Building Together | Tsunagari 繋がりin Lethbridge

All News • October 24, 2025

The National Association of Japanese Canadians Annual Capacity Building Conference was held September 27 and 28 in Lethbridge, Alberta. Titled Building Together, Tsunagari 繋がり, the conference was a key initiative supported by the Japanese Canadian Legacies Society. The conference brought together delegates from across the country for two days of speakers, workshops, and community building.

JC Legacies CEO Susanne Tabata gave the Saturday morning address, titled Kintsugi – Healing Across Generations, Building Intergenerational Relationships, Educating the Public, and Creating an Enduring Legacy for Japanese Canadians and all Canadians. This midterm report showed conference attendees how funds have supported individuals, groups, and organizations across the country.

In highlighting the support provided to a wide range of organizations across many provinces, Susanne reaffirmed JCLS’ origins with the NAJC and the society’s commitment to carrying on the mandate of the national organization to support communities large and small throughout Canada.

Susanne reported that the Japanese Canadian Monument Park is entering the construction phase.

JC Legacies CEO Susanne Tabata with a full-size mockup of two of the panels that will form the wall of names being installed in Victoria, BC as the centrepiece of the Japanese Canadian Monument Park that will open in September, 2025. The wall will contain the names of nearly 22,000 Japanese Canadians forced from the west coast in 1942, along with the names of 3,000 children board after uprooting and before Japanese Canadians received full rights of citizenship on April1, 1949.
Christine Kondo finds her ancestors from the Victoria area on the wall of names mockup.
Declaration that September is Japanese Heritage Month in the Province of Alberta. L–R: Honourable Nathen Neudorf, MLA, Lethbridge East; Susan Matsumoto; Hitomi Suzuta; Paul Fujishige; Deanna Oye; Maureen Coleman.
L–R: Laurie Harada, NAJC Project Manager, Capacity Building Initiative; 
Caroline Ishii, NAJC Executive Director

During her presentation, Susanne shared this selection of striking book covers with the audience,  highlighting the Family Sharing and Healing category of the Intergenerational Wellness stream, a key component of the JCLS Community Fund that has had a big impact on families across the country. This funding provided each grant recipient with $5,000 for Family Sharing and Healing projects, but more importantly, the opportunity to talk to and collaborate with other family members. For some, it marked a new beginning and a chance to break the cycle of silence. 

In documenting these family stories, JCLS hopes recipients were empowered to not only strengthen ties within their families but to feel they were part of something bigger – a collective movement toward healing and connection. 

In whatever way participants chose to use the funding, we have heard countless stories of the impact it has had on families. In some cases, it may have given individuals the permission or invitation they needed to move forward with this important work of preserving their unique heritage through memories, stories and photographs. These book covers, that we have been granted permission to share, provide a small glimpse into the many projects that are having a lasting impact on community. 

The JCLS congratulates the NAJC and the participants for an enlivening weekend and looks forward to continuing to work with Japanese Canadians across all generations and in all parts of the country to support legacy building.

Japanese Canadian Legacies are initiatives that honour our elders past and present. We are grateful to be doing this work on the ancestral lands of the Coast Salish peoples.