Sansei

Sachiko Murakami

Sachiko Murakami is the author of four collections of poetry, most recently Render (Arsenal Pulp Press 2020), a finalist for the Governor-General’s Literary Award. As a literary worker, she has edited poetry, taught creative writing, worked for trade organizations, hosted reading series, sat on juries, and judged prizes. She lives in Toronto.

Hollis Ho

Hollis has been studying and practicing the art of Sogetsu Ikebana for 27 years in Vancouver with study opportunities in Japan, France, USA and Canada. In 2012, she received Riji level (highest degree) from the Sogetsu School, Tokyo, Japan. Hollis teaches in her east Vancouver studio. She is the Deputy Director of Sogetsu Vancouver Branch, […]

Eugene Ouchi

Eugene Ouchi was a printmaker and graphic designer. Born in Vernon, British Columbia, he studied at the Alberta College of Art – later, he became a teacher there. He had a career in the graphic design industry spanning more than thirty years, working on book design as well as corporate and information design. Ouchi’s prints […]

Sansei Choir

The Sansei Choir was a group formed at Toronto’s Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC) in 1964 by Harry Kumano. The choir originally contained children from the ages of 5-12, and was formed from a desire to provide a social outlet for young Sansei in Toronto. They performed at most events at the JCCC, and some […]

Ian Nishio

Ian Nishio was a bass player who recorded and performed on several recordings with Terry Watada as well as with the heavy metal band Snow Axe in Toronto, including their album We’re All Different.

Rachel Greenaway

R.M. GREENAWAY lives in Nelson, BC. She has written the acclaimed six-book BC Blues crime series and several short stories, and is now contemplating a new series. Check out her work or get in touch through rmgreenaway.com.

Helen Koyama

Helen Koyama is a Sansei writer based in Toronto. Her poetry was published in the landmark Asian Canadian anthology Inalienable Rice in 1979, and she also did illustrations for Rikka and Ricepaper magazines. She has worked in the Japanese Canadian community in Toronto, including for The New Canadian, which also published her poetry. She currently […]

Maryka Omatsu

Maryka Omatsu is a former lawyer and Canada’s first Asian woman judge. She is the author of the non-fiction book Bittersweet Passage: Redress and the Japanese Canadian Experience. Published in 1992, Bittersweet Passage speaks of the Japanese Canadian struggle to come to terms with the injustices of the 1940s, through the lens of a sansei […]

Randy Enomoto

Randy Enomoto is the editor of Honouring Our People: Breaking the Silence, a collection of stories from the 2009 Honouring Our People conference held by the Greater Vancouver Japanese Canadian Citizens Association. He also co-edited, with Genevieve Fuji Johnson, the volume Race, Racialization & Anti-Racism in Canada and Beyond. He is active in the Vancouver […]

Gordon Hashimoto

Gordon Hashimoto is a Montreal-based editor, filmmaker and musician. As a student at Concordia University, he variously produced, wrote, directed, and edited a number of experimental short films; as a professional in the filmmaking industry, he works primarily as a picture editor or assistant editor, on such productions as Rene Levesque, Fries with That, and […]

Marjene Matsunaga Turnbull

Marjene Matsunaga Turnbull is a ceramicist and doll-maker. She produced functional pottery from 1987 – 2012. She also created Nikkei kokeshi (Japanese wooden dolls) – each one unique in facial expression and design. From 1981, Turnbull compiled family stories and in 1991 finished writing and editing the book Hisaoka Family Memoirs. Turnbull needed to know […]

Heather Midori Yamada

Heather Midori Yamada is a Sansei visual artist and teacher who works with washi, Japanese handmade papers. She leads contemplative workshops which combine guided meditation, hatha yoga and creative brushwork. Recently married and having moved to Victoria, BC, Yamada continues to teach in Toronto at the Japanese Paper place and in Montreal at the Museum […]

Sachi Yamabe

Sachi Yamabe is a visual artist. She was born in Burnaby, BC and grew up on Saltspring Island and Vancouver Island. She is Sansei. Yamabe received a BFA from the University of Victoria in 1987 and an MFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design (NSCAD) in 1989. Yamabe’s work has been exhibited […]

Bart Uchida

Bart Shigeru Uchida is a Sansei sculptor and multimedia artist. Born in Vancouver, Canada, Uchida has studied and worked in Canada and Italy, and currently shares his time living between the United States and Argentina. His work has evolved from carving to include large scale installations, performance art and public and community artworks. He has […]

Leslie Sasaki

Leslie Sasaki is a sansei art educator and artist living in Hamilton, Ontario. He was born in Winnipeg in 1953 to George Sasaki (b. Annacis Island, BC) and Rosa Adeline Sasaki (nee Takatsu, b. Hainey, BC) His formative artistic influences include his father, who was a sign painter and his mother, who encouraged her children […]