Last year's Midori Kai boutique was well attended.

MOUNTAIN VIEW — The ninth annual Midori Kai Boutique will be held on Saturday, Sept. 13, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Mountain View Buddhist Temple Hall, 575 N. Shoreline Blvd.

Known for its one-of-a-kind unique collection of Japanese American and Asian American arts and crafts, this one-day event showcases over 60 vendors from throughout the western states. Several new artists will exhibit at the boutique this year. In addition to arts and crafts, jewelry, clothing, vintage kimonos, pottery and food items will be featured.

A raffle will be held on site for gifts and prizes donated by many of this year’s Midori Kai artisans. There will be a separate raffle for a hand-made quilt, vintage kimono, vintage obi and a painting. Only 200 tickets will be sold for the second raffle.

Food items such as chicken salad, Spam musubi, Beard Papa’s cream puffs and chocolate-covered strawberries can be enjoyed at the Midori Kai Cafe.

Representatives from the Asian American Donor Program will also be on hand to conduct a registration drive for potential bone marrow donors (see www.aadp.org).

Hawaiian Dance Performance

From 10 to 10:30 a.m., the Aloha Nani Hula Dancers will perform on the Midori Kai stage. Since 1995, the dancers have performed hula for groups all over the Bay Area. Their instructor, Frances Ota, teaches seniors aged 50 to 90 at the Cupertino Senior Center.

The group was honored by the City of Cupertino as a recipient of the CREST award (Cupertino Recognizes Extra Steps Taken) for volunteerism and recently performed at the 50th anniversary dinner for Cupertino’s sister-city program.

At the boutique, they will perform “Koko ni Sachi Ari,” “Kimi to Itsumade mo,” “Shire Toko no Ryojo,” “Nada Soo Soo,” and “Hana.”

Through hula, they hope to spread the spirit of aloha with everyone.

Author to Sign Books

From 11:30 a.m.. to 1:30 p.m., San Francisco Nisei actor, poet and playwright Hiroshi Kashiwagi will be at the boutique to meet attendees and to sign his books.

He is the author of “Swimming in the American: A Memoir and Selected Writings” and the recently published “Shoe Box Plays.”

“Swimming In the American” received the American Book Award in 2006. This award is given by the Before Columbus Foundation, which recognizes outstanding literary achievement by contemporary American authors. Both books will be available at the boutique.

12th Anniversary

Always striving to promote awareness of Japanese American cultural and heritage through its activities, Midori Kai Inc. is a non-profit professional women’s organization that will celebrate its 12th anniversary this year.

As an annual fundraiser, proceeds from the boutique are directed to selected organizations that exemplify the ideas of the Midori Kai mission.

The board announced that scholarships will be awarded to the following non-profit organizations this year: Japanese American Museum of San Jose, Asian Law Alliance (Domestic Violence Prevention Program), Yu-Ai Kai Senior Services, and the Ed Iwasaki Memorial Fund.

Each of these recipients will receive the scholarships at the boutique and will provide information about their organization throughout the day.

For more information, contact Phyllis Osaki at (925) 596-1770 or Marsha Baird at (510) 579-1518.