Last week, my family attended the 50th Powell Street Festival in Vancouver. It is a celebration of all things Japanese Canadian. There were performing arts shows such as taiko, dance, and other musical performances, community group displays, food, workshops, and tours.

On Saturday, Aug. 1, my wife and daughter attended a talk by Art Miki and listened to him speak about his new book and his experiences on the Japanese Canadian Redress Committee leading to a government apology, the payment of $21,000 in 1988 for each person who was interned during WWII, and $36,000,000 in community and public funds. They also heard about his time as president of the National Association of Japanese Canadians and his reflections as an author. They were so impressed that they purchased his book Gaman-Perseverance: Japanese Canadians’ Journey to Justice and his recently published children’s book, Road to Justice. I visited the other floors of the Japanese Language School and took in the many exhibits and presentations in the upper floor classrooms.

We later ate and visited many community booths, outdoor displays, and performances. We talked with various influential and community-involved Japanese Canadians and my daughter met with many of the people with whom she had spent the past two weeks on the Internment Bus Tour and the Past Wrongs, Future Choices Field School at the University of Victoria.

We returned the next day and attended an interesting presentation about the history of the Japanese Language School. My mother and her siblings all attended the school in the late 1930s and early 1940s before they were interned.

Later, we went to the Japanese Canadian Legacies Society presentation led by Lucy Komori where I was one of the three speakers who shared our family histories. It was interesting to hear Brad Akeroyd and Paula Nishikawara’s family stories and their perspectives.

All in all, it was an inspiring and worthwhile weekend connecting with others and our shared history.