British Columbia

Akiko Tsuji

Akiko Tsuji was born in Steveston in April 1930 and lived nearly her entire life in British Columbia as a Japanese-Canadian. She aspired to be a fashion designer from a young age and often found herself brainstorming and making dresses, coats, and skirts for family members. After getting married and having two children and two […]

Henry Shimizu

Born Prince Rupert BC.. 1928 Removal March 1942 Internment New Denver, BC, 1942 to 1946 Moved to Edmonton. AB. University of Alberta. 1948; Graduate – Medicine 1954 Graduate – BSc.MD, 1954 Surgical residency 1955 to 1959, University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine Plastic Surgery residency 1960 to 1962, University of Pittsburgh Medical Faculty Certificate of […]

Mas Funo

Masatada Funo was born in Seattle, Washington to parents of Japanese descent. He is a long-time resident of Vancouver, British Columbia. A self-taught potter, Mas has been working with clay for 45 years. His distinctive boxes and sculptures are collected by admirers in Canada, the United States, Europe and Japan. Tea ceremony masters in Japan […]

Soramaru Takayama

In 2007, having received an MA in philosophy, Sora travelled the world for four-and-a-half years writing short poems. In 2008, he joined Austrian artist Bello Benischauer’s ongoing art project doing translation and performance work. His first poetry book, Tsuki To Buranko, was published in 2014 which he took on three successful tours of Japan. He […]

June Fukumura

June Fukumura is a second generation Japanese-Canadian inter-disciplinary theatre artist with a BFA in Theatre Performance and a Certificate in Sustainable Community Development from Simon Fraser University. ​June is the Co-Founder of New(to)Town Collective an artist collective with a mandate to create new experimental works; provide ongoing accessible physical theatre training and experimental research workshops […]

Judy Nakagawa

Judy Nakagawa began studying sculpture at the Corcoran School of Art+Design in Washington, DC in 1998 and in 2002, was awarded the Berthold Schmutzhart Award for sculpture. She exhibited her work at the Whitewalls Gallery, in the Corcoran, the Jackson Art Centre, in Georgetown, and had a solo show at the Errant Space Gallery in […]

Hiro Kanagawa

Hiro Kanagawa is a Vancouver-based writer and actor. His play Indian Arm received the 2017 Governor-General’s Literary Award for Drama. His other plays include The Tiger of Malaya and The Patron Saint of Stanley Park, both of which have been performed across Canada. His next play, a stage adaptation of Mark Sakamoto’s bestselling memoir Forgiveness, […]

Yoshie Bancroft

Yoshie Bancroft is an award winning actor and theatre creator based on unceded Coast Salish Land (Vancouver, Canada). Recent theatre: Exit, Pursued by a Bear (Globe Theatre), The Orchard (Arts Club), Griffin & Sabine (Belfry); JAPANESE PROBLEM (Universal Limited/Soulpepper); Home Is A Beautiful Word (Sum Theatre/Persephone); SHIT (Firehall), Lizzie in Pride & Prejudice (Chemainus Theatre […]

Mike Sasaki

Mike took to drawing early in his life, spending focused hours honing the skill as a child. He was also taught woodworking by his father at an early age. In school he excelled in visual arts and decided to pursue a degree in Design. Mike Sasaki graduated from the Bachelor of Design Honours program at […]

Yvonne Wakabayashi

Yvonne Wakabayashi (née Tasaka) was born in Vancouver in 1938 and spent her early childhood years during internment with her family in the tiny rural communities of Blind Bay and Notch Hill, British Columbia. Returning to Vancouver after the war, she continued her education which led to a Bachelor and Master degree in Education with […]

Kaori Kasai

Kaori Kasai (Kao), a.k.a. Sleepless Kao, is an artist-in-motion who graduated from art school (Setsu Mode Seminar) in Tokyo, specializing in fashion illustration. Since then, she travelled to live and work in San Francisco, Hong Kong, and now Vancouver. She creates her own world of eccentric creatures and personalities which bloom into the void: gigantic […]

Donna Wuest

Donna Yoshitake Wuest has been a professional writer/author for more than 40 years. Born in Vernon, BC, she grew up on the Coldstream Ranch where her parents worked primarily in the orchards. Decades after moving away from the ranch, she researched and wrote Coldstream The Ranch Where It All Began (published by Harbour Publishing). She […]

Chuck Tasaka

Chuck Tasaka was born in Midway, B.C. in 1945, and was given the name Hachiro. Baptized as Charles in 1951, he goes by the present name. He received all of his schooling in Greenwood, B.C., having graduated in 1963. Chuck attended King Edward Adult Education grade 13, and in 1968, graduated from UBC with a […]

Raymond Nakamura

Raymond was born and raised in Toronto but has lived most of his working life in Vancouver. Long, long ago, the University of Toronto gave Raymond a degree in Zoology and Japanese Language. Then Kyushu University in Japan granted him a Master’s degree for studying the population ecology of stalked barnacles and finally, the U […]

Shinobu Mizukoshi

Shinobu Mizukoshi specializes in Japanese-style handmade fabric objects such as coasters, pouches, placemats and accessories. Original designs are handmade by Shinobu with materials exclusively imported from Japan.