Viva CalleSJ: Calle >> Matsuri (San Jose's Japantown, Kelley Park, and Tamien Park)

Viva CalleSJ is back for it's 3rd event of the year! Miles of city streets will be completely shut down to let people walk, run, dance, bike, unicycle, skateboard, or hoverboard down the streets of San Jose. 

Calle >> Matsuri features three activity hubs which are festivals-within-a-festival that highlight the local area. This time the activity hubs will be at Japantown, Kelley Park, and Tamien Park. You can expect live music, vendors, food, activities, bike parking, and good times at all of the hubs. In between the activity hubs you will still find all sorts of interesting stops, hydration stations, and stores. Watch the video below to get a feel for the event if you've never done one.

As an added bonus, Happy Hollow Park and Zoo will be providing free admission for anyone participating in the Viva CalleSJ. This is the first time I remember this happening, so it's worth taking advantage of--especially if you're going with your family.

The event takes place on Sunday, September 10th from 10am to 3pm (streets are closed until 4pm). There is no beginning or end and the traffic flows in both directions. It's completely free and you can use the handy map below to locate the routes and festivities. For more info, head over here.

San Jose Obon Festival in Japantown this weekend!

The San Jose Obon Festival 2023 is a celebration of Japanese culture and heritage that takes place every summer in the heart of San Jose's Japantown (one of only three remaining in the US). 

This year, the festival will be held on July 8th and 9th, from 11 am to 10 pm, and will feature traditional music, dance, food, crafts, games, and more. The highlight of the festival is the Obon Odori, a folk dance that honors the spirits of the ancestors. Everyone is welcome to join in the dance, which starts at 7:30 pm on Saturday and 6pm on Sunday. 

The festival is organized by the San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin and is supported by many volunteers and sponsors. Come and experience the joy and beauty of Obon, a time to remember and celebrate our loved ones and our community.

This is the the largest annual festival in San Jose's Japantown and you can easily find it on 5th Street between Taylor and Jackson Streets. For more details, head over here.

Viva CalleSJ 2022 on Sunday, September 18th

Viva Calle SJ is one of San Jose's largest and most unique annual events. Miles of city streets will be completely shut down to let people walk, run, bike, or skateboard down the streets of San Jose. 

Viva Calle features multiple activity hubs which are basically festivals-within-a-festival that highlight the local area. This year the activity hubs will be at Parque de los Pobladores (Downtown), Kelley Park & History Park, the Arena Green, and Japantown. You can expect live music, vendors, food, activities, bike parking, and good times at all four hubs. In between the activity hubs you will still find all sorts of interesting stops, hydration stations, and stores. Up to 100,000 people attend this event, but it never feels crowded given how spread out it is.

This year the route is essentially a hub Downtown with 3 spokes extending to the activity hubs. It's wild to think that you can walk from Kelly Park to Japantown in the middle of city streets.

Viva CalleSJ 2022 takes place on Sunday, September 18th from 10am to 3pm (streets are closed until 4pm). It is completely free and has no designated beginning or end as it's not a race. It also overlaps with a PokemonGO community event, so you may see a lot of people on their phones. You can use the handy map below to locate the routes and festivities. For more info, head over here. Hope to see you there!

Japantown mixed-use development proposal

Downtown San Jose receives most of the attention when it comes to dense high-rise development these days, but there are some interesting proposals outside of the area. For example, there is a new project on the table in Japantown that would include multiple towers on the area bound by Taylor Street, Miller Street, George Street, and North First Street. It would include a 210 foot tall tower with 244 apartments, 61,000 SQFT of office space, 5,560 SQFT of retail, and 731 parking spaces.

The project would also be right in the middle of the North 1st Street Local Transit Village Plan, which will hopefully accommodate thousands of new homes and jobs in the future. Currently the area houses a surface parking lot and a one-story office building. This would be a major upgrade for the area.

If all goes well this could be approved by the City Council later this year or in Q1 of 2021. It would then take at least a couple more years to build.

Source: SVBJ

Viva Calle 2019 Part 2 - "Parks to Roses" on Sep 22nd

Rain and hail may have put a damper on the first Viva Calle this year, but that is not going to happen again in late September. Thankfully we have not one but two Viva Calle's this year.

During Viva Calle SJ, miles of city streets will be completely shut down to let people walk, run, bike, or skateboard down the streets of San Jose. Viva Calle features multiple activity hubs which are basically festivals-within-a-festival that highlight the local area. For part 2, the activity hubs will be at Backesto Park, Arena Green, and the Municipal Rose Garden. You can expect live music, vendors, food, activities, bike parking, and good times at all three hubs. In between the activity hubs you will still find all sorts of interesting stops, hydration stations, and stores. Last year over 100,000 people attended the event.

Viva Calle 2019 "Downtown and Eastbound" takes place on Sunday, September 22nd from 10am to 3pm (streets are closed until 4pm). It is completely free and has no designated beginning or end as it's not a race. However, it appears that for the first time ever there is also a new 5K at 8am.

You can use the handy map below to locate the routes and festivities. For more info, head over here. Hope to see you there!

Taylor Street Night Market

Every Thursday night during the summer, the Taylor Street Night Market will take place at the Gordon Biersch Brewery in Japantown from 5-9pm. The event includes food trucks, a beer garden, music, and shopping. For more info, head over to the event Facebook page over here.

New arts center coming to Japantown

An empty lot in Japantown at 7th Street and E. Taylor Street is now destined to become a 55,000 SQFT arts center. It will become the new home base for several nonprofits including Silicon Valley Creates, for San Jose Taiko, the New Ballet School, and CreaTV. If it looks anything like the render below, it should also be quite stunning.

The goal is to kick off construction by June of 2019 (this is highly dependent on funding), and it won't be the only project in the area. Eventually the arts center is expected to be surrounded by new housing midrises and a park.

Source: The Merc  Hat tip to Vianka Villanueva for sending this in!

POW! WOW! Punches Way Through San Jose!

The world-renowned POW! WOW! comes to San Jose from October 22- 29, 2017!

POW! WOW! has expanded to 13+ cities and produced over 500 murals in countries and cities such as Taiwan, Israel, Singapore, Jamaica, Washington D.C., Guam, New Zealand, Germany and now San Jose!

POW! WOW! San Jose is powered by Empire Seven Studios and Universal Grammar and is focused on showcasing a gathering of contemporary artists that engages with the broader community in the process and creation of art.

San Jose’s inaugural event celebrates the efforts of local and out-of-town artists to feature 16 murals take shape. The week-long event brings art to a public forum, creating galleries on the streets for all to see and for later generations to enjoy.

I’m super stoked that POW! WOW! will be spread across some of my most beloved neighborhoods like J’Town (AKA Japantown), SoFA District, East San Jose and more! Empire Seven Studios, MACLA and San Jose Museum of Art will host receptions, workshops and panel discussions with artists. Make sure to check out the daily music events or mural bike ride.

I must confess, I just found out about POW! WOW! through my friends at MTCA (thanks guys). While POW! WOW! just came on my radar, it was already weaved into the fabric of who I am. You see, POW! WOW! started in my birthplace (Hawaii) and the annual event is held at one of my most favorite areas in O’ahu: the Kaka’ako District. And now, Kaka’ako’s aloha has now landed in San Jose! Mahalo to POW! WOW! founder Jasper Wong for bringing the event to San Jose J

While San Jose’s identity is defined by innovators developing life-changing technologies, what I find most endearing about San Jose is witnessing the city evolve and adapt. Don’t get me wrong, I’m an advocate of San Jose’s annual events, but we need more events and happenings like POW! WOW! because arts, entertainment and culture are great building blocks for a thriving and growing city. What excites me most about POW! WOW! San Jose’s iteration is that if reinforces San Jose’s commitment to shine light on the arts.

Thank you again to Jasper Wong and POW! WOW! San Jose’s event organizers for bringing this event to San Jose!

San Jose, let’s show them the way…

More deets on the event’s schedule can be found here: 

https://www.powwowsanjose.com/2017-event-schedule/

-Noe Sacoco Jr

Viva Calle SJ 2017 - September 17th

One of my favorite events of the year returns in just couple of weeks. During Viva Calle SJ, miles of city streets will be completely shut down to let people walk, run, bike, or skateboard down the streets of San Jose.

Viva Calle features multiple activity hubs which are basically festivals-within-a-festival that highlight the local area. This year they will be located in Japantown, Roosevelt Park, the Mexican Heritage Plaza, Alum Rock Village, and Lake Cunningham Park. You can expect live music, vendors, food, activities, bike parking, and good times at each and every one. In between the activity hubs you will still find all sorts of interesting stops, hydration stations, and stores.

The route has changed again this year. It is now just a single line without branching out, and for the first time it will go straight down Santa Clara Street. At 7 miles and five activity hubs, it is the largest Viva Calle yet!

If you are one of the 50 million people that still play PokemonGo, the company that makes the game is leveraging Viva Calle as their first official event in San Jose. I'm about to out myself as a huge nerd, but I use the game when visiting someplace new to find hidden street art and all sorts of points-of-interest that even locals don't know about. It's like a hyper-local Tripadvisor for each block. The game will feature temporary stops and extra pokemon along the route as part of the event.

Viva Calle 2017 takes place on Sunday, September 17th from 10am to 3pm (streets are closed until 4pm). It is completely free and has no designated beginning or end as it's not a race. You can use the handy map below to locate the routes and festivities. For more info, head over here. Hope to see you there!

Cellista presenting Finding San Jose in tribute to the 100th anniversary of Jean Cocteau's Parade

CELLISTA TO PRESENT: Finding San José  | A Multimedia Stage Poem
in tribute to the 100th anniversary of Jean Cocteau's Parade
May 18-20th, 2017 | 8PM
Akiyama Wellness Center in SJ Japantown
110 Jackson Street, SJ, 95112
Tickets: $12-15 at door of via Cellista.net

Cellista, the multidisciplinary artistic director of the performing arts company Juxtapositions has created a stage poem which places the eclectic communities of San José side by side. The production, first staged and workshopped in San Francisco to a sold-out, enthusiastic audiences makes its way home to San José.

This presentation of Finding San José marks the 100th year anniversary of the realist ballet Parade directed by French surrealist Jean Cocteau. The work, created for the Ballets Russe incorporated music from Eric Satie, artwork from Picasso, and choreography from Léonide Massine.

Finding San José is Cellista’s attempt to set the aura of her home of San José, to music, dance, film and stage, placing artists from across disciplines side-by-side.

The production, first staged and workshopped in San Francisco to a sold-out audience makes its way home. The production features video projections and short films by filmmaker Jennifer Gigantino (jennifergigantino.com), daring dance choreography from Lilith Ransom of Ransom Dance (facebook.com/ransomdance), Mojo DeVille (Haus Serpens Cabaret), and San Jose’s own Lauren Baines (laurenbaines.com). It includes a short experimental documentary entitled Cellista by filmmaker Brian Favorite.

Using her critically acclaimed debut full-length album of the same name as its soundtrack, Finding San José renders a lyrical truth to our present day and presents Cellista’s want to provide a mirror to the community she calls home. Finding San José, the stage poem is a complete work that juxtaposes disciplines in order to create a reaction to the reality of what it means to have a sense of place within a participatory and observational place.

Finding San José comes home for three performances on May 18-20, 2017 at 8PM at the Akiyama Wellness Center (110 Jackson St. SJ, CA 95112)
Tickets available via Cellista.net

Find out more about Cellista online: Cellista.net
Listen to the album: cellista.bandcamp.com
Fb link: facebook.com/cellista.music/


QUOTES

“Freya (Cellista) is a classically trained, punk rock spirited girl with the charm and elegance to defy the stereotype that classical music isn’t cool.”
— Belle Foundation

“Beautifully weird.”
— Director Brian Allan Hobbs

“Cellista is an American cellist, artistic director, and arts advocate and may very well be part cello. When she was born maybe a little piece of cello squirmed inside her bassinet and burrowed its way into her very being making the otherworldly performances she produces come to life. That’s the only explanation that makes sense at least."
— Rushtix

Bay Area Bike Share expansion maps reveal new service areas

Bay Area BikeShare is responsible for those light blue bikes that you see throughout Downtown San Jose and parts of San Francisco. Thanks to a new sponsor--Ford--the program is going to dramatically expand starting in Spring of 2017. Bay Area BikeShare will also be renamed "Ford GoBike."

The program will go from 700 bikes to 7,000 bikes. Oakland and a couple other East Bay cities will also be added. If you are a subscriber, you will be able to access bikes in any available location in the Bay Area.

Below is the map of the area we care most about. The existing service area for San Jose is in orange, which includes most of Downtown San Jose and one station in Japantown. Phase 1 of the expansion will bring BikeShare to The Alameda. Phase 2 will push the service out beyond Japantown to the North and beyond Highway 280 to the South. Phase 3 will extend to the Airport area, the tech campuses on North First, and Naglee/Taylor. Finally, Phase 4 will go to Midtown, East San Jose, and towards Berryessa.

All phases should be complete by the end of 2018.

Expansion will start in Spring 2017 and roll out in phases, enlarging bike share in San Francisco, San Jose - and bringing bike share to the East Bay for the first time

Program to be renamed Ford GoBike as expansion begins

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Motivate and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) released maps Thursday showing the contours of the expansion of bike share in the Bay Area. The program will grow from 700 to 7,000 bikes with the first new stations being installed in spring 2017. The expansion will take place in phases, building outward from the existing service areas in San Francisco and San Jose and outward from more dense areas of the cities in the East Bay. Motivate and the MTC also released more specific maps with the proposed station locations for Phase 2 expansion stations. (Phase 1 locations were released earlier this year.) Expansion is expected to be complete by the end of 2018.

Station locations are being selected through an extensive community engagement process. Locations for the first two phases of expansion are the product of over 120 meetings with local officials, community leaders, business owners and residents, 19 public workshops, and door-to-door outreach – with more still to come. There is also an online station-suggestion portal that has generated over 5,000 unique station location suggestions submitted by the public so far. Motivate will continue this outreach as it plans additional phases of expansion, with Phase 3 public workshops beginning next week in Oakland and Berkeley (workshop schedule).

At full build-out, the system will have stations every few blocks in San Francisco from the Bay to the Beach; it will connect Oakland, Berkeley, and Emeryville; and it will extend the San Jose service area from the downtown core. It will link people to MUNI and BART, to jobs and schools, to businesses and parks. San Francisco will have more bike share bikes per capita than any other system in North America and will have one of the highest ratios of bike share bikes per capita than anywhere else in the world.

The program’s expansion is enabled by a public-private partnership, and Motivate recently announced that Ford Motor Company has signed on as the program’s title sponsor. The program will be renamed Ford GoBike as expansion begins in the spring.

“Since the launch of Bay Area Bike Share in 2013, we’ve heard a strong desire from the community to bring bike share to the East Bay,” said Emily Stapleton, General Manager of Bay Area Bike Share. “In the first year of our expansion, we’re planning to connect the key commercial corridors in Oakland, Berkeley and Emeryville to provide residents, workers and visitors in these thriving cities with a new and accessible option to travel in and between them.”

This week, Motivate and the MTC also released the proposed locations for Phase 2 stations for additional public feedback. Phase 2 will bring over 100 new stations that will expand the San Francisco service area into new neighborhoods including the Haight-Ashbury, Hayes Valley, and Dogpatch, make new connections across Berkeley, Oakland, and Emeryville, and expand service throughout downtown San Jose. Maps will be posted on the Bay Area Bike Share website, see below for details.

The best bike share station locations are highly visible, close to bicycle facilities, co-located with other transportation connections, and/or close to local destinations like parks, commercial districts, or other major destinations that attract large numbers of Bay Area residents. Bike share systems thrive when stations are placed close to one another, typically no more than a quarter mile or a five-minute walk. Specific locations are chosen through a process that couples feedback from the station suggestion portal with extensive public consultation in neighborhoods where the expansion is expected to take place, along with a technical assessment of site suitability.

See specific proposed station locations and learn more about how to get involved: bayareabikeshare.com/expansion

About Bay Area Bike Share, operated by Motivate
Bay Area Bike Share is a quick, convenient and affordable way to travel around the Bay Area. The system is growing from 700 to 7,000 bikes by the end of 2018, and expanding into the East Bay. Bay Area Bike Share is operated by Motivate, a global leader in bike share. Motivate manages all of the largest bike share systems in the United States and many of the largest systems in the world, including Citi Bike (New York and Jersey City), Divvy (Chicago), CoGo Bike Share (Columbus, OH), Capital Bike Share (Washington, D.C., Arlington and Alexandria, VA, and Montgomery County, MD) Hubway (Boston, Somerville, Cambridge and Brookline, MA), Pronto (Seattle), BIKETOWN (Portland, OR), Bike Chattanooga (TN), Bike Share Toronto, and Melbourne Bike Share in Australia. Learn more about Bay Area Bike Share at bayareabikeshare.com.

About the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)
MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. For more information, go to mtc.ca.gov.

Save Empire Seven Studios

The Empire Seven gallery in Japantown has hosted hundreds of art shows over its 10 year run. Unfortunately, the building will soon be torn down to make room for luxury apartments. Officially, they will be kicked out on January 1st, 2017.

Empire Seven's proprietors are now looking to build a new gallery in the heart of Japantown. The project would create a new four-story building with the gallery on the main floor, a recording studio in the basement, and artist residences on the upper floors. The residences would help keep local artists in San Jose.

They are asking for donations through a GoFundMe campaign over here. Every little bit helps, including getting the word out to as many people as possible. Check out their 8-minute video below and learn more about the project here.

Viva Calle SJ 2016 is going down this Sunday

My favorite event in 2015 is returning this year with several improvements. During Viva Calle SJ, miles of city streets will be completely shut down to let people walk, bike, skateboard, or dance down the streets of San Jose. The route has changed a bit this year. Instead of extending to East San Jose, it will go to Japantown and Midtown instead and there will be even fewer intersections where the streets are not fully closed.

In 2016 there are four different "Activity Hubs," all of which are in new locations. These include the Arena Green in Downtown San Jose, W. San Carlos (Midtown), Willow Glen, and Japantown. Each hub has food, drinks, live music, vendors, and all-around good times. Last year I also noticed several stores and organizations were also setting up booths outside of the hubs. Try to visit as many as you can.

The event takes place Sunday, September 18th from 10am-3pm. It is completely free and has no designated beginning or end (it's not a race). You can use the handy map below to locate the routes and festivities. For more info, head over here. Hope to see you there!

If you are a fan of skateboarding, Empire Seven Studios has a great new exhibit for you. They have works from over 40 artists in tribute to Jim Phillips, both an artist and skateboarding icon. There is an opening reception tomorrow from 7-10pm. The exhibit will be at Empire Seven Studios (525 N. 7th Street) until January 30th.

Featuring over 40 international and locally curated artists:
Jason Adams, Jason Arnold, Ben Alexy, Lou Barberio, John Barrick, BB Bastidas, Bigfoot, Andrei Bouzikov, Blake Brand, Todd Bratrud, Steve Caballero, Thomas Campbell. Nathan Carrico. Sean Cliver, Sam Davidson, Ken Davis, Tim Diet, Dirty Donny, Eric Dressen, Jessica Eastburn, Tyler Emanuel, Jeremy Fish, Drew Flores, Israel Forbes, Justin Forbes, Amanda Fox, Mark "Fos" Foster, Todd Francis, Colin Frangicetto, Funeral French, Nicky Gaston, Erlin Geffrard, Mike Giant, Benny Gold, Mark Gonzales, Abel Gonzalez, Scotty Greathouse, Andres Guerrero, Harv, Keith Haupt, Mark Heredia, Ben Horton, Paul Imagine, Aye Jay, Jay222, Andy Jenkins, Jesico, Jason Jessee, Tyson Johnston, Natas Kaupus, Eric Kneeland, John Lucero, Frances Marin, Keith Meek, Zack Morrissey, Jeff Meadows, Mesngr, Mouse, John Munnerlyn, Lucas Musgrave, Steve Olson, Opski, Mitsy Avila Ovalles, Judi Oyama, Kyle Pellet, Jim Phillips Sr., Jimbo Phillips, Colby Phillips, Pitchgrim, Andy Pitts, Ben Ramey, Brian Romero, Drew Roulette, Crab Scrambly, Michael Siebon, Skinner, State of Grace Taki, Jai Tanju, Jeral Tidwell. Mark Widmann, Tosh Woods, Makoto Yamaki
...and many more!''

Anthony Bourdain Visits San Jose's Japantown for an Episode of "Parts Unknown"

Parts Unknown is an emmy-award winning show hosted by celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain. Last June he swung by the Bay Area to learn more about our changing food scene and ended up at Japantown's Minato chomping on chicken katsu with curry sauce and cod cheek. The show airs tonight at 9pm on CNN. The San Jose segment appears just before the 30 minute mark.

Source: SanJose.com

New Mural called "Little Moment" in Japantown

Japantown is building quite a collection of impressive murals. The latest one is called "Little Moment" and is located at 140 Jackson Street (on the side of Nichi Bei Bussan). The giant mural was done by Nosego, a Philadelphia based artist known for colorful and emotive public art. What do you guys think?

Source: Hi-Fructose

Japantown 125th Anniversary Concerts

San Jose has one of only three remaining Japantowns in the United States. On August 15th and September 12th, Japantown San Jose is celebrating their 125th anniversary with a duo of concerts. Featured musicians are Chidori Band, San Jose Taiko (love these guys), Shirley Muramoto, Wesley Jazz Band, Wesley Ukulele Band, and Halau Na Wai Ola.

Get your tickets right over here.

Oh and check out the latest Japantown Art Boxes below.

1st Annual San Jose J-Town Filmfest!

First came Cinequest, then the San Jose Short Film Festival, and now there is a brand new festival for movie lovers. The San Jose J-Town Filmfest will run from May 29th to the 31st at the JTS Northside Community Center and the Japanese American Museum of San Jose. There will be a total of seven screenings, two special events, and multiple Q&As with the filmmakers.

For more information and tickets, just head over here.

San Jose J-Town FilmFest Film Line-up:



Friday  May 29   (Northside Community Center)
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7:00pm - Delano Manongs: Forgotten Heroes of the United Farmworkers (30min)

Delano Manongs tells the story of farm labor organizer Larry Itliong and a group of Filipino farm workers who instigated one of the American farm labor movement's finest hours :  The Delano Grape Strike of 1965 that brought about the creation of the United Farm Workers Union.

After the film, there will be a discussion and reflection on the 1965 Delano Grape Strike by famed playwright/filmmaker Luis Valdez and Marissa Aroy, the film's director.


8:15pm - Special Live Music Event featuring San Jose-based group Sonido Clash. Enjoy a night of live music, dancing, and food to kick off the first night of the festival!



Saturday  May 30   (Northside Community Center)
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11:00 am - Hibakusha (45 min)

An animated documentary/drama directed by Steve Nguyen and Choz Belen, the film centers around Kaz Suyeishi, a survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. As an older woman, she recalls her most vivid and horrific memories of the bombing when she was a student in Hiroshima.

The filmmakers reached out to Mrs. Suyeishi in order to tell her story using computer animation and hand-drawn techniques. The film utilizes specialized graphic design techniques and 3-D implementation to establish the unique visual animation style.

Film screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Steve Nguyen.


12:45pm- Kumu Hina (77 min)

Kumu Hina is a powerful feature docu-drama that shines light on the struggle to maintain Pacific Islander culture and values within the Westernized society of modern day Hawaiʻi. It is told through the lens of Hina Wong-Kalu, an iconic Native Hawaiian figure who is both a proud māhū (transgender woman) and an honored and respected kumu (teacher) and community leader.

A special Q & A with Kumu Hina live via Skype will follow the screening of the film.


3:00pm - Skin Stories (60 min)

Skin Stories is an anthology of stories and stunning images gathered from the hot spots of Pacific tattoo culture. The film offers an insight into how various Pacific Island cultures have reclaimed their deep ancestral heritage of tattooing.

Co-Producer Emiko Omori will appear for a post-screening Q&A discussion.


5:00pm - East Side Sushi (100 min)

Winner of the Audience Award at the Cinequest and CAAMFest film festivals, this critically acclaimed film introduces us to Juana, a working-class Latina single mother struggling to make ends meet.

After landing a job at a Japanese restaurant, Juana is introduced to a completely new culinary experience after observing the restaurant's sushi chefs. A reinvigorated Juana embarks on a journey to become a great sushi chef, determined not to let anyone stop her from achieving her dream.

A Q&A with director Anthony Lucero will follow.


7:15pm - Special Sushi Reception

Join East Side Sushi director Anthony Lucero and other special guest filmmakers for a festival reception with sushi!


8:30pm - The People I've Slept With (89 min)

Karin Anna Cheung stars as a promiscuous young woman who finds herself with an unplanned pregnancy. Determined to find the father, she goes on a comical and raunchy hunt through her past hook-ups in this charming romantic comedy.

There will be a post-screening Q&A discussion with screenwriter Koji Sakai and the female lead, Karin Anna Cheung, after the film.



***Sunday May 31 (Japanese American Museum of San Jose)***
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1:00pm - Issei: The First Generation (54 min)

Filmed in and around Walnut Grove, this historical documentary revolves around original interviews with Issei (first generation Japanese Americans) as they recount their lives and experiences growing up in rural California before, during, and after World War II.

***SCREENING ONLY AT THE JAPANESE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF SAN JOSE ***


Filmmaker Toshi Washizu will appear for a post-screening Q&A discussion.

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You can join us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/events/765557100224091/

For more information, visit our main website: http://www.catsasiantheater.com/