UCLA Nikkei Student Union's 39th Annual Cultural Night

Hello and thank you for visiting our page! We are UCLA Nikkei Student Union’s Cultural Night team! Our team is responsible for planning and organizing the 39th annual Cultural Night production. We have been working since July to create a performance that celebrates Japanese American heritage, educates the community on Japanese American history, and honors our ancestors who immigrated to the US and struggled, so that we could thrive. Cultural Night has been a wonderful journey, and we can not wait to share this experience with you! 

Cultural Night (CN) is our largest event of the year, usually drawing in an audience of over 1,000 students, staff, alumni, and community members. CN began back in February of 1986 with the Week of Remembrance, an on-campus event created to commemorate the signing of Executive Order 9066, which resulted in the unconstitutional incarceration of over 110,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. Since then, CN has evolved to showcase talented performers and feature experiences and issues relevant to the Japanese American community. This year, our show will be held on February 22, 2025 from 7:00-9:30 PM in UCLA’s very own Royce Hall. The production will feature performances from NSU Odori, NSU Modern, Kyodo Taiko, Soran Bushi, and our very own drama cast. Please consider supporting CN to make sure that our long-held tradition can continue!

This year, the play portion of our show focuses on the importance of preserving community as it follows a young girl who is shown the resilience and struggles of her community across generations. She learns how to fight and advocate for those around her and explores themes of solidarity, loss, and cultural preservation.

Traditionally, NSU’s CN has always been free and open to the public. In order to keep our show accessible and welcoming for all, we rely heavily on outside funding sources to make CN possible. Our primary source of funds are UCLA and community grants, as well as contributions from local businesses and organizations. However, in previous years small-dollar donations from our friends and family have been a major part of our budget.  

As a result, we are reaching out to you to help us reach our goal of $7,000, which would be spent in the following areas:

Our costs are continuing to rise due to inflation and increasing venue costs, so any amount that you’re able to donate can help us fund this program! If monetary donations are not possible at this time, there are other ways you can show your support. We would love to spread the word across as many networks as possible. If you could simply share the SPARK campaign link on social media or via email, that would be tremendously helpful!

CN has provided a unique opportunity for us as students. From performing in the historic Royce Hall to working behind the scenes on the writing, directing, and production of a large-scale program, CN has allowed us to make invaluable memories and form a deeper understanding of the Japanese American experience. We strongly value the impact that our program has had on us and all of the student groups involved, as well as the audience and the communities around us. Previous SPARK campaigns have enabled us to continue putting on CN for the past 38 years, and we are deeply committed to continuing this tradition. With your help, we would love to make our 39th production one of our best shows yet! 

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