Toronto

Lynne Kutsukake

Lynne Kutsukake is a novelist and short story writer. She studied Japanese literature in Canada and in Japan, and worked for many years as a librarian. She was a finalist for the Journey Prize in 2010. Her translation of Mizuko Masuda’s fiction, Single Sickness and Other Stories, was published in 2011. Lynne’s debut novel, The […]

Haruna Murota

Haruna Murota developed her interest in photography in the early 90’s when she moved from her native Tokyo to Toronto. The inspiration of her photo-based artwork comes from her own internal and external journeys, and she uses abstract photography as a witness to her stream of consciousness. She holds a B.F.A in Photography Studies from […]

Stan Shikatani

Born 1928. Prince Rupert BC. Relocated to Toronto in 1946. Studied design, typography and painting. Honors Graduate. Ontario College of Art. Worked professionally for 10 years before accepting a teaching post at Sheridan College,School of Art and Design. Stan pioneered the graphic design curriculum in the field of design education at Sheridan and the level […]

Carol Oya

Carol Oya hails from Vancouver. She’s been singing pretty much all her life. As a kid, she loved to watch “Solid Gold” and mimic her idols, Olivia Newton-John and Sheena Easton. Like every good Asian parent, her mum forced her to take piano lessons from the age of five. She fondly remembers crying while doing […]

Mui-Ling Teh

Mui-Ling Teh is an artist, photographer, and poet of Japanese and Chinese descent. She produces art both traditionally and digitally; but at present she is best known for her miniature origami. Teh’s origami began as photography props, sometimes accompanied by her poetry. In 2014 she transitioned to exhibiting and selling her original creations in public. […]

Kyo Maclear

Kyo Maclear is a Canadian writer, essayist and beloved children’s author. She was born in London, England (to a British father and Japanese mother) and moved to Toronto at the age of four. Her books have been translated into fourteen languages, and published in twenty countries. Kyo lives in Toronto, Canada,

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 […]

Emma Nishimura

Currently based in Toronto, Emma received her MFA from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2013 and her BA from the University of Guelph in 2005. Her work ranges from traditional etchings, archival pigment prints, drawings and audio pieces to art installations. Using a diversity of media, her work addresses ideas of memory and loss that […]

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 […]

Camille Kiku Belair

Camille Kiku Belair is a Toronto based composer, classical guitarist, artist and writer. Interested in working with field recordings, experimenting with mixed media within visual arts is also a large part of their practice. Articles have appeared in the WholeNote Magazine. They are currently pursuing an MFA in Composition and Experimental Sound Practices at California […]

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 […]

Kayoko Tanaka

1998-2005 Ontario College of Art and Design (Ceramics, Professional Development) 1993-1995 Ontario College of Art and Design (Painting) 1989-1991 Centre Saidue Bronfman (Montreal, Master Painting) 1988-1989 Centre des Arts Visuels (Montreal, Painting) 1986-1987 Emily Carr College of Art (Vancouver, Painting) 1978-1988 Vancouver Community College (Vancouver, Painting) Workshops 1995 Atelier-Voyage Le Perigord (France) 1994 Virginia Center […]

Lily Ide

Ritsuko Lily Ide was a popular Nisei singer in Vancouver in the late 1930s and early 1940s who performed at community dances and had professional singing engagements in eastern Canada. She passed away in Slocan in 1943.

Barb Miiko Gravlin

Barbara ‘Miiko’ Nishimura- Gravlin was born in Tashme, the largest of Japanese Canadian internment camps in B.C. At an early age, she became an abstract painter under mentors, Richard Gorman and Mashel Teitelbaum and Kazuo Nakamura. In 1965, she was the recipient of a Canada Council Travel grant in Painting for six months tenure studying […]