By CHRISTINE TAKISHITA
Nichi Bei Times Contributor

LOS ANGELES — No one ever said breaking into the music industry was easy. And it was no different for YouTube princess, Marié Digby, whose now virtually ubiquitous cover of Rihanna's hit, "Umbrella," you might recognize.

photo by Tim Shimizu/Nichi Bei Times

By AKITO YOSHIKANE
Nichi Bei Times

As the daughter of a public servant active in the Japanese American community, 22-year-old Alicia Kagawa may be following in her mother's footsteps.

With family and friends holding signs of encouragement, Kagawa was named the 2008 Northern California Cherry Blossom Queen at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas on April 12.

Kagawa, the daughter of longtime community activist and Sacramento State University Vice President Carole Hayashino, was selected as the 40^th queen among five candidates as part of the annual Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival.

Miwa Natsuki was crowned "First Princess" and Rie Mary Watanabe was voted by the court as "Miss Tomodachi" for congeniality. Midori Eileen Iwata and Asuka Anne Nagase also participated in the Queen program and were crowned princesses.

"I was shocked and I'm just very overwhelmed," said Kagawa. "I feel so honored to have this privilege and carry on the Cherry Blossom Queen name."

courtesy of the LA Times

By Greg Robinson
Nichi Bei Times Contributor

One area of professional life in the United States in which women have become most visible is law. Within two generations, women attorneys have passed from being a rarity, greeted with condescension and often unemployable, to forming the majority of new law school graduates. Nisei women formed part of this wave of courageous pioneers.

photo courtesy of Yoko Matsuda

Nichi Bei Times Report

SAN JOSE — Fifty years ago the San Jose-Okayama Sister City relationship began, and was the third sister city program established since the beginning of the Sister Cities programs in 1956. This has been a long-standing source of civic pride for the people living in San Jose and Okayama.

Turned onto the Genre by His Late Japanese Grandmother, Pittsburgh Native Jero Brings Hip- Hop Coolness to Traditional 'Enka'

photo by Takahiro Yana/Asahi Shimbun

By MAYUMI SAITO Asahi Shimbun

In mid-March, we finally managed to make an appointment for an exclusive interview with the hottest enka Japanese ballad singer in the country. "He has 10 interviews today," his manager said, as he ushered us into a room at the office of Victor Entertainment.

Jero, the first African American enka singer, 26, was sitting at a long table wearing his usual rapper outfit. "It's been crazy since the beginning of February. I'm not used to it," he said.

photo by Jeff Asai

By JEFF ASAI
Nichi Bei Times Columnist

Imagine a room in Japan with 20 people, a TV and a microphone. The off-key wails are kept inside the soundproof walls, and a server comes in silently, tray filled with drinks and food. After laying out a feast of pizza, kara-age, gyoza and parfaits, he leaves just as unobtrusively as he came. As the night progresses people dance around the room while others chat and listen to a song from the early '90s. (Sorry, but for people my age those are "the good ol' days" of music). Perhaps if the group ordered the "nomihoudai," all-you-can-drink package, the people would get louder and perhaps more merry.

image courtesy of Yoshihiro Sako

By APRIL ELKJER
lange Nichi Bei Times

"One day I had a dream and all of a sudden my hand came out from nowhere and literally I grabbed one star from the sky and I felt really good," said Yoshihiro "Yoshi" Sako, bass player for Beatropolis. "I felt like I could do it in the music industry."

That was five years ago. Today it is a dream that Sako and his partners Chris Horgan and Christian Runge are not letting go. Beatropolis, an electro-acoustic mélange, has mixed up drum and bass, downtempo and dub, en route to producing two CDs available on iTunes called "Drop" and "A Life in Color." They are about to come out with an EP in early June and their third full-length CD this winter. Audio Angel and MC Axiom provide the lyrics and vocals.

photo courtesy of Colin Ehara

By ALEC YOSHIO MacDONALD
Nichi Bei Times

"In a nutshell, you have to be contributing to hip-hop and not taking away from it."

For Senbei, a 25-year-old Yonsei MC born and raised in the East Bay, this declaration means recognizing that his own music flows from traditions older than he is, "created by black and brown folks in the Bronx way back in the day." It means honoring these origins by using his rhymes to echo a call for social justice.

CLICK "READ MORE..." FOR THE FULL STORY AND AUDIO SAMPLE!

photo courtesy of Hidekazu Matsuba

By AKITO YOSHIKANE
Nichi Bei Times

Until recently, 27-year-old Hidekazu Matsuba lived two lives.

As a manager at Ghirardelli Square, the son of a Nisei father and Issei mother juggled his steady job with his true passion of pursuing a rap career, often working during the day and performing in various Bay Area hip-hop venues at night.

But two weeks ago, Matsuba, known as "Kazwell," left his work to make rapping a full-time job. Joining him is 27-year-old DJ and producer Dario Choy, or "DJ Deedot," who also decided to focus on music after working as an audio-visual technician in the hotel industry.

CLICK "READ MORE..." FOR FULL STORY AND AUDIO SAMPLE!

Like cherry blossom festivals across the nation, the San Jose Japantown Nikkei Matsuri is the San Jose Japanese American community's spring celebration of the colorful and unique Japanese American heritage and culture.

CUPERTINO, Calif. — The 2008 Cupertino Cherry Blossom Festival takes place Saturday, April 26 and Sunday, April 27, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Indoor activities will be held at the Quinlan Community Center and outdoor activities at the amphitheater at Memorial Park, located at Stevens Creek Boulevard at Mary Avenue across from DeAnza College.

The Kaeru Kid
Nichi Bei Times Columnist

The last article described some eating establishments in Las Vegas and this issue describes some entertainment ideas that the tidbits at the end of the articles cannot do justice in a small space.

Las Vegas is not only culinary heaven but also the entertainment capital of the world. The premier group is Cirque du Soleil and deciding which one of their hit shows to see can be a conundrum.

By BEN HAMAMOTO
Nichi Bei Times

"Hollywood Chinese," the latest by acclaimed documentary filmmaker Arthur Dong, provides a crash course in Asian American media studies. The film, told largely by the people who were there, chronicles Chinese and Chinese American involvement in Hollywood for nearly a century.

Kerwin Berk
Nichi Bei Times Columnist

It didn't take Kosuke Fukudome very long to take on cult-hero status in Chicago. In fact, it took only four plate appearances.

photo courtesy of USF Athletics

The University of San Francisco introduced Rex Walters — who starred in the Japanese American basketball leagues out of San Jose — as its head coach for the men's basketball program on Monday, April 14.