Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner is honored by Philadelphia City Council member Helen Gym

Today Philadelphia City Council member at large Helen Gym introduced a resolution to honor Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast for her acclaimed work in music and as part of Asian American Pacific Islander heritage month. “Artist, author, and undeniably Philly,” Gym Tweeted in making the announcement. The City Council meets today and are slated to vote on the resolution as well.

Philadelphia served as the breeding ground for the early days of Japanese Breakfast — the thriving music scene was ideal for an independent artist, and to stay afloat, Zauner worked at Union Transfer, which she returned to in August of 2021, selling out five nights at the venue and finding that R5 Productions named the coat check room after her.

Zauner has used her platform as an Asian-American artist to help amplify the voices of the AAPI community, most notably by making a powerful statement in spring of 2021 in response to the string of anti-Asian attacks and killings: “Dunno wtf it does to say stop AAPI hate but it is important to acknowledge this is very real.”

In addition to Zauner, Gym proposed another resolution to honor Phil Yu, the author and podcaster known as Angry Asian Man, who “presents an unfiltered conversation about what’s happening in Asian America.”

This Saturday, May 21st, Japanese Breakfast will be the musical guest on the season finale of Saturday Night Live. Additionally, Zauner and the band return to Philly for a hometown concert on July 23 for Connor Barwin’s Make the World Better Benefit to help uplift community spaces across Philadelphia — tickets and more information on that concert can be found at the WXPN Concert Calendar.

Read the Councilmember Gym’s full resolution here.