Kites & Other Tales

Modern kite maker Tom Joe seeks to preserve the craft of kite making as well as the traditional Asian folklore behind it. Alan Takemoto illustrates Tom Joe’s tales of the Polynesian fish kite made from leaves and branches to fool fish; the Chinese general whose trapped army fashioned a fighting kite; and Shirone, the “kite crazy town” in Japan where 20-foot fighting kites duel in magnificent matches. Children will be inspired to try making these kites.

Alan Ohashi explores the changing landscape of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Produced during a volatile period in which community re-development initiatives in cities threatened the unique community fabric of various ethnic communities, Chinatown: Portrait of a Working Community juxtaposes the vivacity of the people, businesses and community institutions of one of California’s first and largest Chinatowns against the violent closure, in August 1977, of the International Hotel, a low-income hotel abutting Chinatown along Kearny and Jackson Streets.