We recently returned from our trip to California! It had been a little over two years since we last visited the West Coast, so it was long overdue and we have really missed the Bay Area, including all of our friends and family there. We were so glad we could spend a week in Northern California, catching up with loved ones and seeing familiar sights and eating all the good food we’ve missed from the area.
We woke up early the morning of Friday, May 15th to go to Dulles to catch our flight to San Francisco.
Riding the shuttle to the terminal:
Despite how early it was, Mio was hyper and running around the airport. She got especially excited about this rainbow wall at Dulles.
Collapsed on the floor.
…only to jump back on her feet to run around again! Waiting at the gate to board our flight
This was Mirei’s first flight ever! We were all a little anxious about how she’d do, but she did surprisingly well and was well-behaved for most of it. We had told Mio we were going to be visiting California in the days and weeks before the trip, so she was really excited!
We arrived in the afternoon and spent the first couple days of our trip around our favorite city!
Arriving in San Francisco! Dan’s parents came to pick us up!
 We were pretty hungry when we landed, so our first order of business was of course…
In-N-Out Burger! Thirsty Mio Mirei dipping her fries She’s so independent now and loves to eat food on her own, whether it be using her fingers, a spoon, or a fork!
On Saturday, we spent the morning in Japantown — probably the part of San Francisco I spent the most time in when we lived in California. So many good memories of shopping around, browsing Kinokuniya bookstore, eating delicious Japanese food, attending the annual, Cherry Blossom Festival there, volunteering with Japanese American organizations like Nakayoshi… it’s really a place that is close to our heart, so I’m so glad we could stop by and visit this time, since we weren’t able to our last trip.
At Japantown’s Peace Plaza in San Francisco
We also wanted to stop to see the Golden Gate Bridge, so we drove through the Presidio, hopping that the fog would clear…
Missed this view!
We left our hearts in San Francisco… We missed our favorite city!
Our good friend Ryosuke (Richard) was in San Francisco helping his girlfriend Michelle move here! We met up with them for dinner and showed them Japantown — so great seeing Hokie friends again and enjoying some delicious Japanese food! 🙂
A trip to Japantown isn’t complete without the geisha float from Murata’s Cafe Hana, of course. We ended the evening introducing them to one of our favorite desserts! Green tea slush, green tea ice cream, red beans, and mochi pieces. (It’s usually topped with whipped cream but I ordered it without because I don’t like whipped cream.)Â It was, as usual, amazing.
My family was in town a couple weeks ago, and we got to spend some quality time together. It was the first time that all of us Yokoyama’s were together since New Years, so I was ecstatic to see them all again! I took a Friday off to spend a day with them in San Francisco, and then we drove to South Lake Tahoe for the weekend. Here are some photos from the Yokoyama reunion! 😀
My family making their way down the steps of Lombard Street
Me with my mother and siblings.
Ramen lunch at Tanpopo in Japantown.
For dinner, we went to Zabu Zabu in Berkeley, a shabu shabu restaurant.
Dan and I treated the family to a delicious shabu shabu all-you-can-eat dinner.
On Saturday morning, we headed out in the morning to drive to South Lake Tahoe. I’ve been to Tahoe before, but it was in the winter when there was snow, and it was the northern side at Northstar, so this was a whole new experience to visit the southern side and in the summertime!
My parents with the mountains in South Lake Tahoe.
Dan's got the blues
Miwa advertising her canned green tea.
I love my parents!
At night, the siblings came together for game night in our hotel room.
The next morning, at Heavenly Ski Resort.
The Yokoyama ladies
Miwa and I with our parents.
After breakfast, we rode the gondolas up to the lookout point.
Me with my sister and brother on the gondola.
Arriving at the lookout point.
The Yokoyamas at South Lake Tahoe
A gorgeous view of Lake Tahoe!
We ended our weekend in Tahoe with mini golf, a Yokoyama family tradition.
It was really hot in Tahoe, so we cooled down with some shaved ice. (They claimed it was Hawaiian style, but it just didn't compare....)
I had a wonderful time with the family, but as always, I wish I could have made it longer! It’s so hard when you live across the country from your family and loved ones. I can’t wait until the holidays, when we can go visit them back East! 🙂
The Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival was held the past two weekends in San Francisco’s Japantown. Dan and I took my sister on Sunday, the day of the Grand Parade, since Miwa had never been to the festival before.
I love going to the Cherry Blossom Festival, and haven’t missed it once since moving out here. This was my third year attending San Francisco’s festival, and although a lot of things are the same, it’s always great to see the celebration of Japanese and Japanese American culture and heritage.
The highlight for me, as usual, was the taiko. If only I had better rhythm, I would totally want to take on taiko lessons. It’s a great workout for your arms and I just love the sound and energy of taiko drums…. Can’t wait to see Taiko Dojo again next year!
San Francisco’s annual commemoration of the Day of Remembrance will be held later today at 2 p.m., at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas in San Francisco Japantown, with a reception to follow at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California.
Sixty-seven years ago on February 19, the path of our community was drastically altered by the signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. For the Japanese American community, February 19th, 1942 would be the day that lived on in infamy, as 120,000 Japanese Americans were rounded up and relocated to internment camps in the Western United States. About two-thirds of the internees were American citizens but that did not protect them from being stripped of many of the rights afforded to them by the Constitution. The authoritative force behind the internment, General John DeWitt, is quoted saying “A Jap is a Jap. It makes no difference whether the Jap is a citizen or not.” The Supreme Court case of Fred Korematsu in 1944 failed to provide for the Constitutional rights of American citizens by endowing broad and considerable rights of the government to strip citizens of individual liberties in the name of national security. Although Korematsu’s case was eventually redressed and overturned in a U.S District Court in 1983, the internment was officially declared unjustified, and the president apologized to those who suffered, the injustice that the Japanese American community underwent cannot be forgotten. Japanese Latin Americans have yet to receive redress as they were excluded at the time of reparations. Though the issue may seem outdated since these events occurred over sixty years ago, it is relevant in that American history finds itself repeating the same mistake over again in its responses to the terrorist attacks of 9-11, this time with Arab Americans being targeted as “the enemy”. It is never justified, even in a wartime climate of fear, to strip a group of American citizens of their constitutional rights solely based on their racial or ethnic background.
This year’s Day of Remembrance theme, “Dreams Interrupted, Dreams Fulfilled,” recognizes the honorary degrees recently awarded to Japanese Americans whose educations were disrupted by the relocation and internment of the Japanese American community during WWII, and to the enduring value the community places on receiving an education. The 2010 Day of Remembrance will be MC’d by KTVU Channel 2 News reporter Jana Katsuyama, with a keynote by California State Assemblyman Warren Furutani, author of CA Assembly Bill 37, granting honorary degrees to the Nisei who were removed from their educational pursuits. This year’s program will also feature the presentation of the 2010 Clifford Uyeda Peace and Humanitarian Award to distinguished human and civil rights activist Yuri Kochiyama. Additionally, the Purple Moon Dance Project, choreographed by Jill Togawa, will perform excerpts of their work, “When Dreams are Interrupted,†revisiting the forced removal of the Berkeley Japanese community in 1942.
Dan and I will not be able to attend this year due to a prior engagement, but we both volunteered last year, and it was a very powerful ceremony and a testament to the vitality of the Japanese American community in the Bay Area. I was honored to be the escort for the family of Fred Korematsu, and as a non-Californian Japanese American who grew up somewhat ignorant of JA issues, it was a very educational and enlightening experience. We regret that we’re not able to be there today, but we would like to take a moment to remember — and remind others — of the injustice that Japanese Americans suffered and to reaffirm our commitment to human and civil rights.
Because a Constitution is not worth the parchment it is printed on if it is not supported by a sound public opinion and a government of integrity and equal compassion for its people….
