The third Chicago Japanese Film Collective (CJFC) – the only Japanese cinema festival in the Midwest – was held from June 22 to July first both in a theatre and online. This year CJFC brought a lineup of 10 independent feature films to Japanese cinema fans in the U.S.

Kikkoman Foods, Inc. in Walworth, Wisconsin, celebrated the 50th anniversary at the neighboring Grand Geneva Resort & Spa in Lake Geneva with its 700 guests and friends. To commemorate its huge milestone, the 7th Wisconsin-U.S.-Japan Economic Development Conference was also held with the theme “Achieving Sustainable Global Economic Growth in an Era of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity.”

Both Americans and Japanese inevitably face great cultural differences between the two countries when they engage in business talks. Mr. Ralph Inforzato would be one of the best persons to ask some guidance to reduce frustrations due to the different business cultures.

Titled and themed as “I Am An American: The Nisei Soldier Experience”, the National Veterans Network (NVN) has announced to hold Nisei Soldier Traveling Exhibition scheduled to begin in 2026.

The Traveling Exhibition will feature objects and stories based on the 100th Infantry Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and the Military Intelligence Service to prove their loyalty and patriotism amid prejudice and discrimination after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

“The Japanese Collectables and Sword Show” was held at the Hyatt Regency Woodfield in Schaumburg, Illinois, from April 28 to 30, bringing Japanese sword and arts lovers from across the country.

The show was filled with Japanese swords, sword fittings such as tsuba and menuki, samurai armors and helmets, antiquities, books and everything related with the sword.

Annual Hanami, or Cherry Blossom Viewing, festival was held on April 22 at Chicago’s official Cherry Blossom Viewing site, in and around the Garden of the Phoenix in Jackson Park.

Over 170 cherry trees were planted in the garden and surrounding area on the south-side of the Museum of Science and Industry and across the lagoon to the east of the Obama Presidential Center currently under construction.

The Chicago Okinawa Kenjinkai’s 2023 Spring Party was held on April 1 at the St. Paul Lutheran Church in the north part of the City of Chicago. With an amazing performance of Yasuhide Uezu, a special guest from Okinawa Prefecture, the members of the Kenjinkai entertained the audience with a variety of the traditional Okinawan music, dance and Karate performances.

The Japanese Mutual Aid Society of Chicago (JMAS) held its 2023 annual meeting on March 27 at the Japanese American Service Committee. It was held in person for the first time since 2019.

At the meeting, announcement of future and past activities, annual reports on finances, plots availability in the Montrose Cemetery and community outreach were presented, and the 2023 Board of Directors were approved.

With nimble steps, movements in perfect order and breathtaking performance, Chicago based Trinity Irish Dance Company brings its annual performance on April 22 at Auditorium Theatre from 7 p.m.

Trinity has had a long relationship with Japan and will introduce new dance pieces which are inspired by Japanese traditional arts.

The 37th Annual Japanese Language Speech Contest took place at the Japan Information Center, the Consulate General of Japan in Chicago. The contest was held in-person for the first time in three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and 28 contestants from five states, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, Minnesota and Wisconsin, competed to show their Japanese language skills.

Grand Opening Celebration of the Asian Improv aRts Midwest’s new building “AIRMW Cultural Hub” was held on February 24. The place is also called “Dojo” where regular rehearsals and classes of traditional Japanese arts under the Asian Improv aRts Midwest (AIRMW) are held. Those traditional arts are Tsukasa Taiko, Shubukai, and Toyoaki Shamisen which perform Japanese taiko drumming, Japanese classical dance and three-string-musical instrument, respectively. This new Dojo is also used as a cultural event venue and invites artists and performers.

The Asian American Coalition Chicago (AACC) celebrated its 40th anniversary and Lunar New Year on February 18 at Hyatt Regency O’Hare.

This year, Anne Shimojima and Michael James Ichiro Olszewski from the Japanese American Community received Exemplary Community Service Award and Youth Who Excels Award respectively.

On February 19th, the same date that President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 in 1942, the Japanese American community in Chicago held 2023 Day of Remembrance at the Chicago History Museum. It is the annual event to memorialize E. O. 9066 which led to the internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans during WWII, and the organizers of Day of Remembrance (DOR) aim to remind people of being vigilant for any threats to civil rights and liberties which are extremely fragile in times of crisis.

The 63rd Birthday Celebration of the Emperor of Japan was held on February 17 at the Consulate General of Japan in Chicago, and the people, who have been contributing to promote Japan-U.S. relationship through culture, education, music, service, business and other fields, attended.

The 50th Annual Glass Show & Sale will take place on March 11 and 12, 2023 at the Concord Plaza Midwest Conference Center, 401 W. Lake St., Northlake, IL 62164.

The event organizer, the 20-30-40 Glass Society of Illinois, will celebrate its 50th anniversary featuring more than 20 dealers from across the U.S. who specialize in Depression, Elegant, Carnival, Pattern, Art, Mid-Century Modern Glass, pottery and utensils. The Society expects dealers will offer Uranium Glass, Swung Vases, Jadeite and many other treasures.

The seventh annual Heritage Japanese Language Speech Contest was held on January 29 for the first time in three years at the Consulate General of Japan in Chicago’s Japan Information Center. Twenty contestants from Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin competed with their Japanese language skills.

The Chicago Japanese Club (CJC) celebrated 2023 New Year at the Seville in Streamwood, Northwest suburb, on January 21. The celebration was held in-person for the first time in three years, and about 100 people of CJC members with their families and friends, guests and volunteers got together. All attendees enjoyed a gorgeous new year’s meal, mochi cake pounding, Japanese traditional music of koto and taiko drumming and ruffle.

The Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Chicago (JCCC) celebrated 2023 New Year at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel in Schaumburg on January 15, featuring popular singer-songwriter Kaori Kishitani as the special guest. The celebration was held in-person for the first time in three years due to COVID-19 pandemic, and over 750 JCCC members and guests attended the gathering.

To explore new style of music by merging Japanese traditional music and Western music, “Reduction 8” and Tsukasa Taiko’s “Taiko Legacy 19” took place at the Edlis Neeson Theater of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago on December 17 and 18 respectively.

Reduction and Taiko Legacy explore new styles of aesthetics, combination of the East and the West in the contemporary environment while paying high respect on the Japanese traditional music, which is established by decades of practice and discipline.