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American Ohaka Mairi
This episode is supported by JapanCulture•NYC, the English-language website about all things Japanese in New York City.
Please fill out our Listener Survey!
Ambassador and Consul General of Japan in New York Kanji Yamanouchi began his fourth post in the United States in October last year, and he has since become a friend among the Japanese American community. With Toshiki as sound engineer and science consultant, Susan and Ambassador Yamanouchi visit The Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx to perform the Buddhist ritual of ohaka mairi, visiting the gravesites of two prominent historical Japanese figures who settled in the United States. Ambassador Yamanouchi offers flowers to Dr. Hideyo Noguchi (1876–1928), a biologist who made seminal discoveries in infectious diseases and is now immortalized as the face of the 1000 yen note, and Dr. Jokichi Takamine (1854–1922), a chemist and philanthropist who founded the social organization The Nippon Club.
Appreciating Noguchi's onigiri-shaped gravestone, Ambassador Yamanouchi shares his personal connections to the scientist, reflecting on trips to Noguchi's hometown of Inawashiro and on a visit to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research at the University of Ghana in 2006 with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. After a brief intermission listening to "America" by Simon and Garfunkel, Susan and the Ambassador have the opportunity to open Takamine's stately mausoleum, and gazing at its stained glass window of Mt. Fuji, they discuss Takamine's dedication to the Japanese American community. To the Ambassador, friendship is the cornerstone of US-Japan relations, and he praises the importance of community organizations in New York that symbolize the strength and independence of the Japanese spirit.
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By Toshiki NakashigeThis episode is supported by JapanCulture•NYC, the English-language website about all things Japanese in New York City.
Please fill out our Listener Survey!
Ambassador and Consul General of Japan in New York Kanji Yamanouchi began his fourth post in the United States in October last year, and he has since become a friend among the Japanese American community. With Toshiki as sound engineer and science consultant, Susan and Ambassador Yamanouchi visit The Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx to perform the Buddhist ritual of ohaka mairi, visiting the gravesites of two prominent historical Japanese figures who settled in the United States. Ambassador Yamanouchi offers flowers to Dr. Hideyo Noguchi (1876–1928), a biologist who made seminal discoveries in infectious diseases and is now immortalized as the face of the 1000 yen note, and Dr. Jokichi Takamine (1854–1922), a chemist and philanthropist who founded the social organization The Nippon Club.
Appreciating Noguchi's onigiri-shaped gravestone, Ambassador Yamanouchi shares his personal connections to the scientist, reflecting on trips to Noguchi's hometown of Inawashiro and on a visit to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research at the University of Ghana in 2006 with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. After a brief intermission listening to "America" by Simon and Garfunkel, Susan and the Ambassador have the opportunity to open Takamine's stately mausoleum, and gazing at its stained glass window of Mt. Fuji, they discuss Takamine's dedication to the Japanese American community. To the Ambassador, friendship is the cornerstone of US-Japan relations, and he praises the importance of community organizations in New York that symbolize the strength and independence of the Japanese spirit.