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Features
Departments
a 370-year-old tradition in which the main road
through downtown Kochi is transformed into a
huge market where people come from all over to
buy and sell goods.
On Sunday afternoon, the most important
part of the trip had finally arrived. We went to
the Kochi Liberty and People’s Rights Museum
to celebrate JSO’s 10th anniversary, Connection
and Future! State organization president Hatsue
Kitahara gave a welcoming speech, followed
by Reiko Sumi and her daughter, Kanon
Sumi, both Beta Chapter members, singing a
congratulatory song. Debbie gave a fabulous
speech as international president, highlighting the
achievements of JSO throughout the past 10 years. teachers as well as educators who taught opera
She presented Hatsue and JSO with a handcrafted
serving tray made of wood and with red roses,
the DKG flower. The Hawaii State Organization
women read messages of congratulations from
Governor Ige and from Mayor Rick Blangiardi
and performed a beautiful hula dance. We were
shown an inspiring video of messages from
students at Tosayama Gakusyha School, where
each class, K–9, sang and danced in celebration of
JSO, and then each of us was given a gift created
by the students. A slide presentation followed,
Namba Yasaka Jinja Shrine
10 · Volume 89-4
10 · Volume 89-4
highlighting each JSO member from both the
Alpha and Beta chapters as they expressed “As
a DKG member, I want to be…” A poignant
moment came when JSO presented a certificate
of appreciation to Shige Yamanaka, who started
the Kochi Kimono Wearing Class and retired after
50 years of kimono dressing. Yamanaka was a
charter member of JSO and promoted Japanese
culture at DKG events. We then sang the DKG
song and heard greetings from Yasuko Kita, the
10th Anniversary Executive Committee Chair. At
the end of the ceremony, we took a celebratory
keepsake group photo. It was remarkable to realize
that JSO members included traditional classroom
singing, nursing, calligraphy, and kimono dressing.
Clearly, JSO embraces the diversity of women
educators.
On Sunday evening, we gathered for a
celebration dinner party at Homacho, Kochi.
A beautifully presented Taste of Kochi dinner
featured Geisha entertainment. Geisha are
icons of Japanese culture. They entertained and
performed a fun, interactive dance with several of
our delegation. This was followed by a song and
dance in which we all used Hyoshigi, traditional