Kelly Fleck
Kelly Fleck is the editor of the Nikkei Voice, a Japanese-Canadian national newspaper. A recent graduate of Carleton University's journalism and communication program, she volunteered with the paper for years before taking on the job. Working at Nikkei Voice, Fleck has her finger on the pulse of Japanese Canadian culture and community.
Updated July 2018
Stories from This Author
Journalist Mary Ito’s Dive into the World of Podcasting
May 31, 2022 • Kelly Fleck
Toronto broadcast journalist Mary Ito never planned to jump into the podcasting world, but now listeners can catch her on two new podcasts, The CRAM Podcast and Passage to Wonderland. The former connects listeners to bold new ideas, and the latter invites listeners to put away their busy days and unwind with passages from exceptional pieces of literature. Ito’s dive into podcasting began with the endless delays from the pandemic on the second instalment of CRAM, a festival she launched …
Past and Present Collide in Artist Kellen Hatanaka's Exhibit SAFE | HOME
April 7, 2022 • Kelly Fleck
STRATFORD — In artist Kellen Hatanaka‘s installation SAFE | HOME at the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre is sculptures of sports memorabilia for the legendary Asahi Baseball Team. A teapot with the team’s colours and ASAHI name emblazoned across the front. An action figure with dark hair under a red striped baseball cap. An Asahi ’93 Championships commemorative bottle opener. But of course, the Vancouver Asahi never won a 1993 championship. The club disbanded in 1941 when Japanese Canadians …
Tastes Like Memories: From Sea and Shore Steveston's Favorite Japanese Canadian Recipes
March 20, 2022 • Kelly Fleck
STEVESTON — Inspiration struck for the community cookbook, From the Sea and Shore: Steveston’s Favourite Japanese Canadian Recipes, from the monthly Nikkei seniors’ luncheons at the Steveston Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (SJCCC). The luncheons were a way for Japanese Canadian seniors to connect and reminisce with old friends over a home-cooked Japanese Canadian meal. Volunteers would cook Japanese Canadian comfort foods like kabocha, teriyaki salmon, and okayu. As the seniors’ Sansei children arrived to drive them home, the smells drifting …
Asahi Player/Manager Roy Yamamura Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame
March 10, 2022 • Kelly Fleck
ST. MARY’S, Ont. — Legendary Asahi player/manager and MVP award-winning shortstop Roy Yamamura was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum during a virtual ceremony on Nov. 16. While the entire Asahi team was inducted into the hall of fame in 2003, Yamamura is the first individual player to be honoured with the distinction. The hall of fame’s Class of 2021 included 16 individuals and one team, all inducted posthumously as the hall recognized trailblazers overlooked in …
Kimiko’s Pearl Tells One Family Story Over Four Generations
Jan. 16, 2022 • Kelly Fleck
ST. CATHARINES — Japanese Canadian history has been thoughtfully explored through literature, poetry, film, theatre, and journalism, but Bravo Niagara!’s production of Kimiko’s Pearl explores this history in a completely new way—ballet. Performed by the principal dancers of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet with original music and choreography, Kimiko’s Pearl shines a spotlight on the Japanese Canadian experience and honours the community’s resilience by telling the story of one family over four generations. The ballet, currently in development, was produced and …
The Story Behind the Garden at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre
Jan. 4, 2022 • Kelly Fleck
TORONTO — When the construction concludes on a landscape project, the work only just begins. While a building architect works with steel, wood, and brick, landscape architects work with plants, trees, shrubs, and flowers, which requires maintenance and care, explains Scott Fujita, the landscape designer behind much of the garden space at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre. “Usually for a building architect, after the construction finishes, that’s it. But landscape [design] is different. After the construction is finished, that’s the …
Ruth Ozeki’s Book of Compassion and Empathy
Dec. 24, 2021 • Kelly Fleck
During the book tour for A Tale for the Time Being, author Ruth Ozeki shared how her characters speak to her when she writes. Speaking to a crowd of readers at a library, she explained that she hears the tone, attitude, and inflections of characters’ voices in her head. An audience member asked Ozeki to compare the experience of hearing characters’ voices inside her head to that of his son, who heard voices outside his head and was considered unwell. …
Randy Kusano Inducted into the Monitoba Basketball Hall of Fame
Aug. 24, 2021 • Kelly Fleck
WINNIPEG — Considered one of the most successful high school coaches in Manitoba’s history, with an over 45-year coaching career, Randy Kusano was inducted into the Manitoba Basketball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2021. “It’s very special, it’s a sport I’ve been involved in for a long, long time,” Kusano tells Nikkei Voice in an interview. “I’m a bit of a history buff when it comes to basketball in Winnipeg and Manitoba. I know who has gone in before me, …
Brenda Kamino Shares Grandmother's Incredible 100-year Life at Toronto Fringe Festival
Aug. 11, 2021 • Kelly Fleck
TORONTO — In a 23-minute play, actress Brenda Kamino explores the incredible 100-year life of her maternal grandmother, Hina Yoshida. Written by and starring Kamino, At the End of the Day explores Hina’s life through moments of upheaval. From leaving Hiroshima for an arranged marriage, to her life being uprooted during the Second World War, to the impending closure of her idyllic retirement home. “Her life was an amazing journey,” Kamino tells Nikkei Voice in an interview. “I want [audiences] …
Kiyoko Sugimoto and Sakura Yoshida Explore Mixed-Race Identity in New Podcast
July 1, 2021 • Kelly Fleck
VANCOUVER — Kiyoko Sugimoto and Sakura Yoshida take a deep dive into what it means to be a mixed-race Japanese Canadian millennial in their podcast, The Hafu It. In the weekly, independently-produced, and unscripted podcast, the two women explore topics that range from the Japanese Canadian experience to current affairs and pop culture through humour and personal anecdotes. The podcast, which launched in December, recently wrapped up its first season at the end of May. The season ended with a …
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