Japantown San Francisco: kamikaze

JAPANTOWN, SAN FRANCISCO: The Gateway to Japanese Culture, Cuisine, and Shopping

For Immediate Press Release

In celebration of the grand opening of the New People building in San Francisco’s Japantown and preview to the J-Pop Summit Festival, the Center for Asian American Media in conjunction with the Japantown Merchants Association will host a free evening screening of Kamikaze Girls in the Japantown Peace Plaza on Friday, August 14, 2009. The movie Kamikaze Girls features the popular Lolita fashion brand BABY, THE STARS SHINE BRIGHT, which will open their first U.S.store at NEW PEOPLE on Saturday, August 15^th.

Kamikaze Girls centers around Momoko (pop idol Kyoko Fukada) who yearns to live in 18-century Versailles than in her back-country hometown of Shimotsuma. To escape, she loses herself in the dreamy, doll-like fashions of the "Lolita” scene. Her idol is Akinori Isobe, chief designer of Baby, the Stars Shine Bright—her favorite Lolita design hose. She travels all the way to Tokyo to shop at their store.

One leisurely summer, to help fund her expensive hobby, Momoko runs a classified ad of brand-name knock-off clothes (produced by her dad) for sale. She encounters a buyer named Ichigo who happens to live in her neighborhood.

Super-rebel Ichigo (model and J-rock icon Anna Tsuchiya), is a “Yankee”-style member of the Ponytails motorbike gang, one of Ibaraki's "Wild speed tribes,” whose teeth-rattling customized bikes are decked out with fiberglass shields and bannered backrests.

Somewhat against Momoko’s will, she and Ichigo slowly develop a strong friendship as they share their feelings on the odd goings-ons around them. Written and directed by Tetsuya Nakashima the movie runs 103min. with English Subtitles. Courtesy of VIZ Pictures. The movie is free and will be begin at dark between 8:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.

Grand Opening of the NEW PEOPLE building. Saturday, August 15, 2009 from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Hosted by NEW PEOPLE in cooperation with the Japantown Merchants Association, the J-Pop Summit Festival is a street fair that covers the grounds of Post Street from Webster to Buchanan to the Peace Plaza of Japantown, San Francisco. This year’s program is centered around the grand opening of the NEW PEOPLE building. Starting with the official dedication of the building and tape cutting ceremony, the all day outdoor event will begin at 11am and end at 6pm. Post Street will have 20-40 vendors (sponsors, promoters, sellers, foods) and “Harajuku Kawaii Experience”-themed Peace Plaza will have the main stage with live music and a pageant contest.