Yonsei

Rachel Sachiko Mercer

Described as a “pure chamber musician” (Globe and Mail) creating “moments of pure magic” (Toronto Star), Canadian cellist Rachel Mercer has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician across five continents. Grand prize winner of the 2001 Vriendenkrans Competition in Amsterdam, Rachel is cellist of Ensemble Made In Canada, the Mercer-Park Duo, the AYR Piano […]

Leslie Shimotakahara

Leslie Shimotakahara is a fourth-generation Japanese-Canadian writer, who resides in Toronto. Leslie holds a B.A. in English from McGill and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Brown in Modern American Literature. Her first book, a memoir called The Reading List, won the Canada-Japan Literary Prize in 2012, and her fiction has been shortlisted for the KM […]

Tsutao Machida

Suzanne Elki Yoko Hartmann

Suzanne Elki Yoko Hartmann is a Toronto-based editor, writer and fourth-generation Japanese Canadian with German ancestry. She’s served as the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre newsletter editor, Japanese Social Services administrator and Nikkei Voice managing editor. Since 2022, she divides her time a board member between the Toronto Chapter of the National Association of Japanese Canadians […]

Kayla Isomura

Kayla Leung Isomura is a documentary photographer and journalist based in Vancouver, B.C. As a multigenerational settler of Chinese and Japanese descent, Kayla’s interest in storytelling has been largely influenced by their family’s story of displacement. Through this lens, Kayla aims to explore narratives that centre historically resilient voices. They are drawn to stories that […]

Carolyn Nakagawa

Carolyn Nakagawa is a poet and playwright whose work has appeared in theatres around Greater Vancouver and in various literary journals across Canada, including Ricepaper, Room, EVENT, and CV2. She was a finalist for the Malahat Review’s 2017 Open Season contest in the poetry category. Born and raised in the suburbs of Vancouver, Carolyn studied […]

Jeff Chiba Stearns

Jeff Chiba Stearns is an Emmy® nominated and Webby award-winning animation and documentary filmmaker, as well as an acclaimed author and illustrator. After graduating from the Emily Carr University with a degree in Film Animation, he founded Vancouver-based boutique animation studio and publishing company Meditating Bunny Studio Inc. in 2001. Jeff’s short and feature length […]

Gabe Anderson

Takashi Gabe Anderson is a visual artist, born 1970 in Toronto. He is a 4th generation Japanese- Canadian artist. His mother is Ayako Ellen Anderson nee Yamasaki. She was a set designer in the theatre, an actress, and a social activist as well as the founder of CSAC Creative Spirit Art Centre. Gabe’s biological father […]