Sounds Japanese Canadian To Me

It's not alien, it's utopian! In this episode, Raymond and Carolyn discuss the history, the social politics, and the experience of having mixed heritage. From the reasons for so many Japanese Canadians being of mixed heritage, to describing yourself as "half", "mixed", or of course "hapa", even to the level of your own name, having mixed heritage is a complicated experience. This double-sized episode of Sounds Japanese Canadian to Me is just one part of a huge and continuously evolving conversation.

The post Episode 28 – Mixed Heritage appeared first on Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre.

It's not all fun and games at The Fair. In this episode, Raymond is joined by guest Erica Isomura to talk about Hastings Park in East Vancouver, better known as the PNE Fairgrounds, and its role for Japanese Canadians from up the coast and Vancouver Island in internment.

The post Episode 27 – Hastings Park 1942  appeared first on Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre.

In this episode, Raymond and Carolyn explore the fascinating history of Japanese taiko drumming, from its ancient roots in folk culture to the emergence of taiko ensembles in both Japan and North America after the Second World War. Taiko ensembles first began in North America in the 1970s, and were closely tied to Asian American and Asian Canadian political activism.

The post Episode 26 – Taiko appeared first on Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre.

Sewing was an important occupation for Japanese Canadian women before and during the Second World War, not only to clothe themselves and their families, but also as one of the few professions which was not barred to them in the racist climate of the time. Many pre-war issei and nisei women were skilled technicians, attending schools to learn how to draft their own patterns. In this episode, Raymond and Carolyn discuss some of what they learned about this history from the Nikkei National Museum's online exhibit, Our Mother's Patterns.

The post Episode 25 – Dressmaking (Our Mothers Patterns) appeared first on Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre.

Just what is it with Japanese Canadian cultural centres, anyway? This episode, Raymond and Carolyn discuss this phenomenon, from the JCCC in Toronto to centres in Montreal, Steveston, and even the Nikkei Centre which they're recording out of. Different centres across Canada have unique and interesting origins related to varying histories of postwar Japanese Canadian settlement, and today continue to provide space for their local communities in many ways. Many were built with the help of the redress settlement, and are important venues for celebrating multiculturalism and Japanese heritage today.

The post Episode 24 – Cultural Centres appeared first on Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre.

Join Raymond and Carolyn as they discuss figures in ancient Japanese folklore, botanical attractions in Vancouver and across Canada, and...mutants and clones? The Japanese ornamental cherry tree is all of these, not to mention a feature of spring in Japan and many places in Canada.

The post Episode 22 – Cherry Blossoms appeared first on Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre.

In this episode, Raymond and Carolyn discuss the Japanese Canadian favourite of baseball. While the Vancouver Asahi are the most famous Japanese Canadian baseball team, there were many Nikkei teams and leagues throughout BC before the forced removal, in the camps during internment, and even some established east of the Rockies in the 1950s and beyond.

The post Episode 21 – Baseball appeared first on Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre.

For our twentieth episode, Raymond and Carolyn look at the fascinating history of Japanese Canadians in the village of Cumberland on Vancouver Island. Coal baron Robert Dunsmuir began importing workers from Japan and elsewhere to Cumberland in the late 19th century. Labour disputes and racism were rampant, but the Japanese immigrants were also able to build lives there, moving from mining to logging and service industry work, and even bringing over their families and establishing a Japanese Language School. After the community was forcibly removed in 1942, efforts have been made by Cumberlanders in more recent years to uncover, preserve, and celebrate the multicultural history of the village.

The post Episode 20 – Cumberland appeared first on Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre.

In this episode, Raymond and Carolyn discuss the who, what, where, when, and why of Japanese place names in Canada, from Ikeda Bay in Haida Gwaii to Bonsai Street in Vancouver, and even "Matane" in Quebec. While some are named in honour of early immigrants from Japan, others are more like tributes from afar to the idea of Japan and Japanese culture, or arrived at their names through a variety of interesting and surprising occurrences.

The post Episode 19 – Place Names appeared first on Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre.