Today is the UN World Day of Social Justice!
It's the perfect opportunity to honour Setsuko Thurlow, an incredible Japanese Canadian activist and atomic bomb survivor who has fought tirelessly for global nuclear disarmament.
Check out the link in our bio to visit the website for "The Vow from Hiroshima," a documentary chronicling Setsuko's incredible journey!
@uoftfifsw@uoftalumni
#uoftalumni
We are less than a week away from the hybrid launch of the short documentary film “The Story of the Powell Street Salmon Barbecue” ✨
Join us at the University of Toronto’s FIFSW Student Lounge (Room #320) at 2pm on February 20th to snack on some salmon onigiri 🍙, take part in salmon related crafts 🐟, and watch the film 🎥!
The film traces the roots and community stories of the iconic Salmon Barbecue booth that has been vending at the Powell Street Festival since 1985. This project is led by Ai Yamamoto and Momo Ando.
The film was funded by the Japanese Canadian Legacies Society.
📍Where is it? Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto (246 Bloor St. West) in the Student Lounge, Room 320
🕑 When is it? Friday, February 20th from 2:00 - 4:00 pm ET / 11:00 am - 1:00 pm PT
🎟️ How much is it? This event is FREE, but you must reserve your spot in advance!
Can’t make it in person? You can also attend this event virtually! Click the online ticket option to be sent a zoom meeting link.
Register via Eventbrite link: /2b7pusju
Link in Bio 🐟
Looking forward to seeing you at the launch! 🩵
This is the story of the Japanese Canadian artist - the creator making sense of their multi-dimensional, intergenerational, and ever-changing experiences. 🎨
In “The Uniquely Nikkei Artist: Japanese Canadians who Reclaim History with Creativity,” Mitsuko speaks with various JC artists who have each transmuted their experiences into exhibits, plays, and tangible creations, reclaiming or asserting their roles as authors of their own stories and pasts. 🎭
To learn more about the intersection of creativity and JC identity, head over to the JCAAP website or our highlighted story, where you can find the full Grab Your Senbei video series! 🎥
This is the story of taiko in Canada, a traditional Japanese art form that became an embodied representation of Nikkei transformation, agency, and futurity. 🥁 🥁
In “The Revolutionary History of Taiko Drumming in Canada”, Mitsuko explores the undeniable impact of taiko on Japanese Canadian communities, sharing with us their own experience of watching a performance for the very first time.
To learn more about the evolution of the powerful taiko art form in Canada, head over to the JCAAP website or our highlighted story, where you can find the full Grab Your Senbei video series! 🎥
It’s finally here!! ✨
We kick off February with the exciting announcement that the “Grab your Senbei!” video series is now up on the JCAAP website (also accessible through our highlighted story)!
Created by JCAAP team member and University of Toronto Excellence Award (UTEA) Scholar, Mitsuko Noguchi, “Grab Your Senbei” is an educational video series about Japanese Canadian arts, culture, and identity.
Weaving together rich dialogues, diverse perspectives, and powerful stories, these videos showcase how generations of Japanese Canadians develop their voices and create community.
Check it out now! 🩷
Join Emma for her talk at the AGO:
📅 Wednesday, Dec. 10, 7PM-8:30PM
📍 Marvin Gelber Print & Drawing Study Centre, Art Gallery of Ontario
Tickets on the AGO website!
“Thinking about the weight of memory and the stories that are passed down from one generation to the next (and the stories that are lost as well), this body of work explores the idea of what it might look like to package and archive memory.
An extension of the Collected Stories series, this work is part of an ongoing installation project that focuses on the narratives surrounding the Japanese Canadian internment.”
Through photo-intaglio and sculptural papermaking processes, Emma Nishimura creates art from the photographs of family albums - archives of the stories and memories preserved and lost, both in her family and in those of the individuals she interviews.
Dive deeper into Emma’s art by checking out her page: @emma.nishimura@agotoronto@ocaduniversity
“I’m third-generation Canadian, my parents were second generation, and my grandparents came here to Canada, and they were interned.
I have an ambiguous relationship with my Canadian identity, but also with my Japanese identity, because of what the Japanese had done during the Second World War and earlier.
Even though my relatives didn’t participate directly in those atrocities, I cannot deny that heritage.”
Louise Noguchi explores dichotomies of identity through her personal philosophy of the artist as both hunter and prey.
Tapping into traditions of violence such as trick roping and knife throwing, she questions neat and digestible notions of identity and morality, all while examining the dichotomies and contradictions that linger within her own background.
Check out her page here: @louisenoguchi
This Nuit Blanche, the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre will become both a gallery and a stage for The Shape of Loss, a performance installation by artist Louise Noguchi.
📅 Sunset Oct. 4 - Sunrise Oct. 5
📍 The Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (6 Sakura Way Toronto, ON M3C 1Z5)
Over the course of 12 hours, each of the 1337 fishing boats confiscated by the Canadian government will be recreated in life-size drawings, while descendants of the fishermen read aloud the details of their families’ vessels.
Texts and archival material on Japanese Canadian history will accompany the performance.
Bear witness, sip tea, and take in the experience.
For more information, check out @louisenoguchi_shapeofloss and @japanesecanadianculturalcentre
80 years have passed since the atomic bombs were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
On August 6, we attended the memorial held by Hiroshima Nagasaki Day Coalition at Nathan Phillips Square. There, we had the immense privilege of listening to the deeply urgent message of Nobel Peace Prize co-recipient and atomic bomb survivor, Setsuko Thurlow.
We are reminded that, in a world still populated by nuclear weapons, the horrors of the bombs are never truly constrained to the past.
There has perhaps never been a more critical time to listen and deeply engage with the stories and messages of hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors). Despite the unimaginable pain of their pasts, Setsuko and many others continue to tirelessly and selflessly share their stories, both for our sake and for that of our futures.
Scroll through our pinned post on Setsuko’s life to learn a little more about her incredible journey to becoming the infinitely inspiring activist she is today.
✨It’s that time of year again! ✨
Are you as excited for @powellstfest as we are? 🧡
This year, the JCAAP team will be sharing the PSF 50th Anniversary Booth with Japan Market!
📍The booth will be near the southwest end of the Community Booths area in Oppenheimer Park (near the totem pole). Scroll to the 2nd pic to see a map of the location!
🗓️ Sat, Aug 2 and Sun, Aug 3 from 11:30AM - 7PM (Anytime during the festival program)
We can’t wait to see you there! ☺️
【1977 Centennial Youth Conference】
Bringing together young activists from across Canada, the Centennial Youth Conference in 1977 marked the 100 year anniversary of the first Japanese immigrant’s arrival in Canada.
In this clip, activists describe staying at the conference venue (the Japanese Canadian Cultural Center in Toronto @japanesecanadianculturalcentre ) and the connections they made there.
Speakers: Martin Kobayakawa, Mayumi Takasaki, Lucy Komori @lucykomori , Izumi Sakamoto @izumiskmt
We end our mini series on some remarkable activists with the incredible Grace Eiko Thomson!
A curator who fostered intercultural understanding and allyship through deeply thought-provoking exhibitions, her best-known work may be “Levelling the Playing Field,” an exhibition highlighting the history of the Vancouver Asahi baseball team.
Grace’s impact can also be felt beyond the walls of the gallery. In Vancouver’s Downtown East Side, the location of the former Powell Street area from where she and her family were forcibly displaced in 1942, she passionately fought for housing equality.
Scroll through to learn more about her inspiring life and work!!
- - - - -
Photo credit:
Discover Nikkei.com @discovernikkei
John Endo Greenaway @johneg
Mentoring Artists for Women‘s Art @mawawpg
Nikkei National Museum &. Cultural Centre @nikkeimuseum
