Norm Masaji Ibuki

Masaji

Writer Norm Masaji Ibuki lives in Oakville, Ontario. He has written extensively about the Canadian Nikkei community since the early 1990s. He wrote a monthly series of articles (1995-2004) for the Nikkei Voice newspaper (Toronto) which chronicled his experiences while in Sendai, Japan. Norm now teaches elementary school and continues to write for various publications.

Updated August 2014

identity en

Kyoko Norma Nozaki Sensei: “A Minority of Minorities” - Part 2

By Norm Masaji Ibuki
13 May 2022

Read Part 1 >> I am curious about what prompted you as a third year high school student to return to the US on your own? What was the reaction of your parents? Where did you go? Where did you study? Despite the tragedies my father had faced, he strongly believed that the USA had the best education system in the world and encouraged me to study in the country. In order to prepare for the goal, I was sent to a junior - senior mission school in Fukuoka, where English language (not content courses) was taught by American missionaries and went to the American Center for extra language le…

education en

Kyoko Norma Nozaki Sensei: “A Minority of Minorities” - Part 1

By Norm Masaji Ibuki
12 May 2022

“Mr. Commissioner….So when you tell me I must limitTestimonyWhen you tell me when my time is up,I tell you this:Pride has kept my lipspinned by nailsMy rage coffined.But I exhume my pastto reclaim this time.My youth was buried in Rohwer,Obachan’s ghost visits Amache Gate.My niece haunts Tule Lake.Words are better than tears,So I spill them.I kill this,The silence…” From “Breaking Silence” (for my mother) by Janice Mirikitani (1941-2021) If anyone knows about the struggles of living with the dual identity of living as a Japanese American i…

culture en

Canadian Nikkei Artist

Ottawa Artist Norman Takeuchi: Scrolling Exhibition

By Norm Masaji Ibuki
14 Apr 2022

Even in the midst of a global pandemic, restrictions have not slowed down Ottawa Nisei artist Norman Takeuchi who recently launched his second exhibition in two years: Equal Time and this one entitled Scrolling. Takeuchi’s father Nawoki was from Kochi and mother, Miyoko, was born in Vancouver. During World War Two the family stayed in the small Okanagan community of Westwold, BC along with some other Japanese Canadian families. After the war, they returned to Vancouver where his father reestablished his gardening business and mom set up a dress-making shop. Born in Vancouver, T…

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Canadian Nikkei Artist

The Yume. Digital Dreams Art Project: Shifting Paradigms

By Norm Masaji Ibuki
5 Apr 2022

The Yume. Digital Dreams art project The Yume. Digital Dreams art project launched by Julie Tamiko Manning (Montreal) and Matt Miwa (Ottawa), co-Artistic Producers of Tashme Productions, pairs 14 prominent Japanese Canadian artists, working in a process that invites viewers to follow their evolution in bi-monthly updates. The aim is to present a culminating presentation online on May 15, 2022. The project creators reached out to artists who are included in The Japanese Canadian Artists Directory (JCAD) that was launched in 2017, a collaboration with the National Association of Japanese Ca…

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Book Review: Not Yo’ Butterfly by Nobuko Miyamoto

By Norm Masaji Ibuki
25 Feb 2022

“Growing up Asian in America, we had the songs of our ancestors, but we no longer understood them. In our quest to be American, we’d often rejected the old music…. We were a songless people. We were missing something that we didn’t know we longed for — our own song.” — Nobuko Miyamoto, Songwriter, dance and theatre artist, activist and Artistic Director of Great Leap Recently, a writer friend sent me a notice about a new memoire: Not Yo’ Butterfly: My Long Song of Relocation, Race, Love and Revolution by American Sansei Nobuko Miyamoto.…

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Discover Nikkei

Japanese migrants and their descendants

Norm Masaji Ibuki

Canadian Nikkei Artist

Canadian Nikkei Artist

Series this author contributes to

Nikkei Chronicles #9—More Than a Game: Nikkei Sports

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Journal Entry #Perry White, 1946: "It's All Cattywampus!..."

9th Annual Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest

Tori

日系（ニッケイ）—をめぐって

第８回 ウラジオストク、日系の足跡

Inspire Forward: Nikkei Heroes Under 30

Emily Teraoka: Inspiring Conversations through public service at Minidoka National Historic Site

Nikkei View

I’m so disappointed to see stereotyped snack packaging in my supermarket

書評：和泉真澄『日系カナダ人の移動と運動―知られざる日本人の越境生活史』

1992年渡米、目標は「アカデミー賞」— 俳優の井上英治さん

Kizuna 2020: Nikkei Kindness and Solidarity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Tiempos pandémicos: teletrabajo y koden digital

Kizuna 2020: Nikkei Kindness and Solidarity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 e os heróis anônimos

香川県海外移民の父：今雪真一の情熱と功績

第３部：金子正則知事の南米訪問とその主な見解

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Journal Entry #Perry White, 1946: "It's All Cattywampus!..."

Tori

Emily Teraoka: Inspiring Conversations through public service at Minidoka National Historic Site

I’m so disappointed to see stereotyped snack packaging in my supermarket

How a Japanese-American Owned Real Estate Firm Broke up Racist Covenants in Southern California - Part 2

How a Japanese-American Owned Real Estate Firm Broke up Racist Covenants in Southern California - Part 1

Karen Maeda Allman's Life in Punk Rock - Part 2

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Baachan

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Journal Entry #Athens, 1896: "New Medal Sports..."

The Times of Tulelake

Chapter 5: Expectations of the Japanese Consulate

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Karen Maeda Allman: Connecting Community Through Books - Part 2

Jan Johnson of Japantown's Panama Hotel: "Saving History Saves the Future" - Part 2

Kyoko Norma Nozaki Sensei: “A Minority of Minorities” - Part 2

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Past and Present Collide in Artist Kellen Hatanaka's Exhibit SAFE | HOME

Karen Maeda Allman: Connecting Community Through Books - Part 1

Jan Johnson of Japantown's Panama Hotel: "Saving History Saves the Future" - Part 1

Kyoko Norma Nozaki Sensei: “A Minority of Minorities” - Part 1

Daisuke Kitagawa: Civil Rights and Anti-Racism Activist — Part 1

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Ottawa Artist Norman Takeuchi: Scrolling Exhibition

第８回ウラジオストク、日系の足跡