The 2013 Nisei Week Grand Parade, scheduled to get under way at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 11, will be broadcast live on UTB, digital TV Channel 18.2.
Helen Ota and Tamie Akimoto will host the broadcast, available for free over the airwaves. The UTB website, www.utbhollywood.com/en, has instructions for finding 18.2 on your digital TV or by using a converter box.
Some cable systems, including Cox Cable in parts of the South Bay and Orange County, also carry Channel 18.2. Check your cable company’s lineup to see if it is available.
For those attending the parade in person, the on-scene announcers for the parade include longtime Little Tokyo ambassador and actor Rodney Kageyama. Often called the “honorary mayor of Little Tokyo,” his TV and film credits include two “Karate Kid” movies, “Gung Ho,” “Quantum Leap,” and “Home Improvement.”
Kageyama will be joined by actor Aaron Takahashi, who for the past few years has served as the emcee of the Nisei Week Baby Show. Takahashi has been seen in TV shows such as “Sullivan & Son” and “Reno 911!” as well as feature films, including “Yes Man” and “Memoirs of a Geisha,” and several commercials.
On First Street, in front of the Miyako Hotel, the parade announcers will again be Rafu Shimpo reporter/editor Mikey Hirano Culross and “geta dance” artist Miyuki Matsunaga.
Hirano Culross, who joined the Rafu staff in 1998, is also an Emmy-nominated singer and songwriter, with his work appearing on shows such as Disney’s “Phineas and Ferb” and “SpongeBob Squarepants.”
A native of Fukuoka, Matsunaga began dancing as a teenager and has performed with professional dance teams throughout Japan before coming to the United States. In 2005, she created her own dance style, blending elements of Japanese traditional dance, modern dance, and Japanese poetry.
The parade travels east on Second Street to San Pedro Street, then north on San Pedro to First Street, and east on First Street to Central Avenue. The parade then turns the corner and travels south on Central Avenue and ends mid-block.