Norm Masaji Ibuki

Even long after I’ve seen them, some of the sculptured figures that artist Kimiko Koyanagi has created haunt me in the way their long vertical lines rise upward and finding their nadir of expression in faces that are contemplative, inward feeling, seeking some kind of inner peace.

What I find most striking about her creations is the lines she creates. Anyone who has ever looked at the brush strokes of Zen master Hakuin Ekaku (1685-1768) or swordsman/artist Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645) can see the bold, powerful energy contained in each stroke. As simple as ‘a line’ might seem, profound ...

It had been about three years and I was really itching to get back to Japan this past summer.

I figured that having taken all of those teacher courses over the past three years and going through all of the excruciating things that one does to get resettled after living abroad for so long, that we deserved this journey back to Japan. With the recession, tickets were actually pretty cheap. It was a necessary trip back to see old friends and family.

There are few places on the planet that I now feel that I need to see. I have ...

What does being Nikkei mean to you?

Do I have a greater claim on Nikkeiness because my grandparents immigrated to Canada before World War Two, were interned and dispossessed of their property? Does it matter that my father served in the Canadian army? Does it matter that you can speak better Japanese than me? Does it matter that your spouse is white and mine is from Japan? Does it matter that I was born here and you weren’t? Does being a descendant of the “first” Japanese immigrants group give you the right to dictate what should and should not ...

The hands that brought me into this world were Dr. Misao Yoneyama’s at Toronto’s Women’s College Hospital and it was about 30 years later that I met her and husband Dr. Wes Fujiwara during the Ghost town bus tour that was part of Homecoming, outside the Ainsworth Hot Springs Hotel in B.C.

As Dr. Yoneyama was my mom’s gynecologist, I grew up hearing the name always spoken with a great deal of respect and reverence. Mom also pointed out that her two sisters, Yachiyo and Mitsue, were also doctors: a dentist and optometrist, respectively. I ...

“Hail to new Canadians. Pledge loyalty with the land that gave us birth and our destiny yonder gleam the challenge bright, though the way be dark. All together with one voice onto victory…” words by Dr. Irene Uchida, first principal of Lemon Creek School, Officer of the Order of Canada (1993)

Rare are the stories that have continued in our community for the past sixty years. But the Lemon Creek Harmonica band, certainly one of Canada’s oldest, are now into their 65th year as a musical group and, if you are lucky, you can still catch them at the ...