UCLA’s Asian American Studies Center is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2024-25 Aratani CARE Awards.
The George and Sakaye Aratani "Community Advancement Research Endowment" or Aratani CARE Awards are given to projects that will benefit and advance the Japanese American community. Projects that strengthen ties between the Japanese American community and UCLA students, staff, and faculty receive particular consideration. This year’s awardees include:
1. East West Players (“Theatre for Youth: PATSY” performance to introduce students to the history and legacy of Rep. Patsy Mink of Hawaii)
2. Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute (“Films of Remembrance” program to shed light on the WWII forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans for Day of Remembrance, on March 9, 2025)
3. Greater Los Angeles JACL (“Southern California Intercollegiate Nikkei Council’s Nikkei Professionals” event to connect Japanese American professionals in various industries with Japanese American students looking to enter the workforce)
4. Historic Wintersburg Conservancy (“Feasibility Study for Wintersburg Historic District,” one of the first settlements of Japanese Americans in Orange County)
5. Tracy Ishimaru (“Photographic Lens of Saburo ‘Stone’ Ishimaru: From Poston Internee to US Army Photographer in Post-WWII Occupation of Japan” archival project)
6. Japanese American Cultural & Community Center (“DŌ (THE WAY): Traditional Japanese Arts for Families” intergenerational program to engage culture bearers to teach ikebana, tea ceremony, calligraphy, and origami)
7. Japanese American Museum of Oregon (“Through Our Eyes: Youth Perspectives on History and Healing,” a program to foster youth engagement with two exhibitions, one focusing on Japanese American photography of Indigenous peoples and another commemorating the 80th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki)
8. Japanese American Museum of San Jose (“San Jose Day of Remembrance 2026 Opening Exhibit: A Movement from the Ground Up — Archiving the Japanese American Redress Movement in San Jose”)
9. Jishin Taiko, CSU Northridge (“Jishin Taiko’s 30th Anniversary Concert” in Little Tokyo, June 2025)
10. Yayoi Kambara / KAMBARA+ (“NI DO TO: an XR pilgrimage,” a mixed-reality lobby experience that invites visitors to engage with narratives of JA wartime incarceration, at the Japanese American Museum of San Jose)
11. Little Tokyo Historical Society and Bill Watanabe (“Silent Film History in Little Tokyo: The Fujikan Theater and Sessue Hayakawa,” a screening of 1919 film “The Dragon Painter” and lecture.)
12. Little Tokyo Historical Society and Jeffrey Chin (“Shimbun: Narrative Short & Feature Film Development,” to explore tensions among Issei leaders in the months before WWII, from the perspective of Los Angeles newspaper publisher Sei Fujii)
13. Little Tokyo Service Center (“Engaging Communities, Empowering Futures: A South Bay Stakeholder Conference for the Nikkei and AANHPI Community” to identify needs, resources and priorities regarding affordable housing, social services, and cultural preservation)
14. Manzanar Committee (“Katari: Keeping Japanese American Stories Alive” program, held at Manzanar National Historic Site, to teach students about the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII)
15. Nichi Bei Foundation (“Nichi Bei Book Fest 2025: Celebrating Historian Art Hansen”)
16. Nikkei Heritage Association of Washington (“Film Screening: KINTSUKUROI: The Story of the Ito Family from the 1940s to Post-War San Francisco,” held in Seattle)
17. Okaeri (“Letters to Home” book talk at UCLA, to share diverse stories of the Nikkei LGBTQ+ experience and foster understanding, resilience, and hope)
18. Okinawa Association of America (“OAA Decolonial Writing Project” to produce entries for a second OAA book on Okinawan history and community in Los Angeles)
19. Sawtelle Japantown Association (“Sawtelle Stories Interactive,” a mixed-reality storytelling platform to preserve and celebrate the history of Sawtelle Japantown)
20. Southeast Japanese School (“SEJSCC 100th Anniversary Remembrance: Why SEJSCC is Important to the Future,” a spoken word play commissioned to celebrate the history and significance of the SEJS and Community Center)
21. UCLA Kyodo Taiko (“Kyodo Taiko’s 26th Annual Spring Concert,” a campus event open to all who are interested in exploring Japanese American culture through the art of Japanese drumming)
22. Venice Japanese Community Center (“Venice Japanese Community Center’s Cultural Expo Exhibition,” highlighting arts such as bonsai, ikebana, origami, shodo, and sumie, to be held on June 21-22, 2025)
23. Visual Communications Media LLC (“Temporary Detention: A Guide to the ‘Assembly Centers,’” a public program and workshop to launch a multimedia website on the little-documented WWII ‘Assembly/Reception Centers’)
Non-profit organizations and qualified individuals are invited to apply for awards that generally range from, but are not limited to, $1,000 to $5,000. Information about the funding and how to apply is available on the Aratani CARE website: http://www.aratanicare.org/
