Yonsei Generation. Japanese,Canadian mother / Mexican father.

Hajimemashite! My name is Mimi Okabe, and I immigrated to Canada when I was 11 months old. I identify as bicultural and bilingual, though I would like to be a polyglot one day! I hold a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of Alberta, where I've taught literature, pop culture and Japanese. As a scholar of Japanese cultural studies, my research and expertise lie in neo-Meiji and neo-Victorian adaptations of Sherlock Holmes! I am also one of the founders of Japanese for Nikkei, an online learning and teaching platform specializing in reconnecting Nikkei with their heritage language. I hope to show my support as a volunteer by writing articles in both English and Japanese and in any way Discover Nikkei sees fit! To learn more about me, please consider visiting mimiokabe.com and japanesefornikkei.com Yoroshiku onegai shimasu!

Immigrated to Canada in 1986. BA in Sociology from Waseda University. A freelance writer for the Japanese media; a regular columnist for Vancouver-based JCCA Bulletin and Fraser Journal since 2012. Former Japanese editor of the Nikkei Voice (1989-2012). Co-founder of the Katari Japanese Storytellers since 1994. Lecturer on the Nikkei history at various universities in Japan. His translation Horonigai Shori, the Japanese edition of Bittersweet Passage by Maryka Omatsu was awarded The 4th Canadian Prime Minister Award for Publishing in 1993.

George Doi is a Nikkei born in a small mining town in British Columbia, Canada. He was just 9 years old when his family was uprooted and interned in Bay Farm camp. Now 88 years old, he still has sharp memories of those times and the hardships endured there. Upon retirement, George wrote a self-published volume chronicling the years during and after the war. Originally intended just as a family history, the book has been distributed more widely to Nikkei centres and places where historians may access the information. He has expanded on the book with shorter articles and stories which were published in the Nelson Star newspaper. He also wrote of a recent milestone achieved -- a cumulative walk of 40,075 km or the distance equal to the earth's circumference. That story was picked up by Black Press and featured in the newspapers around the province.

Terry Watada is a prolific writer. He has four poetry collections, two novels, a short story collection, two histories on Buddhism in Canada, two manga and two children's biographies in print. Besides contributing to Discover Nikkei, he contributes to the Vancouver Bulletin on a monthly basis. He looks forward to the publication of his fifth poetry collection, "The Four Sufferings", and his third novel, "The Mysterious Dreams of the Dead", in 2020. He was a prolific musician and songwriter. He has seven albums of original songs to his credit.

Jun Cura-Bongolan is a Filipino yonsei born and raised in Toronto, Canada. His late grandmother was a war-displaced Japanese Filipina that had been separated from her prewar Issei father following the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II. His family's tragic history encouraged him to pursue Anthropology with a Certificate in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies at York University, and continues to influence his work in community organizing around social justice issues. Currently, he is the founder and President of the Filipino-Japanese Descendants Association in Canada.

sansei