Shiwasu – Handmade Gifts Show & Sale

December 10-21, 2011

Free admission

Regular hours: 11am-5pm, Tuesday-Saturday

Friday December 16, 11am-8pm

Closed Sunday & Monday

Get ready for the holidays with gorgeous handmade crafts by local Japanese Canadian artists. Find perfect gifts with a Japanese flair for all ages!

A special furoshiki wrapping demonstration will take place on December 10th at 2pm.

Film Screening

The First Battle

The Battle for Equality in War-Time Hawaii

Saturday, November 12, 2pm

Admission by donation

The First Battle is about a previously untold struggle for freedom, equality and full citizenship in America. This struggle was waged unconventionally behind the scenes in Hawaii during the two years leading up to World War II and the first several years of the war.

Japanese Inspiration: Hiratsuka Un’ichi and the “Creative Prints” Movement

By Maiko Behr

Wednesday, November 9, 7pm
Admission by donation

Independent scholar Maiko Behr provides an overview of the history of woodblock printing in Japan, with a focus on the themes and techniques of Hiratsuka Un’ichi and other artists of the mid-20th century “Creative Prints” movement. The slide presentation will be followed by a walk-through of the exhibition “Inuit Prints: Japanese Inspiration.”

Speakers Series

The Canadian National Vimy Memorial and the Japanese Canadian War Memorial: Landscapes of Trauma and Regeneration

By Lyle Dick

Wednesday, November 2, 7pm
Admission by donation

Both the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France and the Japanese Canadian War Memorial in Vancouver incorporate living memorials to Canada’s war dead following the devastation of the First World War. In their sculptural forms, designed landscapes and vegetation, these memorials symbolically acknowledge the suffering and sacrifice of our fallen soldiers alongside the potential for healing and regeneration, imbuing these sites with enduring resonance and significance.

Lyle Dick is the West Coast Historian with Parks Canada in Vancouver, BC and the author of two award-winning books – Muskox Land (Winner, Harold Innis Prize, 2003), and Farmers “Making Good” (Revised edition 2008, co-winner CHA Clio Prize, 1990).  He has delivered nearly 100 public presentations, conference papers and named lectures at universities, museums, libraries, and other venues across North America and in Europe.  He is currently the President of the Canadian Historical Association.

Speakers Series

Travelling Prints: Ukiyo-e, Sosaku Hanga, and the Inuit Print Practice

by co-curator Asato Ikeda

Saturday, October 22, 2pm
Admission by donation

The talk will provide the historical background of both Japanese and Inuit prints. Focusing on how Canadian artist James Houston’s trip to Japan in the 1950s has informed the Inuit print practice in the Arctic, it will situate the Inuit-Japan exchange in the long, transnational history of Japanese woodblock prints.

Asato Ikeda is a Ph.D Candidate in the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory at the University of British Columbia. Her dissertation examines Japanese paintings during the Fifteen-Year War (1931-1945) and the question of Japanese fascism. With Ming Tiampo and Aya Louisa McDonald, she is co-editing an anthology on Japanese war art, which will be the first anthology on the subject in English (forthcoming from Brill Academic Publishers in 2012).

Fishermen’s Exhibit Open House

Sunday, October 23, 1-3 pm

Venue: Gulf of Georgia Cannery, Steveston, Richmond

Drop by to get caught up on what we’ve been up to and float some ideas for a new exhibit on
the history of Nikkei Fishing in BC to open at the JCNM in September 2012. Light Refreshments will be served. Sponsored by the NNMHC, the Gulf of Georgia Cannery and G&F Financial Group.

Exhibition Opening Party

Inuit Prints: Japanese Inspiration

Saturday, October 15, 3-5pm

This exhibition features exquisite and extraordinarily rare prints from Japan and Cape Dorset, Nunavut, from the late 1950s and early 1960s. It also tells the little-known story of how, fifty years ago, the Canadian artist and “discoverer” of Inuit art, James Houston, travelled to Japan to study printmaking with Un’ichi Hiratsuka.

Exhibition organized by the Canadian Museum of Civilization with the assistance of the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative in Cape Dorset.

Artist Talk by Taiga Chiba from 2pm before the opening reception.

Artist Talk

Taiga Chiba: Visit to Nunavut

Saturday, October 15, 2pm, 2011
Admission by donation.

Taiga Chiba will talk about his experience as a Printmaking Instructor in Inuit communities, Iqaluit, Baker Lake and Pangnirtung from 1995 to 2010.

Taiga Chiba was born in Shizuoka, Japan.  He studied at Musashino Art University in Tokyo.  He came to Canada as a landed immigrant in 1981, and obtained his MFA at Concordia University in Montreal.  He wanted to see himself as a Japanese from outside of Japan.  Canada has become his base land, the country he returns to after travels to numerous countries as an artist in residence.  He can see the vivid life of ancestors of all living things on earth in his works.  He would like to find the way to see things completely different from the past.

Inuit Prints exhibition opening reception will follow this talk from 3-5pm.

Powell Street Reunion

Thursday, September 22, 12-2pm

Come to meet old friends and share your memories. Complimentary tea and coffee will be served.

Optional:  pre-order a delicious Japanese lunch box by September 20^th for $10.

Asahi Tribute Game 2011

Sunday, September 18, 11am-2pm

@ Oppenheimer Park, 400 block of Powell Street, Vancouver

Presented by the Japanese Canadian National Museum & Carnegie Community Centre

FREE EVENT

Come celebrate the legacy of the Vancouver Asahi baseball team with a fun ball game on the historic 70^th anniversary since the last game played on September 18, 1941. Sign up to play or come to take in the action.
Email jcnm@nikkeiplace.org or call 604.777.7000 ext.109 to sign up. Let us know your t-shirt size. Player sign-up will close once we reach 24 players.

SPECIAL CEREMONY
The unveiling of a plaque commemorating the ASAHI BASEBALL TEAM will take place before the game at 9:30am at Oppenheimer Park. The community is invited to attend. Please RSVP to 604.513.4783 or 250.654.4047

Speakers Series

Terrain of Memory

A Japanese Canadian Memorial Project

by Kirsten Emiko McAllister

Thursday, September 8, 7pm
Free admission

Dr. McAllister will present her book Terrain of Memory which tells the story of the Japanese Canadian elders who built a memorial in New Denver, British Columbia, to transform a site of political violence into a space for remembrance. It shows how their memorial transformed the valley where once over 7,000 women, men, and children were interned into a pilgrimage site for Japanese Canadians where they can mourn and pay their respects to the wartime generation.

Kirsten Emiko McAllister is an Associate Professor in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University.

Book signing and refreshments.

Powell Street Walking Tours

On this historical tour of Powell Street we will take you back in time to the pre-war, bustling community of Japanese Canadians who lived and worked in this area.

The area grew and thrived over a fifty-year period from the 1890s to its abrupt end with the internment of Japanese Canadians during World War 2 in 1942.

Thursday, June 23, 2pm

Saturday, August 27, 10am

Friday, September 16, 2pm

Walking tour fee is $10 and reservations can be made by calling 604.777.7000

FILM SCREENING

JAPACAMP

A Japanese Canadian summer camp for 9- to 12-year-olds
@ the Nikkei Centre, July 25 to 29th, 2011

JAPACAMP! – A fun-filled week of Japanese Canadian culture

Japacamp is a fun-filled, enriching week of authentic experiences in Japanese culture and Japanese Canadian heritage in the beautiful building and well-groomed garden of the National Nikkei Museum and Heritage Centre in Burnaby. The program will run in English. Every day will feature playshops in physical activities such asmartial arts like aikido, Japanese cultural activities such as brush painting, as well Japanese games and explorations of Japanese Canadian history, including Monogatari, the new exhibit on the pre-War Japanese Canadian community of Powell Street.

JAPACAMP! – For nine to twelve-year-olds

Japacamp is for nine to twelve-year-olds (born 1999 to 2002). The program is limited to twelve children under the supervision of two staff and various numbers of volunteers. Please note, however, that we cannot provide personal care, administer medication or provide one-to-one assistance on an ongoing basis.

JAPACAMP! – From July 25th to July 29th

Japacamp will run from 9:30 am to 4 pm, July 25th to July 29th.

JAPACAMP! – ONLY $190 + HST

The fee for each participant is $190 + $22.80 (HST) = $212.80

JAPACAMP! – Register NOW

We allot places on a first-come-first-served basis.

To be accepted, please provide us with –

• Complete participant and adult contact sheets
• A signed and dated consent form
• Full payment

YUKATA KITSUKE WORKSHOP

Saturday, July 16, 2011, 2pm

Would you like to wear your Yukata more often to the summer fireworks and festivals? This is your chance to learn step by step how to put on your Yukata and look good. Please bring a yukata, obi, 2 or 3 koshihimo, and wear a t-shirt or tank top with shorts. Minimum 3 people, maximum 10. Parents can learn how to dress their kids. Children over 10 years old can learn how to dress them self. Registration fee $10.

TANABATA

July 7, 11am-9pm

Celebrate this traditional summer festival by making paper decorations and writing your wish onto a colourful paper streamer, and then hang the decoration on bamboo. A fun activity for all ages! Materials will be available in the lobby all day long into the evening.

Share your memories at the

Powell Street Reunion

June 17, 12-2pm

Please RSVP to 604.777.7000 ext.109 or email jcnm@nikkeiplace.org

Free tea & coffee. Pre-order a Japanese lunch box by June 14 for $10.

An afternoon with Jeff Chiba Stearns
with film screening of One Big Hapa Family

Saturday, June 4, 2011, 2pm

Free for members, $5 for non-members

Bring your whole family out to see the feature length version (85 minutes) of One Big Hapa Family. Q&A will follow screening. Rated PG.

After a realization at a family reunion, half Japanese-Canadian filmmaker, Jeff Chiba Stearns, embarks on a journey of self-discovery to find out why everyone in his Japanese-Canadian family married interracially after his grandparents’ generation. This feature live action and animated documentary explores why almost all Japanese-Canadians are marrying interracially, and how their mixed children perceive their unique multiracial identities.

MINORU: Memory of Exile

June 2, 2011, 7pm-9pm

* this short film will be screened on demand until 9pm

By donation

Michael Fukushima, 1992, 18 min

The bombing of the American naval base at Pearl Harbor thrust 9-year-old Minoru Fukushima into a world of racism so malevolent he would be forced to leave Canada, the land of his birth. Like thousands of other Japanese Canadians, Minoru and his family were branded as an enemy of Canada, dispatched to internment camps in British Columbia and finally deported to Japan. Directed by Michael Fukushima, Minoru’s son, the film combines classical animation with archival material. The memories of the father are interspersed with the voice of the son, weaving a tale of a birthright lost and recovered.

* museum gallery is open till 9pm this day.

Tales of Powell Street (1920-1941)

Opening party, Friday, May 27, 7-9pm

Powell Street was the pre-war business centre of the Japanese community in Vancouver. The vibrant street was filled with busy vegetable and fish markets, taxis, bustling cafés, boarding houses, traditional bath houses and special Japanese food stores. Regular baseball games were played by the Asahi ball team in Oppenheimer Park. We invite you to discover the many monogatari of Powell Street.

Supporters: BC Arts Council, Vancouver 125, Vancouver Foundation, Powell Street Festival Society

BLOOM

3rd annual ASIAN CANADIAN ARTIST SHOWCASE & ART AUCTION

Showcase: April 9-30, 2011, open Tuesday-Saturday, 11am-5pm, by donation

A SILENT ART AUCTION FUNDRAISER TO BENEFIT THE NATIONAL NIKKEI MUSEUM & HERITAGE CENTRE

* artwork by 50 emerging & established artists *
* artful finger food*
* live entertainment *
* MC Tetsuro Shigematsu *

The Japanese Canadian National Museum will be hosting an art exhibition and auction to raise funds and awareness about the Museum and Centre, and to promote Asian Canadian artists in the community.  This showcase of Asian Canadian artists is guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser, featuring gorgeous pieces by a diverse group of contemporary and traditional artists and artisans who have generously donated work in all media, including painting, photography, sculpture, ceramics, mixed media, jewelry, and much more.

Tickets to the silent auction on April 30th are only $40. A creative finger food dinner will be provided by Open Sesame, the NNM&HC Auxiliary, Yumi Matsuda and others. Performances by Mark Takeshi McGregor and Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa – Tiresias Duo (flute/piano), dance by a contemporary Asian Canadian dancer, and DJ music will enliven the gorgeous Ellipse Lobby. The evening will be MCed by actor and radio personality Tetsuro Shigematsu.

Bring your wallets and be prepared for fantastic, high quality art at amazing deals, delicious and creative food, live performances and fabulous company – a chance to hob-nob with good taste!

CONFIRMED ARTISTS as of April 7:
Tak Tanabe | Roy Kiyooka | Tomoyo Ihaya | Mas Funo | Yvonne Wakabayashi | Arleigh Wood | Yukiko Onley | Sascha Yamashita | Ted Colyer | Roy Hamaguchi | Camilla D’Errico | Robert Shiozaki | Mary Anne Tateishi | Miyuki Shinkai | Shirley Inouye | Junichiro Iwase | Motoko | Michiko Suzuki | Twinkets | Mas Yano | Aki Mimoto | Shig Kuwabara | Connie Sabo | Kathy Shimizu | Masako Hori | Ban Wei | Carlie Wong | In Element Designs | Jeremy Isao Speier | Keiko Kiyota | Katsumi Kimoto | Cindy Mochizuki | Trevan Wong | Linda Ohama | Lotus Miyashita | Katsumi Sugita | Setsuko Kaneda | Naoko Takenouchi | Sara Genn | Joseph Wu | Terry Sasaki | Yoriko Gillard| The Vert Jewellery | Him Creations | Tomoyo Ihaya | Mari Yasuda | Tad Yesaki | Ming-Whe Liou | Koichi Saito

DONORS: Ed Kargl, Select Wines, Hapa Izakaya, Chado Tea House, Master Framers, City Opera, Miku Restaurant, Arts Club Theatre, Open Sesame, Grouse Mountain, Eatery

Celebrate Spring at Nikkei Centre

Saturday, April 9, 2011
12pm– 3pm

FREE

A fun, family friendly event to enjoy all that spring has to offer!

The National Nikkei Museum & Heritage Centre presents Celebrate Spring at Nikkei Centre! on Saturday, April 9,  12pm to 3pm. Located at Nikkei Place in Burnaby with a beautiful Japanese Canadian garden, this is a free spring event featuring Japanese taiko and dance performances, kimono dress-up and sales, tea ceremony, make your own haiku, cherry blossoms, kites, and much more.

Enjoy a special Sakura Bento lunch. Food vendors with Japanese tea and cakes will be on site. Shop for kimono, Japanese fashion accessories, bonsai, soap, baby clothing, furoshiki gift wraps, and wood carvings.

Order your special Sakura Bento lunch for $12 in advance at 604.777.7000

A new exhibition BLOOM – an Asian Artist showcase opens at the Japanese Canadian National Museum. Explore the local talent. Some artists will be in attendance. A silent auction for these works will be held on April 30^th.

PROGRAM
12:15pm  Chibi Taiko performance
1:30pm  Japanese dance by Otowa-ryu Dance Group
2:15pm  Aikido demonstration

ONGOING EVENTS
Tea Ceremony
Kimono dress up and kimono sales
Write your own Haiku
Origami
Japanese kite making
Cherry blossom crafts
Scavenger hunt
Enjoy the beautiful Japanese Canadian garden
Asian Canadian Artist Showcase
Special food and hand made craft tables
Amazake tasting

VENDORS

CAKE-YA (cakes) | CHADO TEA HOUSE LTD. (teas) | Yumi Matsuda (manju) | Pac West Imports/Exports (kimono) | Beauty Secrets of Japan (soap) | Babymaci (baby clothing) | HABA (Japanese cosmetics) | Hop Frog Pond (furoshiki gift wraps)| Motoharu Imanishi (wood carving) | Valerie Gilbert (cards) | Chieko Haraguchi (miniature bonsai) | Damien’s Belgian Waffle | Belen Embroidery | Twinkets (jewelry) | Kyoko Yamaguchi (jewelry) | La Chocolaterie | NNM&HC Auxiliary | Artisan Sakemaker at Granville Island

The Cats of Mirikitani

74 minutes
In English and Japanese with English subtitles
Director Linda Hattendorf
Thursday, February 3, 2011, 7pm
Saturday, February 26, 2011, 2pm
Saturday, March 26, 2011, 2pm

Suggested donation $5
Join us for a guided gallery tour after the screening.

“Make art not war” is Jimmy Mirikitani’s motto. This 80-year-old Japanese American artist was born in Sacramento and raised in Hiroshima, but by 2001 he is living on the streets of New York with the twin towers of the World Trade Center still ominously anchoring the horizon behind him. What begins as a simple verite portrait of one homeless man will become a rare document of daily life in New York in the months leading up to 9/11. How deeply these two stories will be intertwined cannot yet be imagined. This is the story of losing “home” on many levels. http://www.thecatsofmirikitani.com/

7th annual

Jan Ken Pon Family Games Day

Saturday, March 19, 11am-2pm

$5 for children over 2 years old. Free for accompanying adults. $4 for advance bookings before March 12.

Experience over 20 traditional Japanese heritage games and toys at Jan Ken Pon! Play with colourful tops and a Japanese style cup & ball, make your own sumo wrestlers and beanbags, and run around and burn off some energy. The highlight of the day is a rock-paper-scissors tournament with prizes. Old Japanese heritage toys will also be on display. This event is suitable for families with children aged 4 to 12. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Obento lunch $5
Menu: onigiri, chicken, vegi sticks, dessert and beverage
Please pre-order by March 12

じゃんけんぽん！ 家族ゲームの日

3月19日（土）　午前11時～午後2時
第7回「じゃんけんぽん！家族ゲームの日」を開催します。日本の伝統的なおもちゃで遊んだり、おもちゃの工作をしたり、家族みんなで楽しんでください。だ るま落とし、お手玉、カルタ、福笑い、紙すもう、てるてる坊主、ぶんぶんごまなど20種類以上の遊びを紹介します。ハイライトのじゃんけんぽんトーナメン トで勝ち進んで賞品を手に入れましょう。また、古いおもちゃや懐かしいおもちゃの展示もあります。4～12歳の子供向けのイベントです。保護者の同伴をお 願いします。

お弁当　＄５
おにぎり、チキン、野菜スティック、デザート、飲み物
3月12日までに前予約をお願いします。

Nikkei Family History Workshop

Henry’s Glasses and Ishizue

Film screening – double bill
Saturday, February 19, 2pm
Suggested donation $5

Henry’s Glasses

Directed by Brendan Uegama
2010, 20 minutes
In a Japanese-Canadian internment camp a young boy must use the power of his imagination to escape reality and help his elderly new friend. The director Brendan Uegama and some of the cast will be in attendance.

Ishizue; fusion of the hearts

Directed by Linda Ohama
2010, 20 minutes
Ishizue features 13 young Vancouver Chibi Taiko players who traveled to Japan, most for the first time, and practised taiko with a traditional Japanese group in Onomichi, Hiroshima-ken—and experienced connecting with their cultural roots.
Join us for a Q & A session after the screenings. Refreshments will be served.

A special performance by Chibi Taiko will follow the screenings.

Linda Ohama and members from Chibi Taiko talk about their visit to Japan and documentary film Ishizue: Fusion of the Hearts on CBC Raido North by Northwest. You can download the February 13th podcast. The interview starts around 27 minutes into the program.
http://www.cbc.ca/bc/features/podcast/index.html#nxnw