It’s time to stand against racism

It’s time to stand against racism

We at the Victoria Nikkei Cultural Society are deeply troubled by recent reports across the country and from our neighbours to the south about the rise in anti-Asian racism.

As a society, we must stand against racism of any type. As we have seen again and again, unchecked racism is a blight on society. It harms individuals. It harms communities. It harms the very fabric of our nation.

Here in Canada, we have seen the consequences of anti-Asian racism in our history. In the Second World War, Canadians of Japanese heritage living on the West Coast were sent to internment camps and stripped of their property – homes, fishing boats, businesses. Members of Victoria’s Japanese community lived through these times, and many more had parents who were impacted.

Sharing our culture is woven into the very fabric of the Victoria Nikkei Cultural Society, and we hope that one day we can see an end to anti-Asian and all forms of racism. We encourage everyone – Asian and non-Asian – to take part in rallies taking place to voice concerns about racism.

There are useful online resources with tools to confront racism below. They also provide tools to help report hate crimes, something that is critical if authorities and the community are to get a true understanding of the extent of these incidents.

National Association of Japanese Canadians Confronting and Reporting Racism (http://najc.ca/confronting-and-reporting-racism-the-najc/)

Elimin8hate (https://www.elimin8hate.org/)

B.C. Government anti-racism resources (https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/multiculturalism-anti-racism/anti-racism)

2021 Annual General Meeting – Sunday, Feb 21 (10:00am to 12:00pm)

The VNCS AGM will be held on Sunday, Feb 21, 2021, 10 AM to 12 PM.  Due to the COVID-19 lock down, this will be a virtual gathering using Zoom.  To attend the AGM you must register in advance. Click here to register.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

To vote at the AGM you must be a paid up member of the VNCS.  You can take out or renew a membership through our Web site, vncs.ca and pay using e-transfer.

 

AGM Agenda

9:45 am

  • AGM Assembly (Logging on to Zoom)

10:00 am

  • Call to order
  • Approval of Agenda
  • Approval of Minutes of Annual General Meeting held Feb 9, 2020

10:05 am

Reports

  • President’s Report: Tsugio Kurushima
  • Treasurer’s Report: Ken Watai
  • Newsletter/Communications Report: Yukari Peerless
  • Virtual Cultural Fall Fair Report: Tsugio Kurushima
  • Website Report: Craig Mercer
  • Uminari Taiko Report: Susan Kurushima
  • Furusato Dancers Report: Tsugio Kurushima
  • Sakura Fujinkai Report: Susan Kurushima
  • NAJC Report: Tsugio Kurushima
  • Community Outreach Program: Mieko Fedrau
  • Membership Report: Tsugio Kurushima for Tony Ibaraki
  • Endowed Award at UVic Report: Craig Mercer

Other Business

11:30 am

  • Election of Officers and Directors: Debbie Ibaraki

12:00 pm

  • Adjournment of AGM

President’s Message – Season’s Greeting


To say that 2020 has been a difficult year is an obvious understatement. Even if the Coronavirus did not infect you or someone close to you, the impact of the pandemic has played havoc with all aspects of our lives. So for most of us the end of 2020 could not come soon enough. It is heartening that we now have a COVID-19 vaccine. Hopefully by the summer of 2021 we will be able to get back to a more normal life.

In the meantime, I wish everyone a joyous Holiday Season. May your Holiday be blessed with the love and warmth of family and friends even if its only via Zoom. Please continue to keep safe and healthy and hopefully we will see you at some VNCS event in the not to distant future.

Tsugio Kurushima
President

Virtual Fair – Performance Line Up

21st Annual Japanese Cultural Fair - Virtual Edition

Watch the Japanese Cultural Fair Virtual Edition right here on the VNCS website on Saturday, October 24th from 12:00pm to 3:00pm (Pacific Daylight Time). Below is the performance schedule line up. Please note that as this is a live broadcast event…times may not be exact.

Virtual Edition – Performance Line Up

Hour One
Uminari Taiko

 

Uminari Taiko (12:05)

The fair opens with Uminari Taiko and the thunder of Japanese drums. Vancouver Island’s only taiko drumming ensemble their name translates as “roaring sea” – the sound of the crashing waves and the silence in between – a tribute to the drums and our windswept island.
uminaritaiko.com

 

Tea Ceremony (12:30)

Chado Urasenke Tankokai Victoria Association – Urasenke style traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony, the Way of Tea, has been taught by Mrs. Mito since 1998. Her group will demonstrate the casual Chabako style, which has a box containing all the utensils and is suitable for outdoor gatherings where the guest can enjoy a bowl of tea outside.
Urasenke Chado Tradition

Ikebana Demonstration (12:50)

Sensei Michiko Segeuv will demonstrate Sogetsu Ikebana flower arranging through four different arrangements with dried and fresh plant materials and Ikebana containers. Seguev is a certified Sogetsu Ikebana School teacher who trained in Tokyo and has been teaching for 20 years.
Sogetsu Ikebana

Hour Two

 

Interview with special guest Jordan Stanger-Ross (1:10)

Jordan Stranger-Ross will talk about UVIC’s Landscapes of Injustice project, its successes, and its next steps highlighting the dispossession of
Japanese Canadians in the 1940s. The project’s Director and an associate professor of history, he is the author of several award-winning publications.
Dr. Jordan Stanger-Ross

Kimono and its Seasonal Differences (1:25)

Hitomi Harama, a specialist of Kimono and Japanese culture, will introduce the Kimono, its culture, and its 1,300-plus years of history. Though it ceased being daily wear for Japanese people around 1940, it is at the heart of Japanese culture and embedded with deep cultural matters.
umesilkkimono.com

Sake Q&A with Shino (1:35)

Shino Yamashiro is from Okinawa and Sake sommelier and manager at Ené Raw Food + Sake Bar. She will answer viewer’s questions about sake and give us suggestions on paring sake with various food. Send in your questions to info@vncs.ca for your chance to win 1 Sake Flight Free!
nuboene.com

Enjoying Daikon (Japanese Radish) in your Kitchen and Garden (2:00)

Umi Nami Farm
Learn about some tasty, fresh and healthy ways to enjoy daikon (Japanese radish) with Heather from Umi Nami Farms. Located in Metchosin since 1996, they specialize in year-round organic vegetable and fruit production, used by some restaurant chefs in town + have a box program.
uminamifarm.com

Hour Three

Kamishibai Story Telling (2:10)

Yuri Pomeroy
Kamishibai or “paper play” is a form of Japanese street theatre and storytelling popular during the Depression of the 1930s and the post-war period in Japan until the advent of TV. Yuri Pomeroy, the founder of JLC Victoria pre-school, will read two classic stories. Great for the kids!
jlcvictoria.com

 

Interview with special guest Natsuki Abe (2:25)

Natsuki Abe will join the Virtual Fair to talk about the recently formed VNCS Heritage Community that she chairs and share its goals. She is a research assistant on UVIC’s Landscapes of Injustice project that focuses on the dispossession and forced sale of property owned by Japanese Canadians.
Natsuki Abe

Making Maki (Rolled) Sushi (2:30)

Lynn Howard-Gibbon, a sushi chef at Sen Zushi since 2005, will demonstrate how to make popular sushi rolls such as Futomaki and California rolls easily at home. Lynn lived in Japan from 1994 to 1999 and is active in the Japanese community, including Urasenke Tankokai (tea ceremony).
senzushi.com

 

Minyo (2:50)

Rina El-Nahas
Rina and the Japanese Minyo Band is a traditional Japanese music band playing music called Tohoku Minyo from the northern area of Japan. Rina has been performing and playing this style of music since age of five and won numerous awards in Japanese traditional competitions in Japan.

Uminari TaikoUminari Taiko Finale (3:00)

The roar of the Japanese drum will close out the virtual fair with a second, unique performance by Uminari Taiko.
uminaritaiko.com

2020 Japanese Cultural Fair Goes Virtual!

21st Annual Japanese Cultural Fair - Virtual Edition

Victoria’s annual Japanese Cultural Fair & Auction go online with live-streaming this year.


The Victoria Nikkei Cultural Society’s 21stAnnual Japanese Cultural Fair is going new places this year – online.

The Virtual Edition of the fair is being presented as a three-hour long live online show combining pre-taped vignettes and live performances, all highlighting Victoria’s Japanese community.

“For more than two decades the fair has been the main event on our society’s calendar, and it is our way of sharing our history and culture with everyone in Greater Victoria,” said VNCS President Tsugio Kurushima. “We decided a few months ago that we would face the pandemic like so many people are facing it – we would adapt to it but we would not let it stop us.”

Viewers can expect performances of Taiko drumming, Koto playing, Ikebana flower arranging, the Japanese tea ceremony, Kyudo Japanese archery, Kimono dressing, and Kamishibai story telling, as well as a look at Japanese vegetables by Umi Nami Farms.

“We’re disappointed we can’t get together in person, and enjoy the fabulous food made by volunteers that’s always a delight, but we are looking at the positives,” Kurushima said. “We’re looking forward to having video presentations that will be able to provide a closer look than any stage performance ever could.”

The full schedule of events will be posted at VNCS.ca as soon as it is finalized.

Where and When:

 -30-