All Intensive Purposes

Tonight's queen selection at 7 p.m. at the AMC Kabuki Theater won't showcase beauty queen elements of bygone days. The swimsuit competition, for example, disappeared more than 35 years ago. The qualities judges seek now are intelligence, creativity, confidence, poise and leadership -- all intended to find good community representatives and role models.

"The word "pageant" has connotations with classical beauty pageants based on looks and appearance," said Aimee Sueko Eng, the 2004 queen who now serves on the queen program committee.

Eng considered entering the competition only after another former queen, a friend of her family, phoned and let her know that being a queen or member of the queen's court means community service, not comeliness.

The job could be painting clown faces on kids at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center, appearing at the anniversary of a Japanese-American church, or staging a pan-Asian cultural festival in Orinda, as Eng's court did in 2004.

Recruitment of candidates is a "struggle" that is becoming harder year by year, said Benh Nakajo, chair of the queen program committee since 1989. The committee has kept moving the deadline, from December to January and then February, he said.
"It's kind of touch and go," he said. "There were a few times in the past where it almost looked like we weren't going to get enough."

He said any Japanese American woman in Northern California who is 18 to 25, has never been married and makes the yearlong commitment to the community can become a finalist. There are six finalists this year, and there were five each of the past several years.

The committee hasn't yet found a good term to replace "queen," said Nakajo, a retired account manager for Japan Airlines, though the committee sometimes informally uses "ambassador of goodwill" or "community ambassador."

"Misunderstanding is a huge part of it," said Kristina Mieko Boyd, a princess from the 2004 court, speaking of the recruitment difficulties.

Nakajo said competition from college studies, the diffusion of Japanese Americans into mainstream culture and the weakening of ties to the Japanese American community also limit interest in the contest.

// posted by t.s. @ 5:55 AM