Kathy Sakamoto and Jeanne Katsuro at last year's festival.

by KRISTYN TANAKA
Hokubei Mainichi

SAN JOSE — A dream, passion, a lot of motivation and some serious grassroots action — that was the recipe two women mixed up to create Spirit of Japantown.

At only two years old, this infant is growing fast. The second annual Spirit of Japantown will be held Saturday, Oct. 4, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., centered around 5th and Jackson streets.

Kathy Sakamoto, executive director of the Japantown Business Association, and Jeanne Katsuro, owner of Classic Rock, a jewelry store in San Jose’s Japantown, had one strong trait in common: a love for Japantown.

Katsuro explained the motivation behind Spirit and what distinguishes it from the other festivals in San Jose’s Japantown:

“What makes it different is that we’re including all the organizations ... Obon is for the Buddhist Church ... Aki Matsuri is for the Methodist Church ... Nikkei Matsuri works with the non-profit organizations and the community organizations ...We are trying to include everyone. It’s all ethnicities, all businesses, all community organizations and artists together as one to help promote and preserve San Jose’s Japantown.”

The festival’s goals are “unification, promotion, and preservation.” Unification is the bringing together of all the parts and people that make up Japantown. Promotion is spreading awareness of the Japantown community to San Jose and surrounding areas. Preservation is something that was put into full swing by Senate Bill 307, which provided funds in support of the three remaining Japantowns, and by dedicated members of the community who refuse to let Japantown die.

Spirit is a festival that gives back to the community. Profits will be used to continue the Japantown Community Congress of San Jose’s (JCCsj) efforts toward the historical and cultural preservation of San Jose Japantown.

In addition, the festival publishes a phone directory titled “San Jose Japantown: Gotta Geta There” to promote businesses in Japantown and encourage people to come back year-round. “Geta,” referring to Japanese wooden sandals, is used in a play on words.

Worn out with planning and fundraising, Katsuro said she was ready to give up on Spirit when she saw the musical “Nihonmachi: The Place to Be,” which was performed in San Jose by the Los Angeles-based Grateful Crane Ensemble earlier this year. She was re-inspired.

“I realized ... our forefathers started with nothing ... they went through the Depression. They went through concentration camps, lost everything, but they kept coming back, kept starting over, and kept doing it ...We should be able to do it too, we can do it too,” Katsuro said.

“We cannot keep feeling sorry for ourselves. Our businesses maybe are not doing as well as before. We need to get in there and say we can do this, we can do this! But we need help from everybody.”

Beginning with “zero dollars, a piece of paper and an idea,” Katsuro and Sakamoto were able to, on a truly grassroots level, turn that idea into a reality.

For more information on the event, visit www.spiritofjapantownfestival.com.