Audiograms
Description
Japanese Canadian Taiko drum performances have been an important avenue for Japanese Canadian women to subvert gender stereotypes.
show moreJapanese Canadian Taiko drum performances have been an important avenue for Japanese Canadian women to subvert gender stereotypes. In this segment, Professor of Social Work and Head of JCAAP Izumi Sakamoto speaks with Sansei or third generation Japanese Canadian Glen Nagano on the significance of Taiko to Japanese Canadian women.
Speakers: Glen Nagano, Izumi Sakamoto
show lessothers communicated them in in a myriad of ways. In this clip Sansei activists discuss how their families talked about their history of incarceration.
Speakers: Lucy Komori, Martin Kobayakawa, Connie Kadota, Izumi Sakamoto
show lessDescription
Since 1977, Powell Street Festival has brought together Japanese Canadian arts and activism in former Paueru-gai located in Vancouver’s DTES.
show moreHere, long term festival volunteers discuss how the festival has evolved across generations.
Speakers: Mayumi Takasaki, Lucy Komori, Connie Kadota
show lessDescription
In this segment, activist and taiko drummer Kathy Shimizu speaks on how taiko drummers have engaged in solidarity efforts with residents of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
show moreUsing the volume of their drums, Kathy advocates that taiko performers can amplify voices that often struggle to be heard.
Speakers: Kathy Shimizu
show lessIn particular, they discuss what makes for a strong community leader and how ego can get in the way.
Speakers: Glen Nagano, Izumi Sakamoto
show lessDescription
Katari Taiko was formed in 1979 and was the first modern Taiko group in Canada. Its creation was catalyzed by Taiko performances by Japanese group Ondekoza and American group San Jose Taiko in the late 70s at Powell Street Festival.
show moreIn this segment one member, Lisa Mah, describes her experiences joining the group in the late 80s and how it changed her life.
Speakers: Lisa Mah
show lessDescription
Bringing together young activists from across Canada, the Centennial Youth Conference in 1977 marked the 100 year anniversary of the first Japanese immigrant’s arrival in Canada.
show moreIn this clip, activists describe staying at the conference venue (the Japanese Canadian Cultural Center in Toronto) and the connections they made there.
Speakers: Martin Kobayakawa, Mayumi Takasaki, Lucy Komori, Izumi Sakamoto
show lessDescription
Taiko drumming is art form that has allowed many to explore, express, and connect with their Japanese Canadian identity.
show moreIn this clip, Kathy Shimizu discusses how her involvement with taiko fostered a sense of pride in her Japanese Canadian identity after many years of feeling embarrassed about her heritage.
Speakers: Kathy Shimizu
show lessDescription
Incarceration camp bus tours take Japanese Canadians to former WWII incarceration camp sites in the interior of BC.
show moreIn this segment, activists discuss the conversations they had during and directly after taking these bus tours.
Speakers: Connie Kadota, Martin Kobayakawa, Mayumi Takasaki
show lessDescription
Here, a Japanese Canadian activist, Glen Nagano, speaks on the difficulty of mobilizing his friends to join the Asian Canadian activist movement
show morein the early 1970s due to their assertion that they didn’t have an “identity problem.”
Speakers: Glen Nagano, Izumi Sakamoto
show lessDescription
In this segment, Izumi Sakamoto and activist Glen Nagano discuss shikata ga nai (“it can’t be helped”) sentiments and the loss of family history.
show moreIzumi speaks to how artists respond to the loss of family history using their creativity and imagination.
Speakers: Glen Nagano, Izumi Sakamoto
show lessDescription
After the war, survivors of mass incarceration were scattered across Canada. For many, the trauma of incarceration led them to resist forming place-based community with other
show moreJapanese Canadians as they feared they would become a target once again. In this segment, Glen Nagano describes why older generations felt that they could not return to Powell Street.
Speakers: Glen Nagano, Izumi Sakamoto
show lessDescription
Content Warning: a derogatory term for Vietnamese people (“g**k”) commonly used during the War is spoken. While we have not censored the clip for the historical accuracy of the story, please use your judgement before listening as it may be offensive to hear.
show moreRon Tanaka was a professor at the University of British Colombia that played a major role in the start of the Asian Rights Movement in Canada. In this segment, Glen Nagano describes meeting him on campus and the strong impression Ron made.
Speakers: Glen Nagano
show lessDescription
Before the rise of social media, activists had to come up with creative solutions to reach others in their community.
show moreIn this segment activist Glen Nagano talks about using a phone book in the early 1970s to find participants for his survey about experiences of being Japanese Canadian.
Speakers: Glen Nagano, Izumi Sakamoto
show lessSpeakers: Kathy Shimizu, Leslie Komori, Izumi Sakamoto
show lessDescription
In the early 70s Japanese Canadian activists began to gather together at conferences and art exhibits to promote the growing Asian Canadian Movement in Canada.
show moreIn this clip, Sansei activists discuss how these events represented the first Asian Canadian spaces that many had ever encountered.
Speakers: Mayumi Takasaki, Martin Kobayakawa, Izumi Sakamoto
show lessDescription
Taiko groups in Canada provide a unique space for many to explore their Japanese Canadian identity.
show moreHere, Shinobu Homma describes how taiko allowed him to realize his own Japanese Canadian identity, after experiencing a sense of un-belonging in both Japan and Canada.
Speakers: Shinobu Homma
show lessSpecifically, he discusses how the theatre company he co-founded in Massachusetts Theatre Mu, allowed Asian American artists to become an integral part of the theatre community.
Speakers: Rick Shiomi
show lessDescription
Mainstream arts communities have often excluded artists from minority groups, and Asian Canadian artists are no different. However, this position of being outside of the mainstream gives them a unique view from which they can comment on mainstream ideas and social structures.
show moreIn this clip, playwright Rick Shiomi discusses how this phenomenon links art and activism more closely together for Asian Canadian artists.
Speakers: Rick Shiomi
show lessDescription
In this clip, two Sansei women involved in the organization of the first-ever Powell Street Festival discuss the slide tape that they created, which captured Japanese Canadian history.
show moreSpecifically, they discuss how the slide tape was put together in response to other organizers’ attempts to source performers from Japan.
Speakers: Lucy Komori, Connie Kadota
show lessDescription
In 1972, the Asian Canadian Experience Conference brought together young Asian Canadians from across Canada.
show moreHere, conference attendee Lucy Komori discusses the strong impact the conference had on her.
Speakers: Martin Kobayakawa, Lucy Komori, Izumi Sakamoto, Mayumi Takasaki
show lessDescription
In this segment, playwright Rick Shiomi discusses the founding of Asian American theatre company Theatre Mu.
show moreWhile the company would become highly influential on the theatre scene in Massachusetts, he speaks to how its founders could not have predicted its impact. For them, Theatre Mu was created by the simple “desire to do something” about the lack of representation of Asian Americans in theatre.
Speakers: Rick Shiomi
show lessDescription
While for some taiko was a way to show pride in their Japanese Canadian identity, for others it was a way of discovering it.
show moreIn this segment, taiko leader John Endo Greenaway speaks about how taiko allowed him to connect to his Japanese Canadian heritage.
Speakers: John Endo Greenaway
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