newsletter spring 2021 - vernon judo club
TRANSCRIPT
VERNON JAPANESE CULTURAL SOCIETY
Newsletter
Vernon Japanese Cultural Society 2020/21 Executive President/NAJC Rep: Rick Ogasawara 1st VP: Brian Yakura 2nd VP: Aubrey Comley Treasurer: Darrell Oshiro Secretary: Janie Crockett Youth Delegate: Hana Ogasawara Hall Manager: Tom Ouchi /George Okazaki Hall Rentals: Rick Ogasawara Communications: Aubrey Comley/Brian Yakura Newsletter: Janice Mori Fujinkai Rep: Agnes Sakakibara Buddhist Temple: Mari Cameron Japanese School: Ritsuko Yoshikawa & Mitsuyo Kaneda Odori Club: Rose Okazaki Judo club: Aubrey Comley/Yosh Ouchi
VERNON JAPANESE CULTURAL SOCIETY
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Sunday April 11th, 2PM
1. The link for the Zoom meeting will be distributed a week beforehand to members
via email. Spread the word: if someone you know didn’t receive a notice of
meeting, have them email [email protected] so their address can be
added to the list.
2. If you have an item for the Agenda,
please send it to:
3. It is not too late to renew individual
and family memberships for 2021.
The hall may be closed at the moment
but our volunteers are still out there
and planning for the coming year.
BE KIND
BE CALM
BE SAFE
SPRING 2021
E-Transfers are now
an option for
donations/renewing
your VJCS
Membership!
As always, I hope this message finds you all well.
Spring has sprung! As with everything this last year, it was a very interesting winter. A bit milder as far as the amount of snow hitting the ground - over all, not a bad winter.
As the seasons change, hopefully the atmosphere regarding Covid-19 will follow suit. Some members of our community have already received their first shot and more will have the opportunity in the coming weeks. If anyone requires assistance in navigating the process or transportation, please reach out to me or any of our executive - we will help out in any way we can.
Being optimistic with the vaccination roll-outs and how hard we have all worked to follow and administer the provincial restrictions, we hope a return to activities will take form very soon. We all look forward to a return to sport activities, gatherings, even in-person meetings!
A note of thanks to those who put effort into keeping activities going during these unprecedented times. This includes the Buddhist temple, our own school and the communication committee for organizing the virtual meetings for the executive. We enjoyed the virtual Christmas party attended by many – the children and their musical performances definitely helped put a smile on our faces. A hats-off to all the parents and teachers who put the effort in to bring us this holiday concert.
Also a big hats-off to local restaurants, J-Don and Mahoroba, who provided a yummy dinner to eat as we enjoyed the entertainment and also for their wonderful donation to help out with the costs of our Hall.
This brings up the importance of supporting local, especially those who help out our community centre. Maybe this is a time to show your support and enjoy some take-out or, as a family grouping, dine in at one of these restaurants.
Spring brings many things: flowers, the sun, better weather and perhaps some spring in our step! Maybe I’m reaching a bit, but maybe also an inspiration to volunteer and get more involved with the Cultural Centre. The Society’s ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING will proceed on a virtual platform in April. This is the time when we elect our executive for the next year, so we encourage you to join us online, bring in fresh ideas and become more involved in the Society. The Zoom link will be sent out in an email closer to the date.
I want to end with this thought: we have all been affected in some way by the pandemic but there is positive in it all. Given the circumstances, we have adapted fairly well. We managed to gather in limited ways and to stay in touch with our community. Families had to put more effort into reaching out to each other, and with limits to gatherings, it may have brought us closer together in some ways. It is important to socialize in some manner and maybe, just maybe, this is the silver lining to this last year.
We are all trying to do our best with the restrictions and overall we are doing a good job. Now looking forward to the lifting of restrictions to allow for larger gathering later in the year? As has been said in the past: we are all in this together.
Stay safe everyone. Hope to see you on the zoom AGM! President, Rick Ogasawara
President’s
Message
It was a year ago in March 2020 when we made the transition from the traditional classes to Zoom meets with the PHO order in place. In August, classes resumed at the hall thanks to the implementation of the VJCS COVID-19 Safety Plan, allowing us to momentarily enjoy peace and nostalgia. Unfortunately, the hall shut down again at the end of November due to the increased risk of the virus in the community.
Although the harsh reality got in the way, it did not stop the children from progressing. I have to admit that their enthusiasm and positivity are one of the things that keep me (and probably many parents out there) going. Japanese classes continue to run online weekly for the school age students. While it may not be the same as in-person learning, it's a pleasure to see everyone’s smile on the screen. The kids surely have a lot to tell when they meet Friday afternoons. Every now and then, the teacher has to ask them to slow down and take turns.
Have you ever been asked “What's the first thing you'll want to do when the
pandemic is over? Here are the responses from our students. Happy spring!
Aria: In Japan, I want to play with my friends in the park
Kazuki: I want to do a playdate at my friend's house.
Rei: I want to play with everyone. Jin: 1. I want to go to my friends' houses. 2. I want to go to Japan. 3. I want to eat at a restaurant.
Amelie: 1. I want to go to Japan. 2. I want a sleepover at my friend's house.
コロナが終わったら何
したい？
What's The First
Thing You'll Want
To Do When The
Pandemic Is Over?
Japanese School 日本語学校
submitted by Ritsuko Yoshikawa
Akane: I want to play with
my friends in the park.
Mayu & Saya
We want to play with our friends.
Alex: I want to go back to
Japan and see my friends
again.
Kito: I want to go back to Japanese School.
Sayla: I want to learn Hakone marquetry in
Japan.
Taka & Hana: We want to go to Japan.
コロナが終わったら何
したい？
What's The First
Thing You'll Want
To Do When The
Pandemic Is Over?
Like the news on the Covid-19 front, the judo news is mixed. The club only got 3 months into our typical 8-month season when the necessity of the current provincial health lockdown became a reality. With the latest announcement (that there won’t likely be any relaxed restrictions in March or April), we are considering starting up in the summer if there’s a safe opportunity to do so. Perhaps—if we’re all vaccinated by July 1st—we might actually be able to do judo in August!? With meeting in groups on hiatus, we are doing other things. Judo Canada and Judo BC have offered a number of zoom meetings, many which have been applicable for national coaching certification points. Some members, like Nadine Bond and Kiyoshi Comley, are working to the skills needed to do their brown belt grading in a zoom format (as they had previously qualified with competition and other prerequisites in the before times). Though competitions at his level have been put on hold, Kiyoshi qualified for Canadian Sport Institute standing based on last season’s results. The ijf.org streaming has been amazing for international events and the March sumo basho (streaming through NHK online) shows a number of similar techniques between the two sports. The club remains hopeful that we can offer classes as usual, and perhaps even add a class for 5-6 year-olds, for the 2021-2022 season to start in September. There will be no 2021 BC Open but we are now in the planning phase to host the judo venue for the 2022 BC Winter games! Stay safe. We look forward to the time when our families can get together again.
VER
NO
N J
UD
O C
LUB
For more information on the Vernon Judo Club,
George Okazaki 250-542-2912
Aubrey Comley 250-260-3885
email: [email protected]
Find us on Facebook
or visit our website http://vernonjudo.ca.
On Being Yukiko, Mixed Critters & Nori and His Delicious Dreams
Combo
by Jeff Chiba
For information on how you can order these books:
https://www.meditatingbunny.com/ or email:
Distinguished Translator to speak at UBCO
On Friday, April 9, from 2:00 – 3:00, the University of British Columbia Okanagan
Department of Languages and World Literatures will present a talk by Professor
Juliet Winters Carpenter where she will discuss her more than 50-year
experience of living in and studying and teaching about Japan and its modern
literary tradition.
Professor Carpenter has a long and distinguished career translating best-selling
Japanese contemporary literature by such important authors as Abe Kobo (The
Ark Sakura), Enchi Fumiko (Masks), Miyabe Miyuki (Shadow Family), Tawara
Machi (Salad Anniversary) and Mizumura Minae (A True Novel), to name only a
few. She has twice been awarded The Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize
for the Translation of Japanese Literature, the Lewis Galantiere Award of the
American Translators Association, and the Gelett Burgess Children’s Award for
Best Multicultural Book. Professor Carpenter will discuss the challenges and
rewards of translating between languages and cultures, including commonalities
and differences in assumptions, approaches and expressions, and how works in
translation open readers up to new perspectives and world-views.
The talk will be presented on Zoom, and available by pre-registration only.
Contact Nina Langton, [email protected], for more information about
registration.
Only a few more months before we can hopefully gather for Services again.
I hope you have been healthy. It is exciting that some of our Temple members have
been vaccinated and that everyone else will be done by the summer.
Miyakawa Sensei retired on January 1, 2020. We held a Zoom Retirement Party for
him and sent a gift. He and Dr. Valerie said they enjoyed it a lot. We will miss them
but they are remaining in Kelowna so hopefully we will see them at Temple events.
One positive thing about this lock down is that we can virtually attend many Zoom
Services from all over the world. Many of our temple members attend Steveston
Buddhist Temple’s Zoom service every Sunday. You should be getting the Zoom
Invitation every Friday or Saturday but if not, please get in touch with Mari or email
There is also a Zoom Dharma School on the fourth Saturday of each month at 10
AM B.C. time. Our own Mayumi Comley has been teaching the Grades 4 to 7 from
Victoria. Students from across Canada attend via Zoom and it is fun! I encourage
you to get your children and grandchildren on Zoom for these 45 minutes once a
month. Learning to be spiritual will help your child in times of crisis and teaches
them to be resilient. If you want the monthly Zoom Invitations, please email
We have exciting news that Hirano Sensei from Richmond B.C. will become our new
minister starting July 2021. Many of us met him via Zoom early this month and are
looking forward to his leadership and guidance. He was a computer engineer in
Japan until he immigrated to Canada as a young man when he became a flight
instructor. He taught out of the Langley airport for over twenty years. He has been
an Assistant Minister at the Steveston Buddhist Temple for seven years while
studying to become a Kaikyoshi or fully ordained minister. He had to complete his
studies in Kyoto and will be returning to Canada very soon.
Please take care of yourselves and continue to follow Bonnie Henry’s sage advice.
We will be together again very soon. In gassho, Mari
Rosie says that the Chidori-
Kai dancers are looking
forward to meeting again
once the gathering
restrictions are lifted.
Good Eats by
Irene Oizumi
Thank you from Irene:
In February, I received a call from the VJH Foundation & was told that a plaque will be put
up for Tosh this spring. This was in recognition of the donation of $2500 we made to the
Baerg McMurtry Cancer Center. These funds were generated from the Tosh Oizumi
Memorial Golf Social we held in July 2018. It was nice to receive the call during these
troublesome times. Jason & I want to thank all who supported the Memorial Golf Social.
E-Transfers for Vernon Japanese Cultural Society Membership: You can donate to the VJCS or renew your membership by sending this information BELOW and an e-Transfer to: [email protected] When you make the transfer be sure to describe what the payment is for – membership and/or donation in the message section.
Of course, you can always send a cheque by mail to PO Box 566, Vernon, BC V1T 6M4
VJCS
MEMBERSHIP
2021
Membership list not available online.
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