VNCS

Tsugio Kurushima – President

Tsugio Kurushima is a Nisei born and raised in Winnipeg. He moved to Victoria with his family in 1979. Tsugio got involved in Japanese Canadian affairs during the Redress Movement in the 1980’s. Since that time he has been active in the Nikkei community not only in the greater Victoria area but also on Vancouver Island. He is a founding member of the Victoria Nikkei Cultural Society and has served on its Board since its inception in 1994, holding the capacity of President for many of those years. Tsugio is a member of Uminari Taiko and the Furusato Dancers. In addition to his Japanese cultural interests he is active in hockey, golf, church and playing his guitar. Tsugio is married to Susan and has 2 adult children, Carmen and Bradley. Founding member.

Debbie Ibaraki – Vice President

Bio information pending.

Ken Watai – Treasurer

A retired mining executive, Ken was born and raised in Japan. His wife is a member of faculty at UBC, Asian Study and they have four children and four grandchildren. Ken served as a director for VNCS from 2000-2004 and accepted the current position when the former treasurer moved to Vancouver early in 2010. Ken is currently promoting Premium Japanese Sake with the Sake Association of British Columbia, throughout BC and Alberta and also with the Consulate General of Japan through various cultural events. Founding member.

Secretary

Vacant

Mike Abe – Past President

Mike Abe, a Sansei, was born and raised in Ontario where he graduated from McMaster University with a degree in Biology. He worked and lived in Japan from 1987-1993 where he met and married Izumi Masuda. Their eldest son, Kento was born in Kofu, Japan and they moved to Canada, settling in Victoria in 1993. Their daughter, Natsuki was born in Victoria in 1998. Mike worked at Tourism Victoria for 13 years and for 7 years at Tourism BC. He is currently the Project Manager for Landscapes of Injustice at the University of Victoria. This is a research project focused on the dispossession and forced sale of property owned by Japanese Canadians during WW II in British Columbia.

Mike enjoys golf, shodo and sumi-e and holds a third degree black belt in Yoshinkan Aikido. He has been editor of the Victoria Nikkei Forum newsletter since 2001 and has served as VNCS president for seven years over the last ten years.

Natsuki Abe

Born and raised in Victoria, Natsuki Abe is a Yonsei on her father’s side and a Nisei on her mother’s side. She has been involved with the VNCS since she was very little. Natsuki is currently a fourth year history undergraduate student at UVic, specializing in Canadian history. She is a research assistant on for the Landscapes of Injustice project that focuses on the dispossession and forced sale of property owned by Japanese Canadians on the west coast during WWII. While on the VNCS board of directors, Natsuki wishes to increase her involvement with the Nikkei community and help promote JC history through the newly formed Heritage Subcommittee within VNCS. Board member since 2020.

Maureen Bird

Maureen (nee Watanabe) is a Sansei, born & raised in Montreal. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biology, graduating in 1983. She moved to Victoria in 1988. Recently retired, she worked for over 30 years for the BC Government in the fields of information technology, data architecture, and data management. She and her husband, Mike, are especially proud parents to adult son, Zach.

Growing up as a teenager in Montreal, she found it hard to embrace her Japanese background. She was only one of two girls of east Asian descent in a graduating class of 400 and it was hard not to be seen as “different”. Since moving west, she has come to value her heritage and her family’s history here on the coast. Her involvement with the VNCS has been part of her learning and appreciation of Japanese Canadian history & Japanese culture.

Maureen has been a VNCS member for many years and became a member of the VNCS Board of Directors in 2021. She has been part of the Japanese Cultural Fair’s organizing committee for over 10 years, running the Children’s area for three years, then assuming the role of Volunteer Coordinator in 2014. She is currently part of the VNCS Newsletter’s editorial team.

Yuuri Daiku

Yuuri comes from a multicultural family and spent his younger years in Europe and Victoria. After completing his studies in literature at UVic he moved to Japan where he lived for almost 20 years, got married, and worked as translator, instructor, tour guide, and guesthouse manager. Back in Canada since 2015 he has been working for tour companies in BC, Alberta, and the Yukon. Yuuri and his wife have been VNCS members since 2018.

Karen Koyanagi Geiger

Karen Koyanagi Geiger is a Yonsei and was born in Vancouver. She has called Victoria home since 2008. Karen has 25 years of leadership experience with the Government of Canada and the Government of British Columbia. She was a recipient of the Public Service of Canada’s ‘Women Making A Difference’ Award. Her grandmother and father were born on Vancouver Island, and she would like to contribute to the Japanese community by honouring her ancestors and elders by creating a more empathetic and inclusive world for future generations. Karen enjoys international travel, growing orchids, and learning to cook her family’s traditional Japanese dishes.

Reyna Goshinmon

Reyna Goshinmon is a “hapa, yonsei, Uchinanchu” (mixed-race, 4th generation Okinawan Canadian) who lives and works on the unceded traditional territories of the Lekwungen speaking people, also known as the Esquimalt and Songhees First Nations communities.

Reyna founded her own small, independent business in 2016 and has spent the last 20 years in retail, service and sales management. She brings her experience and skill sets to the Victoria Nikkei Cultural Society Board of Directors and trusts that they can be applied within the organization, to help support and promote the nikkei community.

Reyna looks forward to representing the Okinawan and Japanese Canadian community, contributing to the organization and connecting with people.

Amy Kawano

Amy Kawano was born in Vernon, B.C. and raised in Okanagan Centre. Upon graduation from high school, she moved with a group of girls to Victoria, BC. Her first job in Victoria was with Medical Services Plan (then called BC Medical) but after three years she moved to Vancouver to be a little closer to family. She then worked for a wholesaler who sold giftwrap paper and ribbons. After approximately 25 yrs. in Vancouver Amy returned to Victoria BC in 1995. Her brother introduced her to the VNCS and she was then asked to become a Board Member. Once she got involved with the organization, Amy has really enjoyed assisting with the different events and overseeing the food preparations for the Cultural Fairs. She learned how to make manju which she had never made before – “my grand-mother always made it for us”. This experience has been very rewarding and Amy would like to thank all those who volunteer to help put on the events.

Yukari Peerless – Communications Director

Yukari has been helping to bridge the cultural gap between Japan and Canada ever since 1998, when she moved from her native Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, to Victoria. She has become the go-to person for all things Japanese culture and performing arts on Vancouver Island.

One of Yukari’s first jobs in Canada was working for the Canadian College of Film and Acting. Her interest in the theatre arts was fuelled by watching student films and participating in acting workshops.

She serves as the director of communication at Victoria Nikkei Cultural Society. She also serves as a board member at Canadian College of Performing Arts where she is an active member of Cultural Safety Working Group. She is also a part of the Arts, Culture, and Education committee at National Association of Japanese Canadians.

As the owner of Lucid Communication, she provides a variety of services such as interpretation and cultural consulting to Japanese and Canadian clients, including the local government and the government of Japan. Past projects and clients include ANA, Dove, Post and Disney.

As a host and producer of Living Brave Podcast, Yukari enjoys showcasing Japanese and Japanese-Canadian/Japanese-American artists. Additionally, she produces a Japanese podcast focused on various social issues.

Yukari is also a digital content creator and can be found across social media.

Joyce Tobo

Joyce Tobo’s parents were interned in Slocan, BC. Her mother transported her and her brother in utero to Raymond, Alberta, not knowing that she was about to have twins. A sugar beet farm became the landing place for her parents, who used their resilience and courage to make a life for her and her brother. Alberta became her home where she became a nurse and eventually practised nursing for fifty years.

Joyce’s reason for wishing to be on the VNCS Board is to engage in activities that celebrate her Japanese culture. She has received many gifts from VNCS programs and would like to contribute so that others can have the rich programming that has been offered to her.

Kimiko West

Kimiko West is a Yonsei (fourth-generation Nikkei) currently living on the traditional and unceded territories of the lekwungen-speaking people on Songhees and Esquimalt nation territory.

Her grandfather, Kiyoshi Fukui, was eighteen years old during World War II and he and his family were a few of the 22,000 Canadians of Japanese descent who were removed and displaced during World War II and beyond. As his only grandchild, Kimiko honoured his legacy by capturing his memoirs and legacy before his passing in 2019. Her grandmother’s Taneda family has lived and cultivated orchards in the Kelowna area for five generations.

Growing up in the small town in 100 Mile House BC, and as a result of the aftershock of her grandfather’s experience of the Japanese Internment, Kimiko was never given any exposure to Japanese culture or traditions as a child. For both her inner child and for her one-year-old daughter, Nozomi, she would like to reconnect with her Japanese roots, community, culture, and wisdom.

She is grateful to be joining the VNCS board and excited to learn and participate in this community.