Lives lost, lives celebrated

Harry Aoki was, among other things, a composer, recording artist, conductor, impresario, efficiency expert, orchestral arranger, logger, teacher, ski instructor, musicologist, traveler and band leader.

When he passed away on Thursday, January 24, the Canadian Nikkei community lost a true individual—a maverick who refused to follow the beaten path, preferring to stray off it as much as possible.

With the March issue of The Bulletin we will be celebrating Harry’s long, varied and remarkable life and we invite readers to share their stories of Harry. Please email your stories or memories to editor@bigwavedesign.net.


“True love is a discipline in which each divines the secret self of the other and refuses to believe in the mere daily self.” William Butler Yeats

Two heads may be better than one, but two hearts pounding as one are hard to beat. To celebrate Valentine’s Day this year we focus on two couples that embody the aphorism, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Mas and Stan Fukawa and Mary and Tosh Kitagawa are two dynamic duos who will be familiar to Bulletin readers for their work in the community on various projects over the years. But while we generally focus on whatever initiative they are pursuing at the time, we don’t often take the time to investigate what compels them to do what they do.

A common thread that runs through the two relationships is the sheer devotion and affection that the couples display towards one another and way that they continue to support one another after all these years.

In these days when one’s faith in humanity can be easily shaken, it is heartwarming to know that “through thick and thin” can mean something.


Correction: in the January issue of The Bulletin, in the announcement of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee recipients,  Tom K. Tagami was incorrectly listed as Tom I Tagami.