As a preview of the Japanese Canadian Place & Memory anthology, launching in 2027 with Véhicule Press, this immersive performance features pieces in the anthology that center around BC. Readers from various generations will take the stage to remember places that have shaped them and their families. At the end, audiences will be asked to … Read more
Yewchi performs a unique hybrid of North American roots music and jazz, reinterpreted through Japanese aesthetics with a focus on space, texture, and harmony. Through master-level flatpicking, he weaves melody, bass, and rhythm simultaneously on a single guitar, creating a full, expressive sound without loopers or backing tracks. Vancouver-based guitarist, recording artist, and educator, Yewchi … Read more
Katari Taiko, Canada’s first taiko group, was formed in 1979 by Japanese and Asian Canadian activists and artists, some of whom helped organize the first Powell Street Festivals. The group pioneered the Canadian taiko movement, blending traditional Japanese drumming with North American rhythms. Their powerful, choreographic performances celebrate Asian-Canadian identity and community. Members featured for … Read more
The performance contains unique pieces with multiple parts, dynamic rhythms, and original choreography. Each of the four pieces tells a different story, connecting the drummers to the local community, to nature, and to the Japanese taiko drumming tradition. Uzume Taiko Community Players is an offshoot of the Uzume Taiko Drum Group, made up of a … Read more
A karate demonstration featuring self-defense techniques. Vancouver Shito-Ryu was formed over 45 years ago and teaches traditional Japanese Karate. They emphasize basic techniques, using hands and feet, which are held to be most effective in combat.
Paueru Gai Ondo is a community-based song and dance created to honour the history of the Powell Street neighbourhood and celebrate our Japanese Canadian community. Join us as we celebrate the Powell Street Festival’s 50th year of community and reunion. This Ondo was created by Vancouver Taiko Society members Shinobu Homma, Steve Kubota, Masami Hanashiro, … Read more
Vancouver Japanese Language School–Japanese Hall: 5th Floor バンクーバー日本語学校並びに日系人会館：5階 Participants will spend time making Miya’s self-portrait origami, a playful printing of her face that we will fold into traditional origami designs, such as the jumping frog, butterfly, paku paku and cube. The origami sculptures will then be used in an improvised movement practice led by Shion, inspired by the … Read more
Hitotose is a Samurai performance group founded by Haruno and Yuki, specializing in Tate (殺陣), a traditional Japanese performing art that combines choreographed sword fighting with acting. Unlike martial arts or sports, Tate emphasizes storytelling through movement and is often featured in films and stage productions. With international experience in performance and workshops, Hitotose brings … Read more
The Jason de Couto Organ Trio is a Vancouver organ trio led by Jason de Couto on Hammond B3 Organ, and features Alvin Brendan on Guitar and Trent Otter on Drums. They have come together to form a unique and dynamic sound rarely heard in Vancouver, featuring the mighty Hammond Organ. The group plays a … Read more
Vancouver Japanese Language School-Japanese Hall: 3rd Floor Beginning with the story of her paternal grandfather Yoshimatsu Shinde, who arrived in Canada in 1893, Fukawa follows her family and community members through five generations from hard luck Japanese life to the establishment of Japanese Canadian communities in BC to their destruction and reestablishment after the devastation of the … Read more
Vancouver Japanese Language School-Japanese Hall: 3rd Floor We invite participants to experience and connect emotionally with haiku written by issei ancestors – no Japanese language ability required. Facilitators Carolyn and Yoriko will share some of their favourite issei-authored haiku, the methodologies they have developed to poetically respond to haiku, and notes on the meaning of Japanese words and grammar appearing … Read more
A multi-disciplinary meditation on madness, suicide, and intergenerational healing in connection with the wartime incarceration of Japanese Canadians, through the lens of the Iwaasa family history. Structured in fragments, Chiyo incorporates spoken word, memoir, poetry, family and institutional archives, and new music and images created in collaboration with composer Keiko Devaux and visual artist SD Holman. Known for fearless performative risk, Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa’s art practice … Read more
Featuring short films by four Japanese Canadian filmmakers from across the country. The program will end with a short talkback with all artists, moderated by local filmmaker Ashey Sugimoto. Echoes of the Tide from Craig Madokoro (Vancouver, BC) is a quiet, intimate animated short set in British Columbia during World War II and follows Jitsuji, a Japanese Canadian … Read more
Vancouver Japanese Language School-Japanese Hall: Room #414 All Day Programming Inspired by Japanese wind phones, this interactive phone booth and mailbox installation is a portal for reflection and remembrance. Make a symbolic call, “send” a postcard, or write names and messages to past loved ones and ancestors. Explore the spoken and unspoken, leave an offering in a way … Read more
Onyōkai, a group devoted to deepening their practice of traditional Japanese art forms, will present Tokyo’s celebratory lion dance, Edo Kotobuki Jishi, at Powell Street Festival’s 50th anniversary, featuring Eien Hunter-Ishikawa performing Ryōmen Odori (double-mask dance). Meaning “congratulations,” Kotobuki is performed on auspicious occasions to invite joy and good fortune. For centuries, shishimai (lion dance) has been performed throughout … Read more
Take part in a variety of free, supervised children’s activities in the tent, Saturday & Sunday, 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm. Please sign up at the Children’s Tent for Suika Wari, Tug of War, and the Kiai Contest ahead of time; space is limited. (This is not a childcare program; please do not leave children … Read more
Take part in a variety of free, supervised children’s activities in the tent, Saturday & Sunday, 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm. Please sign up at the Children’s Tent for Suika Wari, Tug of War, and the Kiai Contest ahead of time; space is limited. (This is not a childcare program; please do not leave children … Read more
Vancouver Japanese Language School-Japanese Hall: Room #412 Generations of Assimilation Generations of Assimilation” is an art installation made by Japanese Canadian Artist Stephanie Takagi. After the internment of Japanese Canadians during WWII the expectation was assimilation. This art installation is an attempt to bring honest discussion of what that assimilation has cost Japanese Canadians. Stephanie … Read more
Vancouver Japanese Language School-Japanese Hall: 5th Floor バンクーバー日本語学校並びに日系人会館：5階 An introduction to sumo for children. Participants will do a quick warm up, learn some basic techniques, and experience sumo in a safe environment. No experience is necessary. Parental guardians must be present with children. Athletic or loose casual clothing is strongly recommended. Sumo wrestling is a … Read more
Katori Shinto Ryu Kenjutsu is a classical Japanese martial art that preserves the traditional sword-fighting techniques of the samurai. Practitioners train with a range of historical weapons, including the long and short sword, fighting staff (bo), spear, and naginata (halberd). Unlike modern forms such as Kendo and Iaido, which evolved from older sword schools, Katori … Read more
Asian Persuasion All Stars is a fun-loving, genre-blending collective of Vancouver indie rockers and artists from a variety of creative, talented and entertaining local groups. What began as a fundraising song to stand up against pandemic-era racism quickly became a musical movement. Their bold reworks of “Racist Friend” and “Why Can’t We Be Friends” turned … Read more
