Temple members teach children about Japanese culture
Temple member Aileen Nishio teaches children how to mold a rice ball at a California Museum summer camp. (July 10, 2024)
The California Museum’s weeklong Time Traveler Summer Camp once again featured Japanese Community Day. As in the past, volunteers from the Buddhist Church of Sacramento joined with museum educators in leading the day’s activities.
Elementary school kids learned how to make sushi, from rolling kappa maki to stuffing inarizushi. With help from temple members Nancy and Stan Ito, Aileen Nishio, Elaine Yoshikawa, Virginia Ouchida and Elaine Otsuji, the kids’ version looked (almost) as good as the ones at our Annual Food Bazaar!
Temple member Stan Ito displays the sushi one of his campers made during the California Museum’s Japanese Community Day. (July 10, 2024)
“These kids are open to trying different things,” said another temple member Aileen Nishio, a retired school teacher, who recalled a much different experience while growing up.
“I was embarrassed to bring musubi to lunch,” said Aileen, who remembered other kids teasing her for bringing rice and not a sandwich to school. Nowadays, kids “bring riceballs and nori to school all the time. They’ve already tried these things but haven’t learned how to mold it.”
“I know how to make sushi,” said six-year-old Evaan, as temple member Eileen Otsuji gently guided his hands in shaping the rice.
“We’re teaching them an appreciation for different places and different people,” said Eileen, “an appreciation for other people and cultures.”
The day’s activities included woodblock printing, card making, and a tour through the “Uprooted: An American Story” exhibit, led by temple member Steve Koyasako.
