Starting the Year with Gratitude
We begin this year with gratitude to you, our supporters, for your overwhelming contributions and generosity to our Nikkei Place community during our 2021 Year-End Campaign.
We begin this year with gratitude to you, our supporters, for your overwhelming contributions and generosity to our Nikkei Place community during our 2021 Year-End Campaign. It was a great success, raising over $40,000 across our three charities at Nikkei Place! Thank you for giving to Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre, Nikkei Seniors Health Care & Housing Society, or Nikkei Place Foundation, and supporting our causes. Your support is making a difference for Japanese Canadian history, heritage, and culture, senior care, and the legacy of our community now and into the future.
Thank you to our Year-End Campaign donors!
Anonymous (17)
Dr. Robert & Molly Akune
Grace Asao
Donald Campbell
Eileen Carefoot
Catherine & Shawn Chapell
Adrienne Clark
Phil & Pauline Cooper
Dr. Millie Creighton
Laura Dempsey
Shigeyoshi Ebata
Lorraine M. Elliott
Kenneth Ezaki
David & Beverley Foy
Etsuyo Fujiwara
Bill & Noemi Gruenthal
Satoshi & June Hamada
Sachie Harpain
Rodney Yutaka Hatanaka
Shinobu Homma
Jim Hori
Masako Hori
Shirley Isojima
Hiroshi & Takako Iura
Yoshiko Iwamoto
Ed & Carole Iwanaka
Sandra James
John Jamieson
Patricia Jette
Ellen K. Kadonaga
Archie & Marjory Kamiya
Michiyo Katayama
Barry Kato
Tobo & Hiroko Kawamoto
Sharon Kawasaki-Chan
Yaeko Kikuchi
Yukimasa & Tamiko Kishimoto
Ken & Michiko Kochi
Kevin Kochi
Kevin & Karey Kondo
Bruce Kosugi
Joy Koyama
Tetsuo & Noriko Kumagai
Reiko Kurushima
Dan & Caprice Lau
Lola Lee
Ronald & Shirley Lee
Esther Matsubuchi
Ruth & Bruce Matsuda
Heather Matsune
Bill McNulty
Nancy Miki & Adam Smith
Eileen Miyanaga
Mr. & Mrs. Masao Mizumoto
Junji Mizutani
Melissa Mukai
Donald & Misaye Munro
Diane Murakami
Richard Murakami
Mary Murao
Reizo Nagai
Wendy S. Nagasaka
Daniel & Rury Nakagawa & Family
Edward & Jennifer Nakamoto
Kazuto & Mary Nakamoto
Luke & Miyoko Nakashima
Naomi Nakatsu
Joyce Nasu
Shirley Nasu
Terence & Susan Nishi
Shawn Nishimura
Sunni Nishimura
George & Linda Oike
Lisa Okada
Ronald Okada & Carol Nishi
Sachiko Jean Okamura
Kevin Okano
Dr. Douglas & Mrs. Marion Oldenburg
Steve Cain & July Ono
Tony Penikett
Toshiko & Ernest Quan
Aileen Randall
Karen Read
Gemma Shimizu
Pat M. Sakai
Margaret Sakon
Wayne Seller
Kazuhiro Shibata
Diane Shikaze & Michael Borowski
Howard & Sher Shikaze
Gentaro & Rose Shimizu
Hiroko Shimizu
Norman Shuto & Patricia Wallace
Hozumi Takahashi
Tsuneko & Stanley Takaki
Robert & Anna Takashiba
Susan Takashiba
Wayne & Rachel Tanaka
Mel & June Tanemura
Dan Tokawa
George & Hiroko Tsuchiya
Saeko Tsuda
Ronald Ui
Margie Uyeda
Mark & Paula Waslen
Keith Westover
Fred Wiley
Dr. Michael C. Wilson
Sheila Wong
Roy Yabuki
Rickey & Margaret Yada
Keiko Yakumo
Beverley T. Yamaura
Yuko Yasutake
Christine H. Yoshida
Reflecting on this year & Renewing aspirations for the next
Reflecting on This Year & Renewing Aspirations for the Next
As 2021 comes to an end, we wish to express our heartfelt gratitude to all Nikkei Place supporters for their dedication throughout this pivotal year. Nikkei Place is a unique cultural gathering place and home — not only for Japanese Canadians, but a welcoming place for all. We continue to focus on collaboration among the three Nikkei Place charities to rebuild opportunities with the return of more in-person and online programming and services. We are grateful to our founders, who had the vision to build a place to preserve and share Japanese Canadian history, heritage, and culture, care for seniors, and connect generations through exhibits, events and programming — we remain committed to this lasting legacy.
Highlights in 2021
Nikkei Place Foundation
Collaborates to honour and support our community, and ensure its enduring legacy.
• NEW planned giving resource available: the Japanese language edition of our Will Toolkit.
• The $1,000 Nikkei Youth Athletics Bursary’s 2020-21 recipient will be awarded in the new year.
• Worked closely with Nikkei Senior’s Health Care & Housing Society’s “Inspire Action” spring fundraiser, and the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre’s current “Inspiration” fundraiser to support their ongoing needs and goals.
Throughout the year, we helped to highlight some of our amazing volunteers, staff, nurses and donors that contribute to our vibrant community.
Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre
Continues to connect, learn, and inspire, while providing a place for our culture and history to be discovered, re-discovered, and shared.
• “Taiken” digital Field Trips launched to reach students across Canada and the US.
• Nikkei Matsuri festival returned with “Mini Matsuri”, offering a smaller but lively 2-day showcase of Japanese arts and culture to 3,500 people.
• Upgrades to our museum’s Collections Vault — the installation of compact mobile shelving units maximize storage for valuable historical and cultural artefacts, effectively doubling our capacity.
After 21 years, our cultural centre is now in need of enhanced care and repair. From now until the end of February 2022, our Inspiration Fundraiser is on to support our Friends of Nikkei Centre Maintenance Fund!
Pictured Item: Registration card of Ed Kitagawa, center fielder for the Vancouver Asahi baseball team. You can also visit the SAFE | HOME exhibit in our Karasawa Gallery until April 2022, where contemporary artist Kellen Hatanaka re-imagines the influence and importance of the Vancouver Asahi through yonsei (4th generation) eyes.
Watch “Treasures from the Vault” on the NNMCC YouTube channel to discover items in our museum’s collection and the fascinating stories behind them.
NNMCC YouTubeチャンネルより「Treasures from the Vault」を、ぜひご覧ください。当館のコレクション及び、その背景にある魅力的なストーリーを発見していただけます。
Nikkei Seniors Health Care & Housing Society
Remains focused on the health and wellness of seniors in our community, and fighting the effects of the pandemic.
20th Anniversary
Join Nimi Nikkei Home in 2022 as it celebrates its 20th Anniversary!
2022年、Nimi Nikkei Homeは創立20周年を迎えます。
• Launched the Japanese Canadian Survivors Health & Wellness Fund through funding from the BC government and NAJC BC Redress initiatives, to help administer health and wellness grants to Japanese Canadians who lived through the internment.
(Learn more: www.jcwellness.org)
• A limited run of hybrid outreach programs began in the fall, including “Kenko Talks” educational series, “Be Fit” and “Outfight Parkinson’s” exercise, and “Iki Iki Light” and “Eat, Move & Relax” social connection programs.
• In 2022, we will see the revitalization of our bathing facility, the installation of a new spa tub, and the return of more hybrid outreach programming — made possible through the success of our INSPIRE ACTION spring fundraiser! We are also partnering with Powell Street Festival Society on a Radio Taiso pilot project.
Together We Can Make a Difference
Successes this year were made possible through the support of individuals like you. Thank you for encouraging us to remain resilient and resourceful. Each one of us can make a difference in the world today. We all have something to give — unique talents, gifts, perspectives and experiences that inspire and strengthen our community.
As this year comes to a close, we ask you to consider making a year-end gift to Nikkei Place this holiday season. If you have already made your year-end gift, we thank you for your generosity! Gifts can be made online here, by mail, or by phone (604.777.2122).
Wishing you and your families health and happiness throughout the holiday season, and into the New Year! We look forward to all that 2022 will bring.
2020 in Review: Highlights and Hopes for the coming year
We take this opportunity to share highlights from this year and hopes for the next.
Highlights and Hopes
This year has been unlike any other — the challenges brought on by the pandemic has tested all of us in many ways, but together, we continue to be resilient. We extend our deepest appreciation to our supporters. Nikkei Place would not be here to serve the community without your help and generosity. We share with you highlights from the year from each Nikkei Place charity, and our hopes for the coming year ahead.
Our organizations have been proactively responding to COVID-19 by adapting our operations so that we can continue to serve our community while keeping staff, volunteers, residents, seniors, and visitors safe.
NIKKEI NATIONAL MUSEUM & CULTURAL CENTRE
Since gradually reopening the Centre under new health and safety regulations in early June, the NNMCC faces new operational challenges, as our regular lifelines of revenue from venue rentals, fundraising events, and public, school and recreational programs are significantly affected. We have worked diligently to reduce expenses and optimize government and foundation grants. In anticipation of further risk of closure throughout the winter, we launched our Resilience Fundraiser to help raise essential operational funds for this year.
Amid these challenges, we have been able to offer limited but continued in-person programming, and more virtual events and resources than ever before. In the summer, we reimagined our annual Nikkei Matsuri festival into a multi-week small Japanese cultural marketplace. In September, the museum team livestreamed the opening of the BROKEN PROMISES exhibit, which explores the dispossession of Japanese Canadians in the 1940s. This year we also marked the 20th anniversary of the NNMCC which we commemorated through a ceremonial tree planting with the Vancouver Japanese Gardeners’ Association.
NIKKEI SENIORS HEALTH CARE & HOUSING SOCIETY
The NSHCHS responded quickly to COVID-19 by implementing an Infection Prevention Plan, closing to the public, and increasing PPE usage and sanitization across Nimi Nikkei Home and New Sakura-so. The pandemic changed the ways we facilitate everything from meals to activities and programs, and the daily life of our residents. We have been incredibly effective in keeping our seniors and staff safe, with no outbreaks to date.
To combat isolation, we started a ‘Send Letters to Seniors’ initiative, and have received many heartwarming letters and drawings from kids in the community. We also launched new activities including social visits via Zoom and small group crafts like knitting. As we continue to face many challenges, we have been able to persevere thanks to the generosity, support and kindness of our community. Our residents and staff have been on the receiving end of many gifts like masks, hand sanitizers, flowers, and meals for staff that have lifted their spirits. We look ahead now with new leadership from Jay Haraga, as Cathy Makihara retires as Executive Director after 25 years of dedicated service. We feel hopeful for better times ahead, as we continue to navigate these uncertain times.
NIKKEI PLACE FOUNDATION
The NPF remains operational, with staff now working remotely. We thank everyone for their patience as we adjust to new operational processes. In June, the Foundation was deeply impacted by the sudden passing of our founding Board President Robert Banno. We honour his decades of support, leadership, and philanthropy to Nikkei Place with a donor tile on our Legacy Giving Wall. This will be on display at Nikkei Centre in 2021. In September, the Foundation made its annual disbursements to both the NNMCC and NSHCHS, with hopes that our annual giving will increase in the upcoming year. Highlights from the 2019 fiscal year have been published in our annual report, now available here. As we pivot online now more than ever, we have expanded the availability of resources on our website which includes new Tribute Pages that allow you to dedicate a gift to Nikkei Place in honour or in memory of a loved one.
We recognize that this has been a difficult and challenging year and we continue to work towards serving you and the community as best we can. We would like to learn more about our supporters and your thoughts about the future. Please consider answering our short online survey at your convenience here. You can also request a hardcopy by contacting us.
As the year comes to a close, please consider making a year-end gift to Nikkei Place, to help us persevere through COVID-19. Donate online or find out how to make an offline donation here.
If you have already made your year-end gift, we thank you. We also appreciate all of you for your kind words, cooperation and commitment to stay healthy.
Sincerely,
Nikkei Place Executive Directors
Naomi Kawamura
Nikkei Place Foundation
Karah Goshinmon-Foster
Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre
Cathy Makihara and Jay Haraga
Nikkei Seniors Health Care and Housing Society
20 things to look forward to in 2020
As we approach the end of 2019, what we most appreciate about the upcoming year is…
Moving Foward & Changing Lives at Nikkei Place
As we approach the end of 2019, what we most appreciate about the upcoming year is a sense of hopefulness! In the Japanese tradition of “osouji”, many of us clean our homes to welcome in the new year. At Nikkei Place, we have also been looking at ways to welcome in change to improve the ways in which we operate.
Nikkei Place underwent some significant changes in 2019! The Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre (NNMCC) re-opened our now-named and newly expanded Karasawa Museum in July with our new exhibit, “Nikkei 日系”. We also said goodbye to Roger Lemire to welcome in Karah Goshinmon Foster as the new NNMCC Executive Director. The Nikkei Place Foundation (NPF) also brought on two new staff, Bobby Ruegamer and Mari Mikuni. Both NPF and Nikkei Seniors Health Care and Housing Society (NSHCHS) also launched new websites!
Building Community in 2020
Next year, NPF will be launching our 2020 Campaign “Building Community” in tandem with initiatives happening at the NNMCC and NSHCHS. Please join us throughout the year, as we celebrate the achievements of our diverse, strong and vibrant community!
There’s a lot to look forward to in 2020! View the list below.
The NNMCC will be celebrating twenty years of operations, since first opening its doors in Burnaby on September 22, 2000. Join us on September 5th & 6th to experience Japanese arts, culture and heritage at Nikkei Matsuri. Visit the Landscapes of Injustice traveling exhibit, the final stage of a 7-year project, developed in partnership with the Royal BC Museum the week of September 22nd! Celebrations will culminate at the 10th annual Nikkei Place Community Awards Dinner on October 24, 2020.
The NPF will be honouring a Nikkei community leader with the Thomas Shoyama Lifetime Achievement Award (to be announced) at our Thomas Shoyama Gala on April 4, 2020. We will also be launching a bilingual version of our Will Toolkit and offering a Kenko Talk education seminar about Planned Giving, in collaboration with NSHCHS.
The NSHCHS will be raising funds for our seniors at our Charity Golf Tournament on May 29, 2020 at Riverway Golf Course. We will also be offering our “Open Doors” programming, an initiative that makes several in-house programs of Nimi Nikkei Home available to the broader community. Some of these activities include ChairFit, Tea & Chat, and others still in development.
We are immensely grateful to our staff, volunteers, donors and supporters of Nikkei Place. Our continued success is due, in large part, to their efforts and generosity. Please consider making a gift to Nikkei Place today. Donations can be made online or by contacting the NPF office at 604.777.2122.
Here's our list of 20 things to look forward to in 2020!
Nikkei Legacy Project Wrap-up report
O Hanami - April 3 & 4, 2020 at Nikkei Centre
Gladstone Language School kids start a new school year
Open Door Programs at the Kenko Wellness Lounge
Nikkei Youth Athletics Bursary: Now Accepting Applications!
Thomas Shoyama Gala - April 4, 2020
Capital improvements to New Sakura-so
Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Cheer on your fave team!
Go to the Powell Street Festival in Summer 2020
Come to Nikkei Matsuri! - Sept 5 & 6, 2020 at Nikkei Centre
Nikkei Centre Turns 20! Join in on the celebrations
Nikkei Place Charity Golf Tournament - May 29, 2020 at Riverway Golf Couse
Head to Steveston for the Salmon Festival
Bilingual Will Toolkit available to donors
Exhibits to Visit: “Nikkei 日系” rotates (February 2020), “Landscapes of Injustice” (September 2020)
Community Awards Dinner - October 24, 2020
Research Study Results: Seniors & Light Impact
Kenko Talk X NPF - Topic: Planned Giving
Mochitsuki - December 29, 2020 at Nikkei Centre
Hand-made Manju by the NNMCC Auxiliary