2025 August Newsletter
Sounds From Our Summer
Our NCI and Summer Camps officially wrapped up a successful Summer Season for Kizuna! We hope you all enjoyed your summers as well.
Fri, Aug 22, 2025, 12:00 PM
Summer Camps 2025: FINISH
6 Weeks. 400+ Campers. SO MUCH FUN!
Kizuna had our biggest summer camp season yet and it was a wonderful experience bringing Japanese American culture and so many smiles to our campers. We can’t thank our team of 150+ Junior Counselors & Counselors enough, as they truly were the backbone of our summer camps! Some of our favorite highlights include having 2 back-to-back weeks in Gardena, working with Changing Tides again for all 6 weeks, and bringing 5 new & 3 revamped workshops into our curriculum! We already can’t wait to start planning next year.
Please check out our new 2025 Summer Camp Photo Gallery for all of the magical moments over 6 fun weeks!
2025 Nikkei Community Internship Recap
Our other summer program, the Nikkei Community Internship, wrapped up on a spectacular note as well! Our talented and funny LA cohort traveled to the beloved SJ and SF Japantowns for Closing Retreat, and they had the best time getting to know the NorCal interns and community leaders. It was a bittersweet ending for our interns who were parting ways with each other, but they know they’ll always have a home in our Japantown communities and will see each other again soon. We hope all of the participating Japanese American organizations in LA had a valuable and rewarding 8 weeks with their respective interns this summer!
Shout out to our hilarious and hard working interns this year, Sakura and Nikeese, who worked tirelessly with Kizuna during our busy summer camp season and made us smile every day!
Save the Date November 6th
Taste of Kizuna is our biggest fundraiser of the year! Kizuna is honored to work again with Andy Nakano and his team of celebrated LA executive chefs for an exclusive dinner engagement to benefit Kizuna.
Enjoy a decadent fine-dining event while also supporting a local nonprofit organization that empowers the next generation of community leaders! Check out the link below for the mouthwatering photos from last year’s dinner. Limited seating available; more information coming soon.
Community News!
NEO-JAPONISM | SAMURAI AND BEYOND: Exploring Tradition Through Technology
NEO-JAPONISM | SAMURAI AND BEYOND: Exploring Tradition Through Technology opens at JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles is now open and runs through September 1st, 2025. Japan's public broadcasting entity, NHK is commemorating its 100th anniversary of broadcasting in Japan with multifaceted projects including this exhibition debut. Explore the innovative technologies NHK utilizes in its most popular historical Taiga Dramas often featuring samurai and noblewomen from pre-modern period. NEO-JAPONISM also showcases NHK’s recent technological collaborations with Japan’s important museums to digitize cultural treasures.
Dates: Now – (Mon.) September 1, 2025
Hours: Mon. – Fri. | 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM, Sat. – Sun. | 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Location: JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles, Level 2 Gallery, 6801 Hollywood Boulevard Suite 205, Los Angeles, CA 90028
Fee: Free
National Day of Action
Join LT for a Day of Action to defend the truth of WWIl Japanese American incarceration history. Hear from WWIl incarceration survivors, community activists, and allies to honor the people and places that shaped our history and demand that this injustice never happens again.
What: #ProtectEveryPark Day of Action
When: Saturday, August 23, 10am - 11:30am
Where: Japanese American National Museum Democracy Plaza
Little Tokyo Farmers’ Market
Join us at the Little Tokyo Farmers’ Market, a vibrant new Saturday tradition in the heart of Little Tokyo. Presented in partnership by JACCC and Food Access LA, this weekly market brings together fresh, affordable produce, rich cultural experiences, and meaningful community connection.
Every Saturday starting August 30th 9AM-2PM
From the Street to the World: Legacies of the Import Car Scene
Dive into the world of import tuners with a panel discussion about the roots of the import car scene, beginning with its earliest emergence in the 1970s through the explosion of interest in the 1980s through 2000s.
When: Saturday, Aug 30, 2025 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM PDT
Where: Japanese American National Museum Democracy Center 100 North Central Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90012
