Community Fund Arts Recipients Announced
The Japanese Canadian Legacies Society is pleased to announce the results of the Community Fund Arts stream. We received a strong response across the country from a broad range of applicants representing many disciplines. We thank the artists – all of them Descendants – and their collaborators, for their thoughtfulness, care, and creativity in putting together their applications.
JCLS is grateful for the hard work of the Assessment Team who had the challenging task of evaluating the more than 100 applications. Deep appreciation goes to Naomi Sawada, Melisa Kamibayashi Staples, Tani Miki, and Walter Quan for their thoughtful, rigorous work on this important stream. Thanks also to the Advisory Committee of Midi Onodera, Jennifer Hashimoto, and Melisa Kamibayashi Staples who refined the guidelines prior to opening the funding stream.
Paul Aihoshi
Writing, workshopping, and creating the final draft of a screenplay, The Sushi Family
Mitchell Akiyama
Collaborative project with Emma Nishimura to construct a shrine to commemorate “Frog Paradise”
Emiko Tatebe Berman
Creation of a book and exhibit about the artist’s maternal grandmother, her Babbi, tentatively titled Mémoire(s)
Molly Jesse-Fujiye Caldwell
Creation of a Butsudan and Wedding Dress Tapestry with a family collaboration component
Timothy John Katsuya Fukakusa
Collaboration with Ken Galloway, Curator, on the fourth edition of the JapanTown Series, a repainting of the original JapanTown Wall @ Sanko with the theme, “Building Blocks: Remembering Raymond Moriyama”
Laura K Fukumoto
Developing and writing the manuscript for a book of poetry, Strand
Ben Hirsohi Fukuzawa
Recording an album of original songs, a blend of indie rock and experimental modern classical music, titled Anybody
Jason Peter Furukawa
Development of a short documentary film, The Murder of Yoshi Uno, based on a little-known true crime story
Kai Will Furukawa
Production of a studio album of original R&B songs
Alexa Kumiko Hatanaka
Development and exhibition of sculptural washi/hybrid paper works
Kellen Toshio Hatanaka
Production of an exhibition of new painting and sculptural work
Daniel Taiki Hatashita
Creation of a line of 18 traditional Japanese blades including five sushi knives (Yanagibaʼs), ten gyuto-style kitchen knives, and three samurai swords, with the goal of maintaining the traditional Japanese style, while incorporating a totally unique approach that focuses on transforming these iconic blades into original art
Aaron Keay Homma
Composing and recording a new CD of original works inspired by the artist’s paternal great-grandfather
Atleigh Keiko Leslie Homma
Creation of paintings and quilted textile pieces to be exhibited in a solo show
Marlene Janice Howell
Creation and completion of a set of paintings with a Japanese Canadian theme
John Tsutomu Ikeda
Creation of a collection of wood-fired ceramic tea bowls worthy of the tea ceremony originally inspired by zen buddhism
Mark Kunji Ikeda
Production of a professionally staged presentation of the play God Said This
Kayla Isomura
Creation of Ghosts (of my family’s past), a visual essay combining photography and film mediums
Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa
Development of 千代 Chiyo: A Thousand Generations, an evening-length interdisciplinary solo performance work for speaking pianist
Kyla Jamieson
Development of a new poetry manuscript tentatively titled It Was Never That I Didnʼt Love You
Danielle Harumi Jette
Creation of a series of illustrated greeting cards and art prints inspired by the unique and evolving cultural identity of the Lower Mainland
Sachiko Johnston
Collaboration with twin sister Kiyomi Burgin to create a collection of six to eight knitting patterns for the hand knitter
Maya Kiku Kamo
Creation, completion, and exhibition of mixed media collage, portraiture, pattern design, and screen printing
Kate Michiko Kamo McHugh
Collaboration with Colin Boyd Shafer to create Retraced, a multimedia piece utilizing portraits, recorded movement, and live performance
Matthew James Kariatsumari
A gallery exhibition of nine mixed-media works
Shandy Yukiko Kariatsumari
Collaborative work showcasing surfboards with Japanese art and Japanese Artists at the Tofino Gallery of Contemporary Art
Paul Yoshihito Kawabe
Creation and performance of a new piece of music on the theme of navigating cultural identity
Katsumi Bruce Kimoto
Creating a series of book of sketches, limited edition prints and original paintings inspired by the artist’s return to his hometown of Ucluelet, BC, tracing the journey of his grandfather’s boat under the title The Missing Link
Jenn Nicole Kumiko Kitagawa
Creation of an exhibition, Natural Computing, that will consist of textiles, sculpture and displays made from wood
Kelly Kitagawa
Development of No Idea, a musical short film
Brian Kobayakawa
Creation of ten new musical works, to be released for the first time under the artist’s own name
Kim Noriko Kobayashi
Unraveling the mystery of Japanese songs, shigin, and family internment secrets with contemporary kōdan (講談), Japanese traditional storytelling
Tsuneko Kokubo
Creation of Following the Water, a painting on a 5ft high by 30ft long scroll, in an attempt to capture the essence of water in a range of its infinite manifestations, in addition to smaller canvases and sketches for exhibition purposes.
Bradley Kazuo Kurushima
Creation of an original short film in collaboration with video artist Jeffery Chong to accompany new single, “Sundown Curfew”
Scott (Kokichi) McCrae Kusano
Composition, development, and teaching of an original 30-minute musical work in the style of Japanese ohayashi, or festival music
Nicole Elin Hiroko Larsen
Creation of a series of works in different mediums including risograph art prints, silkscreen prints, textile arts (embroidery and sewing), paintings and ceramics to honour the life that the artist’s grandma has lived, as well as the strengths and struggles that so many Japanese Canadians share
Mayumi H Lashbrook
Creation and presentation of a new solo butoh dance performance choreographed by Denise Fujiwara
Keri Lee Latimer
Recording of a soundscape album using theremin, voice and a self-built koto-like instrument with compositions that will correspond with a sci-fi/time travelling romance that explores the theme of nostalgia through a futuristic lens
Kevin Takahide Lee
Creation of a new script based on the life of First World War Japanese Canadian soldier Zennosuke Inouye
Suzanne Ruth Liska
Research, creation, and presentation of a contemporary musical dance piece tentatively titled Mythological Shape Shifting: A Multi-Disciplinary Dance Creation Project that explores how three dancing, Canadian diasporic bodies engage with, become shaped by, and animate the artist’s Japanese mythological cultural inheritances
Shawne Yukimi MacIntyre
Researching and writing a novel for middle grade (8-12 years old) youth set in 1943 – 44, featuring a 12-year-old Japanese Canadian protagonist who turns to judo to keep his confusion and anger at bay
Michael Hitoshi Maddeaux
Production of a short film that takes place in the late 90s, looking at intergenerational trauma through a Japanese Canadian lens
Craig Minoru Madokoro
Creation of a five-minute animated short film telling the tale of the artist’s grandfatherʼs life in Canada using a combination of stop motion and computed animated software.
Julie Tamiko Manning
Creation of a new play, 孤村 LONESOME VILLAGE
Geoffrey Arthur Miki
Creation of a series of 20 paintings, screenprints, block prints and mixed media drawings looking at the portable cassette player from 1980 to 2000, examining the technology’s impact on society
Sharon Mayumi Minemoto
Composition, recording, and performance of eight new instrumental music compositions inspired by the artist’s familyʼs experience before, during and after the war
Mathew Michael Miwa
A collaboration with shodo artist Yukari Snyder combining illustrations with the shodo practice
Cindy Nami Mochizuki
Development of a work of bio-fiction, Mejiro, Mejiro, Mejiro / (メジロ、メジロ、メジロ), comprised of a graphic novel and workshop performance with actors and musicians
Connor Miki Morton
A documentary focusing on the life of the artist’s grandmother
Natalie Yukiko Murao
Post production work on film TEARS BURN TO ASH
Dona Fujiko Nabata
Creation of The Picnic, a series of paintings based on found photographs
Kiyoshi Gary Nagata
Development of musical compositions and demo recording for Ghosts in the Forest
Judith Megumi Nakagawa
Creation of Failure to Contain II, a large-scale suspended sculpture
Carolyn Yukari Nakagawa
Collaborate with Yoriko Gillard to create English-language translations of haiku and tanka written by issei in Canada
Vivien Midori Nishi
Presentation of a series of open table readings for feature film script development and cultural feedback for story ideas based in Japanese Canadian history
Masashi Nishihata
Creation of an audio + visual installation that explores the relationship between elemental memory, impermanence, and cataclysm
Barbara “Miiko” Nishimura-Gravlin
Creation of a new series of large paintings for a public exhibition as well as a printed journal or book describing the creative journey from the artist’s beginnings as an abstract painter to the new works of 2025
Louise Mitsuko Noguchi
Creation and exhibition of Shape of Loss, involving a performative aspect of drawing the hulls of the 1337 fishing boats that were confiscated in 1942, along with the exhibition of the completed drawing
Baco B Ohama
Development of still, not still, working with language to surface tangible works through curiosity and wonderings, intuition, and exploratory play
Lara Jean Kinuye Okihiro
Development of a fiction manuscript interweaving the artist’s grandfather’s haikus with the artist’s storytelling
Randall Okita
Creation of Our Home Is Now, a short film that combines elements of theatre and sculpture to tell part of the artist’s story and how it connects to our story, exploring history, memory and identity
Midi (Midori) Onodera
Developing No gods gallery installation and video project utilizing the traditional form of a fairy tale and inspired by contemporary Japanese magic realism
Paula Tamiko Potts
Creation of When The Blossoms Fade, a 20-minute documentary that follows the search for the artist’s Japanese identity and explores intergenerational trauma from a Japanese Canadian perspective
Michael Prior
Collaboration with Kerri Sakaomoto and Leanne Toshiko Simpson to produce Out of the Silence, an anthology of Japanese Canadian writing
Jason Michael Keitaro Sakaki
Creation of the film Ramen Boys, a short romantic comedy
Nayo Sasaki-Picou
A series of video monologues and a photographic essay, based on revised family journal entries
Silke Mayumi Seiler
Creation with collaborator Kristos Seiler of a series of 3D sculptural pieces using ocean-rounded wood found on south coastal beaches
Katherine Yumiko Shimizu
Project weaving personal family timeline and narrative with the overall history of the JC community through the creation of two- and three-dimensional art, maps, diagrams, photos, and writing based on and/or inspired by research, photo documenting and creating artwork about the Powell Street neighbourhood, and exploration of ideas of representation and abstraction through art-making
Will Shintani
Creation of an international sticker art exhibit, Stuck Together
Laura Michiko Shintani
Development of a sculptural structure, A Mediation: House of Dreams
Sandra Lynn Sugimoto
Writing and illustrating a family memoir using a mashup of prose, poetry, and comics, combining collage, photos, and ink with the digital medium Procreate
Ashley Kiyoko Sugimoto
Researching and crafting a multi-lingual screenplay, Osechi (working title)
Annie Sumi
Composing a collection of songs and poems inspired by waterscapes for a performance art project “Overflow” in a three-part collaborative process
Stephanie Akiko Takagi
Creation of a large interactive piece to facilitate understanding the weight of what it felt like to grow up as a Japanese Canadian in BC
Candie Arline Tanaka
Creation of a literary fiction manuscript, The Seven Sins of the Japanese Mermaid, structured around the Seven Sins, the Seven Virtues and some of the poisons in Buddhism
Carmel Tanaka
Development of script for Jewpanese Play (working title), an immersive one-person multimedia storytelling experience, exploring identity, ancestral roots, loss of language and access to culture, intergenerational trauma, and breaking from that trauma through discovering and healing
Roddy Isao Tasaka
Research and creation of a large-format graphic art piece that reflects the heritage of the Japanese Canadian West Coast Fishing Community, particularly the artist’s familyʼs history in the industry
Kazuhiro Ron Terada
Creation of a 20-foot digital panoramic photographic image of an installation titled TL; DR (too long; didnʼt read) to be used as an insert for an artist book project housed within an exhibition catalogue
Emmie Krysti Sachiko Tsumura
Engaging in a documented self-directed residency, providing community collage workshops, and launching an interactive public exhibition
Miya Kimiye Turnbull
Creation of three video performances featuring newly created self-portrait masks with music created by Hitoshi Sugiyama
David Todd Turnbull
Creation of a sculpture series based on gaman or ganborou, to endure
Megan Kiyoko Wray
Research and creation of a poetry collection tentatively titled re:location, with a public reading
Scott Yamamura
Creation of a short film, Asahi Brothers
Alejandro Yoshizawa
Creation of a film, Withdrawal
This list is subject to change pending further assessment