2024 has been a busy year for Okaeri as we’ve continued to develop our programs and prepare for even bigger developments in 2025 and beyond. The following is a snapshot of our achievements over the past year, none of which would have been possible without the help of our volunteers, sponsors, attendees, and friends. Thank you all for your support this past year, and for helping us reach out $20,000 fundraising goal. We look forward to continuing our work in the Nikkei LGBTQ+ community in 2025.
Photography: Hogan Kitsuse
Letters to Home
In June, Okaeri published Letters to Home an anthology by Japanese American LGBTQ+ and allies that has been two years in the making. Co-edited by Michael Matsuno, Cody Uyeda, and Rino Kodama, and designed by Daniel Tomita, Letters to Home includes nearly 50 contributions of art, writing, and poetry reflecting on the Japanese phrase, “okaeri” (“Welcome home”), as it relates to contributors’ lived experiences, both positive and negative, as Queer Nikkei and allies. Letters to Home also held a successful book launch at JANM in early November, with a turnout of nearly 100 attendees and over a dozen of the book’s contributors.
Photography: Willa Cutolo
Okaeri Matsuri
In late June, we held “Okaeri Matsuri,” the second iteration of last year’s inaugural “Queer Obon.” The event saw a turnout of over 400 attendees, matching the attendance at last year’s Queer Obon. We debuted our original Okaeri Ondo song and dance, made in collaboration with Great Leap and our community members. The Okaeri Ondo has since been performed at Great Leap’s Fandangobon, and Humboldt Obon. We developed several new elements, including two game booths, a shaved ice and drinks booth, and a raffle, and updated our roster of performances, bringing back drag queen Gia Gunn, and debuting new acts from Bibi Discoteca, Mariko & Cam, and TaikoProject.
Okaeri Connects
Okaeri Connects continued to hold space for its English speaking LGBTQ+ and Japanese speaking LGBTQ+ and parent/ally groups, and launched a fourth group—English speaking parent/allies. Okaeri Connects Nihongo also organized two special sessions with guest speakers, featuring famed LGBTQ+ activist and Buddhist monk Kodo Nishimura, and an LGBTQ+ 101 workshop by Aya Yabe. The group will also be saying goodbye to two of its long-time facilitators—Midori Dekura and Aya Yabe—who will be retiring from their roles at the end of this year and early next year, respectively.
Social Committee
In the fall we launched our new Social Committee, which planned their first event in October—a Halloween themed social and Karaoke at Peking Tavern in Little Tokyo. It has been a goal of Okaeri’s to implement more social events, and we hope to bring more exciting social opportunities to the SoCal Okaeri community in 2025.
Photography: Willa Cutolo
Okaeri Voices
Our Okaeri voices program, thanks to a generous contribution from Gary Hayashi, completed filming of the video for Karen and Glenn Murakami, longtime Okaeri supporters and Steering Committee members who have been important voices in our community.
Okaeri Norcal
The Okaeri Norcal Committee continued to organize various social events, from picnics in collaboration with Omusubi, cooking lessons at J-sei, to art exhibition tours with TT Takemoto, bringing exciting opportunities for LGBTQ+ Nikkei to connect. To wrap up the year, Okaeri Norcal will be holding their second session of Okaeri Book Club, and starting 2025 with a Happy Hour to celebrate the new year.
Fundraising
This year, we raised over $80,000 in donations, sponsorships, and grants. Some of the groups we received support from this year include Honda, the Japanese American Community Foundation, Shirakiku Foundation, Prism, and the Masto Foundation. We also received generous in-kind donations from Square, Sunflower Farms, Tenga, Asahi Beverages, Glico, and Sanzo drinks. We look forward to continuing to build these relationships in 2025.
Outreach
This year, we increased our mailing list by 15% and grew our Instagram audience by 5%. Our digital outreach brought in new faces, especially to Okaeri Matsuri! We started a volunteer newsletter, as well as a Parents & Caregivers newsletter to share opportunities for engagement with the Okaeri community.