The Grateful Crane Ensemble is a non-profit

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 501(c)(3) Asian American theatre

Asian American theatre

Asian American theater is theater written, directed or acted by Asian Americans.- Background :Asian American theater emerged in the 1960s and the 1970s with the foundation of four theatre companies: East West Players in Los Angeles, Asian American Theatre Workshop in San Francisco, Theatrical...

 company based in Southern California, established in July, 2001.

Mission

The Grateful Crane Ensemble's mission is to create and present meaningful and entertaining bilingual programs for Japanese American

Japanese American

are American people of Japanese heritage. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,204,205, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity...

 seniors in appreciation of the many sacrifices they have made so the generations that followed could live a better life in America.

Profile

The Grateful Crane Ensemble has been performing nostalgic programs in Japanese and English, for senior citizens at the Keiro Retirement Home, in East Los Angeles

East Los Angeles (region)

East Los Angeles is the portion of the City of Los Angeles that lies east of Downtown Los Angeles, the Los Angeles River and the unincorporated areas of Lincoln Heights, west of the San Gabriel Valley, East Los Angeles and City Terrace, south of Cypress Park, and north of Vernon, California and...

, and those throughout the Japanese American community. Through music, song and storytelling, the Ensemble honors, pays tribute to and remembers the Issei

Issei

Issei is a Japanese language term used in countries in North America, South America and Australia to specify the Japanese people first to immigrate. Their children born in the new country are referred to as Nisei , and their grandchildren are Sansei...

, Nisei

Nisei

During the early years of World War II, Japanese Americans were forcibly relocated from their homes in the Pacific coast states because military leaders and public opinion combined to fan unproven fears of sabotage...

and Kibei

Kibei

Kibei was a term often used in the 1940s to describe Japanese Americans born in the United States who returned to America after receiving their education in Japan.-Sources:...

elders, as a way of "giving something back."

Productions

The Grateful Crane Ensemble produced the touring show, The Camp Dance: The Music and the Memories, a tribute to those who endured the Japanese American internment

Japanese American internment

Japanese-American internment was the relocation and internment by the United States government in 1942 of approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along the Pacific coast of the United States to camps called "War Relocation Camps," in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, and to how music, song and dances help internees face the hardships of "relocation."

In 2003 the Ensemble received a grant from the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program to allow their program, The Camp Dance, to tour eight cities in California. A second CCLPEP grant in 2004 allowed for additional performances, and for the show to be recorded on CD.

In 2006, The Grateful Crane Ensemble premiered Nihonmachi

Japantown

is a common name for official Japanese communities in big cities outside Japan. Alternatively, a Japantown may be called J-town, Little Tokyo, or Nihonmachi , the first two being common names for the Japanese communities in San Francisco and Los Angeles, respectively.-North America:Japantowns were...

: The Place To Be - A Musical Journey at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, as part of the celebration of the 100th Anniversary of San Francisco's Japantown.

In 2009, The Grateful Crane Ensemble received a California Civil Liberties Public Education Program grant to produce Hiroshi Kashiwagi

Hiroshi Kashiwagi

Hiroshi Kashiwagi is a Nisei poet, playwright and actor. For his writing and performance work on stage he is considered an early pioneer of Asian American theatre.-Biography:...

's play, The Betrayed, which will be presented
in 2010 at the Japanese American National Museum

Japanese American National Museum

The opened its doors in 1992. The idea for the museum was originally thought up by Bruce Kaji with help from other notable Japanese American people at the time. The museum is located in the Little Tokyo an area near downtown Los Angeles, California. It is devoted to preserving the history and...

.

Awards

• 2006 Ruby Yoshino Schaar Playwright Award (to Soji Kashiwagi
  Soji Kashiwagi
  Soji Kashiwagi is a Sansei journalist, playwright and producer. He is the Executive Producer for the Grateful Crane Ensemble theatre company in Los Angeles...
  
  ) for The Camp Dance: The Music and the Memories – presented by the New York/National JACL
  Japanese American Citizens League
  The was formed in 1929 to protect the rights of Japanese Americans from the state and federal governments. It fought for civil rights for Japanese Americans, assisted those in internment camps during World War II, and led a successful campaign for redress for internment from the U.S...
  
  
• 2010 Bravo Award – presented by the Asia America Symphony Association and Guild

External links

• Grateful Crane Ensemble website
• playwright Kashiwagi writes about "Nihonmachi" on DiscoverNikkei.org