Keirokai, the biggest celebration in the Cali Nikkei community

Grandfather migrating to Colombia Family having to hide guns during World War II in Colombia Stories of Grandfather at a concentration camp in Fusagasuga Keirokai, the biggest celebration in the Cali Nikkei community Food preparations for Keirokai Japanese reputation in Colombia Her definition of Nikkei Identification as Colombian, feeling closer to JA than Japanese Interracial marriage trends Her grandfather in a concentration camp in Fusagasuga (Spanish) Japanese were treated with dignity during WWII (Spanish)

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It's [Keirokai] our biggest celebration we do, as a community. They put on little shows, or presentations for them, and they celebrate who's the longest living person in the community even if they're present, or not. They talk about who joined the Keiro community because who's old enough to join in. And yeah, they just have shows... They gather them together in a room to honor them. And they serve them a nice special lunch. That is where the community comes in play a lot. And there's representative of every family

Date: September 22, 2019
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Yoko Nishimura
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

colombia community elderly event japanese colombian keiro