Canadian Nikkei Series
The inspiration for this new Canadian Nikkei interview series is the observance that the gulf between the pre-WW2 Japanese Canadian community and the Shin Ijusha one (post-WW2) has grown tremendously.
Being “Nikkei” no longer means that one is only of Japanese descent anymore. It is far more likely that Nikkei today are of mixed cultural heritage with names like O’Mara or Hope, can’t speak Japanese and have varying degrees of knowledge about Japan.
It is therefore the aim of this series to pose ideas, challenge some and to engage with other like-minded Discover Nikkei followers in a meaningful discussion that will help us to better understand ourselves.
Canadian Nikkei will introduce you to many Nikkei who I have had the good fortune to come into contact with over the past 20 years here and in Japan.
Having a common identity is what united the Issei, the first Japanese to arrive in Canada, more than 100 years ago. Even in 2014, it is the remnants of that noble community that is what still binds our community today.
Ultimately, it is the goal of this series to begin a larger online conversation that will help to inform the larger global community about who we are in 2014 and where we might be heading to in the future.
Stories from this series
Mark Ikeda Interview: Artful Expressions of “Sansei” in Movement and Words - Part 1
July 18, 2017 • Norm Masaji Ibuki
How do you express your Nikkeiness? I know that when I teach I am able to emphasize human and civil rights. I also make a point of referring to periods in history when we (e.g., including Punjabi, First Nations, African Canadians, Chinese) were all targets of racial discrimination in Canada. As Nikkei teachers we need to be cognisant of this deep responsibility to make sure that our Japanese Canadian (JC) experience is not forgotten in the competition for media attention. …
Province of BC Designates 56 Historical JC Sites: Interview with Lorene Oikawa and Sherri Kajiwara - Part 3
May 31, 2017 • Norm Masaji Ibuki
Read Part 2 >> Can you please talk a bit about your own family history? Internment and where? How and when did they eventually get back to coastal BC? Lorene: My mother’s side of the family, the Dois, came to Canada in the 1800s from Hiroshima and settled in Cumberland on Vancouver Island. My grandfather, Kenichi Doi, was born in Cumberland. He worked in the mines, in the mills, and as a faller. He loved baseball and was a pitcher …
Province of BC Designates 56 Historical JC Sites: Interview with Lorene Oikawa and Sherri Kajiwara - Part 2
May 30, 2017 • Norm Masaji Ibuki
Read Part 1 >> From my distant vantage point of Ontario, it seems that there are several initiatives out there in BC that are aimed at righting certain wrongs that Redress didn’t fully address. Any comment? Lorene: I think being the historic “home” to Japanese Canadians we are more mindful of the injustice that happened here. Although not everyone in our community knows our history. Families typically don’t share their stories. Our stories need to be told. I remember going …
Province of BC Designates 56 Historical JC Sites: Interview with Lorene Oikawa and Sherri Kajiwara - Part 1
May 29, 2017 • Norm Masaji Ibuki
“I asked one young Japanese Canadian university student why he got involved and he said there were two small paragraphs he read in school, and it only caught his attention because it’s part of his heritage. He was shocked because he never knew what happened to Japanese Canadians so he started to search out information. He said that most students would skim over it and not learn our history.” —Lorene Oikawa, president of the Greater Vancouver Japanese Canadian Citizens’ Association …
Toronto JCCC Founder's Exhibition Honours Artists
March 9, 2017 • Norm Masaji Ibuki
“Through the power of art, we can connect, share, make sense of our community - and find joy. The art gallery is an essential component providing space for the artistic action.” — Canadian artist Michiko Nakamura Until March 30th, the Toronto Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre is featuring the art of some of its ‘founding’ artists, including: Banri Nakamura, Michiko Nakamura, Aiko Suzuki, Ken Fukushima, Walter Sunahara and Yoshiko Sunahara. When architectural plans for the new building at 6 Garamond Court …
Landscapes of Injustice: A Project Aims to Recover What Really Happened to Japanese Canadian-Owned Property During the 1940s - Part 2
Dec. 27, 2016 • Norm Masaji Ibuki
Read Part 1 >> Norm Ibuki (NI): From your research, what was it like to be Japanese Canadian in those days before, during, and immediately after WW2? Dr. Jordan Ross-Stanger (JRS): This is a really big question, and one that I want to be really careful in answering. Japanese Canadians, of course, were very diverse, and the circumstances of their uprooting and internment varied. Internment also changed over time during its long duration. A statistic that I first read in …
