Sukiyaki Dinner – Sat, Mar 1, 1-6 p.m. Blaine Memorial United Methodist Church, 3001 – 24th Ave S, Seattle. Order now at blaineonline.org. $20 per serving. Featuring cook and uncooked sukiyaki, ohagi, tsukemono, baked goods and Blaine cookbooks. Limited in-dining and take-out available. Portion of the proceeds will benefit Altadena United Methodist Church Disaster Relief to rebuild their church after the Southern California wildfires.
Volunteer Training for Japan in the Schools (JIS) Program by Japan-America Society of the State of Washington (JASSW) – Sat, Mar 1, 2-4 p.m. Bellevue Children’s Academy, 14640 NE 24th St, Bellevue. JIS offers hands-on cultural learning for children K-12 in King and Snohomish counties. Volunteers bring authentic Japanese experience directly to private and public classrooms with 50-minute interactive modules. Advisors will demonstrate JIS content and share tips for future volunteers. For more info, see: www.japan-in-schools.org or contact: jis@jassw.org. Walk-ins are welcome.
2025 Minidoka Pilgrimage Registration – opens Mar 1; 11 a.m. PT, 12 p.m. MT. Pilgrimage will be July 10-13 at the Minidoka National Historic Site and Twin Falls, Idaho. Since it will be smaller in capacity, priority will be given to survivors and descendants of the Japanese and Japanese American incarceration. General registration will open April 15, if space is available. See: https://www.minidokapilgrimage.org/.
Japanese Baseball with Bob Bavasi – Tue, Mar 4, 2 p.m. Japanese Cultural Resource Center, Everett Community College, 905 Wetmore Ave, Everett. Bavasi comes from a baseball family. His dad Buzzie, and brothers Bill and Peter were all general managers of major league teams. Bavasi and his wife, Margaret, owned minor league teams including the Everett Aquasox. He also created Japanball.com, which organized tours of professional baseball games in Japan for over 20 years. Free but space is limited. Register online at: tinyurl.com/2h9atdy2. Questions? Contact Mayumi N. Smith at mnsmith@everettcc.eduor 425-388-9380.
Instant Noodles – Sat-Sun, Mar 8-9. Theatre off Jackson, 409 Seventh Ave S, Seattle. Over 50 Asian American writers, actors, directors, musicians, and designers will come together to make a magical night of theater! Everyone will meet Friday night to figure out which actors,writers, and directors will be randomly paired together. Playwrights will write throughout the night and in the morning, actors and directors will rehearse throughout the day. Musicians will create music. Designers will create sets, props, lights, and costumes. Then the plays will be performed twice! Once on Saturday night and once on Sunday afternoon. Then it’s over! Tickets are $10/$15/$50. See: https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/pork-filled/instant-noodles-24-hour-play-festival.
Inspire Positive Aging Awards (IPAA) – Sound Generations seeks nominations for its 20th Anniversary. IPAA celebrates older adults in King Co. who inspire or challenge those around them to rethink the aging process and what they want for their own aging journey. Nominations open to 60 years old and older living in W. WA (anywhere west of the Cascade Mountains). Nomination form available at: https://soundgenerations.org/get-invlved/attend-an-event/inspire-positive-aging-awards/. Forms must be received or post-marked by March 12. All nominees will be celebrated at the Inspire Positive Aging Awards Luncheon May 29th at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue. Questions? Contact: Kaitlyn Redwood at 206.727.6230 or email Kaitlyn.redwood@soundgenerations.org.
Family Saturday: Origami in the Garden – Sat, Mar 15, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Seattle Japanese Garden,1075 Lk WA Blvd E, Seattle. Seattle-based origami group, P.A.P.E.R., will demonstrate origami techniques in the Tateuchi Community Room. Paper and instructions available for visitors. Admission free for youth 12 and under 10 a.m.-2 p.m. during Family Saturday. See: https://www.seattlejapanesegarden.org/events-calendar/2025/3/15/paper-origami.
Music of the Birds Garden Concert – Sat, Mar 15, 3:30-5:00 p.m. Portland Japanese Garden, Miller Living Room, 611 SW Kingston Ave, Portland. In celebration of the more than 65-year-old sister-city relationship between Portland, Oregon and Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. Amelia Lukas and Yoko Greeney will perform a specially curated program, featuring the debut of “Shima Enaga (Snow Fairies)” by composer Kirsten Volness. See:japanesegarden.org/events/music-of-the-birds-garden-concert/.
Ikebana – Sun, Mar 16, 1:15-2:15 p.m. Portland Japanese Garden, Jordan Schnitzer Japanese Arts Learning Center, 611 SW Kingston Ave, Portland. Presentation by Miwa Satoh from the Ohara School of Ikebana. She currently teaches in Vancouver, WA, while studying under an assistant professor based in Japan. Ohana school is known for moribana, which broke with more traditional and formal vertical styles. It creates new horizontal “landscape” arrangements with flowers “heaped” (moru) in lower plate-like containers. See: https://japanesegarden.org/events/cultural-demonstration-ikebana-74/.
