Unsung Hero of the Holocaust

This month, I get to take part in a retelling of largely unknown piece of history. During World War II, Chiune Sugihara, the Vice-Consul for Japan in Lithuania, helped more than six thousand Jews (mostly refugees from German-occupied Poland as well as Lithuania) leave the country by issuing transit visas so that they could travel to Japan. This brave action put at risk his entire career and the lives of his family members. The so-called "Japanese Schindler" was later named Righteous Among the Nations by Israel in 1985, the only Japanese national to be so honored. 

Despite all the ideal trappings for a Hollywood movie, Sugihara's story is not very well-known. It was the subject of the 1997 short film Visas and Virtue, which won the 1998 Academy Award for Best Short Film, Live Action, and a handful of TV specials and documentaries, but mention his name to most people and you will get a blank response.

Trailer for Visas and Virtue (1997)

On Thursday, August 27, I will be playing Sugihara in a staged reading of Chiune Sugihara: Unsung Hero of the Holocaust a play by Philip Pinkus. The reading is produced by Genesis Theatricals and is directed by Elayne LeTraunik. The Japanese American Service Committee (JASC) has very kindly offered to provide space for the event. 

I'm definitely looking forward to this. Besides the inherent heroism and the opportunity to shed light on a forgotten historical episode, I believe it is important to show that not all stories involving Japanese persons during WWII were ones in which they were the aggressors (in the case of the Pacific War) or victims (the Japanese American internment). 

Genesis Theatrical Productions presents a Dramatic Staged Reading of

Chiune Sugihara: Unsung Hero of the Holocaust by Philip Pinkus

Presented by Genesis Theatricals

The show features Dwight Sora as Chiune Sugihara.  Directed by Elayne LeTraunik

Thursday, August 27, 2015, 7:30 pm

Japanese American Service Committee

4427 N. Clark, Chicago

The reading is free.  For information or questions, call 773-800-1703

Given the destructive capabilities of a single, normal, human baby, a major hole in the Superman mythos is the Kents would have been dead within a week of bringing home their superpowered Kryptonian foundling.

I think if social media was around in New Testament times, there'd be folks posting, "But the Romans crucified so many Judeans. Why is everyone getting riled up about this one?"

The Budo Bum: Martial Arts Instructors Should Learn To Teach

The Budo Bum: Martial Arts Instructors Should Learn To Teach

Reblogged from Chicago Aikido Club (CAC)

First Mondays Intro Class

Posted on July 17, 2015by ChicagoAikidoClub

Starting next month, Chicago Aikido Club (CAC) invites all newcomers to try out the martial art of aikido the first Monday class of every month.

The class is absolutely free. No experience or uniform necessary. Just be sure to wear clothes in which you can move freely, and bring flip flops and an open attitude.

First Mondays Intro Class will begin on Monday, August 3, 6:00 pm-7:30 pm.

For more info, visit http://www.chicagoaikidoclub.com or e-mailinfo@chicagoaikidoclub.com.

We also have a Facebook event page here.

We Are All Made of Stars

Life's funny. Been having a pretty good week so far and just got word that an uncle who had been a favorite of mine when I was little just passed away. Not a blood relative (he was married to one of my mother's cousins), but he was instrumental in making it possible for my mother to immigrate to the U.S. and settle in Chicago. We had gotten distant as I grew up, but in my childhood he was an ever-present jokester at family Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's gatherings (quite contrary to the stern image of most Korean men of his generation). He always made an effort to play with the little kids, and had me convinced that every night a spaceman landed in his backyard and someday I might get to meet him (a tall tale he concocted based on my obsession with the Apollo 11 moon landing). He did get to meet Czerina when we were dating (and trotted out a single line of Tagalog he knew), but sadly never met Jack. I go to sleep imagining I'm six years old, standing in the backyard of his then-home in Hyde Park under a starry sky, and that spaceship (which I never saw but had lovingly detailed in my imagination) is descending slowly. Uncle Peter is standing next to me, holding my hand, waiting to introduce me to his friend.

Penuel: The Sammy Lee Story

Samuel "Sammy" Lee (born August 1, 1920). The first Asian American to win an Olympic gold medal for the United States and the first man to win back-to-back gold medals in Olympic platform diving.

As a (half) Korean American, I'm ashamed to admit that I never heard of Sammy Lee before. It wasn't until fellow Korean American actor David Rhee went off to New York last summer to take a playwriting course and told me he had an idea of a script about Lee that I knew who he was or what he had achieved.

In case you haven't either, the fruit's of David's labors will get a first-ever public viewing this coming weekend. Local Chicago theater company Silk Road Rising will be presenting two readings of his play, Penuel: The Sammy Lee Story, on Saturday, July 11 and Sunday, July 12, both at 4:00 pm. The readings will be held at Silk Road's space in The Historic Chicago Temple Building at 77 West Washington Street. 

There will be some great local Chicago actors making David's words come to life, under the direction of Goodman/Silk Road veteran Steve Scott. I'm involved in the modest capacity of reading stage directions, and being there to support the venture.