Happy New Year to our members, readers, advertisers and amazing volunteers. With the noughties behind us (a somewhat unappealing name, but I’ve yet to hear anything better), we head into a decade that promises to be as wild and filled with uncertainty as the last one. As for The Bulletin, we enter our 52nd year with an ongoing mandate of serving the Canadian Nikkei community with news, commentary and community profiles. Thanks to everyone for your continued support.

File under Rats Deserting a Sinking Ship
Not to be outdone by the tabloids, …

In October, 2008, I travelled to Japan with my son Derek. It was on our last night in Tokyo, at my older sister Atsuko’s home, that the subject of Takaharu’s death came up. I wondered aloud if the military training that Takaharu underwent in the Japanese Army could have changed him. I could tell that Atsuko was very disappointed that such a thought could ever enter my mind. She was dismayed when she learned that our parents had not told us about the circumstances of Takaharu’s death. She said to me “I don’t understand how our parents could be ashamed of Takaharu. He lived an exemplary, honorable life and I am proud to be his relative.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
Here we are—2010 is here, with our Winter Olympics right around the corner. Living in Richmond for over 53 years, we are proud to have the beautiful Speed Skating Oval. Excitement is mounting!
January 1st is a important day in Japan. My mother said they celebrated for the first three days. While she was living, she insisted on cleaning the house from top to bottom from a week before and started making yokan and anything else she could start preparing ahead of time.She made konnyyaku too with lye. …

Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship
By Tatsuo Kage
In November 2009, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) of the Federal Government introduced a new Citizenship Study Guide titled Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship. Compared with the old guide, A Look at Canada, published over a decade ago, this new 63-page guide provides more details on topics such as the British Royal Family, Canada’s military services, Canada’s history and citizens’ responsibilities. Starting from March 2010, citizenship applicants will be tested on the knowledge presented in this new guide.
In …

Do you know there is a genuine Torii Gate from Japan in Canada? The Torii is a common sight in Japan but is unique in North America. Yes, there is one in Campbell River on Vancouver Island. It is located in Sequoia Park right across from the Museum in Campbell River. In the Museum the Matsunaga family’s cod boat the “Soyokaze” which was confiscated during World War II is on display. The Torii was a gift from the people of Ishikari, Hokkaido to celebrate ten years of twinning. It is …

Cy Hisao Saimoto was born in Steveston, BC on April 21, 1928, one of ten children born to Kunimatsu and Kiku Saimoto, who had immigrated to Canada in the early 1900s. The family went to a self-supporting camp in Minto Mines, BC during the Second World War and upon returning to the coast Cy’s father became involved in the re-establishment committee of the Vancouver Japanese Language School—the only building returned to the Nikkei community following the lifting of wartime restrictions in 1949. Cy would accompany his father to meetings and …

As 2009 winds down, it’s time to take a collective deep breath. Just try not to take in any water while you’re doing it—the seas have been rather rough of late. Between the icecaps melting, the economy tanking, and the H1N1 virus spreading like a bad rumour, it sometimes seems that the waves are breaking over the bow faster than we can bail.
Yes, it’s been a tumultuous and sometimes depressing year in many ways, the election of Barrack Obama notwithstanding. While the election of the first African American (well, mixed-race) …

To the editor
I just wanted to thank you for publishing Dr. Henry Shimizu’s account of his visit to New Denver and the site of some of the other internment camps in the B.C. interior last fall in The Bulletin. I had read the account and used it to help me plan my own first ever trip to New Denver this September as part of the research for my own book. It was a remarkable visit for me as both my mother’s and father’s families had been sent to New Denver …

One lesson that I have learned is that racial bigotry and discrimination is still prevalent in our society. We Japanese Canadian have been accepted as equals as we have integrated with other ethnic groups, but I fear for the backlash against the Chinese and Indo Canadians who live in close-knit communities as in Richmond and Surrey. In Japan I saw discrimination against the Koreans and the “eta” people and I was able to empathize with them because of my own wartime experience.

By Sean McIntyre – Gulf Islands Driftwood
reprinted by permission

Richard Murakami has a poem by Mother Theresa hanging on the wall of his Rainbow Road garage.
It speaks of hard work, modesty and dealing with adversity.
The words pretty much sum up Murakami’s philosophy and character.
Perseverance helped him rebuild his life on the island after the federal government seized Japanese-Canadian owned assets during the Second World War.
Kindness and generosity have encouraged him to help other islanders overcome hardships of their own.
And success has helped him become a member of the island’s business elite.
Of …