Nisei Week Queen & Court Program Participants Sought by So. California Community Sponsors
Saturday, Feb. 24, 2007

Japanese American Women 19-25 seeking community involvement, friendship, personal growth, travel and unique experience encouraged to apply.

2006 Nisei Week Court

Young women living in the Greater Southern California area interested in participating in the Nisei Week Queen & Court program are being recruited to take part in the 67th Annual Nisei Week Japanese Festival. Six Nikkei women will be selected by participat­ing community organizations as their representative on the 2007-2008 Nisei Week court. The Nisei Week Japanese Festival is scheduled for Aug. 18-26, commencing with the Nisei Week Coronation on Aug. 18 at the George & Sakaye Aratani/Japan America The­atre in Little Tokyo.

As the Nisei Week Festival cel­ebrates 67 years, more than 410 women have participated in the Nisei Week Queen & Court program. Many of these women have become leaders in the community, government, busi­ness, and entertainment industries. This is a once in a lifetime opportu­nity for young Nikkei women to get involved in the Japanese American community, make lasting friendships, participate in the Nisei Week Japanese Festival, travel to Japan and Hawaii, and experience an enriching personal development program.

Women of Japanese ancestry who are born in, naturalized citizens or residents of the U.S. are eligible to ap­ply. Candidates must be single, at least 19 years of age but no older than 25 at the time of coronation. Participants living in Southern California must be sponsored by one of the following organizations: San Fernando Val­ley Japanese American Community Center (SFVJACC), East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center (ESGVJCC), Orange County Nikkei Coordinating Council (OCNCC), West Los Angeles Japanese American Citizens League & Auxiliary/Venice Japanese Community Center (WLA), Little Tokyo Lions Club (LTLC), and Japanese Restaurant Association of Southern California (JRA).

Deadline to apply vary by spon­soring organization but each must have their representative selected by April 24, where all six participants will meet for the first time. Interested women who meet the requirements are encouraged to contact an organiza­tion in their respective communities, though the Little Tokyo Lions Club and Japanese Restaurant Association are open to candidates outside of the San Fernando, San Gabriel, Orange County and West LA areas. Sponsor contacts are: SFVJACC – NJ Nakamu­ra, (818) 893-6503 or njnakamura@aol.com; ESGVJCC – Pearl Oimya, (626) 960-2566 or pomiya@esgvjcc.org; OCNCC – Staci Fujita, (714) 227-0248 or stacifujita@hotmail.com; WLA – Jean Ushijima, (310) 390-6914 or jmushi@earthlink.net; LTLC – Howard Nishimura, (213) 680-1020 or hinshimura@msn.com; and JRA — Lisa Horimoto, (213) 687-4055 or jra@jrasc.com.

For additional questions, please contact Nisei Week Queen Commit­tee Chairperson Deanna Nakamura at (310) 408-7387 or deanna.nakamura@gmail.com. For Nisei Week specific in­formation go to www.niseiweek.org.