Welcome to the Denver Takayama Sister City Committee
activities page
Our coming events,
background, some past trips,
related organizations
DSCI home page
Denver Takayama home page
Links about Denver Takayama
Join us
Suggestion Box
Our committee activities
Committee general information
Our Social Media Sites
Denver Takayama on FaceBook
Denver Takayama on Twitter
Denver Takayama on Instagram
Galleries and Past Activities
Pictures from 2021 events
Pictures from 2020 events
Pictures from 2019 events
==> The Yatai project
Pictures from 2018 events
Pictures from 2017 events
Pictures from 2016 events
Pictures from 2015 events
Other organization's activities
Steve Comstock, previous chairman of the committee, accepts an award on behalf
of the committee from Midori Takeuchi, the Consul General of Japan
in Denver. The award is a special commendation to our committee,
jointly with the Takayama Denver Friendship Association, "for outstanding
contributions to strengthen US-Japan relations through their joint
activities over the last 60 years", awarded on July 29, 2020.
If you are planning on traveling to Japan, with our group or on your own, it would help to have some background information. Here is some useful information about traveling to, and within, Japan
Events and Upcoming Activities
City of Takayama Park workday from 9:00 p.m. to noon
Location: Colorado Blvd. at Cherry Creek Drive North.
Click
here
to sign up (tell us who is coming so we get a good head count for refreshments).
(If the email link does not work for you, just send Gil an email directly: gilasakawa@gmail.com)
Regular monthly meeting
(Our monthly meetings are held on the 3rd Tuesday of each month)
Tuesday May 17: 7:00-8:00-ish; location: online via Zoom.
Click here to request the Zoom meeting info (If you have trouble, simply send an email to gilasakawa@gmail.com.)
Virtual book club meeting
Tuesday June 7: 7:00-8:15-ish; location: online via Zoom.
Informal get together to discuss books by Japanese authors (in translation)
or about Japan.
For June we're be reading and discussing "Moshi Moshi" by Banana Yoshimoto
From
Goodreads:
In Moshi Moshi, Yoshie's much-loved musician father has died in a suicide pact with an unknown
woman. It is only when Yoshie and her mother move to Shimo-kitazawa, a traditional Tokyo
neighborhood of narrow streets, quirky shops, and friendly residents that they can finally s
tart to put their painful past behind them. However, despite their attempts to move forward,
Yoshie is haunted by nightmares in which her father is looking for the phone he left behind
on the day he died, or on which she is trying--unsuccessfully--to call him. Is her dead
father trying to communicate a message to her through these dreams?
With the lightness of touch and surreal detachment that are the hallmarks of her writing,
Banana Yoshimoto turns a potential tragedy into a poignant coming-of-age ghost story and a
life-affirming homage to the healing powers of community, food, and family.
Published in 2010 in Japanese in Tokyo, it has sold over 29,000 copies there so far.
In Moshi Moshi, Banana's narrator addresses the poignant question, how do you rebuild your
life when your much-loved father loses his life in shocking circumstances?
Amazon
lists the book as available as Kindle e-book ($11.99),
hardcover (new from $7.33 to $11.34, used from $1.48) and
paperback (new and used: $3.05 - $16.95)
The Asian Review of Books
has a deeper review.
And complete-review.com
has some additional insights (scroll down to "The complete review's Review:").
The Denver Public Library search turns up 2 hard copies, 1 of which is available.
Email Steve Comstock
to request the Zoom meeting info (If you have trouble, simply send an email to steve@trainersfriend.com.)
All are welcome, but please let Steve know you wish to attend so he can send you the link
for the Zoom session
Click here to see who has already signed up to come
Regular monthly meeting
(Our monthly meetings are held on the 3rd Tuesday of each month)
Tuesday June 7: 7:00-8:00-ish; location: online via Zoom.
Click here to request the Zoom meeting info (If you have trouble, simply send an email to gilasakawa@gmail.com.)
Find out about the Committee calendar, budgets, and so on ...
A look back at activities and
involvement of members and friends during 2019 - a retrospective
(.pdf document) (Last updated 11 January, 2020)
And a look at the impact of our committee in the
community in 2019 - (.pdf document) volunteer hours and dollars spent doing our work.
(Last updated 11 January, 2020
Why Denver Takayama is relevant to the larger community - Japanese, Japanese-American, all interested in Japan - in Denver and Colorado (.pdf document) (Last revised 1 February, 2017)
Denver / Takayama: the first 50 Years an historical record in English and Japanese. (.pdf document) (Last revised 23 August, 2010)
Technical paper on emails
(.pdf document - Some thoughts on how to make email safer from hackers and more effective)
(Written 26 March, 2015)
Getting a gun in Japan
(.pdf document) - No matter where you fall on the gun control issue, this article
I found on Facebook has some intriguing ideas.
(Uploaded 11 March, 2018)
Other Organization's Activities
June 25-26, Cherry Blossom Festival at Sakura Square