(19)[English Edition］

THE

週刊NY生活SHUKAN NEW YORK SEIKATSU

2020年（令和2年）2月15日（水）JAPAN VOICECOOL JAPAN from New Yorkers’ Viewpoints

Fred Korematsu
Day inFort Lee, NJ
Mr. Furumoto gave aspeech at Borough HallWORLD SEIDOKARATE HQ
Moves Near MSG

Nidaime Akira andKaicho Nakamura

After 44 years, the World Seido
Karate Organization’s Headquarters(founded by its chairman TadashiNakamura) is moving. The new, larger

location is conveniently located near
Penn Station and Madison Square
Garden at 252 West 30th Street. Seido
Karate students will be able to practiceon a ground floor with a mezzanine, aswell as a basement.
Seido Karate’s former dojo on 23rd
Street was vacated at the end of lastyear. The organization is making useof an interim location at 113 West
27th Street (between 6th and 7thAvenue) until the new facility's
remodeling is complete.
On January 12 at 10 a.m., around
300 passionate karate students workedup a sweat at Seido’s annual Kagami
Biraki (New Year's Training). At theevent, Mr. Nakamura gave a speech
for the new year. His son, Akira
Nakamura, later spoke. Akira is thefuture successor to his father's dojo,
who, along with hanshi CharlesMartin, serves as a judge at Seido’s
yearly anniversary tournament.
The new dojo is expected to openin June of this year. Seido Karate’s
students can train at 120 locations
worldwide (including twenty inJapan). The organization’s phone
number is unchanged: 212-924-0511.
(Written by Ryoichi Miura /Translated by Marie Calloway)

Do you know the name Fred
Korematsu? During World War II,
Japanese Americans were considered
to be enemy spies, and most were put
into concentration camps, where they
recieved improper treatment.
"We're Americans. I don't agreewith this improper treatment," said
Fred Korematsu, who was later arrested and imprisoned.
Korematsu continued fighting
against the country's injustices after
the war. Finally, the United States
officially apologized, and, decades
later, survivors who had been imprisoned were paid compensation.
As the years passed, Korematsu
continued his career as a human rights
activist, including advocating forhttps://www.yomiuri-info.jp/daily_yomiuri/nys/

Islamic Americans who had beentreated similarly in the United Statessince the September 11 terrorist
attacks.
In honor of Mr. Korematsu's feat,California declared January 30, 2010,
Korematsu's birthday, as Fred
Korematsu Day, and forever createdthe opportunity to reaffirm the importance of the state freedom guaranteedby the Constitution that Korematsu
fought for.

Mr. Furumoto gave a speech at Borough Hall

On the East Coast, a movement wasstarted by Japanese Americans who had
been imprisoned in the concentration
camps to certify the holiday on the East
Coast. In 2017, the city of New York
recognized Fred Korematsu Day.
One of the key players in the movement was Takeshi Furumoto, an ownerof the real estate company in New
Jersey and New York. Born in one of
the concentration camps during WorldWar II, Furumoto served in the U.S.
military during the Vietnam War, andstarted his real estate business afterretiring.
In addition to his main business,
Furumoto has also worked to improve
the status of Japanese Americans, and topromote immigration freedom andequality. As a result of the steady effortsof Furumoto and his wife, Carroll, Fort
Lee, NJ, where the Furumoto Real
Estate headquarters is located, also certified Fred Korematsu Day.

The Fred Korematsu Day ceremony
was held on Thursday, January 30, at
Borough Hall. Mayor Mark Sokolich
was urgently absent, but his declaration
was read by Mrs. Carol Furumoto.
Mr. Takeshi Furumoto said, "I amlucky to have had the opportunity tostart my own business, but many
Japanese Americans died and sufferedin pain before US government admitted. The war was unfair to JapaneseAmericans; I want to make advocating
for them my life 's work.""In New Jersey, not just the townof Fort Lee, but also the StateLegislature and Governor, enacted Fred
Korematsu Day across the state, like inCalifornia. In the future, we will work
to create a society where immigrantAmericans are not treated unfairly,'' hesaid.
(ArticleandPhotoby
ShigeruHisamatsu / Translated by
Masaya Watanabe)

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