Miss Veedol rests on her ramp built by the Japanese on Sabishiro beach before the historic first non-stop-trans-Pacific flight. The wood ramp will help get her started down the 8,000-foot beach for takeoff.

One aviator left his boots off before the flight because he wanted to lessen the plane's weight as much as possible. With the community's help, the plane was secretly remodeled to enlarge the fuel tank and also enable the pilot to drop the landing gear to gain airspeed and reduce weight.

Local residents created a hand-made wooden ramp on an 8,000-foot beach. A local Japanese woman presented a box of apples for supper during the flight.

With their ambitious, brave hearts and flight skills as well as heartfelt community support, two men left their footprints in the history of flight. Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon's Bellanca, named "Miss Veedol," made the first non-stop flight across the Pacific Ocean. Taking off from Sabishiro Beach in Misawa, Aomori Prefecture in Japan, and flying over 5,000 miles for 41 hours and changing the landing point due to the weather, Miss Veedol made a belly-landing on a field in East Wenatchee, Wash., on Oct. 4, 1931.

The city found the impact of the Miss Veedol story. Receiving the apples from Pangborn, the city of Wenatchee responded with a gift of seedlings of Richard Delicious apples to Misawa. On the 40th anniversary of the flight in 1971, the main apple producing cities in both countries established their sister city relationships.

And after over 70 years have passed, the Miss Veedol story raised a big project in the Wenatchee community.

"Why don't we make it again?"

Miss Veedol replica

Started in 1998 by local aviation members, the Spirit of Wenatchee is planned to recreate the historic world-round flight of Miss Veedol including a trans-Pacific flight with a replica of a Bellanca, a model J-300 Long Distance Special of 1930.

The project costs over $500,000 not including flight costs. Funding issues for high gas prices delayed the project at this point. In the year of 2008, the organization needs to raise about $150,000, according to Jake Lodato, a communication person of Spirit of Wenatchee.

The sister city in Japan raised about a $80,000 fund for the project, which was a help for building the airplane.

"They were really supportive," Lodato said.

Lodato also said the flight test with a full tank of fuel would be needed while having permission from many countries in Central Asia to pass through might also become a political concern. Flying from Misawa to Wenatchee will be the last flight of the project. He added that the airspeed will be about 100 knots and will take 40 - 50 hours for the trans-Pacific flight, which is exactly the same as the 1931 attempt.

"Pangborn was a mechanical genius," he said. "None of us are geniuses, but we know more about aviation today than they knew. One thing we know is what our plane can do while they rarely knew because no one had done it before. We have an advantage of knowing that it can be done because it has been done before."

The Spirit of Wenatchee members including Arnie Clarke, a chief pilot of the project, and Miss Veedol landed in Seattle during the Seattle Cherry Blossom and Japanese Cultural Festival in April. The committee of the Japanese festival will support the project and hopefully have them fly across the Pacific Ocean by 2011, the 80th anniversary.

"It's a nice exchange for my hometown people and makes me really proud," Clarke said. "This is a great project, very friendly project, and an excellent airplane came out."

The story also impacted on the individual memories.

Vern Badten, who lived in Wenatchee in the 1930s in his youth, recalled that he asked his father to take him to the landing field of Miss Veedol. Though he could not see the plane, he still remembers the field and impression of the flight story. He, later, purchased an airplane with his friend at age 20.

"It's very interesting," he said. "It's very fascinating. It's one of the historical stories in the city of Wenatchee."

Flight attempts from Japan to the U.S. mainland
In a Japanese flight magazine in October 1919, Japanese aviation pioneer Takayuki "George" Takasou, the first person who built and flew his airplane in Seattle, explained the possibility of the trans-Pacific flight.

Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon with the general public in Japan who thought highly of the fliers.

He explained the flight details from mechanical to route plans that he would attempt to take off from Nemuro, an east part of Hokkaido, to Victoria, B.C. in June or July. He added the flight speed would be about 100 knots and take less than 40 hours.

Takasou's idea was published eight years before Charles Lindbergh made his trans-Atlantic flight in 1927 and 12 years before Miss Veedol crossed the Pacific Ocean.

According to City of Misawa, there were five attempts to fly across the Pacific Ocean to the United States from Sabishiro Beach from 1930 to 1932 including the Miss Veedol's flight. A Japanese newspaper, Asahi Shinbun, sponsored the project awarding $25,000 for those who made the first trans-Pacific flight. Before the Miss Veedol success, three flights were attempted:

On Sept. 14, 1930, the plane City of Tacoma piloted by Harold Bromley and Harold Gatty attempted to fly to Tacoma, Wash., but had a mechanical problems near Kamchatka Peninsula and returned to Japan. Before this flight, they had tried to fly from Tacoma to Tokyo in 1929 but had a crash during takeoff.

On May 31, 1931, Thomas Ash purchased The City of Tacoma, renamed it The Pacific and attempted to fly to Seattle from Misawa. But the plane could not take off.

On Sept. 8, 1931, Cecil Allen and Don Moyle attempted to fly to Seattle. They were missed a few days after they took off but were found in the Kamchatka Peninsula. They later flew to Fairbanks, Alaska, and reached Seattle.

In the last challenge after Miss Veedol, on Sept. 24, 1932, Japanese aviators Kiyoshi Honma, Eiichiro Baba and Tomoyoshi Inoshita attempted the first Japanese flight across the ocean to San Francisco, Calif., but were missing after taking off from the beach.

For Pangborn and Herndon, it was illegal to enter Japan because they did not have a plan for the trans-Pacific flight until they gave up breaking the record of the world-round trip. Both aviators were fined, and it was ruled that they were never to return to Japan and could not modify the plane. They eventually increased a fuel tank and made a change for reducing the plane's weight with help by the local community.

After landing in Wenatchee, Pangborn and Herndon moved Miss Veedol to Seattle for mechanical repairs and flew to New York to complete their world-round flight. The trans-Pacific flight was awarded the Aviation League's Harmon Trophy for that year.

According to Jake Lodato of Spirit of Wenatchee, the two aviators had been famous for a few weeks but faded into aviation history. He added the timeliness, the Depression in 1931, and newsworthiness, not being a solo flight and not the first time flight accomplishment of the kind.

"Everyone has only heard about Charles Lindbergh and his first non-stop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean," Lodato said. "Our purpose is to make more people know about Pangborn and Herndon and the important relationship between Misawa and Wenatchee and people in Japan and United States.

"It's fun, it's exciting," he continued. "It's a wonderful story."

An Enburi group from Hachinohe, Japan, greets to two Spirit of Wenatchee members during the 2008 Seattle Cherry Blossom and Japanese Cultural Festival. The members presented apples as it happened in 1931 in Misawa.

Haiku Northwest Celebrates 20 years
By Kristin Okinaka
The North American Post

The Haiku Society of America Weekend was held June 27 - 29 in Seattle, which gathered together those who have a deep love and appreciation for haiku poetry. Haiku Northwest is a group of poet enthusiasts from the Puget Sound area who hosted the series of events.

The events took place all weekend with Friday having a musical performance by Duo En and the announcement of the Washington Poets Association haiku contest winners. On Saturday there was a full day of readings and presentations including one by University of Oregon professor Ce Rosenow on senryu in America.

Many are unfamiliar with the difference between haiku and senryu. Rosenow said that the two characteristics of senryu are to respond to moments of significant cultural change while including daily activities of people living in America. Some portrayals of the human life written through senryu can be humorous while others are more serious. American senryu originated in Yakima, Wash. in 1910.

On the last day of the Seattle Haiku Weekend, an event at the Seattle Japanese Garden took place where there was a tour of the garden, ginko (haiku-writing walk), and kukai (poem-selection party) .

Haiku Northwest was founded in 1988 to build a community for those interested in haiku. A main goal of the group is to promote haiku as a literary art form. Today the group is comprised of about 30 active members who come from all occupational backgrounds including an actor, computer programmer, and environmentalist. Coordinator for the group, Michael Welch said that the group is a "real mix" with younger members in their 20s and the oldest member being 99 years old.

Michael Welch discussing motivations for writing haiku last Saturday.

As the coordinator of Haiku Northwest, Welch organizes and leads the monthly meetings where they discuss and read poems. He also plans special events such as getting the group involved with Aki Matsuri and Folklife Festival. A project he and the group are currently working on is an arrangement with Weyerhaeuser to have a display of haiku on trees in a bonsai collection in Federal Way.

Welch has been active in haiku groups for 20 years with his passion for the poems beginning at a young age.

"I learned about haiku in high school and immediately gravitated toward it," Welch said. He has been writing, teaching, judging, and discussing haiku ever since then.

"My wife is Japanese and she says [writing haiku] is something old people do, which I think is true in Japan," Welch said. He thinks that in the U.S. there is more of a range of ages in those who are interested in haiku.

Haiku Northwest has existed for 20 years now and Welch would like the group to be more known and encourages new people to participate in their events. He said, "we write in English but are careful to the Japanese tradition of haiku." For more information on Haiku Northwest refer to http://hometown.aol.welchm/Haiku-Northwest.html

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Seattle Japanese Learning School holds Award Ceremony
The North American Post

The Seattle Japanese Language School's last day of the 2007-2008 school year came to an end on June 14th with an Award Ceremony.

Principal Kazuko McColley began by asking everyone at the assembly if they had "FUN" this year. They all responded "YES" enthusiastically. She also asked students "What is the best part about Japanese School?" Some called "Undookai!" and "Sakura Matsuri!" and "SENSEI" (teacher!) Some said "I can learn Japanese so that I can talk to my Grandma in Japanese." Others responded, "Not only do we the language but we also learn about the culture." When asked if they will come back in September, they all unanimously responded "Yeeeessss!"

Photo by Steve Yamasaki

Perfect attendance award recipients were:
     Bobbie Onouchi Clark, Beg.1-A (Akikio Sakamoto Sensei)
     Jerico Opong , Beg.1-B (Atsuko Savorgino Sensei)
     Leonard Tran , Beg.1-B (Atsuko Savorgino Sensei)
     Kira Chiemi Kusumi , Beg.2 (Airi Lowe Sensei)
     Alexander Frunz-Gallardo , Beg.3 (Mrs. Sachie Kishiro Sensei)

Scholarship recipients were:
     Kari Anne Kameko Hara, Int.1 (Kazuko McColley Sensei)
     Marisa Yamasaki, Int.2 (Keiko Iwai Sensei)

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Japanese agricultural trainees gain experience for future
By Shihou Sasaki
The North American Post

Twenty-eight Japanese Agricultural exchange trainees completed their two-year training program on June 23. The trainees studied English in Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake, Wash., for the first term, were relocated to be trained in the farm business and learned the U.S. agricultural system in the University of California Davis for the last term.

The organization has connected to the Nikkei (Japanese American) farmers on the west coast and Hawaii for the program. State Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos, a guest of the ceremony, said her family friend, who operated the farm in California, has had trainees from the program for long time.

Photo by Shihou Sasaki

"I could meet many types of people including Nikkei, Chinese, Caucasian and others," said Keiichi Ishikawa, a 27-year-old trainee. "I could broaden my point of views through the program."

Ishikawa's family owned a family gardening farm in Tochigi. He worked for a nursery business, owned by a Nikkei farmer, near Los Angeles as a wholesaler.

The program started in 1952 to train young generation for Japanese agriculture. This group's members are the last two-year exchange program participants before shifting to an 18 month program for the next group.

 

 

 

 

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June 25, 2008- St. Peter's Episcopal Parish...; Pilgrimaging...

June 18, 2008- Mankei...; Walk for Rice...; Japanese Garden...

June 11, 2008- Pioneer Seiichi Hara...; Awesome Blossoms

June 06, 2008-"Only the Brave"...; Japanese Heritage...; Author of Hakujin to Speak; Konko Church...

May 28, 2008 -Commemorating, Honoring and Remembering All Those Who Served; Erina Tami Aoyama crowned 2008 Japanese community queen; Seattle University Japanese Student Association Holds Spring Bon Odori

May 21, 2008 -Now Huskies...; Three Japanese Graves...; Noh Plays...; White House...

May 14, 2008 -Tea Master...; Bainbridge...; Paul Ohtaki...; Community Queen...

May 07, 2008 -University of Washington Awards...; Nikkei Ski Legend...

April 30, 2008 - After 100 years...; Toru Sakahara...; Claire Suguro...

April 23, 2008 - Local Kendo Veterans Recognized by Consul General