When Vancouver’s City Opera set out to pair Sumidagawa with Curlew River for their 2010 season—a feat that had only been undertaken twice before, once in London and once in New York City—the intention was to mount the original noh version of the piece. In the process of finding a noh company that could perform the work, they discovered the existence of Nakajima’s butoh interpretation and made the decision to bring in Denise Fujiwara to perform it.

Working with Natsu Nakajima changed my life. Because butoh is a different paradigm from western forms of contemporary dance, I really had to start over from zero. I had to go to a ‘beginner mind’ and body. This was a terrifying and wonderful process.

I believe I heard the term “visible minority” (hereafter VM) for the first time when I moved to Canada. Back in the old days, expressions like “people of colour” were used to distinguish minorities from white people. So an expression like “VM” which cleverly skirts around the issue of skin color to me smacks of Canada, a nation second to none in her efforts to eliminate racial discrimination. In the sense that it really means “visibly different from a white person,” the expression is still based on the perspective of …

Broadcaster Margaret Gallagher serves up a taste of the most delicious event on the Spring Arts calendar
In Chez D (May 31, Gudrun Tasting Room, Richmond), writer, broadcaster and musician Margaret Gallagher will join a unique roster of artists trading their artistic tools for chef hats to create a tantalizing feast for the senses. In this event commissioned by the Powell Street Festival, artists will plate delicacies in a five-course menu that pays homage to ethnic roots, migratory paths (the ‘D’ stands for ‘Diaspora’), new lands, family restaurants and neighbourhood survival …

Hi everyone!
Congratulations to Richard Murakami from Salt Spring Island, who, along with 44 other British Columbians, received a 2010 British Columbia Community Achievement Award at a gala ceremony in Victoria, BC, on April 28th. Richard was selected as a result of his many acts of generosity and kindness, while supporting youth, the hospital foundation, and the establishment of Heiwa Peace Park on Salt Spring Island. Most noteworthy was the donation of land for the construction of Murakami Gardens, a recently completed 27 unit affordable social housing project. The Murakami’s fight …

Isn’t this Spring weather lovely! The warm sunshine and all the beautiful flowers just making the garden come alive!

My strawberry rhubarb plants are getting to be long enough to make this muffin and it’s really good!

Recently I read in the newspapers in both the United States and Canada that the Salish Sea was to be designated the new name of the waters of Puget Sound in the States and the Georgia Strait in Canada.  Then I read in the Vancouver Sun that the Queen Charlotte Islands were to receive an additional name of Haida Gwaii.  If these names can be changed or added to, I don’t see why Don Island and Lion Island can’t be changed to Oikawa Island and Sato Island in honor of …

I always read Mr. Watanabe’s column with pleasure, as he has such a unique yet universal point of view! The column in the current Bulletin (April 21010) is no exception. Having to do things a certain way because otherwise “the neighbours might talk unfavourably about our family” is the way I was raised . . . not in Japan but in Southern France. My maternal grandma raised this concern to such a fine art that she would always tidy up her house before going to bed. She worried that, should …

Tribute to an Important Nisei Pioneer
By Frank Moritsugu
Misao Fujiwara (née Yoneyama), who passed away last month in Langley, BC, was a Vancouver-born prewar nisei whose professional and community achievements in Toronto deserve to be better known. As many know, Dr. Misao Fujiwara became an obstetrician/gynecologist in Toronto. And her husband Dr. Wesley Fujiwara, who predeceased her in 2000, was a pediatrician. And both became strong activists in the Japanese Canadian community.
(Although wife Betty and I were fortunate enough to get to know Misao and Wes, most of the details that …

Children attended school in Cumberland, and also attended Japanese language school six days a week. Over the years a number of Japanese merchants established businesses in Cumberland proper and Japanese women had a traditional tea garden at Comox Lake from 1914-1939.