Acting

Natsuko Ohama

Natsuko Ohama is an actor who trained under legendary voice teacher Kristin Linklater. She is a founding member and permanent faculty of Shakespeare and Company Lenox, Mass., a senior artist at Pan Asian Rep New York, and was the Director of Training at the National Arts Center of Canada. Ohama has taught at numerous institutions […]

Dawn Obokata

Dawn Obokata has been acting professionally since 1980. A graduate of the University of Toronto, Dawn is a long-time artistic collaborator with Actor’s Lab Theatre in Toronto, (now known as LeTHAL) where she has created several image and movement-based performances. Dawn has toured in Canada and Europe with her solo performance Soulscape Wilderness Trilogy, a […]

Lisa Betts-LaCroix

Lisa Betts-LaCroix is a writer, speaker, actor and dancer. A champion of radical educational reform, Lisa co-founded of a network of 350+ families in the San Francisco Bay area who independently educate their children outside of traditional school; the group sets new precedents for community-based, independent learning for high-ability kids. Her Free Learning Dinner Salons […]

Frank Nakashima

Frank Tadashi Nakashima was born in Toronto on July 22, 1951. He is a graduate of York University (Toronto) Bachelor of Fine Arts 1975, specializing in the performance practice of Medieval and Renaissance music. He has performed with The Toronto Consort (1972-1974), the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir (founding member) 1981-1986 and was a consultant for Poculi […]

Manami Hara

Manami Hara was born and raised in Tokyo Japan. She became fascinated with Western theatre and the English language and at the age of 18, left Japan home to become a stage actor in North America. She moved to Vancouver, took ESL classes and graduated from Studio 58, a two-year conservatory Theatre Arts program at […]

Mieko Ouchi

Mieko Ouchi is an actor, writer, and director working in theatre and film/TV. Mieko trained at U of A’s BFA Acting Program, the Women in the Director’s Chair Program and the National Screen Institute. Film roles include Nori Sato in Global TV’s The Guard, The Orange Seed Myth and Other Lies Mothers Tell, Fear Itself, […]

Linda Uyehara Hoffman

Linda Uyehara Hoffman has been a taiko (Japanese drum) player for over 30 years. She was a founding member of Katari Taiko, the first taiko group in Canada, and of Sawagi Taiko, the first all-women’s taiko group in North America, with whom she continues to perform. As a folksinger/guitarist, she sang in coffee houses in […]

Roy Kumano

Roy Kumano was one of the most well-known Nisei harmonica players, and a member of the Lemon Creek Harmonica Band. He was very active as a harmonica performer and bandleader in Vancouver prior to the forced removal, giving solo performances as well as leading groups such as the Gakuyukai and Hompa Harmonica Bands. He was […]

David Kenji Fujino

David Fujino was a multidisciplinary Sansei artist who wrote poetry in the form of concrete visual poetry; he was also an actor and a writer of reviews, interviews, and opinion pieces. Born in the internment camp of Greenwood, Fujino became a fixture of the Toronto Japanese Canadian community and the arts scene. In the 1970s, […]

Nobu McCarthy

Nobu McCarthy (nee Atsumi), born in Ottawa, Ontario, was an actress, stage director and fashion model. Her father, Masaji Atsumi, was a fashion designer in Japan and a diplomatic attaché stationed in Canada when Nobu was born. She was raised in Japan where she studied ballet. While living in Los Angeles, she was discovered in […]