{"id":283987,"date":"2018-09-07T06:05:01","date_gmt":"2018-09-06T20:05:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=283987"},"modified":"2018-09-07T06:05:01","modified_gmt":"2018-09-06T20:05:01","slug":"3-nmi-residents-are-honored-for-role-in-creating-jnmda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/3-nmi-residents-are-honored-for-role-in-creating-jnmda\/","title":{"rendered":"3 NMI residents are honored for role in creating JNMDA"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Vincent Seman, Japanese-Northern Marianas Descent Association chair Norman Tenorio, and David Sablan Sr. after Wednesday\u2019s awarding ceremony at the Japanese Consular Office on Saipan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Japanese Consulate General in Guam presented three individuals in the CNMI with awards\u2014two of whom are Japanese descent\u2014for their significant contributions to the creation of the Japanese-Northern Marianas Descent Association.<\/p>\n

Japanese Consul General for Guam Izumi Seki presented the awards to David Sablan Sr., Vincent J. Seman, and JNMDA\u2019s first chairman, Norman T. Tenorio, for their roles in the creation of the JNMDA. The presentation of awards took place at the Japan Consul in the CNMI.<\/p>\n

Seki noted that Sablan first initiated the founding of the association, while Tenorio led the group as its first chairman. Seman, a lawyer, secured the requirements to register the association as a non-profit organization in the CNMI.<\/p>\n

Seki referred to Sablan as a \u201cJapanese at heart,\u201d despite his not being of Japanese descent.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Sablan] studied very hard in Japanese school on Saipan until fifth grade under the Japanese administration,\u201d Seki noted in her congratulatory address. \u201cI heard you were very good at abacus and still remember and speak Japanese. So nobody denies you are very much alike the Japanese and is a Japanese at heart,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In her message to Tenorio, whose grandmother was from the Gunma prefecture in Japan, she said: \u201cI hope the association will be active and develop under your leadership.\u201d <\/p>\n

Seman, whose grandmother was from the Yamagata prefecture, where many Japanese came from during the Japanese administration, was thanked for his efforts in registering the association as a non-profit in the CNMI. He, however, holds no position at the association.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish you will take a key position and continue to support the association,\u201d Seki said.<\/p>\n

In an interview, Tenorio said the association would be convening soon. As of publication, Tenorio noted that they have over 20 members already.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have already conducted two meetings,\u201d Tenorio said, noting that the association is still in the recruitment phase. The association\u2019s next meeting is on Sept. 15, 2018, at the Joeten-Kiyu Public Library conference room.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are still trying to get more people to join and are looking for more young people to join the association,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Tenorio said he looks forward to having a charter on Rota and Tinian in the future, once the association is well organized on Saipan. Currently, the association is still looking for a place to set up office.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes time to disseminate information on the association, but we have been doing it through the internet,\u201d he said, adding that locals who are interested in joining the association but are not of Japanese-descent are welcome to join.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Japanese Consulate General in Guam presented three individuals in the CNMI with awards\u2014two of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":283988,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[26,22594,22593,21880],"class_list":["post-283987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-cnmi","tag-david-sablan-sr","tag-japanese-consul-general","tag-jnmda"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}