Have I bugged you enough? We do not want ANYTHING for Christmas or Holiday gifts. But please donate it to the Kaz’s Cause of the Year. FACEBOOK POST.
12/2/11 – for Photos from our trip – please check https://www.facebook.com/helmsphotography They are doing fantastic job claring the area!
12/1/11 – (update) We have raised $2494 in just TWO WEEKS. When I was there, we donated $2000 in cash and I will be sending the rest on Dec. 26th, since I had more donation coming after we left for Japan. So will will continue to fundraise till DEC. 24th. THANK YOU AGAIN for your help!!!
11/5/11 – I cannot THANK YOU all enough. I had so many msgs, ”SHARE” and donations from strangers around the world.So far, we have raised $819 – and I hope to reach $1500 before this Wednesday!!!
and if any funds are received after this Wed., it will go to the scholarship fund —> http://www.town.minamisanriku.miyagi.jp/modules/benri01/index.php?content_id=82 （I will translate it when i return! )
And when I said “no donation is too small” – I meant it. I had several people who paypaled me $5, and I do appreciate not only their donations, but the fact they took their time to send us the funds.
Thank you – my new n old friends -
11/1/2011
This is the motherland of Sushi, Anime, Geisha and many fuel efficient cars (and sorry to say, Karaoke, too…)
This is “our” country – it’s not over yet – Japan Earthquake recovery effort -
“project: Otoshidama”
Dear Friends -
You know I am shameless when it comes to asking for help. I am collecting cash to bring it to kids in MINAMI SANRIKU in Sendai, also known as the Ground Zero of the Northern Japan earthquake on March 11. I am sure you heard about this town. This is the town that lost 50% of the population while 95% of the town was wiped out. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamisanriku,_Miyagi
Next week, Michael and I will go meet the mayor of the town. When the Tsunami hit, there were 130 people working at the town hall. Out of that, only 30 reached the rooftop, and out of that, only 10 survived, including the mayor. (You might have seen him in photos holding on to the flag pole while everything around him was flushing away. But he was back to work the very next day, and founded the disaster control headquarters by March 13th.
When our travel schedule became concrete, I began to think about what I could possibly bring to that disaster area. They are no longer accepting any product / item donations… they have cash donations and are working on the distribution now. I thought about bringing chocolate, or candy, or Budweiser the King of Beers…
but then it occurred to me…
For many kids, this would be the first New Year without their parents there.
The New Year is a major yet solemn event for Japanese people. It is a time to get together with all of your relatives, and the children enjoy collecting cash gifts called “otoshidama” from their relatives. As a child, I remember going Otoshidama Hunting on New Year (similar to trick or treat here in the States except in Japan you get money instead of candy),and often came home with $1000 worth of cash by the end of the day.
Japanese children go see their relatives – behave well and show off how much they grew – and they get an “envelope” with cash in it. My mother used to make me promise that I would NOT open the envelope till I got home. (like American kids can’t eat all the candy on Halloween)
I want these kids in MinamiSanrik (whether they lost their parents or not) to have Otoshidama on New Years Eve. http://youtu.be/6JVpy0L5z7s
I would like to give them cash in US dollar bills for several reasons. 1) because by exchanging it, it would lose so much value, US dollars are suffering in the exchange rate right now. 2) It will send them the massage that there are some people across the pacific ocean who care about them. 3) I want them to understand that America is not so far away, and they can come visit us anytime.
I have been in contact with the mayor to determine how many kids under 18 live in the town. I tried to check it on their website, but they are NOT saying what their population is, because so many are still considered “Missing.” (see below. Their census stops on Feb. 2011)
So, here’s steps I am taking….
1) collect cash, checks donation via paypal (I will pay the 3% PayPal fee).
2) cash all donations by Monday, Nov. 7th, total it, and divide it by the number of kids (under 20).
3) I will put it in little envelopes with a note “from friends in America” in each of them
4) When I see the mayor, I will give him the envelopes and ask them to distribute them on New Years Eve.
5)I will KEEP track of the donations, and will publish it on my blog and facebook with your permission.
Any amount is appreciated.
For checks, credit card and cash donation, please contact me via matamura@facebook.com
For Paypal – please use kazmatamura@gmail.com “OTO SHI DAMA”
+++ALSO, please please feel free to include ANY NOTES to show your support. I will bring it to them+++
Unlike other production donations, this will NOT be a tax deductions since I am not collecting it to as our operation cost, etc. But you know all $ will go to the kids directly.
Happy Halloween – and thank you for being my friends -
Please contact me anytime if you have ANY great idea to spread the words
100% of proceeds will be donated to the Miyaga Board of education. So far we have raised $282 for April & $313 for May. We are aiming for $350 this time! Please come and have a lot of fun with us.
(March 25, 2011)
Whenever I hear people criticizing the officials, or governments about not giving enough warnings or not prepared, I want to remind them that – “no one was prepared for this.”
If you see this clip, you can see the tsunami just swallowed the towns.
So… this is not time to criticize, but to help them to help each others. And send the BRAVO to the Self Defense Army – who continue to work with no sleeps.
We are all insignificant when it comes to the will of nature. And more than anyone in the world, I think Japanese people accept that fact. Probably that’s why we do not see any fight, looting, riots, anger there in spite of difficult conditions in Northern and Central Japan. That sense of grace makes me proud to be a Japanese.
As many of you know, my mother’s family is from Fukushima. (well, originally from Tokyo, but they moved there a day before Tokyo Carpet bombing during the WWII, fell in love with the nature and people and stayed there) My grandfather Kazuo Yamaguchi (statue – see #1062) was a political leader in 1960 – 1980 who send a stand in Prime Minister Masayoshi Ito to the Diet.
We still have/had a summer house there.
michael taking pictures of Matsushima Harbour - one of the three best views of Japan.
Also my boyfriend and I were planning to spend every fall in our Sendai house from this year. (We believe the house is OK. We have to wait to hear from my dad).
We love being there – for Northern Japanese are kind, warm and so graceful. Time stops when we are there.
So, I take it pretty personal … especially ….. when people try to milk this unfortunate event as a DRAMA and when I see donation frauds on line and on a street.
When the tragedy like this hits, so many non profit organizations see it as “Fundraising opportunity” and urge people to donate, taking advantage of their sense of helplessness.
NEVER RUSH TO DONATE. DO YOUR RESEARCH FIRST. We have no idea of the damages of this earthquake has caused, and the funding is not the priority. What they need right now is food, water, blanket, portable heaters – which we, people in America, cannot deliver. Even if we were able to deliver there, the national self-defense organizations would not have time or personells to inspect and deliver it.
American Red Cross has too much overhead (15%) and you cannot ear mark where you funds will go. And it would take time – and due to the exchange rate and fee, your donations will be reduced tremendously by the time it reaches there.
So… because I believe the money needs to go to the local agencies DIRECTLY, we are contacting the school districts, department of education (教育委員会）in Sendai & Fukushima (to start with) to help rebuilt their schools, and school libraries.
Yep, it is a lot of work – but I do have the direct connection to make it easier. No business deals should come between SIMPLE SINCERITY and PEOPLE WHO NEED HELP.
Your donation will go 100% to the school – you will see how your funds are spent – and Japanese kids will see their school libraries are re-built by American friends – on the other side of Pacific Ocean.
Charlie and I are still working on our website and details. Once it is ready, we will send out the press release! You will be the first one to know!
I love crazy people who go for crazy ideas…. that’s us! Since our artistic director Charlie Schlatter is one of the best voice over artists, he knows so many other BEST voice over artists. I mean “best.” So, thanks to his friends’ support, we are having the very first LA Cosplay Contest, inviting them as our GUEST JUDGES.
Come meet the voice of SPONGE BOB, DEXTER, YAKKO and MANY OTHERS!
I LOVE Japanese language – with passion. I get high from speaking or listening Japanese.
There is misconception that Japanese language is tough to learn. It is NOT true. However it is TOUGH to master it.
Today, I attended a seminar – with many accomplished Japanese professionals. It was a fantastic seminar, but every time Japanese natives spoke in wrong grammar or honorific, I twitched.
Come to think of it, I have been speaking in public since I was 4. My grandpa was a politician, my dad was a big honcho in a corporation and I was in a traditional theatre company where they threw a shoe at me if I spoke like a clueless kid. I was surrounded by many manner Nazis. Even though I was a rebelious one, I didn’t want people to think I did not respect their status/ accomplish nor I am just plain classless. So I listened and imitated their speeches.
I thank then – because of my speech, I was never looked down in the Japanese society.
You have to master your own mother tongue first. That should be the PRIORITY. That’s one of the MANY reasons that I stand for “English as first language” in LAUSD. Language is just a tool to communicate – and if you cannot master one language to communicate clearly with specific intention and dexterity, what is the point of moving on to learn second language?
I am also guilty of getting too relaxed with English. After 15 years living here, I at at the stage of “This is me – take it or leave it.” But I know that ain’t gonna cut it.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said “A riot is at bottom the language of the unheard”. Clear communications and effective speeches are the keys to understand and to be understood.
It is more important to master one language to speak of values than to speak in two or three languages to utter gibberish.
I was warned that Japan has changed tremendously in the last 13 years, and I should be prepared for the cultural shock, to be ready for the Rip Van Winkle syndrome so to speak.
Cheeese!
But that wasn’t case. People were generous and kind. Streets were clean. Customer service was superb everywhere we went.
Maybe I noticed how gracious Japanese people were more than ever because I used to take it for granted while I lived there.
We took a lot of pictures – mainly pictures of FOODS! I will share them here very soon. So stay tuned!
I am so lucky that I was born there. Miss it already.
I really think “THIS TIME, FINALLY, I can go back to Japan for one week.” Every single time I planned my trip, it has been cancelled…. due to my workaholism.
Yep… “it’s been almost ten years since I was there last…” That’s what I was telling people. Well, I just realized that it’s more than that. The last time I was there, i had no idea that i would be building a theatre. Secret Rose has been around 12 years and it took over 1 year to built it.
Oh my… This is the first time in 13 years I would be back there.
Now "turning japanese" means "make your eyes artificially HUGE"
My Japanese friends are warning me that I would be “culture shocked” by how much the place, people and social norms have been changed.
To celebrate my return, I asked Michael Helms to “anime-fy” me, so I can fit right in.
But But But … I cannot change my attitude, so I may be yelling at rude youngstahs on a subway platform, or writing an article to a newspaper about HOW DISAPPOINTED I become.
Or maybe I would be pleasantly surprised how “Japan Japan Sprit （大和魂）” still exists in the tiny island in this ever changing fast paced world.
Yamato Spirit is NOTHING to do with Japanese pride, or honor. It is all about flexibility、grace and compassion. Just like “Kamikaze,” it was mis-translated during the World War II.
I have a feeling this trip will give me another opportunity to re-examine the value of our both cultures.
