The Manzanar Fishing Club

by **rkfiske** » July 29th, 2012, 7:08 am

Hey guys,
I was at the higashi obon festival with my girlfriend yesterday and they had a booth for the Manzanar Fishing Club movie and I thought I should let you guys know that there are showings coming up. Cory Shiozaki was there discussing the film and it seems it's doing really well!

It will be playing at the AMC South Bay Galleria 16 starting on August 31. Cory had also mentioned that it will be playing in New York soon. It's been awhile since it has been available to watch in California so I thought I would let others know it's available soon!

by **WanderingBlues** » July 29th, 2012, 8:14 am

Thanks for the info. I've been to the booth and seen the movie trailer, but have not had a chance to catch the full length feature. I may roll down there.

by **Wildman** » July 29th, 2012, 8:26 am

Ryan-
Is the movie available as a DVD?

by **tomsakai** » July 29th, 2012, 8:27 am

I saw it when it played in Costa Mesa in May. Very interesting. It's not a movie per se but instead photos assembled into a story with narration. Very interesting esp for those of us with a Japanese heritage.

by **rkfiske** » July 29th, 2012, 11:05 am

Wildman wrote:Ryan-
Is the movie available as a DVD?

I don't think yet, but if I hear of it I will let you know!

by **8NoFish** » July 29th, 2012, 8:34 pm

Last week, Cory and writer Richard Imamura were in Washington, D.C. for a special screening of The Manzanar Fishing Club hosted by Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus at the Capitol Visitor's Center. In attendance were members of Congress and other dignitaries.

Well known Hot Creek expert fly fisherman, Mas Okui, is one of the former Manzanar internees interviewed in the documentary.

For all of you who fish the Mammoth-Bishop area, I highly recommend that you stop by the Manzanar Internment Center Museum & Interpretive Center near Independence on Hwy 395. The exhibits are really nice and do a great job of documenting and showing life at Manzanar. I'm Japanese-American and no matter how many times I've been there, I always get emotional and choked up. Guaranteed to make me cry is a visit to the cemetery - there's a headstone for a little boy who I think was 2 or 3 years old when he died - which means that he might have spent his entire life there, behind barbed wire. When I see the photos in the museum of the internees going about their lives in the camp I am always struck by the fact that, other than the color of their skin and shape of their eyes, they look very American. That's because they were Americans...and proud to be American despite their imprisonment.

by **Rasputinj** » July 29th, 2012, 10:14 pm

I will have to check out the video, I have been to Manzanar a few times. My great uncle Bob <oops> did production design for Farewell to Manzanar movie in 1976. My relatives were at Tule Lake and Heart Mountain, my grandfather never like to discuss that period of time. It was a very sad time in our history. My stepbrother's ex-father inlaw was at Manzanar and used to fish Bairs and George creek as a young kid there.

by **rkfiske** » July 29th, 2012, 10:33 pm

8NoFish wrote:Last week, Cory and writer Richard Imamura were in Washington, D.C. for a special screening of The Manzanar Fishing Club hosted by Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus at the Capitol Visitor's Center. In attendance were members of Congress and other dignitaries.

Well known Hot Creek expert fly fisherman, Mas Okui, is one of the former Manzanar internees interviewed in the documentary.

For all of you who fish the Mammoth-Bishop area, I highly recommend that you stop by the Manzanar Internment Center Museum & Interpretive Center near Independence on Hwy 395. The exhibits are really nice and do a great job of documenting and showing life at Manzanar. I'm Japanese-American and no matter how many times I've been there, I always get emotional and choked up. Guaranteed to make me cry is a visit to the cemetery - there's a headstone for a little boy who I think was 2 or 3 years old when he died - which means that he might have spent his entire life there, behind barbed wire. When I see the photos in the museum of the internees going about their lives in the camp I am always struck by the fact that, other than the color of their skin and shape of their eyes, they look very American. That's because they were Americans...and proud to be American despite their imprisonment.

My girlfriend and I both finally decided it was time to go to Manzanar and it was as hard to be there as I had thought. We both were glad we had gone, and were pleased to see so many people there but both agreed that it was most likely our last time there, we both had family interned and thinking about what they endured was just a little too tough to handle. Quite a sad chapter of American history.

Cory had mentioned his trip to DC at Higashi's Obon when I was there, and had mentioned that it will be airing in New York pretty soon. It's great to think how well received it has been thus far!