual artist Dan-Thanh Nguyen has two prints in the group show, “Made At Pratt” through Jan. 28. Pratt Studio Gallery at the Tashiro Kaplan Building at 312 S. Washington in Studio 1A. Go to http://www.pratt.org/happenings/tkgallery.html for details.

Winston Wachter Fine Art presents “New Paintings” by Hiro Yokose. On view Jan. 10 – Feb. 23.  203 Dexter Ave. N. Call (206) 652-5855 or go to www.winstonwachter.com.

“Journeys” is a group show of local artists influenced by travel. The work of Romson Regarde Bustillo is included. Through Feb. 11. SAM Gallery located at 1220 Third Ave. Call (206) 343-1101.

Talented ceramic/installation artist Yuki Nakamura returns with a new piece entitled “Kukai: Sea and Sky” done in collaboration with digital media artist Robert Campbell. Show runs till Jan. 28 with reception scheduled for Jan. 5 from 6 – 8 p.m. The two artists live directly across from one another between Vashon Island and Tacoma. So “Sea and Sky” is part of everyday just as the sea between the Northwest and Japan and the parts and pieces houses washed away in the tsunami drifting towards our shores. The installation evokes this bond.  The focus is in part inspired by Japanese wood joinery. SOIL Gallery at 112 – 3rd Ave. S. in Seattle.

Cambodian-born artist Soheap Pich  immigrated to the US with his family to escape the Khmer Rogue and attended art school here, earning an MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. After a few years of meaningless jobs less than conducive to making art, he returned to his home country where he transitioned to sculpture using rattan and bamboo which suggests Cambodia’s basket-weaving tradition. He comes to Seattle’s Henry art Gallery to construct an installation entitled “Compound.” On view till April 1, 2012. Henry Art Gallery on the UW campus located at 15th Ave. NE & NE 41st. Call (206) 543-2280 or visit www.henryart.org for details. On the third floor, explore a new show entitled “The Seattle Art Museum & Seattle Artists in the 1930s and 1940s” which celebrates the work of Northwest artists whose careers were fostered by the director and patrons of the museum. Includes work by Mark Tobey, Morris Graves and Emilio Amero. SAM Next series is Seattle Art Museum’s contemporary art exhibition program intended to shed light on cutting-edge contemporary young artists and the work they are doing. Selected sixth in the series is New York-based multi-media artist Mika Tajima. Tajima combines painting, sculpture, design, performance, video and sound to create immersive installations that expand the possibilities of each medium. On view through June 17, 2012. SAM is located at 1300 First Ave. in Seattle. Call (206) 654-3100 or go to www.seattleartmuseum.org for details.

On view through January 2012 is “The Safeco Gift and New Acquisitions: Collecting for the Future.” The work of Tram Bui, Diem Chau, Fay Chong, Saya Moriyasu, Norie Sato, Chang-ae Song and Chao-Chen Yang are included in this show. Tacoma Art Museum, 1701 Pacific Ave. Call (253) 272-4258 or go to www.tacomaartmuseum.org more details.

“North, South, East, West” is a group show curated by June Sekiguchi at University House in the Wallingford neighborhood. It looks at the multicultural fabric of America as exemplified by Seattle artists from Ethiopia, Poland, Vietnam, Iraq etc. Includes work by Carina del Rosario Minh Carrico, Tina Koyama and others. The show will be on display until Feb. 13, 2012. University House, 4400 Stone Way N. at N. 45th, Seattle. Call (206) 545-8400.

The work of Etsuko Ichikawa, Jennifer Le, Tram Bui, Ying Yueh Chuang, Miki Lee and Xiaoze Xie is included in a group show entitled “New Contemporary Works” on view through Jan. 28, 2012. Davidson Galleries. 313 Occidental Ave. S. Call (206) 624-7684.

Megumi Schacher  has a workshop set for KOBO at Higo in Seattle on Jan. 22 from 1 – 3 p.m. Advance registration required. Call (425) 744-9751 or visit www.ikebanabymegumi.com

The 6th Annual Simple Cup Show showcases over 200 cups from the Northwest & Japan.  Runs through December. Co-sponsored by Seward Park Clay Studio. This year, a portion of the profits will go to benefit the potters at Mashiko who lost kilns/studios during the recent earthquake.  KOBO Gallery at Higo, 604 S. Jackson St., Seattle. Call (206) 381-3000 or go to www.koboseattle.com.

“Painting Seattle: Kamekichi Tokita & Kenjiro Nomura” curated by Barbara Johns remains on view till Feb. 19, 2012. In the 1930’s these two artists documented the landscape of the city and the farmland on weekends and ran their day job of sign-painting on the weekdays. You can still find evidence of their daily labor in signs around Japantown and ID/Chinatown from the “Blue Funnel Line” sign on a door near the Wing to the curtain of painted ads of neighborhood businesses once in the Nippon Kan and now in the Wing’s little theatre. But their own painting of cityscapes and landscapes won recognition in the 1930’s as well. Tokita died too young from poor health after getting out of an internment camp but Nomura would live long enough to see his work turn abstract and receive the honor of being the first Seattle artist to get a one-person show at Seattle Art Museum. Tours of the show will begin on weekends at noon starting at the Fuller Garden Court. Coming March 15 and on view till August 5, 2012 will be a show entitled “Colors of the Oasis, Central Asian Ikats” which features 40 colorful robes created during the 19th century using the labor intensive process known as ikat. All at the Seattle Asian Art Museum, 1400 Prospect Ave., Seattle. For more information, call (206) 654-3100 or visit www.seattleartmuseum.org.

2012 Year of the Dragon” festivities all day long on Sat., Jan. 21. On view from 10am – 8pm is the opening day of the  interactive exhibition entitled “New Years All Year Round” that looks at how various Asian cultures celebrate the new year. 11am is the Lion Dance to invite in the new year in front of and inside the museum. From 1 – 3pm, join teaching artist Yuki Chikamura who will show participants how to make washi pencil holders as part of “Family Fun Day”. At 4:30pm, welcome the new year  with a special Japanese Tea Ceremony with tea and sweets. Drop by the museum and enter your child in the year of the dragon coloring contest. Go to www.wingluke.org/2012newyear for details.    Many prizes and gifts for winners.   Early February brings   First Thursday Historic Hotel Tour at a discount on Feb. 2 from 10am – 8pm. Former Museum director and writer Ron Chew reads from his new book entitled “Remembering Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes: The Legacy of Filipino American labor Activism” on Feb. 2 at 6pm. Other continuing activities include the following – Jan. 21 – March 31 is the Historic Hotel & Chinatown Discovery Tour with a Lunar New Year twist. Call (206) 623-5124×133 for details. On Sat., Feb. 18 from 1 – 3pm, learn how to make food paintings with Romson Regarde Bustillo as part of Family Fun Day. On Sat., March 17 from 1 – 3pm, Mizu Sugimura teaches a Japanese Art Workshop as part of  Family Fun Day. Special exhibition opening reception for “Asian American Arcade” on Feb. 9 from 6 – 8pm. Follow video games out of the arcade and into the art gallery where related artworks explore questions of identity, community, imagination, learning and the power of play in our lives. “Meet Me at Higo: An Enduring Story of a Japanese American Family” is a new show of a famous neighborhood general store that just opened. On view until Spring 2012. Accompanied by a catalogue with essay written by Ken Mochizuki. Also new is “From Fields to Family: Asian Pacific Americans and Food” which explores the traditions, techniques and mouth-watering stories of food through culture and cooking techniques passed on through home and restaurant over the years “Schooled” is a new show which is an interactive exhibit that explores education within the Asian Pacific American communities and how it continues to be a diverse and varied experience. “Vintage Japantown through the lens of the Takano Studio” is another show which looks at portrait photography from one studio active from the 1930’s to the early 1940’s. Studios like this once thrived in the neighborhood and captured the everyday life of its inhabitants. Through Feb. 12, 2012.    For details on all of the above, go to www.wingluke.org or call (206) 623-5124.

Artists Susie J. Lee, Henry Tsang and Jin-Me Yoon were selected to participate in “The 10^th Northwest Biennial” which will be on view Jan. 21 – May 2012. Work was selected by TAM curator Rock Hushka and independent art curator Renato Rodrigues da Silva. (253) 272-4258 or go to www.TacomaArtMuseum.org

The work of Joseph Park is included in a group show entitled “Yesterday’s Tomorrow” on view at Museum of Northwest Art through March 14. The show showcases futuristic work that reflects the Northwest’s rich history of embracing traditions of industry and innovations of technology. 121 South First St. in La Conner. (360) 466-4446 or go to www.museumofnwart.org

The work of Roger Shimomura is on view through March 10 at Gonzaga University’s Jundt Gallery in Spokane. 502 E. Boone Ave. (509) 323-6611 or go to www.gonzaga.edu/jundt Shimomura’s work is also in a group show at the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. entitled “Portraiture Now: Asian American Portraits of Encounter”. Through Oct. 14, 2012. Go to http://www.npa.sl.edu/exhibit/encounter/visit.html After the show closes, it will tour including venues in Washington State.

Coverage of early Japanese American history in the region is included in the permanent exhibit at White River Valley Museum, 918 “H” St. S.E. in Auburn. Call (253) 288-7433 or go www.wrvmuseum.org.

Portland Art Museum has a large collection of over 2500 Japanese prints dating from the late 17th century to the present day. In “The Artist’s Touch, The Craftsman’s Hand: Three Decades of Japanese Prints from the Portland Art Museum” on view through Jan. 22, 2012, viewers can see the first major show of this extensive collection. Portland Art Museum, 1219 SW Park Ave. Call (503) 226-2811 or go www.portlandartmuseum.org.

The Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center preserves the history and culture of Japanese Americans in the area. Their permanent exhibit is “Oregon Nikkei: Reflections of a Community.” “Forthcoming shows will be “Kokeshi: From Tradition to Tools,” “Coming Home: Japanese Americans in Portland After WWII” and “Roger Shimomura: Shadows of Minidoka.” Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center, 121 NW 2nd Ave. in Portland. Call (503) 224-1458 or e-mail: info@oregonnikkei.org.

The Portland Japanese Garden offers the serenity of a Japanese garden plus numerous classes, art shows and workshops year around. Portland Japanese Garden, 611 S.W. Kingston Ave. Call (503) 233-1321.

The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene has the following exhibits.  Coming next spring is a show entitled “Visions of the Orient: Western Women artists in Asia, 1900 – 1940”. Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, 1430 Johnson Lane, Seattle. Call (541) 346-3027.

“Hiroshima: Photographs by Miyako Ishiuchi” on view through Feb. 12. This noted Japanese photographer chose the objects she photographed from more than 19,000 personal effects left behind by those who perished in the bombings. Museum of Anthropology, 6393 NW Marine Dr., Vancouver, B.C. Call (604) 822-5087 or go to www.moa.ubc.ca.

Performing Arts 

The Hokubei Houchi Foundation’s The North American Post Nagomi Teahouse Space is at 519 – 6th Ave. S. Call (206) 623-0100 or e-mail: info@hokubeihouchi.org.

The Seattle Symphony’s new season comes with a new conductor, Ludovic Morlot and some surprises. Some highlights include the following – Mei Ann Chen guest conducts the symphony in the annual “Celebrate Asia” program with guests Jie Ma on pipa, Hahn-Bin on violin and Cuong Vu on trumpet. Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m. Jennifer Koh is violin soloist on March 22, 24 & 25 performing Brahms’ Violin Concerto under the baton of Morlot. On April 16 at 7:30 p.m., Myung-Whun Chung and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra come into town with Wu Wei on sheng performing a mix of Eastern and Western compositions. For a complete schedule, call (206) 215-4747 or go to www.seattlesymphony.org.

Film/Media

Jay Chou and Nicholas Tse  star in Dante Lam’s film about a cop thriller that puts two brothers on different sides of the law. “The Viral Factor” opens Jan. 20 at AMC Pacific Place 11 at 600 Pine St. downtown. (206) 652-8908.

A new 35mm print of Samuel Fuller’s “House of Bamboo”  screens  through Jan. 19 at 7pm. This 1955 feature by the late American maverick director Samuel Fuller looks at US-occupied post-war Japan. Northwest Film Forum at 1515 – 12th Ave. Visit: www.nwfilmforum.org.

In 2006, SIFF presented Eric Byler’s “Americanese” based on UW Professor Shawn Wong’s novel which looks at how racism can damage even the most intimate relationships. If you missed it earlier, here’s another opportunity to see it.   One night only screening on Tuesday, Jan 24 at 7 p.m.  Uptown Cinemas.  Director and author will be present at the screening to take questions. Co-presented by UW’s Creative Writing Program. 511 Queen Anne Ave. N. Call (206) 324-9996.

The Written Arts

Junki Yoshida, founder of Yoshida Group reads from his book at Kunokuniya Bookstore on Jan. 25 at 5pm. 525 S. Weller. For details, contact gangho@kaigakenshu.com

Writer Pico Iyer returns with a new book   entitled “The Man Within My Head” (Knopf) that delves into his affinity with British novelist Graham Greene and Iyer’s own complex relationship with his own father. Wed., Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m. Town Hall Seattle, 111 Eighth. Call (206) 624-6600 or visit www.townhallseattle.org.

“Embracing Diversity in the Arts – Random Reflections on the Coming Tide of Change” is an article by Ron Chew that appears in the Fall 2011 issue of GIAreader- ideas and information on Arts and Culture” as published by the national arts organization, Grantmakers in the Arts. Call (206) 624-2312 or try gia@giarts.org.

Seattle poet Paisley Rekdal had her poem selected for the anthology entitled “Best American Poets” for 2011. The poem is from a forthcoming book of poems entitled  “Animal Eye” due out in Feb., 2012.

Local multi-instrumentalist, arranger and composer Eyvind Kang who recently won the  first Artist Trust’s Arts Innovator Award is the cover story profile for the Jan. 2012 issue of the EARSHOT JAZZ newsletter.

Examiner contributor Yayoi Winfrey has a self-published book now on Goggle Books   (http://books.goggle.com/books?id-QjhZPQAACAAJ@source=gbs_na/links_s)and an essay in a forthcoming textbook on Asian and Pacific Islander Americans (http://www.abc-clio.com/product.aspxisbn=9781598843545). Also check out her new art website at http://www.yayoilenawinfrey.com

Art News/Opportunities

Washington Lawyers For the Arts present a panel & networking opportunity on the subject of   business law fundamentals for artists on Jan. 26 at 5:30pm.  Held at Garvey Schubert Barer at Second & Seneca Building at 1191 Second Ave. on the 18^th floor. To register, visit Brown Paper Tickets at http://brownpapertickets.com/producer/3047 or call (800) 838-3006 at any time.

Artists practicing in craft, literary, media and music arts in Washington State are eligible to apply for the 2012 Artist Trust Fellowship. Deadline is Feb. 26, 2012. Go to www.artistrust.org for details.

The Wing issues an invitation to participate in “Beyond Talk 2”, a fortcoming exhibit on race at the Wing Luke Museum. In 2004, the museum had a show entitled “Beyond Talk: Redrawing Race. In 2013, a new exhibit on race opens. The community is invited to share in conversations on issues of race to provoke ideas for the new show. Talks take place in Feb. March, April and May at various neighborhoods throughout Seattle. To participate and get details, contact Exhibits Developer Mikala Woodward at mwoodward@wingluke.org or call (206) 623-5124.

A series of Ikebana classes are offered at Cottage House in  Seattle’s Volunteer Park Conservatory. Jan. 10 – Feb. 7. 1 – 3 p.m./ Feb. 21 – March 13, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. For registration, go to www.seattle.gov/parks or call (206) 684-5177. For more information, go to www.ikebanahq.org.

Applications are now being accepted for the Neddy at Cornish, an annual artist award program supported by the Behnke Foundation and based at Cornish College of the Arts in memory of Robert E. (“Ned”) Behnke. Cash awards and a group exhibition given to selected Puget Sound artists. To see application, go to www.cornish.edu/neddy. For additional information, contact Jennifer Ward at (206) 315-5801 or e-mail jward@cornish.edu.

Columbia City Gallery is an artist-run collective that represents over 30 local multi-media artists. The space has a Guest Gallery which showcases artists that reflect an ethnically diverse neighborhood. Do you have a great exhibit idea to propose or need more information? Go to  art@columbiacitygallery.com or email Lauren Davis at lauren@columbiacitygallery.com.

Poets & Writers’ Readings/Workshops Program offers small grants for literary events taking place in Seattle and covers writers’ fees for public readings and workshops. Go to www.pw.org/funding for details.

The Ethnic Heritage Art Gallery showcases emerging and established artists of color from ethnic and cultural communities. For details and deadlines, e-mail: EthnicArtGallery@Seattle.gov.

Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture offers a residency program for emerging visual artists this summer from June 9 – August 11. A great opportunity to work with a talented faculty of staff and visiting artists. Deadline is Feb. 1m 2012. Apply online at www.skowheganart.org.

There is a deadline of March 1, 2012 for US artists interested in applying for the US/Japan Creative artist’ Program. Multi-disciplinary artists will work in Japan at a project or study of their choice. A grant award will cover housing, living and professional expenses and travel costs will be covered as well. Go to www.jusfc.gov for full details.

Though Seattle Art Museum has temporarily suspended all their art councils, due to financial problems, some members of   the Asian Art Council stay in touch as a non-profit known as Friends of Asian Art Association. In their Dec. 2011 newsletter is an interview with Pakistani sculptor Humaira Abio who recently exhibited at ArtXchange Gallery. She lives in Seattle but also works out of a studio in Lahore, Pakistan. For details, go to FriendsofAsianArt@earthlink.net.

Award-winning Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives”) does more than movies. He is also an installation artist with a background in architecture as well. Now, several new publications focus on his work. “For Tomorrow Tonight” Edited by Maeve Butler & Einear O’Raw  (Irish Museum of Modern Art) looks at his body of work in film. “Primitive” looks at a multi-media project that comes out in several genres. The director focused on a village of farmers accused of being communists by the Thai army. Attacked by the army, the inhabitants flee into the jungle. The director worked with the young men of this village to document their struggle. A multi-film installation at a gallery, an on-line installation at Animate Projects and a limited editon artist’s book by CUJO.

In “Harun Arun,” a boy and his grandfather journey from Pakistan to their hometown of Lakhpat India. But in the desert border of Kutch in Gujarat, they’re forced to separate and travel in secret. The boy is given the prized medal his Muslim grandfather won in a race with an old Hindu friend and instructed to find the man.

After being discovered asleep in the bushes by three children, the boy is hidden in a storage area. But once their mother finds out, she actually welcomes him as her fourth child. That is, until she uncovers his secret. Is the boy’s name the Islamic version Harun or the Hindi, Arun?

Constantly barraged by adults demanding to know why he speaks so strangely, the boy in his innocence makes them look like the strange ones. With a passion for singing, he often bursts into song and there’s a clever near Bollywood scene towards the film’s end.

In another Indian offering, The Road Home (part of a shorts series called Yes I Can: Kids Come of Age), another boy also experiences prejudice. But his is self-inflicted as he refuses to acknowledge his Indian heritage. Running away from his international boarding school in the Himalayas, the proper-speaking Pico flags a taxi and demands to be taken to New Delhi. Knowing only English limits his conversation with the driver, allowing him to deflect the cabbie’s earnest pleas to accept his Indian roots. There’s a comical scene where Pico is offered Indian food by a foreign tourist with disastrous results.

Also included in the shorts series is an intriguing documentary, Azza, about a 12-year old girl plotting the best way to ask her father about permanently removing her headscarf. Required to cover her hair because of her Muslim faith, the precocious Azza is a lively subject with an infectious sense of humor. While she loves her religion, Azza yearns to jog in gym class with her hair billowing behind her. As she lists reasons for wanting to forego her headscarf, other more traditional girls state their cases for continuing to wear theirs.

The opening night film, Tales of the Night, is a 3D animated masterpiece of black silhouette figures against blazing neon backgrounds. In one of six vignettes called The Boy Who Never Lied, a Tibetan man must choose between his talking horse and a strange but beautiful woman. Tragically, he is duped by two kings wagering on his ability to tell the truth.

Check out the website below for more films from Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam.

If you can’t make it to the Children’s Festival, but still want to get your ‘kid’ on, the anime Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos could satisfy the child in you–although it’s quite violent with a complex plot.

Based on a popular Japanese manga, this episode features brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric on a quest for the “Philosopher’s Stone” that could return their bodies to them. Although Ed has an arm made of metal, called an “automail,” poor Al has been reduced to a soul living inside full body armor because a human transmutation went wrong while attempting to reunite with their dead mother.

While hunting for an escaped prisoner in Table City, Ed, who’s a professional State Alchemist, and brother Al encounter snarling chimera wolves standing on hind legs and flying human bats with weapons. When Ed rescues another alchemist, Julia Chricton, the brothers learn that the Milosians who raised her had their holy land stolen before being relegated to a slum in the valley perched between two enemies. Soon, the action is on with evil military commanders, shape-shifting fighters and blood spewing everywhere.

Children’s Film Festival Seattle runs Jan. 26 – Feb. 5, Northwest Film Forum. For more information, please visit: www.nwfilmforum.org. Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos, opens Jan. 20 at the Grand Illusion Cinema.

Nomura and Tokita were sons of the Meiji Era, a time of radical social change in Japan. They were innovators who broke cultural boundaries and participated in the cutting-edge art movements of their time. The rebellious second son of a middle-class family, Tokita was sent to China to learn the tea business, but instead studied painting and calligraphy. Banished to America, he settled in Seattle’s Nihonmachi (Japantown) and made friends with photographers and painters, including Kenjiro Nomura. Nomura immigrated at the age of ten; when his family returned to Japan, 16-year-old Kenjiro stayed behind. Also an aspiring artist, he apprenticed with a sign-painter while studying western-style painting and drawing with Fokko Tadama, a Dutch artist. In 1928, Nomura and Tokita became partners in the Noto Sign Company. Besides signs, they made backdrops and scenery for the Kabuki theater and pursued their own painting. Nomura taught Tokita oil painting; Tokita shared painting and calligraphy techniques acquired in China. Through the Depression, World War II and the Internment, they painted together for a quarter century.

American artists of the 1920’s and 30’s were creating an art that was distinctly American. Growing cities and the Depression gave a compelling sense of place to urban landscapes rendered with gritty realism. Tokita and Nomura, with fellow Northwest artists Morris Graves and Mark Tobey were proponents of this genre know as the Ashcan School. They emerged as artists around the same time as many of Seattle’s arts institutions. Their paintings were regularly chosen for the prestigious Northwest Annual exhibitions mounted by the Seattle Art Institute, later the Seattle Art Museum. The Annuals’ award-winners received solo exhibitions; Tokita won this honor in 1930 and 1935, Nomura in 1933. The Museum’s founding director Richard Fuller and the painter and art critic Kenneth Callahan endorsed their work. They were among a handful of Asian artists to receive national attention, exhibiting paintings in museums in California, Washington D.C., and New York. In the mid-1930’s they were members of the Group of Twelve, Pacific Northwest Japanese and Caucasian artists credited with originating the Northwest Style.

The layout of the SAAM exhibition evokes the artists’ relationship with Nomura’s paintings on the left wall of the gallery and Tokita’s on the right. Their depictions of Nihonmachi, Seattle’s waterfront and the nearby countryside are bold compositions of line and plane, outlined and textured by the strokes of the paintbrush. Although they share artistic influences and subject matter, each has his own distinct style. Tokita was a photographer; his paintings “Billboard” and “Drugstore” are tightly cropped like photographs, creating dynamic compositions of flat rectangles. He uses line to create texture and detail. In “Yesler Market,” the sky is criss-crossed with utility poles and wires. Tokita presents not a pretty view but a very personal recollection of his neighborhood. Nomura’s landscapes “Puget Sound” and “Red Barns” are more spacious, with greater emphasis on volume and modeling and a brighter range of earth tones, greens, and blues. At the far end of the gallery, side by side, are two paintings of the Yesler overpass at Fourth Avenue, one by each artist, that perfectly illustrate their similarities and differences.

“Signs of Home: the Paintings and Wartime Diary of Kamekichi Tokita” is a biography, a survey of his paintings, and the diary that he kept from the bombing of Pearl Harbor through the Internment. Most exhibition catalogs include essays on the artist’s life and work by two or three different authors; this book benefits from having a single author. Barbara Johns examines Tokita’s art in the context his life and the historic events that he lived through, integrating it all into a deeply moving human story. Tokita’s diary is a rare Issei (first generation) account of the period between Pearl Harbor and his arrival at the Minidoka internment camp. The book is beautifully designed including color reproductions of all of Tokita’s paintings in the exhibition.

“Painting Seattle: Kamekichi Tokita and Kenjiro Nomura” on view through Feb. 19 at the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Capitol Hill. Signs of Home: the Paintings and Wartime Diary of Kamekichi Tokita, by Barbara Johns, published by the University of Washington Press.

The show itself is quite unique and the venue might strike you as out of the ordinary. Housed in a retirement community—University House—this collection is an amalgam of sculpture, pottery, photography, drawings and paintings. Scoff not at idea of an art show in a retirement community. Gone are the days of the bleak fluorescent filled hallways, smells of disinfectant and your ubiquitous Monet remakes. No, University house is different—think first-class cruise ship retirement living.

The artwork is scattered throughout the common areas of the retirement home. This gives it the feel of a private collection amassed by your hip grandmother throughout the years—a little Chihuly here and that garage sale sketch there. What it lacks is flow and continuity but it is made up through the impressive collision of works.

Over 40 local artists with roots from all around the world have the honor to be a part of this show. Each one has a story behind their work that is often one of journey and discovery that hinges on identity. Some of art exhibited include works from: Sabah Al-Dhaher a local Iraqi refugee whose sculptures and paintings draw upon classical work in human forms; John Wakda and his rendition and modern take on traditional Japanese woodblock prints—Okiyo-e; and Deborah Kapoor whose intricate pattern work draws from her multicultural family and the mix of spirituality and culture.

I admire the effort that Ms. Sekiguchi has put forth into curating the pieces for this exhibition. Her work falls in line with that of the Era Living’s commitment to art and providing their residents with a rich experience. It is an opportunity for her to connect to the community of older adults and listen to the stories that they have to tell and share about their life experiences and how the artwork speaks to them.

“North South East West” provides University House a much-needed dose of cultural diversity in a community with an otherwise predominately upper crust Caucasian clientele. What it also achieves is an opportunity for stories to be told and venue for such artists to showcase their creations next to renowned local artists like Chihuly and Cummings. The show runs until February 2012. Stop by University House on 4400 Stone Way to request a tour.