Intergenerational Wellness Recipients Announced

Community Fund • March 1, 2024

The Japanese Canadian Legacies Society is pleased to announce the results of the Intergenerational Wellness stream of the Community Fund. Thank you to the families, groups and organizations from across the country who applied in this important stream. We were moved by the many project applications that spoke to the need for intergenerational healing, collaboration, and dialogue. It is clear that the desire to connect across generations remains strong. 

We owe deep thanks to the Assessment Team who juried the applications, ensuring that the original purpose of this stream was kept front and centre. The team was made up of Nicola Koyanagi, Alex Miki, Jan Nobuto, Carley Okamura, and John Endo Greenaway. 

Thanks also to the Intergenerational Wellness advisory team made up of Lucy Komori, Nicola Koyanagi, Jess Masuda, Carley Okamura, and Leanne Toshiko Simpson. The team was diligent and thoughtful in helping refine and sharpen the draft guidelines.

Category 1

Family Sharing & Healing

The following have received up to $5,000 for projects that promote collective sharing within the family and in the process facilitate intergenerational healing.

Sharon Wendy Ashe
Cathy Babyak
Jennifer Sasaki Beck
Sara Hanako Breitkreutz
Miyoko Brown
Marcia Ann Carr
John Joshu Coward
Kay Kaoru Cruickshank
Ashley Davidson
Laura Midori Dempsey
Clarissa Evans
Masako Fukawa
Nicole M. Gaertner
Luke James Hori Geddes
Emily Miyoko Gleave-Higa
Hisami Hamilton
Mary Hamawaki
George Hayami
Ron Higo
Frederick Takeo Hirasawa
Lester Hiraki
Gloria Yoko Hollinger
Patricia Mitsuko Idenouye
Lester Shinya Ikuta
Caroline Ruriko Ishii
Kim Midori Iwasa-Madge
Denise Jaworsky
Dan Tutsuro Kaji
Frank Hiroshi Kamiya
Mihoko Kanashiro
Elizabeth Fumiko Kawahara
Naomi Kawahara
Sharon Sumiye Kawasaki-Chan
Andrea Kyoko Sakiyama Kennedy
Katsumi Bruce Kimoto
Andrew Toshikazu Kinoshita
Jordan Elizabeth Keiko Kitagawa
Leanne Marie Kitagawa
Laura Hideko Kotick
Midori Ann Kurts
Tsugio Kurushima
Nicole Elin Hiroko Larsen
Mayumi H. Lashbrook
Kevin Takahide Lee
Lillian Tayeko Nakamura Maguire
Wendy Masui
Wendy Junko Matsubuchi Bremner
Naomi Matsushita
Graham Lloyd Mayeda
Kirsten Emiko McAllister
Melanie Keiko Miki
Lawrence H. Mitani
Harriet Miyagawa & Matthew Miyagawa
Joanne Miyazaki
Karen Yukiko Mizushima
Ernest Shiro Morimoto
Marlene Yoshiko Mortensen
George Kiyoshi Nagai
Lynne M. Nagata
Douglas Akira Nakamura
Tamiko Nicholson
Paula M. Nishikawara
Rose Nishiyama
Arlene R. Nishizawa
Laura Keiko Oda
Kevin Eiji Okabe
Gord Okamura
Randall Okita
Lara Jean Kinuye Okihiro
Karen Reid
Heidi Hanazawa Root
Dale Wesley Sakiyama
Ginny Roxanne Sakamoto
Tracee Sano
Tracy Reiko Sasaki
Crystal Patricia Schatz
Henry Ryusuke Shibata
Lynne Kiyoko Smart
Harge Suga
Russell Noboru Tabata
Kenneth Taguchi
Wayne Tamagi
Betty Mitsuyo Tanaka
Shaun Naomi Tanaka
Emi Julie Tasaka
Roger Teshima
Glenna Oue Theurer
Marie Kanako Thornley
Kiyoko Joyce Tobo
Lynn Tomita
Nao Uda
Angela Uyeda
Marie Masae Uyesugi
Steven Keiji Washi
Donna Masae (Yoshitake) Wuest
Ko Victor Yoshida

Category 2

Seniors Intergenerational Group Wellness

The following groups and organizations have received funding for projects that will directly benefit the wellness of Japanese Canadian seniors and Survivors through programs and activities.

Wynford Seniors Club | $9,660.60    
Intergenerational Book Club/Author Reading Activity

Central Vancouver Island Japanese Canadian Society | $10,000   
Seniors Group Wellness Fitness & Komorebi Book Club Program

Japanese Canadian Golf Club | $9,468.30  
Japanese Canadian Golf Club Special Wellness Event

Toronto Buddhist Church | $10,000
Toronto Buddhist Church Karaoke Program Upgrade

Tsunagu | $10,000  
Tsunagu: A Deep Dive

Japanese Canadian Senior’s Bowling League | $5,000  
Japanese Canadian Senior’s Bowling League

Japanese Cultural Association of Manitoba Horizon Club | $10,000  
Horizon Club Seniors Wellness and Accessibility Program

Victoria Nikkei Cultural Society | $9,220   
Dr Karen Kobayashi Commemorative Senior Active Care 2024

Vancouver Buddhist Temple | $1,600   
2024 Seniors Day Trip: Tashme, BC

Category 3

Intergenerational Group Gatherings

The following groups and organizations have received funding for community-based and participatory projects that support group gatherings, particularly with Survivors and Descendants, related to intergenerational wellness, specially around the historical trauma of World War II uprooting, dislocation, and dispossession of Japanese Canadians.

BC Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Temples Federation | $40,000    
2024 Vancouver Island Obon and Japanese Canadian Historical Journey. Kokoro no Tabi心の旅 – A journey of the Heart.

Kondo Family | $10,000    
Kondo Family Intergenerational Wellness Retreat

Vancouver Japanese Language School & Japanese Hall (VJLS-JH) and the Kawasaki-Chan Family | $4,039.98   
“『葦折れて』 (ashi-orete) ’Broken Reeds’. To my nii-san in Canada” Sharing the story of two brothers separated by war and Internment, through letters from Eitaro (in Japan) to my nii-san (older brother) during the 1940s.

Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre | $40,000    
NNMCC Tomoshibi 灯 Journey – lighting the way through Japanese Canadian sites of internment

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.