Month: August 2026

A Visit from Okinawa Kai

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From the Program Director: Our final program of the summer was a real treat for all our students. On Tuesday, August 4, Japan in DC for the first time welcomed members of Okinawa Kai of Washington, DC, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the beautiful traditions of Okinawa and increasing understanding of the Okinawa culture. The group’s large membership consists of a diverse group – many from Okinawa; others 2nd, 3rd, or 4th generation Okinawan; and still others who aren’t Okinawan but simply love Okinawan history and culture.

Our guests for this program were Akiko Clifford, Vice President; Eriko Meneses, and Anne Statland. Akiko-san and Eriko-san presented engaging information on the unique history and culture of Okinawa. We learned about the devastating Battle of Okinawa in 1945 that killed over 200,000 Americans and Okinawans, both military and civilian, and we learned about how this tragedy is remembered today, through “IREI NO HI” (Okinawa Memorial Day) and Peace Education Month commemorated in June in Okinawan schools. Anne-san, an American whose parents arrived in Okinawa one year after the end of the war, and who was born a few years later in 1949, shared personal memories from her childhood in Okinawa. Many tears were shed during this memorable presentation. Then the fun began with a workshop creating origami cranes and Akiko-san played the sanshin, a traditional Okinawan three stringed instrument, similar to a banjo. Very special thanks to Kristen Luck, from the Okinawa Collection and Japan Resource Center at George Washington University, and Lisa Ball from Okinawa Kai for helping to arrange this very special visit.


We invite you to read our students’ personal reflections below.

Honesti:
The Okinawa Kai visit was a wonderful experience that I loved. The speakers – Anne, Eriko, and Akiko – were so sweet and lively during the visit. It was so lively throughout except for when they talked about the battle of Okinawa. It shocked me for how easy it was for these kids after the war to be able to go to the caves on the war site and find bullets or other remnants from the battle. That made me feel so hurt for the people involved and all of the lives lost. The video with the song from the elementary kids was so heartwarming and sweet, especially hearing that most of them had grandparents who lived through that time and how much the kids felt for them. Afterwards at the presentation, being taught how to make cranes was so fun even if I struggled with it. It makes me want to know more origami besides just cranes.

Lauren:
The short video of elementary school kids singing peace songs made the biggest impact on me. Watching the video made me feel bad but made me realize these kids have so much empathy. There were two kids crying about their great grandmother’s siblings. I admire their empathy and sadness for someone they never had the chance to meet in life. A life lesson I would take away is to always advocate for peace.

Aston:
The part of the program with the biggest impact on me was Anne’s story because of how emotional it was. I felt curious to learn more about Okinawa. Life lesson: Keep your family close even during hard times.

Blessing:
The biggest impact was the music that the kids sing. It was so emotional and had so much impact. I feel so sad about the kids who lost their parents and brother because of the bombs during World War II. I learned about the musical instrument made with a snake – the sanshin. Life lessons: Make people feel better after the storms. Find something to bring people together to feel better and find peace.

Zaevior:
Learning about the song that Okinawan kids sing on the Japanese Memorial Day from Eriko left a mark on me. In America, there is no real “ritual” we have for Memorial Day. During this visit I felt a slight sense of unease learning about the Okinawa war, since one of the images depicted was a young child waving a white flag. This relates slightly to Iwo Jima, another battle fought in Japan by American and Japanese forces.

A lesson to be taken away is to make sure you remember the past and those who fought for you.

Morgan:
The biggest impact of the presentation to me was the song of peace that a teacher from Okinawa composed 20 years ago. Its message of peace not only spread through schools in Okinawa, but also all over the country. That was also a very fun presentation. The sanshin performance was very beautiful. I learned how to fold a paper crane. It was certainly not easy. Also, I learned that folding 1,000 of them allows for your heart’s desires to come true, and that the crane is a great symbol for peace. Also June is recognized as Peace Education Month in Okinawa.

Life lesson: Spread the message of peace so that the world may not know war.

Kiya:
The parts that had the biggest impact on me were about the film mainly. Mostly because of seeing the kids cry and talk about how war affected them. I can kinda relate to it. Also I loved the crane origami workshop. I learned that kids in school learn a peace song to remember the day of the finishing of the war as a sign of peace. The message I always take away from programs like this is violence is never the answer.

Madisen:
The Okinawa school children singing about peace and crying for their grandparents impacted me the most because despite not being present in the war they still mourn for their family. I find it heartwarming that at such a young age they are able to understand complex ideas and understand the significance of peace. I noticed that for a lot of the Okinawa Kai members, talking about the war on Okinawa is very emotional for them. However, the presenters seemed happy to teach us about Okinawan culture and the events that they had to honor it.

A life lesson I would take away from the Okinawa Kai presentation is to preserve the stories of the past to always choose peace.

Pippa:
I think it was nice how we got to learn about Okinawa in different ways, first with the informational slide show, then the videos about war, and then first hand experience from Anne-san. It gave us a comprehensive view of Okinawa. Learning about the war in Okinawa showed that war affected many different people in Japan, not just Hiroshima/Nagasaki. What made the greatest impact on me was the video they showed about the kids singing in honor of peace. I was stricken by how even though they hadn’t experienced war themselves, they were very passionate about carrying the message of peace. Also when the little girls started crying when talking about their grandparents/relatives that had died, the fact that they still cared so much about more distant relatives was very touching.

Life lesson: Never forget or stop caring about the past.

Demetris:
I enjoyed how the speakers from Okinawa Kai explained the history of their nation and people and how different major things were made in Okinawa, like karate, and eisa, a dance that celebrates and honors ancestors during the Obon festival, as well as having the most long living people in the world. I also learned that the Battle of Okinawa, which didn’t end until June 23, 1945, had about 200,000 lives lost (a mix of US & Japanese soldiers and Okinawan people).

Jaylen:
The part that made the biggest impact on me was the crane making because now that I learned once, I can do it 1,000 more times and if I do, I hopefully get my heart’s desire. I observed that a lot of people need to be a lot more zen because they were getting mad at a piece of paper.




The Taiko Drumming Experience

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By Morgan Moss

Taiko, meaning drum in Japanese, is a form of Japanese drumming that came to be about two thousand years ago and is commonly played during festivals and usually passed down orally. The taiko drum is played using two bachi, meaning drumsticks. The drums range in size, with some being as big as a car, and it produces the loudest unamplified sound of any instrument in the world. There are festivals in DC, like the Sakura Matsuri festival, that have taiko drumming performances by people who play the taiko drums.

Playing the taiko drum was a very fun, but also very, very, tiring experience. There is a certain position that the drummer must be in to play properly. The feet must be spread shoulder length apart, with the right slightly behind the left, and the knees must be bent. Holding this position the entire time was definitely not easy. Especially on my legs. To hold the bachi, the hands must be an inch from the bottom and should be held loosely with the hands forming a fist with the thumb on the outside. It is very important to remember to not stick your thumb out so you don’t crush your thumb between your bachi while drumming like I did. To strike the drum, the extended (but not locked) arm lifts in a straight line with relaxed shoulders, and strikes quickly in a straight line.


I thought it sounded easy, but I quickly learned that it’s more simple and not easy. (That’s something the Taiko drumming instructor, Mark, said almost the entire session. That’s also how I learned the very big difference between simple and easy.) Doing that same drumming motion over and over again really fast left my arms sore for an entire weekend. My arms still hurt a little as I’m writing this. It’s Monday. I took that class Friday.

In addition to learning how to play the drums, we did some mini-games as well. One of them had us split into three groups of four and one group of three. Each person had to strike the drum 4 times on the beat, being played by Abena, at the same time as everyone else in their group, and groups had to do that immediately after the group before them played, also on beat. At first it was very simple. Then Mark added another rule. If he struck his kane two times, which is a small Japanese bell-like instrument played with a small mallet that is used for background sounds, the order of the groups playing would reverse. It was still pretty simple when he rang it twice once. Then he would ring it twice like six times in a row. And then I would lose track of the order. I had to focus my ears so hard during that.

Another one had us repeating the rhythm that he spoke out loud, or repeating the rhythm he played on a drum. Repeating the rhythm he said out loud was harder than repeating the rhythm he played on a drum, because replicating exactly what he said word for word with the same rhythm was pretty difficult for me, but both were fun. Using this method, he taught us a song. My favorite part was when we had to do a quick shout and raise our bachi in the air in between drumming.

Overall, the experience was very fun. If you want to try Taiko drumming yourself, you can visit markhrooney.com to see if there are any taiko classes available.


The Barr Building and its History

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By Jaylen Warfield

The Barr Building located at Farragut Square in downtown DC is a historic building that was used back in 1942 by the president at the time, Franklin D. Roosevelt, to oversee the relocations/internments of more than 100,000 Japanese Americans. The Barr Building was the headquarters of the War Relocation Authority and they were the people who managed the daily lives of the Japanese Americans in the incarceration camps and they managed everything like the food, housing, education, work, etc.

The Barr Building right across from Farragut Square is very inconspicuous if you are not paying much attention to the buildings around you. Even I didn’t notice when I was sitting right next to it. When I heard about the Barr Building, and when I found out what it was used for, I was shocked and I began to wonder about what else happened in there and how it was repurposed. In the future, if you are ever in Farragut Square, check out the building, think about it, and maybe share some of its history too.


The Life of a Diplomat: Our Visit to the US State Department

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A central focus for our students in the 2026 Japan in DC program was on the history and nature of the US-Japan relationship. The question we kept coming back to over the summer was this – how have our two countries moved forward from war, mutual hatred and destruction during World War II to our strong alliance and friendship of today? Part of the answer can be found in the critical work of diplomats, and so we were thrilled to arrange for Japan in DC’s first visit ever to the US Department of State, thanks to the efforts of Lauren K. Fischer and Ciara Koepke at the National Museum of American Diplomacy. The program was rich in content, engaging, and gave our students the opportunity to imagine and experience what the life and work of a diplomat is all about.

Our visit took place on Thursday morning, July 30, at the National Museum of American Diplomacy. It began with an overview of the “what” and “how” of diplomacy, followed by a simulation involving our students in a hypothetical international negotiation around the issue of overfishing and increasingly scarce fish resources. This intense experience was followed by an informal career panel, composed of young US State Department professionals, with considerable time built in for Q&A and discussion. The panel was organized and led by Tim Marshall of the East Asian and Pacific Programs Branch of the US Department of State. He was joined by colleagues Alithea McFarlane, Kylie Del Rosario, Clemencia El Antouri, and Lia Silva – all in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

In our reflections we ask the students what aspect of the visit had the biggest impact, what lessons they learned, and how this program connected with other Japan in DC experiences.

Aston:
The part of the program that interested me the most would have been the simulation since it gave me a point of view of a meeting like that. I felt excited to be able to hear experiences from diplomats. The information learned here connected to our earlier visit to the Embassy of Japan.

Blessing:
The thing that had a big impact on me was the story of the five people we saw yesterday. Their stories were interesting and we learned about new programs. I feel so happy to hear that they speak many languages and had the opportunity to get into this program. I really liked to see them talking about their stories. This experience is related to the JET program, because the young people we heard from have many options and opportunities to learn something new in a new country.

Life lesson: Do not be afraid of something new.

Malia:
The part of the program that made the biggest impact on me was having the experience of being a diplomat. It showed me the process of making decisions through governments. I felt invested. It reminded me of relations with Japan and China. I learned that it takes a process in order to make decisions that involve different governments.

Lauren:
The part of the program that made the biggest impact on me was listening to the group of people speak, because they made it seem so easy to talk to them. It didn’t feel like a professional talk. They were laughing and made a few jokes, which made it feel more comfortable rather than having a total serious conversation. I also felt very happy doing the Uzan and Hiroot fishing simulation because it reminded me so much of when I did Model UN in middle school, which I enjoyed so much.


Demetris:
The part of the program that impacted me the most was how we played the roles of different groups and learned how to come to an agreement (ended OK but badly in a way), but my group was the State Department itself. To be honest, I was pretty happy because I love to learn about government, countries, and geography a lot. Relationships with countries take a long time to make and I learned how different people all need to learn languages to work.

Life lesson: “Relationships are all the same, human or not.”

Jaylen:
The part that made the biggest impact on me was when I heard that some of the diplomats actually read about us, and it stuck because I think it’s nice that they had an opportunity to get to know me before meeting me. The information they related to earlier was maybe the fact that some of them studied abroad in Japan.

Life lesson: You can’t please everyone.

Pippa:
The part that made the biggest impact on me was the simulation, because I thought it was really good in giving us insight into the job of a diplomat and I also just thought it was a fun experience. I thought it was good because the combination of the simulation as well as the panel made it so that we got different types of learning out of it. We had talked to a lot of people before who worked in international affairs, so it gave us more insight into what those people we met actually do.

Life lesson: If you like world cultures and languages, you don’t have to devote yourself to learning about only one. It’s also good to be interested in and learn about multiple at a time.

Madisen:
I liked the simulation about illegal fishing because it was fun to think with a team and discuss/argue with others. The mock negotiation also reminded me of Model UN, which I also enjoy at times. I learned that sometimes you need to make sacrifices for your job. For example, the people who work for the State Department can be out of the country for months, and missing family or important events like weddings. I also learned that it can take months of intensive language training when working for a State Department branch requiring a foreign language.

Morgan:
What we talked about and the problem we solved showed me how stressful it is being a diplomat. I didn’t like that. I did not like being a diplomat. I don’t think that’s gonna be on my job list. I also learned that being a diplomat means constant learning, being on the move, and being prepared for pop-up assignments.