This summer, interpretive signage will be erected on the sites of the Lemon Creek and Popoff  internment camps. Developed by Kaslo’s Ian Fraser (developer of the Langham Museum and the New Canadian  show) with funding assistance from the Kootenay Columbia Cultural Alliance and the Columbia Basin Trust, the signage will be installed along the Slocan Valley Rail Trail—the old CPR Slocan Valley rail spur up the Valley.

Lemon Creek was the largest internment camp in the Slocan Valley from 1943 through 1946. It was located on private, leased land and there is nothing there to hint of its existence. Through the years, generations of Japanese Canadian visitors, including many of the 1800 internees and their descendents, have been disappointed to find no remnant of this major part of their past.  As of this summer, that will change for Lemon Creek and Popoff.  It is hoped that further funding might become available to commemorate Bay Farm and Slocan City interpretation and benches in the future.

While the signage itself is fully funded, the Society is soliciting donations from the Japanese Canadian community to assist in construction of sheltered benches and kiosks along the trail at the Lemon Creek and Popoff sites in commemoration of these internment camps. The attractive long-life structures will be well-designed, multifunctional and Kootenay-made.  Each of the two  commemorative structures are estimated to cost $2500. They will serve to protect the signage from winter weather, provide seating and an educational meditation or rest stop for visitors to the Internment Camp sites and for the many general users of the trail. It is expected that the kiosk/benches and signage will be dedicated in an onsite community event this coming July. Bench and kiosk donors will be recognized with permanent brass plates.

The Slocan Valley Rail Trail is the most popular recreational resource in the Slocan Valley. It enjoys extensive all-season use by hikers, bikers, skiers, birders, equestrians, naturalists and explorers from throughout the Slocan Valley and beyond.  For more information, visit the Slocan Valley Rail Trail website: slocanvalleyrailtrail.ca

Funders of the sheltering bench/kiosks will be acknowledged onsite. If you wish to contribute suggestions as to improvements/revisions/corrections to the interpretive content, please contact Ian Fraser:  email ifraser@netidea.com. If you wish to sponsor a bench or kiosk onsite (opportunities from $500), please contact Slocan Valley Heritage Trail Society President Rory Lindsay: email: rpkl1948@yahoo.ca or ph. 250-355-2397.

Students from Tohoku Gakuin University Photo: BC-JERF-Japan Love/Koichi Saito

By Kozue Matsumoto

BC-JERF had a precious experience this past August when a group of students from Tohoku Gakuin University in the Sendai area came to Vancouver. The primary purpose of their stay was to study English. However, since their hometown was heavily damaged by the earthquake and tsunami in March, they also wanted to share their stories about Sendai as well as thank Vancouverites for their support. Hearing their story, BC-JERF decided to help them to deliver their message to Vancouverites.

A couple of young Japanese groups, JaVan Gospel Choir and Japan Love, also came to support the students from Sendai, who are about their age but having a much tougher six months. These groups are a few of most enthusiastic groups who supported Japan with BC-JERF for the last six months.

This was an opportunity to bring together young people from both sides of the Pacific: the ones who have been supporting and the ones who received the support finally met.

What we did was two street donations at the corner of Georgia Street and Granville Street at the end of August. We were a bit worried how much attention we would be able to receive from the public since it had been almost six months from the earthquake and tsunami. Despite our worries, we had great success. A lot of Vancouverites stopped by and donated their coins and bills. We also had a lot of BC-JERF community members helping us out. Some worked with us, others dropped by to show their support. Many of them stayed with us till the end.

Takaaki Saito, the leader of the group, remembers those Vancouver days, “What I felt the most throughout this activity is the generosity of Vancouverites. They stopped by for Japan, a country on the other side of the Pacific, and I received a lot of kind words from them. I feel that this may be the first time after the earthquake that I was able to feel the warmth of people so strongly. This was such a moment to feel the warmth of people outside of Japan.”

He also shared with me the current situation of Tohoku after over six months: “We have almost finished cleaning the mess after the tsunami, and we are now working so hard for the economic recovery. The issues related with nuclear power plants would take a lot longer time; however, we, the Tohoku people, are trying to go forward into the future.

“Although there will be a huge difference in the time of recovery among each prefecture within Tohoku area, we are planning a steady recovery process from where we can. Harmful rumours are causing huge damages, but we won’t be beaten by such rumours but keep going with our Tohoku spirit and power.”

We raised $2,358.50 in total and handed out 2,800 copies of pamphlets to deliver messages about the current situation of the affected area to Vancouverites during the two days (four hours in total).

by Linda Ohama

January 2012, Onomichi, Japan

“Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu.”

That is what everyone is saying here, the first time they greet you in the New Year.

2011 is now behind us. The year will always be remembered as the year of the Great Tohoku Earthquake for the Japanese.

And 2012 will be a year for Japan to continue the massive clean up and rebuilding of Tohoku and Japan, and for the Tohoku people to carry on rebuilding their lives.

And they will.

After experiencing my first oshogatsu in Japan, I now understand so much more about the culture, the Japanese, myself and even Tohoku. What is the strength and joy that carries a person through time? It has been an amazing experience to feel.

A friend warned me that Christmas would not be that special here in Japan, but to watch out….because on December 26, suddenly everything would shift overnight to an exciting energy preparing for the New Year’s oshogatsu celebrations.

This is true. Christmas in Japan is not like Christmas in Canada. Yes, there are decorations and gifts for sale in the department stores and shops . . . the commercial part of the season, and the line-ups for KFC in lieu of the roast turkey or goose dinner, and the strawberry shortcake in place of fruitcake. Stockings are hung by the young people, but on the whole, Christmas is just another day in Japan as business and lives continue their normal routines.

For me, it was a time when I missed my family the most . . . but I got through it okay with the help of skype (the internet).

This photo is from my July stay in Onagawa when I was traveling through Tohoku. I camped out with the temporary tent shelter families that lost their homes to the tsunami in Onagawa. During the day, I was working with the children who painted pictures and wrote words about what they wanted to say through the cloth letters. The best part was at night when everyone went together to the portable ofuro to bath in the deep hot water. It was set up by the Jieitai: the Japanese Ground Self-Defence Force. Even in the sweltering soggy heat of July when it was unbearably hot, the hot ofuro was something to look forward to. Things like that made the Tohoku people stay strong.

During my lectures at universities in Japan this year, I began to realize another thing as we often discussed Tohoku in some of the classes. Listening to the young university students’ (outside of Tohoku) concerns, most times they expressed a feeling of helplessness, even shame . . . and a deep sadness and worry. They could put their coins into the donation boxes at the convenience stores, but they still wanted to do something more.

Initiating action is not a strong point of the Japanese, including the young university students. But once an opportunity is given for them to express themselves, they go at it with all their heart and strength. This is what I realized during this past year.

During the early December lectures, we came up with a small plan for these students to take some action. The plan was to send special gift packages to young people in Tohoku for Christmas. Since the numbers for Tohoku are so large, we chose the young people of a temporary housing community from Onagawa, Miyage prefecture whose town was completely destroyed except for a few buildings on the tops of hills.

Last July, I was in Onagawa working with the young people and the Canada-Tohoku Cloth Letter project. Through a contact at the Onagawa emergency center, I was now able to get the numbers of young people for each age group beginning with 0-3 year-olds, up to 14-18 year-olds living in the temporary housing community.

I posted this information to university classes, with a list of suggested items (handmade or store bought scarves, gloves, chocolates, gum, cookies, treats), my Onomichi address as the gathering point, and a specific deadline for these things to reach me.

As the deadline approached, my living room suddenly became full of boxes and packages from students and professors from all over Japan: Tokyo, Gifu, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Kochi, and Onomichi. It was incredible what these students and teachers did.

There were over 70 scarves, with about 60 hand knit, colorful scarves (‘mufflers’ in Japanese) and the rest from Uniqulo!! (a favorite shopping place for young people). Tons of special chocolates, cookies and treats. 55 lip glosses and hand creams. It was truly amazing to see all the thoughtful gifts and messages.

As my Onomichi friends and I sat through the night in my living room, making up beautiful red ribboned gift packs, we laughed with joy as we imagined all the “Santa’s helpers” that came to be.

The next morning, three large cartons of tagged gifts were couriered to Onagawa for delivery Christmas morning (which turned out to be Christmas noon).

The card in each package was a full sheet of the many, many names and locations of everyone who was part of this little project. Just knowing the number of people and the number of places was awesome and inspiring . . . and surprising . . . this is what surprised the people in Onagawa the most!

Life is amazing. Resilient. Beautiful. Destructive. Forgiving. Simple. Strong. Fragile. Harsh. Gentle. And mostly inspiring.

Life is all these things and more.

This is what I have been learning this year in Japan.

A deep sense of peace takes over as you feel that you are one part of something much larger, as you experience the rituals and celebrations of oshogatsu. This is oshogatsu.

One ritual is to fly a kite. You work hard running against the wind to get your kite to go up in the air over and over again. Finally when it reaches high enough to just drift with a few light tugs on the string that connects it to you, there is a strange sense of peacefulness in the act. This is oshogatsu.

Happy New Year everyone.

May you also experience this feeling of peace and fulfillment.

Linda

In Hot Pepper, Air Conditioner and the Farewell Speech, a group of office temps plan a farewell party for a recently laid off colleague. Will a Motsu hot pot restaurant do? Someone is obviously tampering with the climate-control system and it’s getting out of hand. Should the police be notified? A coworker makes her farewell speech. What does it have to do with imaginary penguins and the death of a cicada?

Deadpan dialogue, layered with elaborate gestural vocabulary and brilliant choreography, sheds light on the subtext of professional office etiquette, water cooler gossip and Japanese corporate culture. Marked by distinct musical backdrops that include John Coltrane, Stereolab, and John Cage, each of the three scenes speak to the dark humour and despair of a generation that had been promised a brilliant future only to end up ensnared in fluorescent cubicles.

Hot Pepper, Air Conditioner and the Farewell Speech
chelfitsch (Tokyo, Japan)
Presented by the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival,
SFU Woodward’s and Centre A
January 26-28, 2012  8:00pm
Studio T, Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, 149 West Hastings Street.
Post-Show Reception and Conversation with Toshiki Okada, led by Makiko Hara.
Jan 26, 9:30pm at Centre A (2 West Hastings Street)
Post-Show Talkback
Jan 27, led by Kathleen Ritter

Stylishly idiosyncratic director Toshiki Okada is known for crafting sharp and visually vibrant works of theatre out of the most ordinary of interactions. Founded in 1997, his Tokyo-based company is called chelfitsch, a neologism that evokes a childish deformation of the English word “selfish.” A rising star on the international theatre scene, chelfitsch has presented shows in the major theatre festivals of Berlin, Vienna, Paris, Singapore and New York, returning to Vancouver after the 2009 PuSh Festival favourite Five Days in March.

“Strangely hypnotic… a three-part meditation on death, class, and listening for the sad poetry in the everyday… By creating a jarring juxtaposition between the physical score and the text, the forgettable is remembered, small details speak volumes.” Engine 28

In Japanese with English subtitles.

When Toshihiro Hamanaka came to Vancouver in the early nineties, with his wife and one-year-old daughter in tow, he only intended to stay for three years. Having trained and worked as a landscaper in Japan for thirteen years, he wanted to take the art of Japanese gardening overseas, curious as to how it would be received in Canada. Twenty years later, having sold his house in Japan and been accepted as a landed immigrant, he remains in Canada, running his own business, Toshi Landscaping Ltd.

In addition to his skills as a gardener, Toshihiro brought with him a love of kendo, the Japanese martial art based on traditional swordsmanship, or kenjutsu. He had taken up kendo in Japan while in middle school and had a deep appreciation for the discipline and life-long skills that come with the rigorous training and competition. When Tsuyoshi, his Canadian-born son, was in elementary school and looking for a sport to take up, Toshihiro suggested he try kendo, and he started training at the UBC Kendo Club. Not only did the young boy have initial success and decide to stick with it, his older sister Misato began training as well. Soon, all three were travelling to UBC to train together.

Three years ago, wanting to spend more time practicing kendo, the Tozenji Buddhist Temple, located near their home in Coquitlam, offered them the use of a training room. At first, the three trained on their own, but soon got requests from other kendokas to join them. In January 2010, they formalized under the name Tozenji Kendo Club and joined the Canadian Kendo Federation (CKF) and the British Columbia Kendo Federation (BCKF).

The Bulletin talked to Toshihiro Hamanaka and Tsuyoshi Hamanaka at the Tozenji Temple about their approach to kendo, with Tsuyoshi translating for his father. Misato was in Japan training as a member of the Canadian National Team at the time of the interview.

Interview: Toshihiro Hamanaka + Tsuyoshi Hamanaka

Hamanaka-sensei, were you trained as a teacher in Japan?
Toshihiro Hamanaka: I never trained to be an instructor but when I was practicing kendo back in Japan I was an assistant instructor in the dojo. My rank was high enough to teach but I never had my own dojo back in Japan.

Do you enjoy teaching kendo to young people?
TH: It’s challenging teaching kendo because you have to understand each student’s bad habits and be able to point them out. Also, kendo is a sport that you can’t really have fun in the beginning, unlike baseball or swimming. With kendo you first start off with foot-work—no bamboo sword, no gear. You just practice foot-work for the first few weeks or even a month. So it’s really boring for the beginners to start. I am always concerned about how I can make an environment that’s fun for the beginners even though what they’re doing is really boring. If I start letting them hold the bamboo stick too early then their foundation isn’t too solid and they won’t improve as much as they’re supposed to, so we cannot rush. In kendo the basics are really important. So it’s really hard to balance everything out.

You came to Canada with the intention of returning to Japan after three years—what made you decide to stay?
TH: When I first came my daughter was one year old and then my son was born here and they started growing and entered elementary school. I thought that education in Canada has some advantages, so for our family I thought it would be better for us to stay here. I applied to immigrate and was accepted.

How do you compare the Japanese and Canadian education systems?
TH: In Japanese education, everyone has to be same—the marks have to be average or higher. Students have to be good at everything like science, socials, everything. However in Canada they evaluate and value each individual’s strengths. For example, in Japan when they’re hiring people they will start picking out people based on the highest marks, say the top ten, but in Canada they say okay, we will start looking at people who have an average of 80 percent or higher, and they will start evaluating them based on their individual strengths and interests, not who has the higher marks.

Tsuyoshi: The example that my father always used with my sister and myself was an orthodontist. An orthodontist is judged based on the skill with his hands, but he always says, do you prefer going to the orthodontist who has good knowledge but who cannot even build a Lego robot? or an orthodontist who can build a really great Lego robot? Because he thinks that’s the difference between Japan and Canada’s education system. In Japan they will always take the person who has higher knowledge, even though their skills aren’t that good. But in Canada, they take people with more skills because they can get more knowledge later on. He really appreciates the Canadian school system because they value each individual’s strengths.

TH: Of course there’s good things and bad things about Japan and Canada!

Is there a connection between kendo and gardening?
TH: When a Japanese gardener makes a traditional garden it’s related to kendo because with both it’s really important to have a basic knowledge and to take a long time to train yourself and improve everything. It takes probably thirty years doing kendo to understand the true meaning of it. For people like my children who have done kendo for five or ten years, they can just do kendo based on their reflex—hitting the target as fast as they can. But kendo is known as a sport that you can continue even when you get old. People think that once you’re old you probably won’t be able to compete with the younger people but the interesting part of kendo is if you understand the true meaning of kendo and practice properly, then you can still compete with the young people and be at an equal level or even stronger than them. Stronger doesn’t mean coming first place in the tournament, but having a stronger spirit and having strong, solid kendo. Japanese gardening is also like that, because you cannot just look at a text book and look at the map and just make a garden. You have to understand each yard and what it needs. To know how to make a proper Japanese garden also takes twenty, thirty years of experience and knowledge. That’s my personal thought anyway, other people may not agree!

What is your philosophy of  kendo?
TH: Since kendo is considered a martial art it tends to become like, you have to win with power or you have to attack by being more aggressive or more violent in order to win the match. By doing that, you can probably win in the tournament or match right now, but in the future—five years later, ten years later—you won’t be able to win any more, you won’t be able to compete with other people. So our motto for Tozenji Kendo club is, don’t win with power, win with technique and skill.
Starting this year, we will probably have the new beginners start competing in tournaments. But we don’t want them to think too much about winning or losing the match—we want them to do proper kendo. Because even if you win the match, if you look really ugly, like being aggressive or pushy, then it doesn’t look very nice. But even if you lose, if you were fighting properly, then everyone will be satisfied.

Tsuyoshi: In Canada, there aren’t a lot of people doing kendo, so in Junior—15 years old and younger—boys and girls have to compete together. My sister, she’s really short. And when she was 13 years old she would have to compete with somebody 15 years old who’s a boy, and there’s no way that my sister can win against him with strength. So she didn’t win any matches for the first four years. But my dad kept telling her, don’t worry about losing or winning, just do proper kendo, and then eventually you will win more. Like she does now. When she was 15 years old, the last year of junior, she went to the finals in every tournament. And then once she became 16 years old and older, there’s a category just for women. The number of women competing in Canada is small, so even a girl who is 16 years old has to compete against someone who is in team Canada in the first round. But my sister still didn’t lose because she was doing proper kendo.
My father thinks that it probably takes five years for kendo to become fun. As the instructor he lets students hit him in practice. So say one of the student hits twenty times against him. If there are twenty kids, he can be hit 400 times during a practice. So he gets pretty bruised up. As an instructor, he is sacrificing himself to teach and let all the kids improve, so he’s always telling everyone to take each strike seriously and appreciate it. So that’s one of his policies. It’s really fortunate that everyone in this dojo is really supportive so we’re able to continue our club and have a really friendly environment.

What is the membership of Tozenji Kendo Club?
TH: We have about twenty members from eight years old to 50-something but the majority of the members are teenagers. Many of them are half Canadian, half Japanese.

Would you consider your father a traditional Japanese teacher?
Tsuyoshi: Probably not, I guess. Of course depending on the circumstance, he will put it in the instructor/student situation, but most of the time he’s trying to make it equal so everyone is really friendly and able to communicate more easily. Back when he was practicing in Japan, the instructor was really strict and the seniors in his school were also strict, like a typical Japanese club. And he was trying really hard like everyone else—he would be lying on the ground after each practice. But his question was, was he able to improve a lot? And he didn’t. If the students want him to make it really strict and hard then he can easily do it, because he experienced that and can do it himself. But he thinks the really important thing is to explain things to them verbally not physically. That is how he trained myself and my sister. So far, we’re continuing to improve and it’s really successful. Some clubs, in Canada and in Japan, the parents may think, that is a really Japanese style club, and they put their children in that club but the results may not be good after all. So he thinks that that’s not the best thing, and he himself thinks that he’s not a Japanese-style instructor.

So is this a philosophy he developed living in Canada, do you think?
Tsuyoshi: Even if he was still living in Japan he probably would have had the same thought. When he was in high school he really loved kendo so even after practicing in the high school club he was going to one of the town clubs at night to practice. The high school club was really strict and really harsh about training and practicing but the town club was really good at explaining stuff verbally and so on. So there are two types of instructors, even in Japan. And he thinks that he improved more from the town club.

What have you learned yourself from doing kendo?
Tsuyoshi: Since I was born here and I grew up here, I would have not had the knowledge about respecting elders and so on, compared to the Japanese people who grew up in Japan, so from doing kendo I was able to learn respect for my elders and so on. And also by doing kendo, I was able to become more confident in myself. Even for school speeches and so on, I was able to be confident and not be nervous in front of the public.

Is there a long term goal—ten or twenty years from now for Tozenji Kendo Club, or are you just taking it year by year?
TH: In kendo it’s really important to have a goal for the next practice, for the next month, one year, five years, ten years. It’s really important to have a goal individually and also as a club.

It must be really hard to operate a club, how do you manage it?
TH: We weren’t really intending to start our own club but some parents were really motivating us and they have been really supportive, so that’s how we were able to start and continue on till now. So we do really appreciate the families, and everyone else who supports us with fundraising and in other ways. We really love the situation right now and I believe everyone’s having fun.

Misato is on Team Canada?
TH: Yes. She’s in Japan right now training with the whole Canadian women’s team. Winning is really difficult. She’s still young so she’s still winning with her momentum, her spirit. I thinks that it’s really good experience for her to compete in the world championship.
A long term goal for Tozenji—do not win with the power, win with the skills—is related to the world championships. Right now our space is really limited, so we don’t want to expand our club, we want to keep it small, but have high-quality members. I think that everyone has a chance to try out to be part of Team Canada.

How do they assign rankings in  kendo?
Tsuyoshi: In kendo there are no belts, it’s just a rank that you get, a certificate. In western Canada they have a grading exam twice a year for three Dan and under and once a year for four Dan and up.

TH: One of the difficult parts of kendo is if you try to win in the tournament, then it’s really hard to get a higher rank. The judges doing the ranking are looking for you to do a proper, real true kendo, but in the tournament, as long as you hit the target you do get a point—but that’s not necessarily true kendo. In the tournament, if you get hit then you will lose, so you might end up bending your posture to dodge the attack and so on, which is not good for the true meaning of kendo. So if you get in the habit of bending your body or dodging, or attacking from the side, then in the grading exam you will fail.

So it’s not just that you hit but how you hit?
Tsuyoshi: How you hit, posture, spirit, and so on. So a really fun and interesting thing is that you can get a higher rank, even if you can’t win in the tournament. And some people can win the tournament but may not get the rank—but they still have fun winning in the match.

TH: The ideal is to do true kendo but still do well in tournaments, which is really hard.

www.tozenjikendoclub.com

“I’ve had to work hard enough for three generations in my time.” George Nitta

In 1977 and 1978, Strathcona residents Daphne Marlatt and Carole Itter embarked on an ambitious task: to document, through oral histories, the lives of the neighbourhood’s pioneer residents, most of them elderly. As one of the oldest and most diverse of Vancouver’s many neighborhoods, it holds an incredibly rich storehouse of memories that reflect the city’s immigrant experience. Once slated for demolition to make way for a proposed freeway into downtown, Strathcona had been saved by the determined efforts of its fiercely loyal residents and this dedication and passion is reflected in the stories told throughout Opening Doors in Vancouver’s East End: Strathcona, originally published in 1979 as part of the Sound Heritage program by the Province of BC through the BC Archives.

Going painstakingly from door to door with tape-recorder in hand, Marlatt and Itter spent hours with longtime Strathcona residents in their homes, collecting memories and stories from the neighbourhood. The end result is a fascinating glimpse into the early days of Vancouver and the people who gave it life and character.

The book stays true to its roots, with no attempt to sensationalize of glorify. In the blurb for Nora Hendrix, she is described as a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, who came to Vancouver in 1911 via Chicago and Seattle. One of her grandchildren, Jimi Hendrix, “became a noted musician in the 1960s.”

As Itter writes in a chapter called Staying Local, ‘This was no Utopia. This was the original core of Vancouver’s East End—a ghetto—by definition that “section of the city in which members of a minority group live because of social, legal or economic pressures.” It was, for example, a tough neighbourhood in the 1940s and 1950s for some teenagers who considered themselves a protective force and permitted few outsiders to walk safely through the area. And at times in the 1920s and 1930s, many families were raised and educated on the profits of home-scale bootlegging of wine and liquor, and madams and prostitutes knew their business. There was no money. There were pockets of wealth. There were and still are backyard vegetable gardens feeding households for most months of each year.’

One thing that is striking is the broad range of cultures and races represented the book, but this is no politically correct nod to multiculturalism—instead, it’s a reflection of a neighbourhood that has long sheltered, even welcomed, the disenfranchised, with little in the way of judgement.

The book is a fascinating read for anyone interested in the history of Vancouver, particularly the hard-scrabble years surrounding the Depression. As George Nitta, a third-generation Canadian citizen of Japanese descent born in 1903 says, “I’ve had to work hard enough for three generations in my time.”

Opening Doors has been out of print for years and is treasured by those lucky enough to own a copy. It was recently reprinted as the inaugural work in the 125 Legacy Books Collection, a series of 10 volumes slated to be released this year. The project, driven by municipal poet laureate Brad Cran and the Association of Book Publishers of BC, is dedicated to bringing back important out-of-print titles about Vancouver, in honour of the city’s 125th anniversary.

excerpt from Opening Doors:

Ivy Kaji McAdams was the daughter of an English nurse and a Japanese Canadian medical student serving overseas in World War One. She was born in Edmonton in 1920 and arrived in Vancouver in 1921.

Some of the tragedies that come out of that time were just incredible. I was friendly with the boy who was shot, Yosh Uno [January 16, 1942]. The family had this little grocery store on the corner of Fourth and Alberta and just eked out a living with it. His mother was in the store one day, they lived in the back, and 4 young [white] kids came in with a gun and they held her up. Yosh ran out from the back to protect his mother and they shot him dead. So then these kids were charged with murder. Then the headlines, “Four whites for one Jap—is it fair?” And oh, there was this commotion started. It was enough to lose the boy but to suffer all the slurs and everything, like, “Japs are killing Americans, so what difference does it make if 4 Canadian boys shoot 1 Jap? Why should these boys be tried for murder?” Well, they were afraid to even open up their store, you know, because the police had laid the charge, naturally, but the public went up in arms about it. The feeling was very, very strong at that time.

Harbour Publishing

Miyazaki, who passed away in 1984, was born in Japan but moved to Canada in 1913. He graduated from the university of British Columbia in 1925 but unable to pursue medical training in Canada due to laws preventing post-secondary study by Japanese Canadians, travelled to Missouri and Los Angeles for training.

He practised as an osteopath in Vancouver until the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when he was relocated to the Bridge River self supporting camp. Following the death of the doctor in nearby Lillooet, the British Columbia Provincial Police recruited Miyazaki to act in the capacity of coroner.

Given his status as an “enemy alien,” special permits were required to allow him to stay in Lillooet instead of at Bridge River. This position soon evolved into that of all-around town-and-country doctor, dentist and obstetrician, and he had patients throughout the whole region from Pemberton-Mount Currie to Pavilion and Lytton. He also served as doctor for the area’s four wartime self-supporting centres including Taylor Lake.

Dr. Miyazaki used Longford House, a late 19th-century manor near the town’s main street as his surgery and residence. When the war was over, he remained in Lilooet, becoming a respected community leader.

In 1983, Miyazaki left Lillooet, donating the property to the community and the house was renamed Miyazaki House. The house remains open to this day as a heritage site for tours and still exhibits Miyazaki’s office as he left it. His office still contains all original articles, including surgical instruments, medical texts, and skeletal displays. The house also has displays of local artwork and the history of the house before Miyazaki moved there.

Towards the end of his life, in recognition of his services to the community Miyazaki was given  the Order of Canada. His Order of Canada commendation reads: C.M. (Member) December 15, 1976 April 20, 1977. Retired osteopath who, over a period of 35 years, has given unselfish service to the residents of Lillooet, British Columbia, particularly those of Japanese and Indian backgrounds and who continues to serve his community in spite of ill health.

My Sixty Years in Canada is dedicated to the Canadian Kidney Foundation, who received  proceeds from the sales of the first run of 500 copies. After this, he gave the rights to the book to the Kamloops Japanese Canadian Association who printed another 500 copies. The book, which has been sold out for the past ten years or so, has been frequently requested and the KJCA is in the process of reprinting the book. The book, with a larger font, pictures, and an addendum on his life following the book up until his passing in 1984, will be available in December from the Kamloops Japanese Canadian Association, 160 Vernon Avenue, Kamloops, BC V2B 1L6.  Books may be purchased for  $25 plus $3.50 postage and handling ($28.50) per book, and cheques should be made out to the Kamloops Japanese Canadian Association. For further information e-mail info@kjca.ca or phone 250-376-3506.

On the morning before the ceremony began, two men told their stories on the Bill Good Show on Radio CKNW Vancouver. Yosh Hyodo, an S20 veteran currently living in Toronto, shared his experience getting trained in Japanese language to prepare for his duty as an interpreter/interrogator in occupied Japan in 1945 for the South East Asia Command of the Intelligence Corps. Then our moderator, Gordon Kadota, shared his poignant experience of being stuck in Japan with his mother who had gone for a visit in 1941. An older brother signed up for the Japanese Imperial Army in Japan, while another brother still in Canada signed up for the Canadian Army in the South East Asia Command. It was good to have the wider community hear about the Japanese Canadian challenges of simply enlisting when they were considered enemy aliens.

We missed Roy Kawamoto, our MC of 18 years, who retired this year; he was our go-to guy for anything military and was one of the solid pillars of the War Memorial Committee. Gordon Kadota did a brilliant job of moderating and spoke about history in the making with the recent acceptance of the nomination to Parks Canada commemorating “JC Soldiers of the First World War and the fight to win the vote” in 1931 as a National Historic Event. David Mitsui, grandson of the late Sgt Mitsui submitted the nomination with the help of Roy Kawamoto. At some time in the future the event will be commemorated with a plaque. It really speaks to the hardships and determination of those vets who actually won the vote by a small margin, after years of trying—becoming the first group of Asians to win the franchise in British Columbia. Sgt Mitsui was the president of the BC Branch of Legion # 9, an all Japanese Canadian Legion Branch when they lobbied members of the BC Legislative Assembly in the second and successful attempt to win the franchise. The flag raised at the Remembrance Day ceremony is the Legion #9 flag.

Besides the always-respected presence of the Vancouver City Police Mounted Squad, there were also three on foot, led by our piper, Edward McIlwaine. The sound of the Lament and Reveille, played by Ross Bligh, was part of a somber tradition, as was the singing of O Canada and God Save the Queen by Keiko Norisue and the recitation of In Flanders Fields by Eileen Kitamura. Traditional representatives from City Hall, the Parks Board, RCMP, and the Japanese Consulate also graced the ceremony.

Reflections were given by Reverend Yoko Kihara of the Fraser Valley Japanese United Church. This year we were not able to see the planes flying past but we did hear them. A highlight of the ceremony was the photo of the vets taken in front of the cenotaph, and seeing their shining and proud faces as they bonded in a common cause.

Veterans in attendance this year:
Michiko Carignan – RCAF from 1952
Jim Nishihara – enlisted in Canada for Korean War Royal Canadian Army Pay Corps
Darren Kinoshita – served in Afghanistan – comes out from Petawawa every year.
Dick Nakamura – RCAF in 1947, flew to Korea during wartime.
Ray Nakamoto – enlisted in Japan to join Royal Canadian Army Service Corps in Korea
Sgt. George Shintani – S20 draft to South East Asia Command, Intelligence Division 1946-1948.
Yeiji “Lanky” Inouye – enlisted in Canada into the Royal Canadian Navy for the Korean War
Jim Nishiyama from Victoria
Denny Enjo from West Vancouver
Slim Kobayashi – enlisted for the Korean War

Wreaths were laid on behalf of:
Legion #9 Chris Yamauchi, grandson of Peter Yamauchi RCASC vet in the Korean War
S20 & Nisei Vets – visiting from Peterborough Sgt George Shintani (SEAC Intelligence & S20 graduate)
Consulate General of Japan – Consul General Hideki Ito
NAJC – David Iwaasa (Toru Iwaasa volunteered June 1941 for RC Engineers of 4th division)
NNMHC Justin Ault
JCCA President Ron Nishimura
RCMP Corporal Peter Somerville
City of Vancouver Councillor Kerry Jang
Vancouver Parks Board  Commissioners Sarah Blyth & Stuart Mac Kinnon
Vancouver Police Superintendent Mike Porteus
Konko Church of Canada Reverend Roderick Hashimoto
BC Judo Shinshu Buddhist Churches Federation Joanne Yuasa
Seicho-No-Ie Vancouver Soai Kai  Ted Sakaino
Japanese Christian Churches of Fraser Valley Jonathan T. Yokoyama
A wreath of poppies was made from contributors at the ceremony and placed on the memorial.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
The Japanese Canadian War Memorial Committee wishes to express their sincere appreciation to those dedicated volunteers and supporters who contribute to the success of the event every year.
Monetary Donations:
The committee wishes to extend its grateful appreciation of the successful fundraising efforts of Mandy Shintani this year. In spite of a late start (committee changeover), she did an amazing job.Thanks Mandy! We wish to also thank the following donors for their generosity:
BC Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Temples Federation, Kaede Seniors Society, Mickey & Yoshiko Hayashi, Urban Poling, Shintani Giordan Design, Richard Murakami, Yoshio Arai, Mas Yamamoto, George Shintani, George Sugiyama, Yukimasu & Tamiko Kishimoto, Linda Kawamoto Reid, Seizaburo & Keiko Kobayashi, Virginia Sato, Derek Nishimura, Kaz & Marg Nakamoto, John & Marion Nakamoto, Dorothy & Steve Yamamoto, Pat & Jim Chua, Art Iwata, Yuji Ohara, Ron Miki, Don Iwanaka, Yoshihazu Shoda, Tad Kaweki, Mits Hayashi, Donna Nakamoto, James & June Nishihara and many anonymous donors.

In memoriam:
In memory of Pte. Zennosuke Inouye WWI vet, Chiyoko & Kelvin Inouye

Donations from businesses and organizations:
Amano Foods Ltd, Kami Insurance, Baxter Kobe Florists, NAJC, NNMHC.

Donations for reception:
Peggy Madokoro for Manju, Naomi Kamiya, Sanaye Ikari, Miyoko Grignon, May Sato, Alice Takaki, Mandy Shintani, Chic Tanaka & Linda Kawamoto Reid.
Volunteers for reception, display and ceremony:
Carl Yokota, Ray Ota, Chris Yamauchi, Gordon Kadota, Victor Kuwabara, Cameron Reid, Caitlin Ohama, Beth Carter, Miyoko Grignon, Beth Carter, Kaz Takahashi, Naomi Kamiya, Sanaye Ikari, May Sato, Alice Takaki, Hiroko Stuart, Naomi Chiu, Donna Nakamoto, Walt Shore, Chic Tanaka, April Shimizu, Shag Ando, Emi Kordyback, Lillian Morishita, Frank Kamiya and Garth Taylor (photos).

Finally:
We acknowledge the long service volunteers who retired this year:
Roy Kawamoto – Past Co-Chair, moderator, military historian, researcher, consultant, advisor, moral support and go-to guy for the Committee from 1993-2011.
Nancy Kato – volunteer for 12 years (1996-2008) and Chair for 3 years (2008-2011) Nancy has three vets in her family, Sgt Kato grandfather, Sergeant Major Shigeo Kato father, and Sgt Kazuo Kato, uncle. Nancy placed the wreath for the BC Branch Legion #9 for many years.
Don Yamane, Korean War Vet, presented the wreaths for many years.

VIEW PHOTO GALLERY

hiroshima is a powerful exhibition on display at UBC’s Museum of Anthroplogy through Sunday, February 12, 2012

A catalogue featuring images from the exhibit and essays in English and Japanese is available for purchase in the MOA Shop. Also available is a monograph edited by MOA curator Karen Duffek, featuring Ishiuchi Miyako in conversation with Professor John O’Brian, UBC Art History, Visual Art & Theory Department. Exhibition sponsored in part by Shiseido and the Japan Foundation. Media sponsor The Georgia Straight.

A note about the exhibition title:

The kanji in the poster means Hiroshima, written in Japanese hiragana characters. Hiragana is one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana. These characters were extensively used by women in former times; for Ishiuchi, using this style for the title emphasizes that this series is made from the point of view and feelings of a woman. It is the artist’s wish that that the hiragana appears before the word ‘hiroshima’ as part of MOA’s exhibition title, and that the ‘h’ in Hiroshima not be capitalized.

Photo Credit:(detail) Ishiuchi Miyako ????/hiroshima #9, Dress, 2007/2008, Type C Print, 108x74cm, T.Fujisawa