Right after school let out in the summer of 2010, Tyler and Jordyn both started Nakayoshi Gakko at the Mountain View Buddhist Temple. This two-week
friendship school teaches children about Japanese culture and tradition. Some of the cool classes they'll be taking include origami, manga drawing, cooking, and odori.
Just like last summer, Tyler and Jordyn attended the Nakayoshi Gakko Friendship School held at the Moutain View Buddhist Temple. For two weeks they learned
about Japanese culture in classes such as arts & crafts, manga drawing, cooking, dance, and singing.
This summer Tyler was in Zou at Nakayoshi Gakko. Besides learning about Japanese food, art, literature, and music, classroom studies also
included science (ocean life/seaweed), reading (Urashima Taro), writing (Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji), and festivals (New Years). Of course,
Nakayoshi wouldn't be complete without pounding mochi.
Alex helping me pound mochi.
Look, it sticks!
In the classroom.
Getting ready to do morning taiso at the open house.
Tyler was in Kirin this year at Nakayoshi Gakko. He continued to learn more about Japanese culture through Japanese language,
art, dance, music, and food classes. On the last day, there was an Open House for everyone to come down to see what the
students learned. Tyler had an uchiwa (fan) on display, and his class danced for everyone in attendance.
Now that I'm an older kid, I have to help the little kids.
Performance at Open House.
Dance.
Opening something from Connor.
It's a gift box covered in washi paper.
Kachi-kachi.
Getta.
Zabuton.
Replica bag like the ones used in internment camps.
Water color.
Origami.
My uchiwa (fan) that was on display during Open House.
It's hard to believe but Tyler is considered one of the older kids at Nakayoshi Gakko this summer. As has been the
case for the past 4 years, Tyler will continue to learn about Japanese-American history and heritage. Nakayoshi Gakko
continues to offer an outstanding program teaching kids while having fun.
Former World Champion Sumo, Byanba and former US Champion Sumo, Kelly.
Sadly, Tyler could not attend Nakayoshi Gakko (what would have been his last year - Tsuru) this year. In school, Tyler scored well enough on his
math assessments that he qualified to go into Advanced Math next year provided he take a math bridging course over the summer. Unfortunately, that
summer math class coincided with the exact same two weeks Nakayoshi Gakko was in session. While he can't attend Nakayoshi during the day, he
can still visit and watch the demos in the afternoon. One such demo involved Emmy Award Winning NBC Morning Traffic Anchor Mike Inouye. Mike always
does a demo for Nakayoshi Gakko and every year it's always different. This year's demo gave the students a glimpse into how a morning news
program operates. He also did a short interview with former Nakayoshi student and sempai Kyle Nishimoto. Kyle is now a statistician for
the Golden State Warriors but worked in promotions last season. As an employee of the "Dubs", Kyle received a championship ring that he
generously shared with everyone in attendance to take pictures. Mike even pulled out one of his Emmy's too! Where else would these kids be
able to get up close and personal with a championship NBA ring and an Emmy Award? Only Nakayoshi Gakko!
Tyler returned to Nakayoshi Gakko this year, not as a student, but as a Program Sempai. His duties included everything from cleaning bathrooms, taking
out the trash, helping the Senseis, moving equipment and furniture, and anything else you can think of. They are widely considered the backbone of Nakayoshi Gakko. Without them the program simply could not function.
While it is a lot of work he does get to be with a ton of his friends all day. Every night he comes home exhausted but he's quoted as saying, "I wish this would last all summer".
