President’s Message

Hi everyone!

I think this time last year we were also enjoying excellent weather and now we are again. Isn’t this wonderful? …especially since many of the early blooms and tree blossoms were delayed for some time due to our unusually long and cold winter. I know that I still have many tulips in good condition in the back yard. I am hoping that you can also go to your back yard to enjoy some gardening. This is the part of the year I really appreciate, especially when I see the huge blooms from my Japanese peonies.

The Greater Vancouver Japanese Canadian Citizens’ Association in conjunction with the National Association of Japanese Canadians will be sponsoring the conference, Honouring Our People: Stories of the Internment on September 25 – 27, 2009 at Nikkei Place in Burnaby, BC. We will be paying tribute to those generations of Japanese Canadians who experienced racism, government restrictions, the unnecessary uprooting, and insurmountable losses during and after WWII. They endured many hardships and were resilient in their capacity to survive.

The purpose of this conference is to provide a place for reunion—sharing stories of the internment and learning ways to preserve these stories to help our future generations and other Canadians too. We encourage younger generations to attend and participate as not all the stories are the same due to the great diversity of experiences of our people.

The program will include a workshop on intergenerational story telling with Dr. Satsuki Ina. Internment survivors who are comfortable sharing their experiences may participate in a group setting. Each group will have a facilitator who can provide guidance and support during the group sharing. We are encouraging senior generations who have experienced the internment to attend and welcome others as well, who can listen and learn while stories are being shared.

Brochures and registration forms will be available online at the Bulletin/Geppo website and also in hardcopy at various locations in Vancouver, across Canada at NAJC centres as well as through the Nikkei Voice. If you are mailing your registration form with cheque, please send to the GVJCCA Human Rights Committee, #200 – 6688 Southoaks Crescent, Burnaby, BC V5E 4M7. People wishing accommodation information please contact the GVJCCA office as we will have conference volunteers available for you. We hope you will all take the opportunity to participate in a worthwhile gathering for our future generations and our elders. Please note too, that registration is free for those age 77 and older, age 77 being a special year for Japanese seniors. Registration includes snacks and refreshments each day, as well as lunch and dinner on Saturday, September 26.

Don’t forget about the GVJCCA Golf Tournament which will be on Sunday June 14th at Meadow Gardens. Golf Digest has rated Meadow Gardens Golf course as one of the best places to play in North America. Every hole provides its own beauty and challenges, so we hope you will be one of many who enjoy its splendour. If you are interested please contact Shag Ando by email shagando@hotmail.com or please leave a message at the GVJCCA office 604.777.5222.

Thank you for all who participated in the translation and interpreting workshop on May 24th. The session was a great success and hopefully we can do this again.

Have a great time enjoying our wonderful weather.

Ron Nishimura

President, GVJCCA