Flora Ninomiya for J-Sei

Please Donate to J-Sei!

Since the month of May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage month, I’m asking that you donate to J-Sei so it can continue to provide important services to the community. 

As an enthusiastic J-Sei supporter, I’m impressed with the wide range of programs that J-Sei offers for seniors, from music to exercise to mahjong. One of the most important programs that J-Sei offers is their food Enjoying Flavors of Spring 2026program that delivers Japanese meals to homebound seniors, which helps them remain in their homes. They offer caregiver referrals and social services support, which our family has used in the past. They host many speakers and cultural events that I’ve enjoyed attending, and I have recently joined the J-Sei Book Club.

J-Sei's Writing Program

For me, the most meaningful class is the weekly Writing Program led by Ninomiya Family circa 1945Grace Morizawa where we write short stories, poems, haiku, and even jokes. I have written many stories about my family, which I share with my relatives so that these accounts will not be lost. During my weekly Zoom sessions with my younger cousins, we often discuss how different our lives are since they were born after the camp experience. These stories lead to discussions about camp life at Amache, growing up on a nursery in Richmond, and my studying horticulture at UCLA when there were very few women in this field. 

Awareness About Internment

In my later years, it's been my mission to create awareness about internment. I was part of the committee that created content for Presenting Japanese American Perspectives at Rosie the Riveter the documentary Blossoms and Thorns, about how Richmond nursery families were affected by incarceration. For 15+ years I gave talks at Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park, along with Jim Oshima and former speakers Ben Takeshita and Yas Aoki. Screenings of Blossoms and Thorns and accompanying talks are part of the weekly program schedule.

In my spare time I knit and donate "Resist, Persist, Insist" caps to Tsuru for Solidarity, the National Japanese American Historical Society, Japanese American National MJosh Tuininga with Flora's Capuseum (JANM), and any group participating in a resistance march. I was happy to give one to author Josh Tuininga when I was invited by J-Sei to be a guest speaker at his We Are Not Strangers book talk at the Jewish Book Festival.

Thank you for your support!