In Singapore, when I was working in the war crimes unit, a Japanese prisoner who was a high ranking officer was allowed to go before a firing squad instead of going to the gallows, because it was considered to be more honourable for a soldier to die by firing squad.
I recall Mrs Nishi telling me that a wounded soldier put out his hands to thank her at a Remembrance Day ceremony held at the Japanese Canadian War Memorial in Stanley Park. She thinks he could be the wounded soldier Hikataro had on his back when he stepped on the mine and got killed. This was in the thirties.
In restoring the cenetaph, we will once again fulfill the hopes of Corporal Sainosuke Kubota, a veteran of the 50th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. On his last official function as the secretary of No 9 Legion (defunct) on September 30, 1958, he said…
Sheltered from the rain under a makeshift canopy and tucked in the corner behind the stage, I did not have a good view of Rev. Bernice King or the other speakers, but as I listened and joined in the walk, I was reminded of our own rally for redress on Parliament Hill twenty-five years ago in April 1988.
We have seen the long-term impact of residential schools. There are devastated communities where there is incest, suicides, violence and severe alcohol and drug addiction. Some First Nations people spend their lives in prisons, or on the streets of our towns and cities. The inter-generational impact stemming from residential schools is immense.
Japanese Canadian seniors were sitting in the packed City of Vancouver council chambers on the morning of September 25, 2013 to hear a long overdue apology.
“With humility and respect, the City of Vancouver formally apologizes for its complicity, its inaction, and for failing to protect her residents of Japanese descent.”
November 11th, 2013. Japanese Canadian Cenotaph in Stanley Park. The memorial begins at 10:40am.
Chibi Taiko was formed by Katari Taiko alumnus, Shinobu Homma, on his return from Toronto in the autumn of 1993 so that his daughter, Kayo, would have an opportunity to drum with children of her own age.
November 7 to 9 at the Orpheum Annex Theatre, east and west meet dramatically in Yoyoi Theatre Movement’s production of Medea (Rokujo), a full-length...
Kumidaiko grew out of both festival drumming and the more religiously-focused temple and shrine drumming but is inexorably infused with elements of jazz. As the story goes, Oguchi was sought out after a piece of written music was found in an old miso warehouse owned by one of his relatives.
Every October for the past 18 years, readers of The Georgia Straight have voted Kokoro Dance Vancouver’s best dance company. Not bad for a...
When the Carnegie Community Centre and Vancouver Moving Theatre conceived the Heart of the City Festival in 2004, they were looking to build on...
