Camp Musubi is now accepting applications for the summer program. Now in its fifth year, the Camp Musubi program will be held on 20-24 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at Centenary United Methodist Church in Little Tokyo.

It is a week-long day camp that in­corporates learning about Japanese American culture through fun and diverse activities. The camp is open to any middle school aged student entering 6th, 7th or 8th grade in Fall 2007, who is curious about their Japanese American heritage and community.

The camp’s goal is to develop an awareness and interest in the Japanese American culture through many hands-on experiences. The middle school-aged kids will be guided by college interns and community experts on a variety of workshops and presentations. Some of the activities that they have done in the past include learning about Japanese swords, a tour of the East West Players Theatre, a screening of a documentary called “Yellow Brotherhood,” and a field trip to Keiro Intermediate and Nursing Care Facility.

For this summer, some activities that are planned are: taiko, bonsai, martial arts demonstration, ikebana, papermak­ing, cooking, performing arts and a field trip to the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden at Cal State Long Beach.

This year the intentions of the pro­gram will be more community based as Nisei Week Japanese Festival has been moved to the weekend of Aug. 25-26. We are planning a series of events to help promote and contribute to the festivities as they are trying to reach younger generations. As the program has grown over the years, Camp Mu­subi tries to make sure that different aspects of community and culture is addressed throughout the whole week. It is important that we continue to sup­port community organizations through organizations so that it will continue to progress and grow.

Interns that were selected for this year’s program is Andrew Butt (UCI), Mickie Okamoto (UCLA), Maryn Oyoung (UCLA), Lauren Miyamoto (NYU), and Alexandra Ozawa (El Camino). Co-directors are Joey Furutani (UCLA) and Janna Abo. Together with the professionals and community/cultur­al experts, they have planned an active and fun program for all the participants. Camp Musubi is a project initiated by “Ties that Bind,” which is an informal consortium of Japanese American community organizations that develop projects that support the needs of the Japanese American community. Camp Musubi is made possible through tuition, fundraisers, in-kind contributions, and volunteer support.

For more information, visit www.campmusubi.org or e-mail campmu­subi@yahoo.com. Registration applica­tion are downloadable on the website. $180 for general registration.