Los Angeles, CA – [March 17, 2025] – The Cultural News Association, a non-profit dedicated to supporting Cultural News, is thrilled to announce its benefit concert, "Celebrating Over 25th Anniversary of Cultural News - Ken Koshio Sings Songs of Showa Era (1926-1989) " featuring the versatile musician Ken Koshio of Phoenix, Arizona .
This special event will take place on Saturday, March 29, 2025, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Zenshuji Soto Mission Temple in Little Tokyo, Downtown Los Angeles.
10 pair tickets are provided for free on first come first serve basis. Please send your requests to higashi@culturalnews.com
Cultural News began as a monthly tabloid in 1998 and transitioned to an online weekly newsletter in 2020. Celebrating over 25 years of sharing Japanese and Japanese American heritage in Los Angeles, the Cultural News Association is hosting this concert to raise funds for its annual $30,000 budget.
This concert is a personal milestone for Ken Koshio, who moved to Los Angeles from Japan in November 1996 seeking personal transformation. Despite language barriers and unfamiliar surroundings, he pursued his artistic journey.
Now, 29 years later, he marks 25 years since he began performing on the streets of Japanese Village Plaza in Little Tokyo with this special performance, "Ken Koshio Sings Songs of Showa Era."
Koshio's performance will feature songs from and inspired by the Showa era (1926-1989), a time of significant change and resilience for Japanese people. He aims to recapture the raw energy and deep sense of life that he feels has been lost in modern society.
The concert will include a mix of his past and present songs, performed with taiko drums, acoustic guitar, sanshin, harmonica, and Native American flute.
This event will also honor fire survivors and first responders of the Eaton and Palisades fires of January 7, 2025, who are invited to attend for free. Artworks by Miki Yokoyama, a fire survivor, will be featured, as part of Cultural News's "To Connect Fire Survivors to Community" project.
Event Details:
• Date: Saturday, March 29, 2025
• Time: 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
• Location: Zenshuji Soto Mission, 123 South Hewitt Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 https://www.zenshuji.org
• Tickets/Donation: $80 per person
• To reserve your seats and support Cultural News, please send your money via the donation link: https://culturalnews.com/donation
To receive free invitation tickets for fire survivors and first responders, email higashi@culturalnews.com or call Cultural News Editor Shige Higashi at (213) 819-4100.
"Facing the Truth" by Miki Yokoyama, 24 x 36 inch, Acrylic and acrylic pen on canvas, 2025. (Courtesy of the artist)
