Funding the Arts . . .
by Jay Hirabayashi
The BC Government has slashed funding to the arts by 80 to 90 percent over the next two years. 40% of those cuts will be to the BC Arts Council, which funds companies like Kokoro Dance. Gaming funds through Direct Access grants will be cut completely by next year. We will lose $50,000 in funding support from Gaming alone. We will taxed further, when the HST is implemented in July, for things that previously were not taxed such as tickets to arts events. …

Tenth Anniversary of the Vancouver International Dance Festival

We started the VIDF to strategically develop a sustaining audience for dance and to put Vancouver on the international map of dance. Our company, Kokoro Dance, had developed its own audience but its numbers had peaked with the 1,848 people that came to see Sunyata in 1997. Audiences for dance were dwindling after that high water mark. Part of the reason was that there were increasingly infrequent occasions when touring companies would pass through Vancouver. Vancouver audiences and dance artists needed to be …

When we examine the arts, we generally talk in terms of vision, of creativity, even entertainment value. Sometimes the arts thrill us. Sometimes they infuriate us. Hopefully they make us feel. What we don’t often talk about, or even think about, is arts and culture as a component of the business sector and the economy. If we do stop to think in terms of dollars and cents, the image of the starving artist comes readily to mind. Indeed, many artists live close to the bone, often supplementing their art-derived income …

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, …

Our membership is invaluable to us as a community organization. Each annual membership, along with the funds from our advertisers, provides us with the means to support the day-to-day functions of the GVJCCA, providing programs and services, and publishing The Bulletin each month. We encourage our members to keep their membership up to date. With our economy in such rough shape, we realize that sometimes this may be difficult. Please check the mailing label on the back cover for the expiry date. Your membership provides The Bulletin as an invaluable source of information about the Japanese Canadian community.

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 …

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) …

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 …

This ambitious first feature by Mariko Tetsuya interweaves manga with the story of a budding boxer to create a double world, half fantasy, half reality. Tetsuya has a talent for creating heart-pounding suspense.