| | Thank you for our Wonderful Member Potluck & BBQ last Sunday! Over 100 people attended and many said it was the best ever. We particularly want to thank the many volunteers who helped with setup and cleanup. And of course, the students from Fujiyoshida and their host families! If you have photos that you'd be willing to share, please email them to me at rayna@japanamerica.org. Meantime here are a few that we have already. | | | | | | | | | | | | | The JASSC board of directors invites members to observe our August board meeting! Get an inside look at this important part of making our mission happen. We hope this inspires you to get even more involved in our JASSC community or even consider becoming a board member yourself! The meeting is virtual, so you can participate from home. Schedule: 6:00 pm - 6:30 pm - Mingle and Meet, Q&A (open for conversation by all) 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm - Board Meeting Guests are invited only to observe during this part of the meeting. All non-board member mics must remain muted at this time. The Google Meet link will be emailed to member registrants after registration. See the event page for more information and to register. | | | | | Conversation Over Cookies 06 Sep 2025, 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM 04 Oct 2025, 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM CreateSpace at Library 21c (1175 Chapel Hills Dr, Colorado Springs, CO 80920) At this event, Japanese speakers will stay in place at a table with a board/card game and English speakers will jump around where they want to play. We will try to speak in Japanese as much as possible! Any level of speakers are welcome! Bring your own water bottles and some cookies or snacks to share if you can. Since the space is limited, please register at the Event Page on our website. If you have questions or need to cancel your registration, please email Ayumi Peek at ayumiohishi@gmail.com. This activity is free of charge for JASSC members. We will ask $5 donations/family from non-members. | | | | | Mark your calendar for the annual Japanese Cultural Festival and Bazaar on Saturday, October 25th, starting at 10 am. Admission and parking is  free, so everyone is welcome to come and enjoy many Japanese cultural presentations while browsing and shopping for authentic Japanese goods from one of our many community vendors. Visitor registration is encouraged but not required! It just helps us get a good headcount. :) If you would like to register as a vendor, volunteer, workshop host, or performer, please continue reading below.  Important Change in Location! Like our other major events this year, we are moving the Bazaar to the Pikes Peak United Way Family Success Center (1520 Verde St., Colorado Springs). We've enjoyed working with UCCS for over 12 years, but the cost of holding events at universities and colleges has risen exponentially, and in order to keep this event low cost to vendors and free for visitors, we decided to make the move for this event, like our other big ones this year. Please share this event page and the application form widely, and with anyone you know who is interested in joining the fun! More Info Coming Soon! Check back frequently for info such as... -
Vendor lists Activities for kids -
Performances -
Food -
Workshops
Registration Now Open for All Roles | | | We're looking for Volunteers, Vendors, Performers, and Workshop Hosts for this culture bonanza! -
Please fill out the application form here for each role that you plan to participate in (i.e., please fill out the form twice if you are going to be a volunteer and a performer). -
Our team should confirm your application in one to two weeks. -
If you don't see an email confirmation in that timeframe, please check your spam box, and then contact us at bazaar@japanamerica.org. -
Vendors, performers, and workshop hosts are approved on a case-by-case basis. Participants must demonstrate a clear connection to Japanese culture. | | | Take Our Member Survey The JASSC Membership Committee wants to hear your opinion! Please take this membership survey, which takes just about 15 minutes, maybe longer if you've got a lot to tell us! We are always looking to improve, so we appreciate your input, no matter what you've got to say.  The survey is open to current and past members, so if you know someone else who used to be a member of JASSC but is no longer, please send it their way too! We hope you'll take the survey because truly, your voice matters. We want to make JASSC better and better for our members, so please make your voice heard.  | | | | | | | Last year we heard from many members that they liked the t-shirts that the Fujiyoshida students and homestay families were wearing, and said "How do I get one of those??" Well this year we're making it happen! If you'd like to match with the cool kids, put your order in today! Read below for pricing and more t-shirt info. How to Order Your T-Shirt: Step 1: Please go to the order form and let us know what sizes you want. Here's the pricing. JASSC Member Prices: Kids Sizes: $30 per shirt Adult S, M, L, XL: $35 per shirt Adult 2XL / 3XL: $38 per shirt Non-JASSC Member Prices: Kids Sizes: $35 per shirt Adult S, M, L, XL: $40 per shirt Adult 2XL / 3XL: $43 per shirt The t-shirt we're using is a Gildan Softstyle 64000. If you'd like to check exact sizing you can click here. All t-shirts will be ordered in white. | | | T-Shirt Design Contest Results We are thrilled to announce the winners and featured entries from the recent JASSC T-Shirt Design Contest. The theme was Connect to Japan - Colorado Springs and Fujiyoshida Sister City Relationship. Five amazing entries were received, and we are so grateful to all of the artists who lent their talent to this contest. We'd like to let you know about the first and second place winners, with honorable mentions at the bottom. See above if you'd like to order one with the winning design on it!  1st Place: Similar Scenery
By Danielle (Danny) Campbell | | | | About the Artist: Danielle Campbell is a Colorado Springs-based freelance illustrator with a love for pop culture. Born and raised in Colorado Springs, she was largely self-taught in both digital and traditional media, and graduated with a Bachelors of Arts from MSU Denver. She now sells her works in conventions and markets across Colorado. As a creative, she has always been interested in Japanese culture, pop culture, and gaming, such subjects from which she draws her inspiration from, as well as making up a majority of her works. Danny wants to spread her love of pop culture through her art and is striving towards bringing her imagination to life, to grow as an artist doing what she loves. | | | Design Description: "My inspiration comes from the trees planted on both the 55th and the 60th anniversary of Colorado Springs and Fujiyoshida being sister cities. Mayors from both cities planted trees in Colorado Springs and Fujiyoshida, and I wanted to represent the strong bond that connects both cities to this day, through different yet intertwined roots of an Aspen tree and a Sakura tree, both trees we hold dear. The shape of the design is a sakura blossom where both Pikes Peak and Mt. Fuji are visible, and is meant to showcase our shared love of Japanese and American cultural exchange. Although we live in different countries and time zones, we often wake up and see similar scenery outside." What the judges loved: We were impressed by the elegant design of our two iconic mountains and two classic seasons captured in the outline of a sakura flower. Danny used a variety of colors, while still being conservative enough to make it easy to print on a t-shirt. What the Winner Gets: In addition to having her design featured on our t-shirts, Danny will receive 1 year of free JASSC membership, and a $100 gift card. Congrats Danny!   2nd Place: High Five
By Janis Takami Couey | | | About the Artist: Janis is a retired school art teacher and craftsman/artist. She has been a member of JASSC for many years, and currently serves on the Cultural Engagement Committee. Given her background and Japanese-American heritage, she loves teaching others about Japanese culture through the fun medium of arts and crafts. Design Description: The theme promotes the sister city relationship of our iconic mountains, Mt. Fuji and Pikes Peak and flowers, Japanese cherry blossoms and Colorado Columbines. The high five represents the youthfulness of the 2025 Homestay participants. The design can be personalized with colored Sharpies or acrylic paints.
What the judges loved: We loved the simple and fun design “High Five”, and felt that Janis had a deep understanding of the long-standing relationship between Fujiyoshida and Colorado Springs. She also designed it to be like a coloring page, so that people could customize it to themselves. As such, we will likely be using this design in future creative events like the Bazaar and Children’s Day, and even the upcoming potluck! As the second place winner, Janis will receive a $50 gift card. Congrats Janis!  Honorable Mentions
| | | Semi-finalist Brittany McDonald Design Title: The Split "I mainly got the idea to swap the suns around so Pikes Peak is in front of the Japanese flag and Mt. Fuji is in front of the Colorado flag. Both are flanked by clouds to make it a little easier." | | | Alexis Kissinger Design Title: Mirrored Sisters "The inspiration for this design is to show that, no matter how different our countries are, we're still human. We have beautiful buildings, landscapes, nature, wildlife. We can come together to enjoy these things that each place has to offer." | | | Veena Fleming Design Title: Home is Where You Make It "As a Japanese American woman, I find both Japan and Colorado my homes. I lived in Hiroshima, Japan until I was 6 years old and the rest of my time in Colorado, with summer visits back to Japan. I used to be torn between which place was my main home, but I came to realize that home is where I make it regardless of each culture." | | | | | Free "Japanese Culture Portal Site" We may have published this site before, but we just received an update. The URL is: https://www.ohboshi.com This site is structured into three main sections: Part 1: Offers numerous explanatory videos on various topics related to Japan. Many of these are produced by NHK. For example, it explains "Keigo" (Japanese honorific language) and the "-san" suffix which are often misunderstood by non-Japanese speakers, from a cultural perspective. Part 2: Features a collection of Western books about Japan. For instance, you can download works by authors such as Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore and Lafcadio Hearn, free of charge. Part 3: Is our 'Readers' Corner,' where you can download Japanese books, such as traditional Japanese folk tales that are considered common knowledge for Japanese people, also free of charge. | | | Other Interesting Organizations Want more news? Check out these other organizations supporting Asian Americans in Colorado and beyond!
- Golden Lotus Foundation - The GLF is working hard to build a botanical garden and tea house in Colorado Springs. They are always looking for volunteers, so sign up for their newsletter if you are interested!
- NAJAS - the National Association of Japan America Societies is the hub of all other JAS in the US.
- Japan America Society of Colorado (Denver) - JASC is our closest sibling organization, with most of their happenings located in Denver. They have a community e-bulletin which they send out monthly as well.
- El Pomar Foundation - Elevating Leadership Development Program. The ELD program is run by the El Pomar foundation and creates "greater access and support for people of color in Southern Colorado to tap into their leadership potential for the benefit of community." Their quarterly meetings are free to attend and convene advisory councils for the following groups: Asian / Pacific Islander, Black, Hispanic, and Native American.
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- Asian Pacific Islander Business Community of Colorado Springs - this new organization is building better connections to and awareness of Asian-led businesses in Colorado Springs. The link is to their linktree, which includes a newsletter signup.
| | | About JASSC JASSC web site Send us your news! Let us know what you’d like to see in the next newsletter. Please email the editor, Rayna Lindsey
rayna@japanamerica.org Did you know that you can edit your own address, phone and email information right on the japanamerica.org website? Simply enter your email and password in the upper-right corner and click Login. Don't know your password? Click Forgot Password and the website will help you out. You will also find a secure password-protected online member directory. Use it to look up names, addresses, phone numbers and emails for other members.
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