It is again time to plan for our annual Japanese Cultural Fair. Last year, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and community safety restrictions, we could not hold an in-person fair, but instead held an online cultural fair broadcast from the Belfry Theatre.
With the BC Restart Plan well underway we would like to gauge past and potential fair attendee’s interest in the VNCS pursuing an in-person fair or whether we should stay virtual for one more year, or even potentially postpone the fair till the Spring of 2022. YOUR VOICE IS IMPORTANT and we would love to hear from you to help us in our planning!
Please complete our short, anonymous survey by Sunday, July 25. You can also send your feedback to info@vncs.ca. Arigatou!!!
Seated – Mary Kimoto; standing – Ellen Kimoto Crowe-Swords and Project Manager Eiko Eby.
NEWS FROM THE JC SURVIVORS
HEALTH & WELLNESS FUND
OUTREACH
Our team has been contacting many survivors, small groups, and community organizations, across the country to get a sense of the needs of our seniors’ populations. We have learned that there are a number of active survivors involved in wellness activities run by sub-groups of community organizations. We have also learned there are a large number of frail survivors trying to live safely who are supported by family and friends for the activities of daily living. Some of these seniors have no supports. This group is largely underserved and there is a need for more community supports and health care services for these frail seniors.
CRITERIA
Nikkei Seniors is pleased to announce the release of the Grant Information, with criteria, for the Japanese Canadian Survivors Health & Wellness Fund (JCSHWF). jcwellness.org
There are three categories of eligibility: Organizations, Small Groups, and Underserved Individuals. Organizations may apply for up to two grants. Small groups and the underserved may apply for one grant only.
The maximum awards are up to $10,000 per application for organizations, $3000 for small groups, and $750 for underserved individuals.
INFORMATION SESSIONS FOR THE JC SURVIVORS HEALTH & WELLNESS FUND
Four (4) General Zoom sessions are scheduled to explain and repeat the Grant Information and answer questions. More meetings will be added as necessary.
The scheduled JCSHWF – General Grant Information Sessions are on Zoom. You must register in advance for the meetings and the registration links are listed below. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
In celebration of Asian Heritage Month, the VNCS will be holding a virtual event over Zoom:
Sunday, May 30, 2021
2:00 PM – 3:30 PM PDT
Recording of the Virtual Hanami Celebration
Questions?
If you have anything you’d like to ask our presenters, send your questions to info@vncs.ca prior to or during the presentations. We will do our best to have them answered during the event.
Ikebana Lesson
MichikoSeguev– originally from Tokyo, she started to have a strong interest in Ikebana in her early childhood as she accompanied her mother to her (Mother’s) Ikebana lessons at Ohara School. Later on at her work in an advertising agency, her passion for Ikebana was rekindled when she had a chance to arrange flowers for work. She resumed studying Ikebana under Sōraku at Sōgetsu School and obtained a teaching certificate. She has been teaching Ikebana since her arrival in Victoria and providing VNCS Ikebana classes for more than 15 years.
Sake Tasting
Shino Yamashiro – Shino is a sake specialist, certified as an International kikisake-shi by SSI (Sake Service Institute in Japan) and a menu developer at “E:ne raw food + sake bar”, where more than 50 selections of sake are served and is the very first “sake bar“ in Victoria. Shino was very much inspired and fell in love with the unique world of sake 4 years ago. Shino found that many local guests love wine and also have a great curiosity towards sake when she introduced them to all the breadth and complexity that sake has to offer. Introducing sake and making it more approachable to people became her passion. She wants to encourage people to enjoy sake “as is” or by pairing with varieties of food, not just Japanese food. Shino hopes that a sake menu becomes more and more popular at restaurants.
Shino will be sampling two types of sake during her presentation:
Pick up one or both bottles ahead of time and taste along with her from the comfort of your home! Check for local availability using the “Where to buy” button in the BC Liquor Store links provided.
Support the Community
We encourage you to help support our community however you are able, perhaps by ordering take-out from your favourite local restaurants, making a donation to the VNCS, or simply attending as we celebrate Asian heritage and culture this May.
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.
