welcome, all of you to gakuen. it's. we're extremely happy and honored that you're here to join us today. despite the change of weather that we're experiencing. my name is diane matsuda, and i will serve as your emcee today. i am also one of the board members of kimono gakuin. so, folks, this has been a long time in coming, and we're just so excited to get this project from where it sat for many years. as paper plans on our hands to where we are today to bring him back to being fully utilized by our community and i just wanted to, ask you, after our official program, to take a take a look at the renderings that have been created by our, wonderful

historic preservation architects at trainer angel. and they are here today, and, they have been with us through thick and thin. and we really appreciate their their patience and their support and their confidence of us being able to move on. so as you know, no project gets off the ground without the support of many. and we have many, many people to thank here today. but before we get to that, we want to make sure that we continue to stay in the good thoughts of the many ancestors who made this building possible for us to preserve and use and enjoy for many generations, to help us with our appreciation. we are grateful to the members of the japanese american religious federation or by its acronym jaaf, who are here today to share a blessing, prayer and chant to thank those before us, those here today, and those who will come tomorrow. so i'd like to introduce all of

them and they will all come up individually. starting with reverend rodney yano of konko church of san francisco, reverend elaine donlon of buddhist church of san francisco, and reverend hiroko suzuki of christ united presbyterian church . good morning everyone. my name is rodney yano from the church of san francisco, just one block away. we're in the corner of laguna, and there's a long history within japantown community. and today is. it's a prayer in solidarity. it's a prayer for safety and well wishes and for success. for this whole project, this interest. okay for folks together .

let's all bow our heads . say okinawan community center restoration project. and. friday, march 1st, 2020. for

dear divine parent of the universe, tenkai i, reverend yano of the konko church of san francisco, humbly recite the following prayer. we humbly gather before you with hearts filled with gratitude and hope as we embark on the sacred journey of restoring the kingdom community center, a place that has been a beacon of education, culture, and community spirit. i bless this noble endeavor as we strive to revive the historic building at 2031 bush street, in the heart of japantown. with your divine guidance, may this restoration project flourish, transforming the kimono gakuin into a vibrant hub that echoes the rich history and traditions of our beloved community. we invoke your divine presence, kami sama, to shower your blessings upon this sacred space. may the renovated kimono community center be a sanctuary for learning, a haven for community services, and a stage for cultural celebrations. let us, wallace, resonate with the echoes of the past, celebrating the legacy of king gakuin since its inception in 1911. as we

honor the history of kimono gakuen, we acknowledge the struggles of the past, the discrimination faced by japanese immigrants and their children. we seek your divine guidance to ensure that this restored center becomes a symbol of inclusivity, breaking down barriers and fostering unity among all our members of our community. bless the hands and minds of those who work tirelessly on this project. from architects and builders to volunteers and supporters, may their efforts be infused with divine energy, bring forth the renovated space that exceeds expectations and its inclusivity and accessibility. dear kami sama, we pray for the success and safety of this endeavor to create a space where cultural activities, educational pursuits , and community services can converge. may the kimono and community center stand as a testament to the resilience and strength of the aapi communities for generations to come. in your divine light, kami sama, we entrust this restoration project with your care. may it be a

source of joy, inspiration and unity for the entire japantown community. ikigami odeion sama no kami sama! thank you very much. those images. for the ceratopsian . good morning. i'm reverend elaine donlon from the buddhist church of san francisco. for the buddha, learning was the endless pursuit of knowledge. he constantly told his disciples one should never be satisfied with the teachings of a single teacher or master, but to constantly be on a quest for even greater knowledge. what

we're celebrating today is so important, and a quest for that greater knowledge. we all gather here today in friendship and community, taking a moment out of our busy lives to recognize and celebrate this noble endeavor of renovating the kingman island. from fundraising to the architectural plans to the actual reconstruction, may all involved in this renovation project be granted the patience to persevere through challenges as the strength to overcome obstacles that may come along, and the satisfaction and joy in the completion of this project. may this continue to be a place where future students discover the joys of learning, the empathy of connection, and the wisdom of community. may minds be open to new ideas and perspectives. cultivating fresh insights filled with learning in the quest for greater knowledge.

lastly, may all through their kind support of this very noble goal, endeavor to build meaningful connections and share warm fellowship in cultivating the positive seeds from the past. it allows for the wisdom, resilience, and strength of this community to flourish within this school. thank you. good morning. my name is hiroko suzuki from christ united presbyterian church. i'm pastor for japanese speaking ministries . ohayo gozaimasu. cristo godo, nihon gobu o tanto suzuki hirakata oshima's. kono hontoni tomo ni kono bungaku no kai koji or hajimeru miyazato tomoni kono kalakaua décimas tomo kono

kimochi wa sankyaku kuju ni hyaku sanjou sanae no wo atsumete. dai sekai taisetsu. domo sono ni mata. sekai soshite american sumu. oku no tokuni. yo kara kokosei ni ni. nihon no kotoba. nihon no bunka o. showcase ni okina. america. toyokuni wa na gengo sama. zamana bunka o motsu. kitakata no kuni. this. watashi ga onishi. jibun no enka. jibun no koto ga ichiban natto. omo soy kimochi kara sama. soy nishi o

mas. watashi wa honto ni inochi. okita kyodai shimai bunka kotoba wa. jinrui to tomo ni watashitachi tomo ni xiao icu's honto ni. kono chinmoku no ni. nihon no bunka. nihon no kotoba. jibun ga ni. jibun ga bunka kotoba. jibun ni sekai wa hontoni. kono sekai ni icu okuno no jibun ni wa da so you koto. kono kimochi wa honto ni okina hataraki. conchi preston, california. so san francisco no shigeichi no kano communication

kogyo. hajime madamada kara no. zynga tai cities. dodo, miyazaki . kono. taisetsu na kono community, okinawa. atsuma bunka otagai ni hontoni kyo sono kono kimochi gakuen mata. sarani. tsuzuku daca. kono minasan dekiru sukoshi. kara kara. kono kimi ni kyoroku. sono would you please bow your heads and pray with me? gracious god, thank you for this time. thank you for this gathering. we give you thanks that you have been. you have blessed kimono gakuin that

has been offering us so many programs to many people, especially kindergartens and high school students, to learn japanese language and japanese culture. we pray that you will bless us and guide us as we begin this capital campaign to rehabilitate kim mongaku and building kamisama watashi, kokoro hiraku kono, kim mongaku and keisuke koji honto ni anata no kokoro ni canal. monotone animation. watashi hitori no kokoro hiraki. anata. in jesus name we pray, amen. thank you very much. members of jaaf for your kind words. blessings and prayers for us, i

realize, if you could look out and look at one another like kim jong un hasn't seen as many people in a long, long time. and it's just so wonderful to see this auditorium once again being used, and i realize that many of you are visiting ki moon gakuen for the first time, but we definitely hope it will not be your last. so i wanted to share a few facts about this building. this very beautiful and very important building. it was created or built in 1926 by architect william c hayes, a professor of architecture at uc berkeley. and for those of you who are architects or historians or preservationists, the building was designed in the mediterranean revival style, a style popular during this period for educational facilities in the bay area. the estimate, which i have right here in front of me, written by mr. hayes,

indicates that the total cost of this building was $48,118.50, even though that's can't even buy you a car today. that was a lot of money back then for this community to raise, and at its zenith, kim moon gakuen had a student body of approximately 500 students composed of nisei, second generation japanese americans, mainly, who resided in the 30 blocks of pre-world war ii japantown. parents knew where their children were after attending regular school and was also a way to keep young people safe from what was happening outside of japantown. and as we know, world war two changed the lives of japanese americans forever. with the signing of a document by president roosevelt in 1942, japanese americans went

from being productive and vital members of society to an id number and sent off to u.s. concentration camps located in desolate parts of the united states. only allowed to take what they could carry, they left behind so many things they worked so hard to build and left a community that they called their own, adding to the misery was what happened after the war. japanese americans moved back to japantown and they were faced with another government removal called redevelopment. this forced displacement and disruption of our community caused a permanent hole in japantown town, and definitely an impact on enrollment here at kimon. kimon was not only a language school, it was a hub for performing is for speech contests, for dance recitals, and to watch old time japanese

movies. it was the weekend spot, but instead of talking about what it was back in the day, we are also here to talk about what it can be tomorrow. we are very, very thankful to have a leader in the california state assembly who recognized this, and i'm going to ask a member of our japan town community and a former alumnus of kumonga to introduce him. may i introduce to all of you paul ozaki, the executive director of the japanese cultural and community center of northern california. good morning. you know, being in this auditorium brings back a lot of fond memories of my time here at, kimon. unfortunately, one of them isn't being able to speak in japanese. you know, i remember my first day of class here. i was six years old, and

the teacher got up and said something in japanese, and then each of the students students would say, stand up and say something in japanese. and it went row by row by row. and i was in the very last seat and i was listening, trying to figure out, what are they saying? this is the first day of class and they could speak japanese. so when it came to my time, i stood up. i hadn't figured out what they were saying and i remember i just started crying, like crying, like really hard, to the point where the teacher took my hand and walked me down the hallway, my grandmother was principal here, and led me to the my grandmother's office to just stay, later, i found out what they were saying was their last name in japanese. i used to sing in recitals here, every class had their ceremonial song,

i sing the same song for three years straight. i still remember that song, but, you know, i have other fond memories of growing up here, locking the teacher and the supply cabinet, playing tag in the hallway, going up to the roof, throwing paper planes down the, to the kids playing in the playground. and, but, you know, most of all, my fondest memories here is actually coming to this auditorium with my father as a child, watching samurai movies. and i still have that love today of watching those movies, actually. so the series shogun is, something very exciting to me. but i, i learned and had my love coming here with my father today. we're just not here to kick off the, capital campaign to rehabilitate kimono gakuin.

we're here also to recognize assembly member phil ting for his incredible and historic support of japantown. you know, phil has always been a friend and supporter of japantown. he has, this is like been his second home. he's always attended events, come to festivals, he played basketball at the community center. even busy as an elected official, he would come and play basketball ball. but it was his historic support that began began in 2021 that we will always be indebted and grateful to him, including 5 million to renovate to buchanan mall, 6 million to help renovate and redesign the peace plaza, and in 4.5 million to begin the rehab and renovation of this very school. this totals $15.5

million in just the last three years, and so, he will always be remembered. for not just, the, the contributing of money, but really for the permanent and lasting effect of how this is going to shape up and revive japantown for generations to come. so we are eternally grateful. i, known phil since he actually was the executive director at the asian law caucus and served with him on the, the first california commission on asian pacific islander affairs, which was formed to help change the political climate of social issues for asian americans. but soon after that, phil was appointed, by then mayor gavin newsom, to be assessor, recorder

of san francisco. and this really propelled his political career, winning each reelection by 80% of the vote. and then moving to the state assembly. which again, on on the very first day is leadership. he was appointed chair, caucus chair, by the speaker. and he again won an election by 80% of the vote. i wish he would take that 80% of the votes for other aspirations. but we know, his political career is not ended. but as chair of the powerful assembly budget committee, it's where he started to really make an impact with by being the first asian american to hold that position. phil has led the efforts in everything that has impacted our lives, gun safety and environmental anti-hate homelessness, affordable

affordable housing, health care, student support, public safety. you know, phil, unfortunately, will be turned out, i've never agreed with time limits. my feeling is if you don't like someone, then vote them out. but if they're good, you keep them in. unfortunately, we will be losing one of our best. but his contributions will be lasting, his legacy will be his dedication to public welfare that has shaped the policies of the state and the city of san francisco and, of course, japantown. he has served as one of the most powerful asian american to ever serve the state and local government. but i was looking at jack chatgpt and it said phil tang's lasting political career is still unfolding. ladies and gentlemen, can i have a standing ovation

for assembly member phil ting? thank you. paul it's a great honor for me to get introduced by my good friend paul ozaki, i think. i think when diane told my team that i was getting introduced, by a former student at the school, i was a little bit surprised that it was paul. not. not, to be honest. and i think now i know why. i can imagine the five ozaki brothers here, or at least the four of them, you know, here at the same time. and i imagine out of all of them, john, i know john's here somewhere, that john probably is the best because he's got the best japanese out of all of them. that that. no, no. john's john shaking his head . no, not not not not not me either. you know, this is really exciting for me. i was here for, a couple months ago to do a tour of kimono gakuen, and it brings back my personal memories. i

did, chinese school on the weekends. sort of similar to japanese school. and my dad was. my dad was the principal for a year as well. so that's always a very scary experiences when you're when your parent is actually involved in the school, because everyone sort of looks at how well you can speak the language as to how good the school is and so to me, you know, this is this is an amazing cultural place. i think diane put the context very well that this was a community that was extraordinarily vibrant for decades before it got devastated during world war two, we've seen how hard it is and how hard the community has really fought to keep it together, to make it, the heart that it has been. and of course, as our community has grown and which is a good thing, you know, before we could only live in certain certain parts of san francisco. now that we've been able to grow and live all

around the bay area, all around the state, our community has blossomed and been in many, many places. but having said this, this is still one of only three japan towns in the entire state. and this is a this to me is the center of not just japanese america, but this is a center of asian america. this is so important for us to be able to preserve our culture, to be able to come together as a community, but then also so to make sure that we are, holding each other accountable for how we are going to continue to grow the next generation, how we are going to build future leaders. i look at paul, i even i know, you know, with, with with john moving forward, there's a lot of leadership that needs to step forward. and i think you need places like kimon gakuen to make sure that we are coming together, that we're organizing, that we are sharing our culture with others, but that really our

kami that our communities are convening. and to me, that is extraordinarily, extraordinarily important. so when i had a chance to tour this facility with diane a few months ago and, you know, we talked about sort of what, what we could do at the state level and to be able to do $4.5 million in this last state budget was was a huge honor to me, because to me, i just see look at this. incredible. i mean, look at this incredible space, this incredible space that really is completely underutilized. but this historic space in the heart of japantown town that really isn't just going to be for the gay community. it's going to be really for the asian-american community and really for the western addition community. right. and so that's something that we are extraordinarily proud to be part of. as paul mentioned, i was happy to also assist with buchanan mall, and i can't wait till that fountain, until that ruth asawa fountain gets turned back on. that's going to be very, very exciting to me. and paul's right. this is like i remember, paul talking to

me, every time, i was running for something or thinking about running for something. he's like, you know, he's like, phil, you know, like, i mean, i'll support you, but you gotta you have to remain committed. you have to make sure that you, you know, i don't i don't want to just support you, and then you're going to disappear. and i think about that because i mentioned that to so many other candidates who asked for my support. and so i look at i look at my good friend paul osaki and, and to me, you know, being elected isn't just about, you know, getting the support from the community. it's making sure that you remember what communities you come from. and to me, while i'm not j.r, this this community is very much part of me. it's part of my history in san francisco. and it means a lot to me, to be able to give back just a little bit and to support the community, the way the community has supported me. so again, thank you so much for, being here today. and i can't wait, till we get all the

fundraising done so we can really reopen it fully and make it the hub of the community that it really deserves to be. thank you. thank you. and as a token of our appreciation, we'd like to ask our honorary chair, kinko sakamoto, to present a gift to you. today, to help us. thank you, thank you, thank you. thank you. so it's a it's a gold origami lei. and as all of you probably know, the symbolic symbol of a crane, the origami crane means longevity. so we wish you, many, many years in elected office. assembly member in whatever

capacity, and then for the big photo moment, if we could ask the assembly member to step back up again. and then with sakamoto and sano san, who is the president of our board, our check. we all kind of wish that this was written to us, but we are very honored to show you the check from the state of california for 54. $5 million to kim mongaku. so.

thank you so much, assembly member. and we're taking, things a little bit out of order because we are so lucky today that, we have mayor breed here to join us and to introduce our mayor is richard hashimoto. a board member of kumon gakuen. thank you very much, once again, richard hashimoto. i've been a board member here for about 13 years. and when we first discussed this, plan, it was just a pipe dream. and while 13 years later, this pipe dream is coming to, to fruition. so thank

you very much, state assembly member phil ting. and it gives me my humble, humble, to announce our next speaker, my esteemed, humble honor to announce mayor london breed. thank you, mayor. and, you know, just like paul did, a standing ovation for assembly member phil ting. madam mayor, could you all join me for standing ovation for mayor london breed? thank you. thank. hello, everyone. it is so great to be here to celebrate this extraordinary milestone known. it's a bit of a homecoming for me, and i wanted to take an opportunity to really

appreciate the history of this institution and what it is not only meant to the japanese community in the western addition, but also what it is meant to the african american community. in fact, we remember, unfortunately, what happened during world war two and the concentration camps and how so many japanese-americans who lived and built this community, were sent to those concentration camps. and at the same time, there was a huge migration of african americans into san francisco, working in the shipyard. this place was used as a place where people would register and were assigned to places like the shipyard. but this institution also represented something very important to the african american community. it was once the booker t washington community center, and it was the booker t washington community center. when there was a need and desire to help support the african american community, in a way that allowed for job

opportunities, business opportunities, growth and development. and the stories are, i'm sure some people here, including people like alan and sandy maury and others may have stories of that time, but we remember when people were coming home in 1945 from those same concentration camps and how the relationship between the japanese and african american community, became a bit more of a bond in recognizing our struggles, our challenges, our issues. and in fact, this community came together to help raise money for the existing location of where booker t washington community center is and serves the community to this very day. so i'm really grateful to be here, and really grateful that through, the fund that has been created under the leadership of supervisor connie chan, working together, that it provided an opportunity for $5 million from the city and county

of san francisco to add to the support from our assembly member, phil ting, to reach that extraordinary milestone of almost all of the money to renovate this space. and so i appreciate, being here today to celebrate and to, really see and experience the community firsthand, there are so many people in this community that went to nihonmachi little friends, i didn't realize paul was one of them. and it's good to know that so many people who might be here today might have had that that great experience, including many of the friends that i grew up with who came to nihonmachi when it was here, through scholarships, through advocacy, through the raising of funds from so many of the board members who wanted to create a diverse group of students who can learn and grow with one

another's culture. and that's what this community has always represented, an opportunity to learn, to grow and to continue the relationship and the commitment that we all enjoy with supporting one another. so it is great to be here. it's great to see each and every one of you here. and i want to say congratulations on this, this extraordinary milestone, we know that this is an historic building, and a lot of work will need to go into ensuring that through this process, it is supported and protected. and i see a number of folks who have been involved in making sure that the resources are available to create the kind of institution that's going to serve this community for generations to come. thank you all so much for being here today . thank you very much, mayor reed. and we really appreciate the support from the city and

county of san francisco. i hope that you will come back and come back often to see how we continue to rehabilitate, not only this auditorium, but the entire building. so to present to you as the mayor for the city and county of san francisco, we're going to ask, sakamoto san, our honorary chair for kimono gakuin, to present to you a origami. i'm sorry, i forgot my big check .

how we do. okay. oh yeah. i'm like. i didn't realize i signed the checks. okay okay. didn't know i had this money in my bank account. alright thank you .

thank you again, mayor breed. japantown has not seen this kind of money in a long, long time. i hope, though, it's not going to be the last, we're taking things a little bit out of order, but i know that all of you are very polished speakers, and you can speak at any time. so i'm going to ask, mr. sano, who is our president of the kimono gakuin board, to introduce consul general ohsumi. thank you. diane, my name is shinichi sano. i'm the president of the kingman gakuin, it's my greatest pleasure to welcome, you all so that i may ask for your support for kim mongaku. we will renovate the building and

maintain it so that we may continue to offer japanese language classes and to offer the japantown community a place they can use for the various events. the project will start here today and will continue until our goal is met, this project was started by my predecessor, miss kinko sakamoto , she proposed the renovation to the building in 2016. at that time, she was, told it would cost, us 7 to $8 million, she read the board and received in 2019, landmark designation. and the legacy business, recognition for us. so we are receiving the, mcrd grant, this year. so we may

be ready to start a project right now. we will, bring the history, to our future. now it is my honor to introduce our next speaker, the consul general of japan. or your ohsumi. thank you. hello, everyone. i'm glad to be here. the opening of the mongolian capital campaign. and thank you to everyone involved in making this event possible, including today's speakers, of course, mayor breed, assemblymember, ten supervisors, preston and chen, and miss carly wong and the entire board of directors. so i'd like to talk

about the value of connections today between the past and present, between countries and between communities. so i first visited this auditorium last september, right after i arrived in san francisco. the moment i entered, i stepped into this old auditorium. what i felt was history. the history of generations of japanese americans. so i almost heard tears of nisei, nisei, kids who for whom this school presented the only opportunity to get a japanese education in the 1920s and 30s. and for nervous murmurs of families who were ordered to be present at the start of the war and the applause and letters of the gathering crowds, in the 50s and 60s, who came here to watch japanese movies. i realized polosak was one of

them. and but in stead of laughing, he was crying all the time. he confessed he. but that sense of history are so palpable , and it speaks to this school's deep significance. this place has been a symbol for generations of nikkei for in san francisco. the second connection is between two countries, japan, the us and it. this is also central to this story. last fall, during epic foreign minister kamikawa visited jk and c just a block from here, she met with japanese american community leaders and showed her appreciation and respect for nikkei community, who overcame historical hardships and have brought together japanese and american culture from the us side. they are having many

similar appreciations from people including mayor breed and assembly member tim and all others who are here today. one of them is speaker emerita nancy pelosi, whom i welcomed last week at the consulate's annual reception in honor of emperor naruhito's birthday. she has been a lifelong supporter of japantown and japanese american community. she and her words underscored the value of japanese americans unique role in our country. s relationship. for her great contribution in 2015, she was decorated by the current emperor's father, the emperor emeritus akihito, in tokyo. personally, and you know what? the emperor emeritus akiko hulton, a spry 91 years old this year, visit san francisco in

1960, and when she was a crown prince along with the then crown princess. and he was right here in this building at that time, the final type of connections that i'd like to mention is the connection between communities. on november 4th last year, refurbished the webster street village was opened. so go arm in arm along with mayor breed and reverend arnold townsend. we crossed the bridge which is connecting western addition and japantown, that kind of thing that is a connection of communities today. king mongkut welcomes not just nikkei children, but children from all backgrounds. they come due to their interest in japan, its culture, its language, and study

them from scratch so king mongkut can continue to nurture the communities connection to japanese culture, while also sharing japanese language and culture with known nikkei community in an inclusive way, and give back to the non-japanese communities, including api black and latino communities that have shown their support for over the years . so i see great things in store for the future king moon gakuen and this is thanks in no small part to the efforts of lots of people already mentioned assembly member tim, whose initial support was critical and may have breed and the city who have lent great support to the school. with their support, king gakuen will be reborn as a hub for the nikkei community to share and promote japanese culture and as a center of

contributing to connections both local and international. today, you likely passed the pagoda in peace plaza. it was donated by the city of osaka in 1968 and osaka, kansai will host a world expo in 2025. the expo theme is very much related to this ceremony. that is a design designing future societies for our lives. this project at king mongkut is meant to design our future own future and the future of japantown. the city of san francisco. so the title of this groundbreaking event is sensibly titled bring history to our future. i look forward to seeing that vision that the vision of

the future come to fruition. thank you very much. thank you very much. council jono, for your kind words. i'm sure some of you are wondering how we've been able to receive the gifts that we are honoring today. and let me tell you, it doesn't happen without a lot of work to make sure that people know who you are and that you should receive the support. and fortunately for kim mongaku and we had a representative do the heavy lifting for us, get us into gear to submit these applications. he led us through the process, and he continues to use his first hand experience to make sure we make it across the finish line. i do not say these nice things just because he's my boss, but he is really a person with a strong conviction for

community, community preservation and making sure community is here for the next generation. so i'd like to introduce dean taylor, executive director of the asian pacific islander legal outreach, who will then introduce supervisors preston and chen. thank you. so it's, pretty cold in here, you know, that we're going to spend the first dollars on new heating here. wow. so, i don't know if you this is kind of a long program. if you want to stand up for a second and stretch, get the blood circulating. since it's so cold in here, i see kelly is. okay, fine. i gave you a chance. so, it's my pleasure to really introduce folks to get introduced to all the time, but for this program, this project for japantown, for the western addition community, these folks

really are essential to this movement, for, community infrastructure, and so i want to first start out, by introducing the other dean in this district. i don't know if you know the other dean, but he's our supervisor, for the japantown area. and it's not just that he's been a supervisor, representing, the japantown, community, but he's gone out of his way every step of the way with every single issue that we've asked him to, support us with. he's gone out of his way to come down here, talk to us about those issues, and step up. and that is very unusual for, i hate to say it, for a politician, for an elected official. so we extremely

appreciative of dean preston's support and the value that he places for our community. please welcome supervisor preston. thank you so much, dean. and it is, it is only in japantown where i have to explain to people which dean i am. it's the only place i go. it's a very. my whole life, i never encounter another dean. and then now it's. i'm the other dean because of this incredible man, but look, it is. i am so filled with joy today. it is great not just seeing this room. so full. being here with consul general, with assembly member ting, with the mayor, with my colleague, supervisor chan, with all these amazing advocates, diane and dean and paul and so many of you who have come together to, not just here in this essential and important renovation project, but in so many of the projects

we've talked about, a lot of them, to really invest in japantown. and i can't tell you what an honor it is to represent the oldest japantown in the entire country and then to be standing here in a packed room in the oldest institution and building here within the oldest japantown. it's very humbling. i will say that. and i'm going to take you a little behind the scenes. i won't be too long, i promise, but i'm going to take you a little behind the scenes because the money that comes to these kind of projects doesn't just happen. and i cannot sing the praises. enough of our assembly member, phil ting, and my colleague connie chan, and so i'm going to pop the hood a little and talk about how this happens, because it happens to me all the time when i'm in japantown and people come and they thank me for money for all these different things, and i

have to sit there sometimes now, sometimes it's something i went to bat for. we had to fight to get this funding in the bond for the piece, other things like that. and sometimes i barely had to lift a finger because this man in sacramento was five steps ahead and either i called to ask for something, and before i finished the sentence, when it's about japantown, he says it's done or sometimes his staff is reaching out to tell me the supervisor of the district, that they've already done the work. and i just that is so rare. i want to say i, you know, everywhere else in my district and i think for most of my colleagues, you have to fight tooth and nail, especially to get people at the state level or any other level of government to pay attention to something in your district. and it is the exact opposite and has been since the day i took office four years ago in dealing with phil tang. so i was thrilled not just to be here to celebrate the

investments in this very special place, but to come and be part of celebrating phil ting's leadership. and i'm going to tell you, the local side of it. yeah, you can clap, please, again for phil chan. so, similar experience in getting these local funds and very much appreciate the partnership, from the mayor and from the entire board of supervisors, but i was trying to push, a kind of crazy amount of affordable housing funding in 2022. and my colleagues were looking at me like i had three heads. and connie chan was trying to push the aapi equity fund with carly and everyone. a lot of people in city hall were looking at them like they had three heads and connie and i joined forces in a very innovative, i think the first time it had been done in the budget process, a $112 million using long terme debt financing, stuff that i barely

understand. but thank god the controller understood it, but we fought for it, and that is what created that. and connie, i'm sure, will speak more about it, but that is what created the city side of these funds. and i want to say it didn't come easy, and it was the last thing to be negotiated in the 2022 budget, and everyone was up late. and that was the piece. and we're just so thrilled that that happened. and i just want to say without question, while i'm very proud of all these investments, and i look forward to this work being done here and this incredible school and community center being, re-envisioned. and better than ever. i just want to make very, very clear, that this would not be happening without the incredible leadership at the state level of filtering and locally, of my friend and colleague connie chan. thank you all so much. so, supervisor

connie chan, district one, has a large population of aapi folks, a lot of jazz moved out of the japantown area because of forced relocation and ended up in, in district one, but that has nothing to do with connie chan's commitment to the aapi community and san francisco in general, under her leadership as the budget chair, not only has she pushed forward the aapi equity fund, but and i remember having to meet with her on a sunday afternoon or something out in the richmond district to talk about how we're going to get this done, that's a type of commitment that she has to building the infrastructure of all the aapi communities, especially serving the disadvantage of san francisco. but connie, not only has been

the spearhead for this project, but is always there when community services need support. and she understands the needs of for, for, you know, culturally competent community services across, the, the city. and so we really appreciate her ongoing support. and i just have to mention that these two supervisors are up for reelection. so, you know what what we have to do. please welcome connie chan. thank you. you're all too kind, i'm keeping my mask on. i'm. i'm just getting over a cold, but i'm just so honored and grateful to be with all of you here, let me just say this. that as a first generation immigrant, i came to san francisco as chinatown when i was 13 years old. and so that's my experience as immigrant and growing up here.

everything that i can get my hands on, you know, coming back from hong kong or taiwan or china and just thinking about food, music, you know, film. and so for sure, just like paul, my son is looking forward to the next like shogun. but i said, i'm not going to cover your eyes on the racist scenes, so watch out, so while us as immigrants and even generations of immigrants, those are born here, like my son, we grabs on to our roots and we want to know our roots. but nothing, nothing compares to a space where our community can actually gather in person. physically, nothing compared to a space where i have said this before, but being able to speak our language, eat our food, enjoy our music with each other in a very safe space is amazing thing. and i think that is what this space is represents . and i'm so grateful to see the

slogan of bringing history to our future as a mom that i want to say, that's exactly what i look forward to see all the spaces serving our aapi community. that's exactly that. that we bring the history to our future. but most importantly, what i'm grateful for, is that we're doing it together and i want to say the aapi equity fund. the idea really is actually coming from assembly member phil tang, who actually reminded me during this time when we fight against anti-asian sentiment, is that we need that space that we can call home and that he consistently invests all over san francisco. i think that when we look back five years from now and we're going to see many asian communities thriving and having a safe space and community hub, i think i can almost point to you that every single one of them is because assembly member phil tang and contribution. and so for that, he deserves way more than that.

lei and, you know, our standing ovation and i think unlike paul, i think he's not done i think he's going to go somewhere with that. and i'm just really grateful. and for supervisor dean preston, i sometimes joke he's my brother from another mother. and because again, we serve this community. but let me end with this. none of this can happen without you, the community that loves it, the community that attends to it, those that may not be recognized and be named from time and time again. the generations of our elders and the generations to come that that is because of you, the community is the reason why we're here and that why we're doing this. so for that, i'm going to test out my japanese paul, because i must. so next i have the, pleasure of introducing kelly wong, who is

the director of the aapi council. and you're going to say, let's say aapi council. what is that? chamber of commerce? what the aapi council is the strongest? body of nonprofit leadership in in san francisco and probably in california. and the aapi council is kind of one of those grassroots organizations under the radar, is responsible for most of the commune's city service funding. in san francisco, most of the, advocacy for folks that don't have their own voices, and it really, is the most effective organization when it comes to, initiatives like the aapi equity fund. and i have to give a shout out before kelly comes up here to david ho, who i think was in the back somewhere. he's trying to be anonymous, but. david ho, was na

egging me about this equity fund idea. i don't know if he got that from phil ting or kelly, but kelly looked at me and said, is he crazy? he wants to build all these community centers in to build up the permanent infrastructure of the aapi communities in san francisco. and this is where we are today. david kelly, under her leadership, the aapi council would be probably like infighting all the time. but we are a united force for community services. and we thank you, kelly, please come up. thank you. dean, i think you basically said it all, so i don't have much to speak about, but i was asked to speak a little bit about the api equity fund. and, you know, once again, i think we

don't think this person enough. and that is supervisor connie chang. under her leadership, we have today spent over $30 million in api equity fund. those that $30 million have officially funded, six buildings throughout san francisco. we have one in chinatown, two in soma, one in the tl, this one in japantown, and one in the richmond. and again, you know, connie did this. i want to mention before she became budget chair. so that in itself gets, i believe, a standing ovation. so thank you. thank you, connie, for always looking out. you know, for our aapi communities in san francisco. you know, throughout this process, when we were surveying members in different community organizer locations, we were looking at, you know, what do we want to do in japantown? out of the six

buildings, this was the only building that the community already owned. so the idea behind the api equity fund during recovery, coming out of this high intensity of anti-asian hate was how do we bring services to its home? majority of nonprofits in san francisco, they don't actually own their own home where they're providing services. and that gets very scary and tricky and dangerous for, you know, communities of need throughout this whole process, especially japantown, everyone said, we don't want to buy a building. we want to bring alive and renovate kumon gakuen. so it just brings me such joy and pleasure to be here today. and i just want to give a final shout out to assembly member phil ting. out of the six buildings i'm pretty sure he is. also, funding is matching, you know, 95% out of the six. so this is really the api equity fund. and under the leadership of phil is really a

great example of when community comes together, when the city comes together and when the state comes together, we can really bring back so much, you know, for immigrant communities, for immigrant corridors and just history of what brings us all together. so i look forward to see this building up and running in a few years. i remember being here just two years ago with diane and dean and rich and we are just so excited. hopefully next time we come here we can have another celebration. so thank you. thank you so much. and please know we don't take your support of gakuen lightly. we will use it, and make sure that we bring you a, a fully rehabilitated building that will

be able for all community to use . so, kelly mentioned a little bit about history. and, some of you know that i'm kind of into history. so i just wanted to share a little bit about, this building and its landmark. let's see, in 2019, kim gakuen was granted landmark designation by the city and county of san francisco. and even though san francisco has been recognized as a us city since 1850 and have tons of buildings and structures all over the city, we only have a little over 300 landmarks and kim moon gakuen is landmark number 288. so please know that this is a big deal. please clap your hands. that's a big deal. and when the city the board are two great board members, our favorite board members voted to make kim moon gakuen a landmark

designation. they noted the significance about kim moon gakuen is placed in the city for its association with its social, cultural, educational, enrichment of japanese americans in san francisco during the 20th century, and because of its association as a processing center during world war two, and to this date there are no other san francisco landmarks specifically related to japanese american history, so, i know that many of you in this room are very happy and are very vested in kim moon gakuen, and i hope that you will now take pride that it is one of the very few landmarks in our city. i also want to acknowledge that kim moon gakuen is a legacy business. we do have rick carrillo, who is the business program manager of the legacy business program, i want to give

a big plug to rick and to the legacy business program. and to any of those legacy business owners who may be in the audience today. this is a really special program that really goes out of its way to recognize the hard work of small businesses in in the city. and, rick, in particular, works really hard to get them recognized. he actually sometimes writes the applications for them. so please come talk to him if you want to know more about the program and get your business. the recognition that it deserves. so, we are now coming to the conclusion of our, our program, but it is a special way that we are going to conclude today. i'd like to ask our two new co-chairs of the capital campaign to come forward. i'd like to introduce them to all of you. it's doctor yasuko fukuda and jeffrey matsuoka, and they are going to come up here and they're going to, as our first

donation, a community, our first community donation, accept a gift from boku kodama from the committee against nihonmachi eviction. boku, are you here? lunchtime and then we'll adjourn for lunch. just give us a second. hi. good afternoon everyone. my name is jeffrey matsuoka and i'm one of the co-chairs, along with yasuko on the capital campaign. and i want to welcome everybody and really, really appreciate all the support that you've given us, especially especially assemblyman king. but all of you who are here today and, you know, i hope that we can all work together to make this a

really great space. i have deep roots here. i came to like yoshiko. i was a student here. i remember sitting up, standing up here on the stage as a six year old kid with ohanashi taikai, so i really appreciate we really appreciate your continued support for shimo gakuen. we're going to really make this a really nice space. so. so this place really brings back some memories, you know, talk about how old i am. i was here as an usher in the late 50s, as an eight year old boy, when they had the japanese films here, also, my three kids went to neil gorsuch little friends. so this place really does have a lot of history for me. so i am representing, the organizers of the committee against nihonmachi eviction, back in the 70s, we were involved in fighting to preserve the community, so, so one of the things that we wanted to do is pay things forward. and so we got together at the 50th

anniversary, which was last august, and, we celebrated, what cain had done in the community as well as the all the people that were involved in the community at the time and trying to maintain the personal the, ownership ships, the local ownerships of the community and that's what the fight was all about, in that, at the 50th anniversary, we came up with a thing called the sansei legacy, fund, and it's that sansei legacy. org, if you're interested. and we started to put together funds from all the people that organize the cain reunion. and so that's what this check is all about, so it's the first installment. it's $9,400, that we're giving over to the to the kimon. all all individuals. so we're hoping that this will spark more of the individuals in the community, especially among

the sansei, who we hope will follow their parents, the nisei who gave so generously to the community. we hope that we're going to be able to do the same thing here. the theme of this, which is, the history part, is really important as well. and so several of us, during a two year period developed a documentary about, about japantowns, fight for recognition and ownership back in 1972. the title of the film is called gambaro, prince akihito and princess michiko kane. and i got to get dressed up in a kimono to greet them. my mother was all dressed up. the whole community was dressed up, and i kind of remember them. i more remember the private jet that they had and i got to tour it. but isn't that amazing that we had a community here that not only serves the local area, and

now i see it as not just san francisco, in california, in the united states, to really promote our culture, language, traditions and build that bridge because we really are global and we need the international connections as well. thank you all very, very much. and i'm delighted to be involved in this. i don't like that very much. do i give this to you? get that today? yeah, thank you. kane, this is a very, very meaningful gift to all of us, it means just as much as our gifts from the state of california and from the city and county of san francisco and i think it was mentioned earlier, phil, we wish that we could make those, origami cranleigh's into real gold for you, because that's how much you mean to us. but i hope

that you will take it as our appreciation for the leadership that you have given us and for, i think members of the mayor's office of community and housing, are here. and we also want to thank moe cd for, your support. and we look forward to working with all of you. so thank you again for coming out, before you leave, please take a look at what the future of this particular auditorium and our whole building will look like under the direction of trainer angel. i believe they are here. and i want to give a big shout out to them because they've stuck with us through thick and thin again. thank you. phil thank you city. and please stick around and have some food. dean made it. so if dean makes it, you should stick around. thank you

>> i think a lot of times we get in adult lives we are afraid to follow our passions and think life can't be that easy. but i truly do believe i followed my heart this time in my journal in city government i did not know that is where my passion lied. i kept following it and ltd. to great opportunity to serve the city. [music] >> i'm katy tang the executive

director of the office of small business. >> small business contributes to san francisco's economy. they provide the bulk of employment in the city and employing a million people in san francisco. and roughly 90% of the businesses are defined as small businesses. so, they contribute to the economy but also just the quality of life. small businesses are more then and there a place of transaction it is a community center. a play where people gather. know each other and form memories about the city. >> at the office of mall business i run a team this helps report all mall businesses in san francisco whether they are looking to stfrt a new business or expand or perhaps they are feeling with issues. our office is here as a point of information for anyone with a business that has 100 or nower

employees. >> i was growing up i had many ideas of when i wanted to do. i wanted to being an olympic swimmer. and i wanted to men be an architect, you name it i had many ideas for what i wanted do when i grew up. and i never anticipated entering in politics. this opportunity came along wh started working for former supervisor carmen chu and she became the district 4 sunset district supervisor. that was my firstent row in politics and government in a different level. and so when i was finishing up my time working for legislative aid i thought, i will go off and do something else. may be explore opportunity outside of city government what was then approached by this

opportunity to also serve as a district 4 supervisor. if not the traditional route that many people think of when you enter in politics. a lot know that is manage than i want to do and run for office. that was not part of my culture and upbringing with manage my parents were wondering why i wanted to go in that role this legislation and important because so many women when have it return to work after having a child feel embarrassed or don't feel comfortable asking their supervisor for will any lactation accommodations. i saw it as an opportunity you could use the position where you have tools creating legislation and pass laws and where people listen to to you help the community and pass cause catharsis important to the city and individuals. my family immigrated to the united states from taiwan.

and they came here in pronl probably late 20's almost 30. and so, they came also in the knowing english limp barely read or write but had to quickly understand english to i can't haveigate services and find a job in america. i grew up in the san francisco sunset district i spent most of my childed hoo up until i went off to college. so when i started working in city government, i think i had mixed reactions about my involvement working government because for some of our parents generation, there is i bit of distrust in government. i think there are questions about why i was entering in this field of work. i think you know when i went in city government i thought about my parents like so many other who is have to navigate city services and resources english

first language and help the individuals both navigate, intercept that is on an application approximate signage. it is fulfilling to mow to help people like my parent and feel like government is there to support them and not to harm them. my parents are happy that i retired early from politics and being a district 4 supervisor i could have continued on for a couple more years approximate decided to leave early. i think that over all they were able to see some of my work appear in the chinese newspaper. through that they were able to see i was able to help communities in a tangible way. >> the member of the board of supervisors. >> transportation authority. for the city and county of san francisco. congratulations. >> i think about one importance when i was worn in as district 4 supervisor. years ago, and someone actually

came up to me during the swear nothing ceremony and said, wow, i'm traveling here from canada, and i just i could not believe i saw an asian female worn in in this role a leadership role this meant so much that someone would say that and felt they were inspired by the scene. so -- i hope that as more people see people that look like them and more women coming in positions of leadership than i feel they can doing the same. person this inpyred me is carmen chu who is our city add administrator but also was district 4 supervisor when i worked with her as a legislative aid. at this point, i too, was skeptical of going in politics. i saw someone who had herself never seen herself in politics. got thrown into it and put her

heart and soul and dedication to serve people. and it gave me the confidence to pursue that same job and i honestly would not have either chosen or accepted or considered serving on the board of supervisors were not for carmen. >> if you want to make your business accessible. >> in my role in city government where i have seen the most challenge is people who don't know you and you are here to serve and help them that they classify you as our city government and here to hurt you. so, people will talk to you and -- and just you know treat you disrespectfully. and sometimes i noticed that they might do more to me as a female compared to my male colleagues. but you know i try to be empathetic. one of the most significant barriers to female empowerment we feel like we have to be 100%

meeting all of the qualifications before we think that we are qualified to do a job. if we look at a job description or an opportunity to come your way well is self doubt about whether you can fulfill the obligations of that role. i think that the confidence is huge and sometimes i think we make up for it by trying to gain more experience. more and more and more in whatever we can put under our belts we'll feel better. that may not be the case. we might be qualified with when we have already accomplished. i started rock climbing indoors a couple years ago as an activity to try to spends time with my husband and also to try something new and i finds that rock climbing there are so many parallels to life.

you know when i'm on the wall i'm concentrating and trying to make it to the next piece without falling. there are daying you think i'm not making progress. you come back and wow, i hit another level. and so i feel like in our daily lives and w we think we are not making enough of i change in the city. and sometimes we have to take out time to reflect every day as long as you try and give it your all and you look back you will have made a significant contribution there is no limit to where you go in terms of rock climbing. i want to reminds myself of that in terms of daily life. >> follow what it is you are interested in, what makes you feel excited about wake up every day. you never know and be open to all the possibilities and

opportunity. [music] pen. >> well to edge own little square we are a new culture "accelerating sf government performance - taking accountability and transparency to the next level." the artist and culture of chinatown. as an immigrant giveaway we tell the stories of chinatown the people that are here and the culture and history our presence and future through arts and culture. it is a 35 community. there is so many to see come come in and buy certify increases and ongoing exhibitions here t t t t