Japantown Foundation Grant Applications Available June 27

The San Francisco Japantown Foundation is inviting applications from qualified organizations for direct grants of up to $10,000. Applications will be available at japantownfoundation.org/grants on Thursday, June 27, and are due by Monday, July 29, 2013.

The foundation's 2013 grants program will provide direct grants, rather than the matching grants provided in previous years. These grants will also be for organizations, rather than for specific projects or programs. The foundation made these changes based in part on feedback from community members.

Grants may be used for a variety of purposes, including but not limited to administrative costs, program expenses, or salaries. The foundation will award grants to organizations that demonstrate the value of their organization to the Japantown community, the effectiveness of their services and/or activities, and their financial sustainability. Startup projects or organizations founded after January 1, 2012, will not be eligible and grants may not be used to pay for past debts, or current operating deficits.

Applicants must meet several eligibility requirements, including status as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization, or be fiscally sponsored by a tax-exempt organization. Applicants may request up to $10,000, but the foundation may award grants in lower amounts based on funding availability.

Applications are due on Monday, July 29, 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time and grants will be announced on or around August 21.

"Our 2013 grants program continues our commitment to supporting organizations, groups and individuals working to advance the Japantown and Japanese American communities," said foundation board president Donald K. Tamaki, a partner with the Minami Tamaki LLP law firm. "I want to express the board's appreciation to our donors, supporters, and the community for their support of the Japantown Foundation."

The Japantown Foundation was formed in December 2006 through generous endowments by Kintetsu Enterprises of America, Jack Hirose, Hats and Amey Aizawa, Union Bank, and Minami Tamaki LLP. The foundation’s mission is to support cultural, community and educational activities for San Francisco Japantown. The foundation has provided more than $600,000 in funding since 2007.

For more information, visit http://japantownfoundation.org/grants.

Cherry Blossom Festival 2013

The streets of Japantown become a live stage with Japanese dancing, singing, martial arts demonstrations, as well as taste traditional and nontraditional Japanese delicacies.

Dates: April 13-14 and 20-21, 2013
Times: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day
http://www.sfcherryblossom.org

Savor the taste, listen to the sounds and see the rich colors that make the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival unique.

Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival is a grantee of the San Francisco Japantown Foundation.

Get the latest updates with #NCCBF13 on Twitter.

The Chance to Experience Osechi Ryori--Japan's Rare and Sensational New Year Cuisine

With 2013 right around the corner, what plans are resolutions are you making for the New Year? Living in San Francisco, we're guaranteed to have had access to amazing culinary experiences from the world's greatest chefs that are represented in this city--and following in suit, this is also the city where one gets the rare opportunity to lavish in an authentic and luxurious culinary experience in the first month of a new year.

There is a traditional preparation and presentation of Japanese food for the New Year that even many Japanese Americans don't know about. "Osechi Ryori," an elaborate array of dishes that each carry special symbolism, and is rarely experienced in the U.S. because of the elaborate skill and time needed to authentically serve the large selection of food.

Sample Osechi Ryori Presentation

In San Francisco, however, for the past several years however, the San Francisco Japantown Foundation has presented osechi ryori as the centerpiece of its annual New Year's celebration fundraiser. This year's event, on Jan. 17, 2013, will be hosted at the large-scale West Bay Conference Center, and will include an impressive osechi ryori layout provided by the prestigious Japanese restaurants and establishments like Sushi Ran, Sanraku, Delica, Tokyo Fish, Yamasho, Suruki, Mira and Nippon Ya. The sake is being sponsored by True Sake and Takara Sake, and the beer will flow freely, sponsored by Sapporo.

Osechi ryori is a traditional style of cooking based on ancient methods of preserving food, such as curing in salt or vinegar, or simmering in sweetened soy sauce and sake.

In osechi ryori, grilled fish such as tai (sea bream) and buri are exquisitely presented in addition to preserved vegetables. All are prepared to be eaten at room temperature, and can be kept for several days without refrigeration. These morsels are tightly packed into exquisite lacquer boxes called jubako. In the original and classic fashion of small plates, osechi ryori offers tastings of a large variety of dishes--each with its own meaning and a definitive hold on every aspect of the flavor profile.

Care is taken to include lucky colors, such as brightly colored pink and white kamaboko (fish cakes) and kohaku namasu (red and white salad), as well foods with symbolic meaning such as kazunoko (herring roe, literally meaning “many children”), renkon, (lotus root; a Buddhist symbol) and sweet kuromame (black beans, again, for fertility), tai (sea bream, the last syllable of the word for celebratory: omedeTAI.

Each dish and ingredient in osechi is included to carry meaning and symbolism, such as good health, good harvest, happiness, prosperity, long life, and so on. It's said that yellow colored dishes and ingredients such as kazunoko (herring roe) symbolize prosperity and that various beans (mame) imply a wish for good health. Also, red/pink and white colored food, such as pink and white kamaboko (fish cake) slices represent celebration colors.

Join in this rare dining experience by attending the San Francisco Japantown Foundation's New Year's Celebration event on Jan. 17. Click here to purchase tickets and or download the Event Brochure for more information about the event and impressive lineup of 2013 sponsors.

We look forward to sharing San Francisco's most unique and spectacular dining experience with you in 2013.

The Japantown Foundation Invites You to Celebrate the New Year with Osechi Ryori

The San Francisco Japantown Foundation's annual New Year's fundraiser again offers guests a rare opportunity to experience the traditional Japanese New Year’s cuisine called "osechi ryori" - an elaborate preparation of dishes that each have a special meaning for the New Year.

We're hosting the event on Thursday, January 17, 2013, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the West Bay Conference Center, 1290 Fillmore Street, San Francisco.

This year's osechi will include food provided by Sushi Ran, Sanraku, Delica, and others. Sake tasting will be provided by True Sake. Performances include Shishimai by SF Taiko Dojo and Mochitsuki by Kagami Kai.

The Honorable Edwin Lee (photo right), Mayor of San Francisco, and the Honorable Hiroshi Inomata (photo left), Consul-General of Japan in San Francisco, serve as our honorary co-chairs of the event.

Event sponsors include Minami Tamaki LLP, Union Bank, Morgan Lewis and Joan Haratani, Mary Ishisaki, Ninomiya-Koda Foundation, along with the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Northern California, Kintetsu Enterprises Co. of America, Hatsuro and Amey Aizawa, Kimochi, Inc., Paul Dion and Ann Tamaki, Nihonmachi Little Friends, and Kiroku Kato.

Proceeds from the event will allow the Japantown Foundation to further its mission to support cultural, community and educational activities for San Francisco Japantown. We are dedicated to preserving and honoring Japantown's history, to welcoming and serving its residents, visitors, businesses, congregations and community organizations, and to supporting the growth and development of the community's Japanese cultural theme.

The event is organized by the San Francisco Japantown Foundation Board of Directors: Donald K. Tamaki (President), Hats Aizawa, Bob Hamaguchi, Richard Hashimoto, Mary Ishisaki, Keith Kamisugi, Diane Matsuda, Sandy Mori, Jon Osaki, Allen Okamoto, Jerry Ono and June-Ko Nakagawa.

Tickets are $175. RSVP by Jan. 4, 2013. Purchase tickets online or by contacting event manager Grace Keh at grace@japantownfoundation.org or 415-534-5010. Sponsorships are also available.

Matching Grants 2012 Program Participants

The San Francisco Japantown Foundation board of directors approved the following projects to participate in our 2012 matching grants program, listed with the maximum amount of matching funds:

• Children's Day Activities ($4,000.00), a project of JCCCNC

• Japantown Youth Leaders ($2,000), a project of the Japanese Community Youth Council

• J-POP Summit Festival ($2,500.00)

• Michiya Hanayagi Dance Studio ($1,000)

• Nihonmachi Street Fair ($2,500.00)

• Nikkei Community Internship ($3,000), a project of the California Japanese American Leadership Council

• Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival ($5,000)

• Northern California Soy and Tofu Festival ($1,000), a project of the Nichi Bei Foundation

• O-Hanami Grove ($500), a project of the Parent Teacher Community Council, Japanese Bilingual Program

• San Francisco Japantown Educational Heritage Program ($5,000), a project of the National Japanese American Historical Society

We are also extending the timeframe for receiving donations that qualify for a match. Tuesday, August 7, July 31, 2012, 5 p.m. Pacific Time, is the new deadline for us to receive donations via the matching grants program.

The deadline for the Foundation to tally donations and notify matching grants program participants of final totals and grant awards is now still August 15, 2012. The original deadline was July 31. We will notify participants of the final donation totals by the end of August.