Japantown Multicultural Neighbourhood Celebration - Vancouver ...

VARIOUS LOCATIONS IN THEJAPANTOWN & POWELL STREETN E I G H B O U R H O O DProduced by the Powell Street Festival Society • To n a r i G u m iVancouver Japanese Language School & Japanese Halla n d V a n c o u v e r M o v i n g T h e a t r eF o r i n f o r m a t i o n : 6 0 4 - 6 2 8 - 5 6 7 2 o r w w w. v j l s - j h . c o m

GreetingsOn behalf of the citizensof Vancouver and mycolleagues on VancouverCity Council I am delightedto welcome everyoneto the first JapantownMulticultural NeighbourhoodCelebration – anevent that celebrates the history, diversityand enduring promise of Vancouver’s Japantown/PowellStreet area.Neighbourhoods are a foundationof our City. The Japantown neighbourhoodhas vital historic and culturalsignificance to Vancouver, and Iam very pleased to see the local communitycoming together to contributeto its future.Congratulations to the many peopleand organizations that have helped torealize this event. Your efforts to contributeto your community are greatly appreciatedand valued. The City of Vancouveris proud to support this Celebration.Enjoy the history walks, displays, performances,ceremony and gala everyone!Yours truly,Gregor Robertson, MayorIt is my pleasure tocongratulate the organizerson the openingof the JapantownMulticultural NeighborhoodCelebrationin recognition of the80th anniversary of Japan-Canadadiplomatic relations. Such acommunity-based cultural promotionalevent is commendable because of itscontribution to the deepening of mutualunderstanding among the differentcultural and ethnic communities’ peoplein Canada. Best wishes for a very successfulcelebration.Seiichi OtsukaConsul General of Japan in VancouverWe are delighted to welcomeeveryone to theJapantown MulticulturalNeighbourhood Celebration!Today’s celebration arose from thevision to create a collaborative, community-basedevent that explores themulticultural past and present of Japantown- and contributes to its future.The Japantown area is one of Vancouver’smost interesting communities:rich in history, culture, stories andhome to people who deeply care fortheir neighbourhood. By showcasingthe artists, art forms, organizationsand cultures of Japantown we work tostrengthen the relationships betweenneighbourhood residents and organizations,educate the general publicabout the neighbourhood, and fostercommunity led renewal through arts,culture and heritage.Thanks to all the celebration artists,historians, presenters, community partners,volunteers and staff who havecontributed to today’s celebration.A special thanks to Celebration CoordinatorTeresa Vandertuin who hasworked with such dedication to producethis event.We trust that you will be inspired bytoday’s sharing of the history, cultureand people of Japantown. Enjoy thecelebration everyone!Kristen LambertsonPowell Street Festival SocietyJoji KumagaiTonari GumiRika UtoVancouver Japanese LanguageSchool and Japanese HallTerry HunterVancouver Moving TheatreJapantown MulticulturalNeighbourhood CelebrationSaturday March 28, 200910am to 9pmVarious locations in the Japantownand Powell Street neighbourhoodProduced by Powell Street Festival Society,Tonari Gumi, Vancouver JapaneseLanguage School & Japanese Hall andVancouver Moving Theatre, in associationwith a host of community partnerswww.vjls-jh.com or call 604-628-5672All events are free admission.The Japantown Multicultural NeighbourhoodCelebration acknowledgesand honours that our neighbourhoodlies within the Traditional Territory ofthe Coast Salish people.2 3Table of contentsCredits & Thanks ................................... 4Powell Street (Japantown)Historical and Cultural Review ............ 5The Japanese Community and theFranciscan Sisters of the Atonement ... 8My life in the Downtown Eastside ...... 8A Field of Dreams ................................. 9History Walking Tours ........................ 10Displays & Story Sharing ..................... 11Schedule at a Glance .......................... 12Daytime Activities ............................... 14Procession ............................................ 16Ceremony & Performances ................ 18Evening Performances ........................ 20Japantown Live/Work Studios ........... 21Other events ........................................ 22Historical Area Map .............Back CoverFront coverPhotos David Cooper, Terry Hunter,Michelle Richard, creative commonsDesign Big Wave DesignAppearing in the photo OppenheimerTotem Pole, Vancouver Japanese LanguageSchool (archive), DTES SambaBand, Morimoto doorway design (archive),Stephen LyttonPhoto: Michelle Richard

Producing PartnersIn 1977, the Japanese Canadian centennialyear, the first Powell Street Festivalwas initiated in an effort to celebrate Japantownand produce an event similar tothe summer festivals in Japan. Today, themission of the Powell Street Festival Societyis to celebrate the arts and cultureof Japanese Canadians and Asian Canadians,to encourage Asian Canadians totake a leadership role in the developmentof the arts in Canada, and to fostercommunity development through culturalevents, including the annual PowellStreet Festival in August every year.Tonari Gumi (Japanese Community VolunteersAssociation) was established in theDTES in 1973 to help Issei (first generation)Japanese Canadian seniors who sufferedfrom cultural and economic alienation inthe Japantown area. Today, it provides socialservices and a variety of cultural, recreationaland seniors-based programs fromits East Broadway location.Credits & ThanksStaffProducing Committee Terry Hunter, JojiKumagai, Kristen Lambertson, Rika UtoCelebration Coordinator Teresa VandertuinProcession Coordinator Michelle RichardProcession Banners Diane WoodGraphic Designer John Endo GreenawayPublicist Sabrina FurmingerProduction Manager Simon GarberProduction Assistants William Butler, RuthieSumiko Tabata, Doug Vernon, Elwin XieOn-site Photographer Ken TabataCommunity PartnersThe Bulletin, Carnegie Community ActionProject, Chapel Arts, DTES NeighbourhoodHouse, Firehall Arts Centre,Kalayaan Centre, Japantown Live/WorkStudios, Japanese Canadian Citizens’Established in 1906, the Vancouver JapaneseLanguage School & Japanese Hall(VJLS-JH) is a community centre dedicatedto promoting Japanese language andculture, Japanese Canadian heritageand cross-cultural understanding. It offersclasses to all age groups, organizescultural events, and provides a gatheringplace for local community groups.Vancouver Moving Theatre (VMT) is anaward winning Downtown Eastsidebased professional theatre companyfounded in 1983 by residents Terry Hunterand Savannah Walling. Recognizednationally for its innovative arts basedcommunity development projects tailoredwith and for its home community,VMT’s activities include original theatreproductions, community festivals andcultural services.Association, The Living Room, NationalNikkei Museum and Heritage Centre,Oppenheimer Park, Vancouver HeritageFoundationSpecial ThanksRick Archambault, Tomi Asakawa, AyexBathan, Leo Cooper, Leah Diana, KiraGerwing, Leith Harris, Barb Hinton, MikoHoffman, Mari Honma, Jennifer Johnstone,Vicki Joss, Sharon Kravitz, CathyKwan, Jim Leyden, Helen Liang, Ali Lohan,Sandy MacKeigan, Chisaki Muraki-Valdovinos, Nichola Ogiwara, WilliamOksanen, Holly Page, Laura Saimoto, SisterElizabeth, Sister Margaret, Paul Taylor,Erika Thomas, Mike Uyeno, Kathy Walker,Savannah Walling, Nathan Wiens, RyokoWilkings, Deanna Wing, Y. Richard Yagi,Elana Zysblat and thanks to those wonderfulpeople who will step in to help afterthe program guide has gone to print.Powell Street (Japantown) Historical and Cultural ReviewBy Savannah WallingThe ReportThe Powell Street (Japantown) Historicaland Cultural Review was prepared forthe City of Vancouver by a team led byStrathcona resident James Burton. Thisinvolved a community consultation processto review the historical and culturalheritage of the Powell Street area commonlyknown as Japantown. I was oneof the co-writers.The team was guided by the wisdomof an Advisory Group: individuals witha deep understanding of the physicalplace and its cultural history. Manycommunity members generously sharedthrough their writing, interviews andconversations. They told us about thearea’s history, identified some of its criticallyimportant stories and the spacesand buildings needed to tell them, andshared ways to do the telling.We built on the research of otherimportant projects such as the City ofVancouver DTES Public Realm Plan andthe Strathcona Business ImprovementAssociation’s Open Windows streetscapeimprovements project.The Review surveys the area’s history;its historical themes; places of heritagevalue; cultural activities that celebrateheritage; management tools for historicand cultural management; and ideas forfuture planning. It concludes with lots ofcommunity suggestions on “next steps.”We hope this report will assist thecommunity to argue on behalf of itsown rights and goals.Historical themesThe report describes ten powerfulthemes experienced in one form or anotherover the years by the neighbourhood’sresidents:• First Nations presence;• Heart of the City;• Hastings Mill and Waterfront Industry;4 5• Welcoming Community;• Powell Street Cycles of Prosperity and Loss;• Exclusion, Perseverance and Resistance;• Church and Cultural Precincts;• Housing and Home;• Japanese Canadian Settlement; and• Gathering at Powell Street Grounds.Historical contextThe Powell Street (Japantown) area isthe place from which Vancouver beganand grew. Some stories about Vancouver’searly development are to be foundonly in its streets and buildings—andin the memories of its residents. PowellStreet (Japantown)’s history is part ofthe founding story of this city and thereforethe common heritage of all wholive in Vancouver—the site of many historicevents, waterfront industries andcultural institutions key to the city’s development.It’s also the story of a particularplace and of the people who havelived here and do so now.Powell Street/Japantown lies onland within the unceded territories ofthe Squamish, Musqueam, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. One of the earliestEuropean settlements - HastingsMill—was erected on an ancient CoastSalish site. This area was a hub of majortrade routes between inland Coast Salishand interior groups: it was a “placeto meet other people who gathered andhunted with us.” There has always beena strong First Nations presence here andthere still is today.Within 30 short years of settlement,native power over this area had collapsed;Japanese immigrants began toreplace Aboriginal workers and take residence;thousands of immigrants arrivedby train and ship. Victoria capitalists Dr.Israel Powell (Superintendent of IndianAffairs) and David Oppenheimer (Vancouver’sfirst mayor) bought up mostof the land east of Carrall St. to Clark.Here, Vancouver’s first cultural institu-

tions and churches were established andthe area’s cycles of fabulous boom timesand ongoing decline set in motion. Aswealthier residents left in the 1890s forthe West End, mixed use buildings becamethe norm—with small family businesseson street level and rooming orboarding houses above.The areawas famous,during the1920s - 1930s,for its exciting,bustling,economicallyvibrant centre of the Japanese Canadiancommunity—still influencing life heremore than 60 years after its social destruction.(In 1942 - despite no evidenceof disloyalty on the part of anyone ofJapanese ancestry in the province - thefederal government yielded to demandsfrom panicky white British Columbiansand forcibly removed Japanese Canadians.)Not until the 1950s were laws thatwere discriminating against Asian immigrantsand Aboriginal citizens repealed.A few young Japanese Canadians andseniors returned to settle in the area;some stores and restaurants reopened.The Japanese Language School andJapanese Hall reopened, drawing JapaneseCanadians from across the lowermainland. They continue to visit thearea for cultural programs and seasonalfestivals. Today the area is “natsukashii”(a place of lots of memories)and a mini-pilgrimage site.The area was never ethnically homogenoushowever. First Nations alwaysmaintained a working and seasonalresidential presence in the area’s waterfrontindustries. Yugoslavs have residedon Cordova Street, and Scandinavians,Chinese, Latinos and Afro-Canadianshave also lived here.The heart of the community is OppenheimerPark (once known as thePowell Street Grounds)—the blockbounded by Cordova, Powell, DunlevyToday the area is “natsukashii”(a place of lots of memories)and a mini-pilgrimage site.and Jackson Streets. First Nations whofelt unwelcome in Stanley Park madeit their home. Nearby ethnic communitiesused it as their outdoor space.It’s been home to the award-winningAsahi baseball team, the DTES Slo-PitchLeague, the Vancouver Dream CatchersHomeless Soccer Team and martial artsexhibitions. It’sbeen an historicalstagingground forprotests andrallies by themarginalizedand unemployed. It’s been home to festivals,feasts and ceremonies. Today, it’sstill the community’s “living room.”By 1949, although the loss of JapaneseCanadians offered new opportunitiesfor other ethnicities, PowellSt. seemed almost deserted. Declaredan industrial zone by the city, loansfor mortgages and home improvementswere stopped; infrastructurewas neglected. As a result, the neighbourhooddeteriorated physically. Rezoningattempted to do away withan area historically used to entertainthe city’s citizens and visiting resourceworkers with services ranging fromrestaurants and night clubs to gamblinghouses and brothels. Rezoningundercut a well-functioning workingclass community that provided its residentswith a variety of goods and services.Traditional sources for jobs werein retreat: a decline in fishing stockplus technological changes in the forestry,railroad and shipping industriesmeant fewer jobs. Warehouses movedto the suburbs. Unemployment rose locally.Streetcars disappeared, reducingthe flow of customers.Inline with trends from the mid-1950sto the 1970s that wiped out culturallylively communities across North America,the city was interested in urban redevelopmentwith plans for high-risetowers; a super-highway to speed trafficfrom New Westminster to Vancouver; athird-crossing over Burrard Inlet—plansthat would have wiped out big chunksof today’s Downtown Eastside.However the community refusedto die. In the mid-1970s, a grassrootsprotest movement forced governmentpolicy to change. Freeway and high-risetower plans were abandoned. A governmentfunded neighbourhood improvementprogram assisted a culturalrenaissance, improving facilities at theJapanese Language School and BuddhistTemple; and planting sakura cherry treesin Oppenheimer Park. During the 1970s,Powell Street (Japantown) was enjoyinga renaissance: Tonari Gumi (Japanese CanadianVolunteers Association) drew indescendents of immigrants who beganrecovering their community’s history andculture. New social housing was built.The high-water mark was the creation ofthe annual Powell Street Festival.This cultural Renaissance could not stemdescending physical and social changesstraining the Powell St. (Japantown) socialfabric. Newly organized one-way streetsmade Japantown a “drive-through community.”The redevelopment of Gastownpushed low-income residents east. Downsizingof the mental hospitals led to aninflux of unsupported mentally ill people.Zoning changes reduced ground-level retailopportunities. Welfare reduction policiesand social housing cut-backs left littlespare money for discretionary funding.Homelessness in the area, and the city as awhole, doubled. Self-medicating drug useincreased and so did the black-market inprescription drugs. Policing actions of the1970s and 1980s, that moved prostitutesfrom the nightclubs and hotels to thestreets, coincided with the beginning ofa series of murders and disappearances ofprostitutes, most who had worked in theDTES including the Powell Street area.Once again, collective actions to overcomeadversity are arising to work formore social and affordable housing, improvedwelfare rates, zoning changesto restore retail and treatment centres.Residents are initiating grassroots selfhelpprojects such as the Kalayaan (Freedom)Centre for Filipino Canadians andthe intentional cooperative communityformed at Jackson and Cordova. Overand over again, community involvementhas improved the neighbourhood as residents,with some government assistance,have shown how people can help themselvesand each other. From the KalayaanCentre to the Firehall Arts Centre, fromthe DTES Heart of the City Festival to theOppenheimer Park programs and PowellStreet Festival, artists, cultural groupsand residents are producing art and givingvoice to the community. Communityceremonies honour the departed.Powell St. (Japantown) is a vibrantcommunity with a lively cultural life,retired seniors, people on disability,hard working residents, family homesand over 150 children. Powell St.(Japantown)’s long-term residents andartists like to live, work and study in thearea for its history; its ethnic and economicdiversity; its live-and-let-live spiritand human scale; its quality of life, itscultural wealth and its potential.Consistent with its history, PowellStreet (Japantown) is still an amalgamationof communities sharing severalcity blocks that feature the oldestbuildings in the city – including some ofits nicest Victorian houses, last of theirkind. Here are some of Vancouver’smost storied public spaces and importantcentres for the Japanese, Chinese,Aboriginal and other communities. Despitethe low incomes of the majorityof its residents, it’s a functioning andstable neighbourhood. Year after year,it continues to survive and renew itself.The current debate around the area’sfuture is but a continuation of the storyof the place: how does the communityshare the place and accommodate longtermresidents and others who also havea stake in it?6 7

The Japanese Community and the Franciscan Sisters of the Atonementby Sister Elizabeth Kelliher, S.A.On October 26, 1926 four FranciscanSisters of the Atonement arrived in Vancouver.They came to carry on the worksof Katie O’Melia San who had workedin the Japan town area for many years.Their initial work consisted of providingclasses in English as a second language,operating a day care program,kindergarten, first and second grade,providing religious education and visitingthe sick.In 1942, some of the Sisters accompaniedthe Japanese who were being internedin the town of Greenwood BC. TheSisters accompanied the families to assistin these difficult and painful transitions.To ease the pain of loss for the families,the Sisters provided storage for some oftheir furniture and other belongings.When the Sisters realized that 700Japanese children would not be acceptedin the local Greenwood schools, theSisters provided Elementary and HighSchool classes, evening business coursesand piano lessons. The Sisters alsoopened a kindergarten.Sports and dramatic performances,putting on festivals and promoting gardeningwere activities the Sisters used tokeep many occupied or entertained inthat very bleak environment.At the end of the war a few familiesremained in Greenwood. Most left foreastern Canada, the West Coast or Japan.The Sisters are very happy that weremain well connected to the Japanesecommunity and we continue to be an activeresource for the entire community ofthe Downtown Eastside and Japantown.A Field of Dreamsby John Endo GreenawayAlthough we all have pivotal momentsin our lives—events that change, forbetter or for worse, our circumstances—there are sometimes decisions we makethat are so far-reaching in their implicationsthat they inexorably alter thecourse of our trajectory. Mine happenedwhen I was 19 years old and living withmy parents in a housing co-op on UnionStreet. Takeo Yamashiro, a shakuhachimaster and community activist, invitedme to perform the songs I had writtenat a coffeehouse that Tonari Gumi wasrunning out of the DERA (DowntownEastside Residents Association) buildingon Cordova Street. At the urgingof my parents, I somewhat reluctantlyagreed. After all, I didn’t know whatTonari Gumi was. Or DERA. In fact, Ibarely knew Takeo. Following my performance,I was approached by a groupof folks who invited me to join theirband, Kokuho Rose, an Asian Canadianfolk band. And just like that, I was partof a community. It is a community thathas shaped me and nurtured me, bothliterally and figuratively, for the pastthirty years.On February 12 of this year, I watchedas one of the legacy sakura trees was uprootedand moved to another part of OppenheimerPark. Around me, watchingthis mammoth undertaking, were manymembers of the community that has beensuch an integral part of my life. Althoughit was cold, the sun was shining brilliantly,and it struck me at that moment that it allbegan for me, those many years ago, justa few blocks from where I was standing.On Powell Street. The home of the Asahibaseball team and the Powell Street Festival.On our own field of dreams.John Endo Greenaway has been the editorof The Bulletin, a journal of JapaneseCanadian community, history and culture,for the past 15 years. He was a foundingmember of Katari Taiko, Canada’s firsttaiko group, and Uzume Taiko, Canada’sfirst professional taiko group. He is currentlyassistant instructor with Chibi Taiko.Yes, Canada’s first youth taiko group.In his spare time he is a graphic designer.He designed this program guide.My life in the Downtown EastsideEach Sunday for the past 14 years I makemy way from Jackson down Cordovato St. James church followed by a smallcrowd of happy kids who are perfectlyat home in this place, oblivious to thedire commentaries of life 'down here'.What 'down here' means to us, is whatis becoming rare elsewhere; a neighbourhoodthat people actually live in.This is a community of tremendous vitality.It has something to do with thedepth of relationships between peoplewho engage with one another so often,people who continue to gather and occupypublic spaces to socialize. I see myneighbours all the time because theyby Kathy Walkerwarm the same benches week afterweek, sell their wares on the same corner(no matter how many times the copsmove them along), gather around thesame picnic tables with the same friendsyear after year. When I stop by Oppenheimerfor a chat there is warmth and awelcome that is not easily conveyed topeople who are accustomed to seeingthis area through the sensational lens ofthe media. On a stroll to Sunrise MarketI am met by a half-dozen acquaintancesand friends who want to know how Iam, how the kids are doing, what thelatest news on so and so is, or to tell mea little of the hardship that they haveendured over the past short while. I usuallycome home with some local newsabout an event, an exhibit, a protest, atrouble maker in the park or too oftenthe sad news of the untimely death ofa neighbour.On the corner of Jackson and Cordovain the big green house my familyand friends have for the past 12 years,five days a week, invited our neighboursfor a community meal where we gatheraround the table to build and strengthenthe ties that make life more liveable. Thisis what I like to call 'crime prevention'!It is not that I am naive about the realissues down here, or that I romanticizethe neighbourhood, it is simply that inthe midst of the suffering, the abuseand the crime are the constant gesturesof hope, struggle, kindness and the resiliencyof people who just won't give in orgive up or shut up. People who I wouldexpect to be callous, bitter and violentfrom years of sustained abuse have onmany occasions surprised me with suchtenderness and goodwill that I cannotsubmit to despair. Just when you thinkyou've had enough, someone throws aparty or a festival or they march downthe streets, fully alive, making noise,beating drums, remembering... and Iknow I am at home in a place that I love.8 9

Japantown Multicultural Neighbourhood Celebration - Saturday March 28, 2009Chapel Arts 304 Dunlevy11am - 2pmHistorical & Cultural DisplaysPoets CornerOppenheimer Park400 Block Powell11am - 1pm Planning & DesignVision Mapping Workshop- Carnegie Community Action ProjectLiving Room 528 Powell11am -12pm Crafts Workshop Sue Blue12pm - 12:30pm Poetry Stephen Lytton12:30pm - 1pm Song Isabel Ramirez11am Music Kozue Matsumoto - koto12pm Short Documentary FilmSakura Sakura - Linda Ohama12:30pm WorkshopHow to Use Sensu (folding fans)1:30pm Voice and DrumDalannah Gail BowenWALKING TOURS (MEET AT CHAPEL ARTS)10am Reminders of the Labour MovementGeoff Meggs, Lorene Okinawa11:30am Powell Street Walking TourJudy Inouye1pm The Rolling History of JapantownJohn AtkinSTORYSHARING11am - 12pmGrowing Up in the NeighbourhoodPersonal ExperienceKathy Walker & daughtersMary Kawamoto • Ritsu & Cy SaimotoJudy Hanazawa12pm - 1pmWorking in the NeighbourhoodLabour and the Working ClassJoyce Rock • Takeo YamashiroBill Saunders • Toby Barazzuol1pm - 2pmActivism & Community BuildingPersonal ExperienceKat Norris • Jean SwansonHarry Aoki • Grace Eiko Thomson • Ayex Bathan11am - 2pm ActivitiesChildren’s Art WorkshopBreadline Gallery 386 PowellALL DAY WINDOW INSTALLATIONSean Arden - Bridging the GapQuin Martins - Lifeskills Film/Video GroupDanny Kostyshin - ceramicsSawagi TaikoJapanese Hall 487 Alexander3pm - 9pm Historical Display & Future Plans2pm Procession leaves from Japanese Hall, returns to Japanese Hall3pm Ceremony and performancesMCs: Grace Eiko Thomson & Hannah WalkerSekyu Siyam - Chief Ian Campbell • Okinawa Chorus • Okinawa DanceOppenheimer Drum Group • Wushu InstituteBuddhist Church Choir • Steveston Tera TaikoSaint James Music AcademyOkinawa ChorusVJLS & JHDTES Samba BandLadies in WhiteSeniors from Tonari GumiPhilippine Women CentreSaint James Music Academy5pm - 6pm Food Sales6pm - 7:30pm Gala PerformancesMCs: Margaret Gallagher & Stephen LyttonM’Girl • Kathara Dance • Moraima • Sawagi Taiko8pm - 9pm PerformanceBando-ryu Dance GroupOkinawa DanceDTES Samba BandLadies in White12 13

Daytime Activities11am - 11:30amMusic – Kozue MatsumotoChapel Arts, 304 DunlevyBorn and raised in Japan, Kozue nowlives in Vancouver. She has played kotosince she was 3 years old and since kotohas always been around her, Kozue says“koto is in a way a part of my body” andone of her dreams is to “connect peoplethrough my music.” An MA student atUBC, Kozue has performed both in Japanand Canada, including the PowellStreet Festival, the Fearless Festival andother Japanese community events.11am - 12pmCrafts Workshop – Sue BlueThe Living Room, 528 PowellBreak the Cycle Now! a workshop withhandi-woman Sue Blue, the Queen ofCordova. Share thoughts and questionswhile beading and other handicrafts.11am - 1pmVision Mapping Workshop– Carnegie Community Action ProjectOppenheimer Park Field House400 block PowellWendy Pedersen of the Carnegie CommunityAction Project will lead a workshopto narrow down what is importantto residents and friends of Japantown.By asking everyone: draw the mostmeaningful places; what is the best housingmodel; and what are the best food/stores, we can have a way to prioritizethe answers. As the long-term vision ofthe Downtown Eastside is developing,the purpose of this workshop is to discoverthe neighbourhood’s priorities. Thework in the mapping sessions will buildupon the first phase of visioning thatCCAP prepared with 1,000 low incomeresidents. To see the results in the reportNothing About Us Without Us, visit www.ccapvancouver.wordpress.com.11am - 2pmPoets Corner – Delayne AzraelChapel Arts Courtyardcorner of Dunlevy and CordovaDrop by to share, write and read poetrywith Delayne Azrael, poet and artist.11am - 2pmWorkshop – Children’s ArtOppenheimer Park Field House400 block PowellChildren are invited to create masks,streamers and other fanfare in preparationfor the 2pm Procession. Workshopled by Oppenheimer Park program staff.12pm – 12:30pmShort Documentary Film – Sakura SakuraChapel Arts, 304 DunlevyDirected by Linda Ohama, Sakura Sakura(2008, 6”) was created to raise awarenessof the cultural significance of theLegacy Sakura (cherry blossom trees) inOppenheimer Park. The park is beingre-developed and it's important that thehistorical, spiritual and cultural value ofthe trees be taken into consideration.Since the early 1970s, Linda has workedas an exhibiting visual artist, educatorand independent filmmaker. She helpedto initiate substantial funds in supportof the national campaign for the RedressMovement for Japanese Canadians withher artwork, Watari Dori (A Bird of Pas-Photo: John Endo Greenawaysage). For many Canadians, this limitededition became a symbol of the historicRedress campaign, which eventually ledto redress and a formal Government ofCanada apology in 1988. Today’s viewingis followed by a Q & A.The short video can also be viewedonline at www.lindaohama.com.12pm – 12:30pmPoetry – Stephen LyttonThe Living Room, 528 PowellThe aspirations of poet and communityactivist Stephen Lytton are captured inthis quote: "I feel that every disabledperson, Aboriginal or other, must beinvolved in the community. This involvementnot only benefits the individual,but also strengthens and promotes thehealth of each community. Involvementin government policies and decisionsthat affect our communities and thatof the country in general will, I know,make way for a much more productiveand hopeful future for all Aboriginalpeople, and perhaps all people."12:30pm – 1pmSong – Isabel RamirezThe Living Room, 528 PowellLongtime neighbourhood favourite,folklorista Isabel Ramirez is in fine voicethese days and loves nothing betterthan sharing her songs.14 1512:30pm – 1pmWorkshop – How to use Sensu (folding fans)Chapel Arts, 304 DunlevyA rare opportunity to learn how to use asensu (folding fan) in the style of classicalJapanese dance. With visiting NihonBuyo artists Yukimitsu Bando and YukiomiBando. Children and adults welcome.Photo: Ken Tabata1:30pm – 2pmVoice & Drum – Dalannah Gail BowenChapel Arts, 304 DunlevyA musical activist, Dalannah is a versatilehigh-energy singer, songwriter, actor,playwright and poet. She has beena vocalist for 40 years and has experiencedmany highlights in her musicalcareer and many challenges in herpersonal journey. Dalannah continuesto write songs and two of her songsare finalists in international songwritingcompetitions. Currently, she is leadingan initiative to create a DowntownEastside Centre for the Arts. For moreinformation visitwww.decentreforthearts.com.

MCs: Grace Eiko Thomson, Hannah WalkerWelcome• Sekyu Siyam - Chief Ian Campbell,Squamish Nation• Mayor’s Office, City of VancouverGuest Speakers• Seiichi Otsuka, Consul General ofJapan in Vancouver• Libby Davies, MP for Vancouver East• Harry Bloy, MLA Burquitlam• Jessica Chen, City of VancouverPlanning DepartmentPerformers• Okinawa Girls Chorus• Okinawa Traditional Dance Group• Oppenheimer Drum Group• Vancouver Buddhist Church Choir• Steveston Tera Taiko• Saint James Music Academy• Wushu Taiji Qigong InstitutePast-president of the National Associationof Japanese Canadians, Grace EikoThomson previously taught Canadianand Asian art histories at University ofManitoba and University of Saskatchewan,worked as a curator of contemporaryart, and was the Executive Directorof Japanese Canadian National Museumfrom 1999 to 2002.Seventeen-year-old Hannah Walker haslived across from Oppenheimer Parksince she was two years old and a coupleyears ago she received 1st place in thePivot photography contest. Hannah isalso interested in singing, music and socialjustice.Okinawa Girls Chorus& Traditional Dance GroupPhoto: John Endo GreenawayCeremony & Performances 3pm – Japanese Hall, 487 AlexanderVisiting from Okinawa Prefecture in Japan,the Okinawa Girls Chorus gives us ataste of their choral talents. Also visitingfrom across the Pacific Ocean is the OkinawaTraditional Dance Group. The VancouverJapanese Language School & JapaneseHall will present a full program of performanceon Sunday March 29 at 1:30pm.Oppenheimer Drum GroupLed by Patrick Smith and sponsored bythe Aboriginal Wellness Centre, the OppenheimerDrum Group meets Thursdaysat the Oppenheimer Field House.We are pleased to welcome them to theJapanese Hall.Steveston Tera TaikoSteveston Tera Taiko is the first organizedtaiko group in Richmond andonly the 2nd youth taiko group in theLower Mainland. They were formed inDecember of 2000 at the Steveston BuddhistTemple. Their instructors were Mr.Shinobu Homma and Ms. Naomi Shikazefor the first two and a half years. StevestonTera Taiko has been performingfor the last four years. Highlights include:Kamloops Canada Day Festival,Western Washington University CultureShock, CTV News In Your Neighbourhood,Richmond Olympic Oval OpeningCelebrations, and collaborations withThe Chen Ling Academy of Dance, ChibiTaiko, Uzume Taiko and Le Patin Libre.Saint James Music AcademyThe Saint James Music Academy givesyoung people the opportunity to exploretheir creative potential, gain selfconfidence,get an academic head start,and develop good relationships, all ofwhich will add to their success in life.At a time when Vancouver’s DowntownEastside is rapidly changing, we haveestablished a music education program,which will remain accessible to childrenfrom low-income families. Saint James18 19Music Academy is located at St. James’Anglican Church. In providing this space,the church continues its 125-year traditionof excellence in music and commitmentto its neighbourhood.Visit www.sjma.ca for more information.Wushu Taiji Qigong Institute,Grandmaster Shou-Yu LiangWushu (Kung Fu) is the proper term forall the martial arts styles in China. It hasbeen practiced in China for thousandsof years. Wushu consists of thousands ofdifferent external and internal styles includingbare hands and weapons. Asidefrom a means of self-defense, Wushuhas also been developed into a sport.Wushu improves participants’ healthand fitness, as well as reaction time,agility, jumping ability, balance, flexibility,coordination, power and speed.Today, Wushu is also a presentation art.The Wushu Institute has been in theneighbourhood since 1987 and theirmain training hall is at 220 Jackson.www.shouyuliang.com.Food5pm - 6pm Savoury Japanese FoodVancouver Japanese Language School& Japanese HallMinimal cost. Prepared by volunteerteam of VJLS & JH. Proceeds to theSchool and the Celebration.

Gala EveningMCs: Margaret Gallagher & Stephen LyttonPerformersM’Girl • Kathara DanceMoraima • Sawagi Taiko6pm – Japanese Hall, 487 AlexanderMargaret Gallagher is an arts reporterand a contributor to CBC Radio One.Stephen Lytton is a DTES poet and communityactivist.M’GirlM'Girl [pronounced ma-girl] is a fast-risingaward-winning Aboriginal women’svocal ensemble. With an inspired fusionof harmonies, they incorporate thesounds of R&B, blues, folk/roots, houseand world beat with traditional Aboriginalmelodic phrasing, songforms andrhythms. The message in the music is anemergence of cultural ideals and worldviewsfrom the perspectives of their Metis/Cree(Nêhiyawin), Ojibway and Mohawkbackgrounds. For this evening’sperformance M’Girl is Renae Morriseau,Tiare LaPorte and Jenifer Brousseau.Kathara DanceSince 2002, Kathara Dance has beeninvolved in an artistic and cultural exchangewith the 21 year old KatharaDance Theatre Collective of the SouthernPhilippines. Kathara Canada continuesto foster awareness of Philippineindigenous identity through theatre,traditional and contemporary music,dance and martial art. Artistic Directorand performance artist Babette Santoshas returned from the Philippines in anarts exchange with Ambala Aeta tribein Bataan. In the spirit of multiculturalism,Kathara invites guest artists to explorethe Philippines and its historicallinks to India, China, Islam, Malaysia,and Indonesia. Tonight’s performers areMichael Louw (percussion), Babette Santos(percussion, dance), Oneal Mendoza(Filipino martial artist) and guest AlcvinRamos (shakuhachi).MoraimaMoraima brings together Vancouver guitaristPeter Mole, Spanish-born singer JoseLara, and Al Mozaico Flamenco DanceTheatre soloist Michelle Harding. Theirhigh-energy flamenco performances havebeen thrilling Vancouver audiences formany years. Catch them live at the KinoCafe on Cambie Street and experience anevening of inspired flamenco. The evening’sprogram will include Fandangos deHuelva; Rumbas; and Alegrias.Sawagi TaikoFormed in 1990, Sawagi Taiko is Canada’sfirst and foremost all-women's taikogroup. The members of Sawagi Taikoexplore their different ancestral legaciesin the art form of taiko and the piecesreflect their diverse experiences as EastAsian Canadian women. As a performinggroup, they create an environmentwhere all members can initiate and exploretheir artistic visions. Sawagi Taikocontinues the historical and culturalconnections amongst different Asiancultures - the instrument originated inChina; the artistic form originated in therural communities of Japan. The membersof the group are Mariko Heidelk,Rika Moorhouse, Jeanie Ow, SachikoYamaguchi and Linda Uyehara Hoffman.Special Guests8pm – Japanese Hall, 487 AlexanderBando-ryu School of DanceSpecial dance performance with YukimitsuBando and her son Yukiomi Bando of theBando-ryu School of Nihon Buyo Foundationfrom Tokyo. “The classical dance formof “nihon buyo” is performed in kabuki theatreand by geisha. It focuses on elegance,precision and nuance, and is rich with complexity.”Craig Takeuchi, Georgia StraightJapantown Live/Work Studios 386 Powell StreetJapantown Studios, as it is commonlyknown, was incorporated in 2005 by agroup of business people committed tosustaining the building and artistic communityin the area. The building at 386Powell is over a hundred years old and iszoned for artist live/work studios since itunderwent extensive renovation in themid-90s. A historical timeline is postedin the front window and lists the previousoccupants and uses.Famed Japanese Canadian artist, poetand university instructor Roy Kiyookahad studios on the upper floors in the1980s and 90s. Though there have beenartists living and working in the buildingsince the early 1900s, Kiyooka's presenceis generally acknowledged as the reasonfor the artistic zoning today. Since 2005Japantown Studios has housed a varietyof working artists including: award winningKatherine Souci, who produces herown line of clothing using specializedprocesses; Randi Obenauer, who createshandbags and other goods from recycledleather; and longtime local ceramic artistDanny Kostyshin. Painters Eli Bornowsky,Mat Bushel, and Colin Johansen currentlyoccupy the space once used by the worldfamous Canadian Attila Lukacs and Royal20 21Bank Prize winner Etienne Zack.Japantown Studios Ltd. is happy toparticipate in the Japantown Celebrationand help this area grow. JapantownStudios is a for-profit businessand does not rely on subsidies from anylevel of government. They have recentlylaunched the Breadline Gallery whichhas two main components, regular windowdisplays and a developing onlinegallery to display and to market localart, artistic productions and handicrafts.For further information on artists,please go to: cooperleo@telus.netjapantownstudios.ca, sansoucie.ca,oraearth.com, breadlinegallery.comatomised.ca, bcpotters.com/members/danny_kostyshinmillenniumplateproject.wetpaint.comBreadline GalleryWindow Installations on Sat March 28• Ceramics - Danny Kostyshin• Looping video installation Bridgingthe Gap - Sean Arden• short videos Lifeskills Film & VideoGroup - Quin Martins

Congratulations and best wisheson this special occasion of theJapantown MulticulturalNeighbourhood Celebration!Other EventsJapan Fair at “Under the Cherry Tree”Sat March 28 & Sun March 2910am - 5pmVanDusen Botanical Garden, 5251 OakSt. (37th & Oak)Bring on the blossoms at “Under theCherry Tree” and enjoy the Japan Fairwith Japanese cultural arts, productsand demonstrations in addition tothe best of BC’s fine crafts. Come experiencethe food, performances andhands on demonstrations of a familyfriendly sakura matsuri (cherry blossomfestival.) Free admission to “Underthe Cherry Tree.”Other event announcementsCelebrate spring inside the garden at“Sakura Days” with a tea ceremony,sake tasting, garden tour, Bing Thom Architects'Haiku Cherry Tree Installationsand more. Garden entrance fee appliesto “Sakura Days.”For more information:vancouverjf@gmail.com, www.vcbf.caPresented by the Japan Fair OrganizingCommittee: Japanese Business Associationof Vancouver (Konwakai);Vancouver Mokuyokai Society; JapaneseWomen's Business Association (JWBA);Vancouver Japanese Business Association(Kiyukai); Japan-Canada Chamberof Commerce and The Canada-Japan Society;Vancouver Cherry Blossom FestivalSociety; and Crackerjack; in conjunctionwith the Consulate General of Japan inVancouver to celebrate the 80th Anniversaryof Japan-Canada Relations.• Sunday March 29, 12pm to 3pmVancouver Buddhist Temple Spring Food Bazaar, 220 Jackson• Sunday March 29, 1:30pmOkinawa Traditional Song and DanceVancouver Japanese Language School & Japanese Hall, 487 Alexander• April 14 to April 18Cherry Blossom Festival, Oppenheimer ParkNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OFJAPANESE CANADIANSEXECUTIVE BOARDAND THENAJC ENDOWMENT COMMITTEEwww.najc.ca national@najc.caThe Strathcona BusinessImprovement Associationis pleased to support theJapantown MulticulturalNeighbourhood Celebrationin the heart of our community22 23Neighbours helpingneighbours since1907Congratulationsto the JapantownMulticulturalNeighbourhoodCelebration.Best wishes fromCentral CityFoundation.

“Within 30 short years of settlement, native power over this area had collapsed;Japanese immigrants began to replace Aboriginal workers and takeresidence; thousands of immigrants arrived by train and ship. Victoria capitalistsDr. Israel Powell (Superintendent of Indian Affairs) and David Oppenheimer(Vancouver’s first mayor) bought up most of the land east of CarrallSt. to Clark. Here, Vancouver’s first cultural institutions and churches wereestablished and the area’s cycles of fabulous boom times and ongoing decline setin motion. As wealthier residents left in the 1890s for the West End, mixed usebuildings became the norm – with small family businesses on street level androoming or boarding houses above.” Savannah Walling24