Harmonica

Kunio Suyama

Kunio Suyama is an actor, singer, and emcee who has been highly active in the Toronto Buddhist Church. He is especially well-known for his role as emcee at the annual Obon Festival in Toronto. Suyama put on and performed in many shibai plays at the Toronto Buddhist Church over the years. He was also a […]

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 […]

Harry Aoki

Harry Hiro-o Aoki was a Nisei harmonica and stand-up bass player, known for his musical virtuosity and his enthusiasm for fostering intercultural understanding through music. Born in Cumberland, BC, the second son of two Japanese Language School teachers, Harry grew up listening to Bach and Duke Ellington, and debating intellectual and social ideas around the […]

Martin Kobayakawa

Martin Kobayakawa is a guitarist and songwriter who was a member of the Vancouver folk-rock band Number One Son. He performed at the first Powell Street Festival in 1977 alongside Terry Watada, and also appeared on Watada’s album Runaway Horses (original vinyl release and the re-release on CD. He is a versatile musician proficient on […]

Lemon Creek Harmonica Band

The Lemon Creek Harmonica Band was a long-enduring and well-loved musical group, a legacy of popular harmonica bands of the 1930s and 1940s. It was formed during the internment at the Lemon Creek internment camp by a group of young Nisei men who needed a diversion from internment life and was led by Junji Ikeno […]