[24SEASONS] First day of Spring in 2021

As the celebration of the Spring Equinox,

We held our first shaved ice pop-up in a year and a half.

©︎Momo yago

I kept the announcements to a minimum this time since it was also a tryout, but I was really honored and lucky to meet so many old and new faces through the glass windows.

Thank you very, very much.

In the midst of the pandemic and the accelerating hate crimes against AAPIs, I have been wondering what I can do as a Japanese in long term.

I know that this is not just a matter of the last few days ,weeks or years, but an issue that I will have to face for decades to come, maybe even as long as I live.

As I mentioned in another post, for the past few months I have been editing a Japanese woman's memoir of her days in Georgia and what she noticed and experienced during her 20-year revisit.

In fact, I was planning to play a music video as a memorial to the Great East Japan Earthquake on this site, which marked its 10th anniversary this year.

However, I asked the woman who created the video how she felt when she edited it in the midst of the anxiety and fear that followed the disaster, and the exchange became a long and very personal letter to me.

When I came to the U.S. 10 years ago, I didn't know much about the history of persecution of Asians in America honestly.

And now I am reminded firsthand that this vast country of America is like a completely different country with a different mentality, culture, and political system once you cross an invisible line.And even though it seems to be a completely different state, I realized that even in this country, which is called a melting pot of races, discrimination and persecution due to differences in skin color, language, and culture are still prevalent, regardless of the boundaries called Red or Blue.

That's why her experience in Georgia, where she now lives in Japan, came as a great shock to me, and sadly, it may not come as a surprise to many people living in this " liberal" country.

But how did she deal with the discrimination?

How has she and many of others faced grief and trauma?

That' s what I've been facing at the moment.

This is a long way from thanking you for our Firt KAKIGORI.

The fact,however, that I am able to be welcomed to bring Japanese culture as a Japanese in the U.S. has a lot to do with this issue.

Thank you,thank you again for listening to me and your friends,neighbors in AAPI communiteies.