Vancouver Japanese Language School-Japanese Hall: 4th Floor

How much history can twenty-six letters hold? This session explores the making of The Japanese Canadian Book of ABCs. Over eight months of debate, a children’s book became something larger: a way to carry Japanese Canadian history, advocacy, and community-building across generations. We will share how letters came to life, what provoked strong responses, where generational differences surfaced, and how an impossible task became a book we are proud to share. 

About the Presenters:  

Lynn Deutscher Kobayashi is a Sansei, community historian, and President of the Toronto NAJC. Her father was president of the NAJC during the redress years, and Lynn was in the House of Commons with her mother, father, sister, and nine-month-old son when redress was announced.  

Mari Galloway is a Toronto NAJC board member, litigator, and new mother. She was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and came to Canada at age two.   

Art and curation: Kristofer Sakamoto-Marshall and Kellen Hatanaka