Nihonmachi Little Friends to Celebrate 40th Anniversary

SAN FRANCISCO – Nihonmachi Little Friends (NLF) will celebrate its 40th anniversary on Friday, Nov. 20, at 5:30 p.m. at the Hotel Kabuki in San Francisco’s Japantown.

The theme of the event is “Okage Sama de; Thanks to Our Generous Supporters, We Are Building a Legacy for Future Generations of Children.” The co-emcees will be Vic Lee of KGO-TV, a longtime supporter of NLF, and Tamiko Wong, an NLF alumna who currently serves as executive director of Oakland Asian Cultural Center. The event will also feature children’s performances and special recognition of the Tateuchi Foundation. Guests will enjoy a reception and buffet dinner, followed by dancing to the popular Bay Area band Pulse.

The Plant a Seed Campaign (PASC) project was launched in 2012 to build a preschool addition to NLF’s historic 1830 Sutter St. facility, on its adjacent playground lot. The project will allow NLF’s flagship preschool program, currently located at 2031 Bush St., to expand and relocate to the new addition, ensuring a stable and permanent future in San Francisco’s Japantown. The agency recently held a groundbreaking ceremony featuring a children’s performance and purification ceremony by the Japanese American Religious Federation. Fundraising for the addition will be ongoing through the construction period, to ensure a successful completion of the project.

“This building project is not just important for Nihonmachi Little Friends, but for the entire community,” said NLF Executive Director Cathy Inamasu. “With the new addition, NLF will continue to weave children and their families into the fabric of this historic neighborhood and help sustain Japantown as a thriving, vital San Francisco neighborhood.”

NLF, a community non-profit, 501©3 organization opened in the fall of 1975, to provide Japanese/English bilingual and multicultural affordable and educational childcare services to preschool-age children. Currently it serves over 200 students annually from preschoolers through fifth-graders, with all program sites located in the San Francisco Japantown area.

Event ticket is $150 per person. To make reservations, contact NLF at (415) 922-8898 or nlfchildcare@gmail.com. All proceeds from the event will benefit NLF’s programs and its capital campaign. This event is made possible with the generous support of Union Bank and Wells Fargo.