The Bulletin a journal of Japanese Canadian community, history & culture

Aoki Legacy Fund Dinner & Concert

“Here I am at 89, playing the Mozart oboe quartet on my harmonica. Living in the creative art — with no compromise! It feels great!” Harry Aoki

On Friday, May 6, 2011, at 6pm, a dinner and concert honouring Harry . . .

HASTINGS PARK update

Interpretive programming can start in the initial phase of implementing the Hastings Park Plan. As the Park commences its development, signage is a priority and covers a number of purposes such as direction signage, building name signage, location signage . . .

President’s Message

Upcoming on March 19th, at Nikkei Place, the Greater Vancouver Japanese Canadian Citizens’ Association will be holding its Annual General Meeting from 2 – 4 PM at the JCCA office on the second floor. The GVJCCA’s work has always been important in the Nikkei community . . .

Community Kitchen

So happy we didn’t get the predicted snowfall this winter. Spring is just around the corner. Yippee! We are eating more fish in our...

Editorial: The New Normal

First, some statistics courtesy of the Canadian Cancer Society: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Canadian women (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer). In...

Untold Stories of Powell Street

Did your family live or work in the Powell Street area before the war? The Japanese Canadian community has made important contributions to the...

inReview: Kodo January 28, 2011, Queen Elizabeth Theatre

My own experience of any given Kodo concert will forever be coloured by the few days I spent at their home on Sado Island in the early eighties. As a fledgling taiko player I had travelled to Japan with other members of the newly-formed Katari Taiko to experience the birthplace of taiko and visit as many taiko groups as we could. The biggest thrill was being able to watch Kodo rehearse—sitting mere feet away on the polished wooden floor as they pounded the huge drums for hours at a time. It left my ears ringing and my enthusiasm for taiko stronger than ever. There was a focus and discipline in their rehearsals that North American groups lacked but there was also a sense of playfulness and fun that belied the stereotype of Japanese as soulless automatons.

The Art of Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani

Originally born in Sacramento in 1920, Jimmy Mirikitani was raised in Hiroshima, where he quickly showed a talent for painting. He returned to the US in 1938 to pursue his art, but ended up in the Tule Lake internment camp during the war . . .

“Open Letter” to Son Studying in Japan: Things I Must Tell You …Though You (Think) You’ve Heard ’em All

And, this you’ve heard me say before, Japan is a very densely-layered ancient society with rich culture (e.g. variety of food) with strongly-held, complex values with constant, built-in pressure toward conformity that sometimes works in unfathomable ways. I’ve watched sensitive foreigners who want to gain acceptance, including those who are racially Japanese, even start seeing things and thinking like a Japanese without quite realizing it themselves.

President’s Message

The month of January has come and gone by very quickly. As of February 3, 2011, the Year of the Rabbit begins. The Rabbit is said to be the happiest sign of the Zodiac—gifted, nice to be with, refined, reserved, ambitious but not too much and be virtuous. Nobody ignores the Rabbit, as the Rabbit is lucky. With intelligence and hard work, a Rabbit can go far in life. I hope we all know a person who is born in the Year of the Rabbit.

Community Kitchen

Grateful that so far we haven’t had the predicted cold winter nor the big snowfall. Our hearts and prayers goes out to Australia and...