It was a weekend full of healing, joy, and remembrance as over a hundred people attended and participated in an Obon service and Bon Odori dance for Japanese Canadians incarcerated at Tashme and other sites of internment.
Hosted and organized by Kikiai Collaborative — with support from the Sunshine Valley Tashme Museum, Sunshine Valley Developments Ltd., Sunshine Valley RV Resort & Cabins, Blue Moose Coffee house, Fraser Valley Regional District and local volunteers — a notable crowd (which included Mayor Victor Smith and Electoral B Director Peter Adamo) was present at the Tashme site last Saturday (Aug.17) in Sunshine Valley to witness the ceremonies and performances.
Starting at 10 a.m., the day's events began with an opening call Taiko performance by Leslie Komori from Vancouver, followed by the Obon ceremony which was led by Reverend Grant Ikuta of the Steveston Buddhist Temple and Reverend Naoki Hirano of the Kelowna Buddhist Temple.
Following this, taiko drummer Aki Watanabe, one of the oldest taiko drummers in Canada and a survivor of the Tashme internment camp, performed an odaiko solo that he composed. Watanabe wrote and performed the solo “54” in honour of his younger brother, who died while incarcerated at Tashme, and all Japanese Canadians that lost their lives at Tashme. The solo acknowledges the years that he, his family, and other Japanese Canadians had been incarcerated in Canada.
Six other survivors of the Tashme internment camp were also in the audience that day.
Watanabe was introduced to the audience by his grandsons, Seán Duffy and Robert Duffy, who spoke about Watanabe's childhood, history with Tashme, and his experience with Taiko. Other members of Watanabe's family, who were present during the day, included Steven Watanabe and Karen Watanabe Duffy (two of his five children), and Misa Watanabe and Anne Watanabe (two of his 10 grandchildren).
Raine Abad (Robert's partner), Allison Courtney (Seán's partner), JJ Ueunten (Anne's partner), and Ciarán Duffy (Karen’s husband) also attended with the family.
"I want my family to know that three generations of our family, all Canadian citizens, had their rights taken away, and were interned in Hastings Park and Tashme, in an act of racism by the Canadian government in 1942," Watanabe said when speaking to Kikiai Collaborative members before the event. "I (looked) forward to celebrating, along with two of my children and four of my grandchildren, the Obon festival to commemorate the memory of all the people who were interned in Tashme and who are no longer with us.”
According to Kikiai Collaborative's website, Watanabe "is one of the founding members of Oto-Wa Taiko based in Ottawa, Ont. where he currently resides." Originally from Vancouver, as a child he and his family lived on Cordova Street. They moved to Tofino, and lived there for a number of years, before being interned, first in Hastings Park for six months and then at Tashme. He is "the last living child of Tadamasa Watanabe, who was one of the power station workers at Tashme."
Watanabe travelled from Ottawa and his family travelled from Toronto, Ottawa, Coquitlam, and Chicago to attend and volunteer at this event.
After Watanabe's performance, the audience was invited to participate in the Bon Odori. More than half the crowd formed a circle in the field across from the Sunshine Valley Community Centre and, led by volunteers and members of Kikiai Collaborative, danced together. Four songs were performed during the Bon Odori, accompanied by Komori playing the drum, and ended with an encore of a community favourite, Tanko Bushi.
This was the first Obon ceremony to take place at the site since Tashme's closure in 1946. Like many internment sites in BC, Tashme was unmarked until 2018 and difficult to access due to its isolation, according to Kikiai Collaborative.
For this reason, Kikiai Collaborative members said they were excited to provide this opportunity to their community, as well as sharing this experience with the public.
According to Kikiai Collaborative's website, Obon is a traditional Buddhist ceremony that “allows people to pay respects to their ancestors and loved ones who have died.” Usually celebrated in mid-August, it is believed that the Obon ceremony allows spirits to briefly return to their families.
Meanwhile, a Bon Odori —- translated literally to Bon Dance —- is a tradition that welcomes spirits through by creating a circle which dancers follow. These dances have been passed through generations and reference regions, harvest seasons, and even various forms of traditional jobs that common folk would have. The dances are a way for everyone in the community to come together to celebrate their ancestors.
In this instance, Kikiai Collaborative said that including these ceremonies allowed generations of Japanese Canadians — in this case, four generations who are different from one another yet connected by their shared culture and history — to honour those incarcerated at internment camps.
The morning portion, which lasted until 12 p.m., was free to the public. Meanwhile the afternoon portion was reserved for paid registrants with priority to the Japanese Canadian community. This included a catered lunch, performances by yonsei —- fourth generation Japanese Canadian —- poets Erica Isomura, Laura Fukumoto and Leanne Toshiko Simpson, and a theatrical reading of The Tashme Project: The Living Archives by Matt Miwa and Julie Tamiko Manning.
Saturday's programming was part of ensoku 2024, the area’s largest intergenerational gathering and first Obon ceremony since the closure of the Tashme internment camp on Aug. 12, 1946.
General programming was also available to the public on Sunday, with drop-in activities and historical resources at the Sunshine Valley RV Resort & Cabins. The Tashme museum was also open throughout the day. Sunday concluded with a double feature at New Hope Cinema of a screening of the film Henry’s Glasses and another reading of The Tashme Project: The Living Archives.
Founded in 2014, the Kikiai Collaborative is a group from the Lower Mainland that connects younger generations through “the history, politics, arts and culture of the Japanese Canadian community.” Their first big gathering or ensoku was in 2019 which brought more than 40 young-ish people of Japanese descent together in Vancouver with participants from throughout Canada and the United States. In 2023, the group was able to organize their second ensoku which also took place in Sunshine Valley at the former Tashme internment site. The success of that visit resulted in the group working with the Sunshine Valley Tashme Museum on this larger community gathering.
