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ICE Out of SCC

ice out of scc 1

On Tuesday June 4th, 2019 over 100 immigrants, activists, supporters, lawyers, and clergy held a rally at the Santa Clara County office in San Jose to support due process for immigrants and to prevent the Santa Clara County to collaborate with U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE). After a strong community presence inside the chamber, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted 5 to 0 to maintain the strongest Sanctuary Policy in the USA. The rally and mobilization was organized by the FIRE Coalition including: Services, Immigrant Rights & Education Network (SIREN), Silicon Valley De-Bug, Asian Law Alliance, Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), Pangea Legal Services, People Acting in Community Together (PACT), and Sacred Heart Community Service.

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Harajuku

Harujuku Takeshita-Dori._downsized

Scanned from my black and white film print

 

Harajuku is the birthplace of kawaii culture. It’s where people wear clothing in bright and pastel colors and food is considered cool or cute. Harajuku is known for many crepe cafes and clothing apparel stores. One of central areas are Takeshita Street which has affordable fashion items, accessories, sneakers, and goods that are very popular with locals and international visitors. In addition, there is also hip hop community in Harajuku headed by Manhattan Records.

 

https://www.nhk.or.jp/kawaii-i/photobook/index.html

 

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/program/video/kawaii-i/?type=tvEpisode&

 

https://www.nhk.or.jp/kawaii-i/about/index.html

 

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The 100 Block Mural Project

100 mural sj

In March 2019 The 100 Block Mural Project painted 100 murals in downtown San Jose by 100 local artists in the San Jose Exhibition District. Each of 100 artists painted a 3 foot square space on the wall and were paid in total $30,000.

The Exhibition District is a woman-owned and operated non-profit arts organization in downtown San Jose. Their purpose is that “Art Is An Economic Engine” and this is not art for art’s sake.

https://www.exhibitiondistrict.com/

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Tokyo Station

tokyo station

Tokyo Station is the hub of the nationwide railway network in Japan since it opened in 1914. It serves approximately 420,000 passengers per day with numerous train lines. The station has contributed to the development of the surrounding business district as the center of Tokyo.

One historical event at Tokyo Station was when the Tokaido Shinkansen Line opened in 1964 during the Tokyo Olympics. In 2003 Tokyo Station was designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan. In 2014 after a five year 50 billion yen major renovation project Tokyo Station was completed .

Beneath Tokyo Station there are extensive shopping arcades with restaurants, cafes, stores, and several hotels. Some highlights of businesses inside are the Tokyo Ramen Street, Tokyo Okashi Land (sweets), and Tokyo Character Street (Japanese heroes & characters). It is a city within a city.

http://www.tokyostationcity.com/en/learning/station_building/

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123KLAN at Pow! Wow! San Jose (PWSJ)

123 KLAN

123KLAN are a French husband and wife graffiti team consisting of Scien and Klor from Montreal, Canada. They create graffiti art, design graphics and branding, and produce clothing such as BANDIT1SM x 123KLAN. Their art style combines graffiti art with large lettering in acid colors and characters in manga style. Like all good artists 123KLAN has a distinctive artistic style that defines themselves. 123KLAN participated in this year’s PWSJ 2018 an international week-long arts and culture festival held in San Jose.

https://www.123klan.com/
https://www.powwowsanjose.com/

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UNITE HERE Local 19 Strike at San Jose Marriott Hotel

marriot hotel san jose strike 10-18

UNITE HERE Local 19 workers energetically continue to strike for the twelfth day at the San Jose Marriott Hotel in downtown San Jose to negotiate a better contract. The workers demand a livable wage, job safety, and job protections as some Marriott Hotel are using robot workers. Many working class workers in Silicon Valley often have to work 2-3 jobs to pay for the high housing costs and other living expenses. Meanwhile the owner of the San Jose Marriott Hotel Carey Watermark 2, a real estate investment trust, are being an irresponsible owner. Fellow Marriott workers are also striking in San Francisco, Oakland, San Diego, Detroit, and Boston.

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Viva CalleSJ 2018

viva callesj 2018 sjbc
The San Jose Bike Clinic repair station at the SoFA hub at Viva CalleSJ 2018

On Sunday September 23rd, 2018 over 100,000 enthusiastic bike riders, skaters, and walkers converged on the streets of San Jose. There were thousands of families, students, friends, the young, the old, stingrays, tandems, fixies, cruisers, unicycles, and recumbent bicycles. Viva Calle is an open street project by the City of San Jose transforming the streets free of automobiles, motorized vehicles, and carbon emissions for one day. The 2018 route started at the SoFA district in downtown San Jose then went southbound on Monterey Road past Santa Clara Co. Fairgrounds and ended at Martial Cottle Park in south San Jose. It was a fun day for all.

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Hara Model Railway Museum

hara railway museum yokohama

Hara Model Railway Museum in Yokohama is a railway museum that opened in 2012. It is said to be one the largest collection of model trains and collectibles in the world. Nobutaro Hara, the founder of the museum, studied at Tokyo Institute of Technology to study railway technology. At the museum you can observe trains from Japan, United States, and Europe. The museum seeks to recreate real trains by utilizing the same railway technologies.