change is in the air

September always brings with it a certain wistfulness, as the heat of summer gives way to cooler days and longer nights. It is a time for introspection and preparation—a genetically-ingrained holdover, perhaps, from the days when stores had to be gathered and set aside for the long winter ahead. It is a time of transitions: back to school for students, back to work for the rest of us. In my household, with two students and a teacher, the end of August brings with it a strong sense of anticipation for the school year ahead. And this year, with our elder daughter Emiko beginning university and Amy beginning a new job, there is a sense of charting new waters.

I myself look forward with mixed feelings to the workdays ahead. On the one hand it’s easier to get my work done with everyone else out of the house; on the other hand it gets awfully quiet all of a sudden.

Within the Canadian Nikkei community September is significant in that it marks the anniversary of Redress, itself a new beginning when it was achieved 24 years ago. Next year marks the 25th anniversary of this historic achievement and preparations are already underway to mark the occasion.

As far as The Bulletin goes, this September issue is significant in that it marks the beginning of a new era. A brand new partnership between the Greater Vancouver JCCA and the Greater Toronto Chapter of the NAJC will see a whole new batch of writers coming on board. Anyone who has read the Nikkei Voice over the years will recognize many of the names; people like Terry Watada, Norm Ibuki, Mel Tsuji and David Fujino are all longtime writers and community members who are well known in the Greater Toronto but not so much in Vancouver. There are others as well, who we will get to know through these pages.

I have always seen The Bulletin as a bridge between the various groups that make up our community here on the west coast. With the addition of these new writers and their different perspectives, hopefully we can serve as a bridge across a larger geographical and experiential divide. It is with great anticipation that I welcome our new contributors, and new readers as well, as we add the members of the Toronto NAJC to our mailing list. It will of course be a two-way street (if I may mix metaphors), with The Bulletin being introduced to readers out east.

Many thanks to Ken Noma and the other board members of the Greater Toronto NAJC for initiating this exciting collaboration. I look forward to this auspicious new chapter.