In the ABC Unified School District, Asian languages aren’t just electives — they’re doorways into culture, community partnerships, and living history.
The Southeast Los Angeles County public school district offers innovative Asian language programs across its schools. While students of Japanese heritage make up about 1% of enrollment, Japanese history and culture feature prominently in programs and events district wide.
“Japanese cultural values communicated through language are integral to our success as a district,” Board President Ernie Nishii said. “We live in a multicultural world where Asians make up about half of the global population. Combating anti-Asian hate and bigotry requires exposure to Asian values, and one of the best ways is through languages such as Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Filipino.”
A centerpiece of ABC Unified’s approach is its exchange with schools in Kakamigahara, Japan. Each year, ABC students live with host families and attend Japanese schools; the following year, local families host students from Kakamigahara.
“It’s not just the language; it’s the experience,” said ABC Unifed Superintendent Dr. Gina Zietlow. “When students share everyday life — meals, classes, clubs — they build genuine understanding of one another’s values.”
On campuses, cultural learning continues after the bell. Some schools field taiko drumming groups that perform and compete across Southern California; others run haiku and literature clubs or train students in the Japanese tea ceremony. The tea ceremony program, now in its fourth year, has welcomed ABCUSD trustees, members of the Japan-America business community, city officials and Kenko Sone, consul general of Japan in Los Angeles, to its culminating events.
Another hallmark is the district’s comprehensive Day of Remembrance program, which connects students with Japanese American elders who experienced World War II incarceration. Launched in February 2019, the series brings survivors to speak with sixth-graders as well as middle and high school students.
Speakers have included Min Tonai, Kanji Sahara, Mike and Grace Hatchimonji, Richard Murakami, Hal Keimi, Bacon Sakatani, Joyce Okazaki, Kyoko Oda, Iku Kiriyama, Bill Shishima, June Aochi Berk and Tak Hoshizaki, among others.
The effort is organized with the help of district staff and community coordinators Jenny Chomori, Janet Fujii, Jason Fujii, Kay Oda and Kyoko Oda, with support from volunteers including Teeny Miyano and Kerry Cababa, and student volunteers Tabitha Yuen and Monicka Manni.
“The program ensures history is remembered not as a cold text but as the lived experience of real people,” Kyoko Oda said. “If future leaders understand in their hearts what injustice is, they will act to prevent it.”
When the pandemic disrupted in-person gatherings, ABC Unified shifted the Day of Remembrance into a hybrid format, extending its reach and offering professional development so that teachers could integrate survivor testimony and primary sources into lessons.
Student volunteers, including descendants Yuri Nishii, Kimberly Hosoda, members of the Yokoyama family, Sara Omura and others, helped conduct interviews and support events.
The district has paired the series with classroom texts, including “Baseball Saved Us” and “Sylvia & Aki,” to underscore cross-cultural values and civic learning. District officials say the work complements California’s ethnic studies goals by anchoring lessons in local voices and contemporary relevance rather than a single class period or one-off assembly.
The Day of Remembrance has drawn recognition beyond ABC’s boundaries. The Asian Pacific Islander School Board Members Association honored the series with its Outstanding Program award, citing the district’s sustained focus on survivor engagement and student learning.
For ABC Unified, leaders say, the throughline is consistent — language added to lived experience can help young people develop empathy, reduce bias and connect across differences.
“Whether it’s a taiko performance, a tea ceremony, a home-stay in Kakamigahara or listening to a survivor, our students are learning to see the world through another person’s eyes,” Nishii said. “That’s education that lasts.”