Kizuna 2020: Nikkei Kindness and Solidarity During the COVID-19 Pandemic
In Japanese, kizuna means strong emotional bonds. In 2011, we invited our global Nikkei community to contribute to a special series about how Nikkei communities reacted to and supported Japan following the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Now, we would like to bring together stories about how Nikkei families and communities are being impacted by, and responding and adjusting to this world crisis.
If you would like to participate, please see our submission guidelines. We welcome submissions in English, Japanese, Spanish, and/or Portuguese, and are seeking diverse stories from around the world. We hope that these stories will help to connect us, creating a time capsule of responses and perspectives from our global Nima-kai community for the future.
* * * * *
Although many events around the world have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have noticed that many new online only events are being organized. Since they are online, anyone can participate from anywhere in the world. If your Nikkei organization is planning a virtual event, please post it on Discover Nikkei’s Events section! We will also share the events via Twitter @discovernikkei. Hopefully, it will help to connect us in new ways, even as we are all isolated in our homes.
Stories from this series
Japanese Canadian Art in the Time of Covid-19 - Part 7
July 22, 2021 • Norm Masaji Ibuki
Read Part 6 >> These Covid times, emerging from our third lockdown in Ontario, as well as teaching online, has given me some pause to dwell upon our next generation of mentors/leaders as the times necessitate. In 2021, there has been a lot to celebrate nationally in the JC community with the news of artist, curator and activist Bryce Kanbara (Hamilton, ON) winning a Governor General's Visual Arts Award and fashion executive Sansei Susan Langdon (Toronto), whose parents were interned …
Pandemic times: teleworking and digital code
June 18, 2021 • Enrique Higa Sakuda
In addition to the pain of losing a loved one, there is also confusion if the death was unexpected and you are not prepared to deal with the situation. What procedures must be followed, who to notify first? The disorientation is accentuated in this situation marked by the coronavirus, plagued by restrictions, new protocols and comings and goings of the authorities, who first establish that the cremation of bodies is mandatory and then go back, or who prohibit wakes, authorize …
COVID-19 and the unsung heroes
June 14, 2021 • Katsuo Higuchi
All countries in the world, almost without exception, have been painfully suffering the effects of the terrible Covid-19 pandemic. Some more, some less, but none went unscathed. And we don't know how and when it will end. In my country, Brazil, the situation is very serious, very serious! So far, less than 20% of the population has been vaccinated and, to make matters worse, the vaccine is running out, with no chance of resumption due to the ineptitude of our …
How UNICEF Information Helps Us Observe Nikkei Children Living Through a Pandemic and Economic Crisis
May 25, 2021 • Tuney-Tosheia P. McDaniels
While I was observing and communicating with Japanese UNICEF Advocates on the street, some questions came to my mind: —Do the current pandemic and economic challenges affect the Nikkei communities in different countries the same way? How do the Nikkei communities in different countries perceive economic challenges, racism, prejudice, and even vaccinations? —For example, do Japanese Peruvians, Japanese Columbians, or Japanese Mexicans face more challenges than Japanese Americans, Japanese Canadians, Japanese Brazilians, or the Japanese in Europe? Or all groups …
Japanese Canadian Dance Artist Jennifer Aoki on Adapting and Being Creative During the Pandemic
May 10, 2021 • Kelly Fleck
VANCOUVER — Beautiful, otherworldly domes, filled with artistic displays of lanterns, light, tulle, and wings, illuminated downtown Vancouver this March. Called “The Love Bubble Project,” the pop-up art installation included over a dozen “love bubbles” placed around downtown Vancouver for the public to discover each Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. On Fridays, the love bubbles came to life with dancers performing inside. Within one of those love bubbles, creating improvised dance by responding to the music, people passing by, and the …
Keeping Family Ties
May 3, 2021 • Merton Chinen
For some of us, an unexpected side effect of COVID-19 has been the increased importance of relationships. As the epidemic progressed, keeping in touch with loved ones has proven challenging. But for Rex Ishikawa’s family, virtual gatherings have been a weekly practice for the past seven years – first via Skype and more recently by Zoom. Several years ago, Rex moved back to Käne‘ohe after living in Oklahoma for 28 years. He currently helps care for his 93-year-old father, Walter, …