Editor's note: Corrections have been made, as of Aug. 9, for the article to be more accurate to the event.
To honour Japanese Canadians incarcerated at internment camps, the public is invited to a free and special Obon and Bon Odori ceremony taking place mid-August at Sunshine Valley.
Organized by the Kikiai Collaborative, who have been working closely with the Sunshine Valley Tashme Museum, Kikiai is hosting Ensoku 2024 at the Tashme site — “an intergenerational gathering in Sunshine Valley aimed at bringing 200 Japanese Canadians to the former Tashme internment site.”
Taking place from Aug. 17 to Aug. 18., the inaugural event will be the area’s largest intergenerational gathering and first Obon ceremony since the closure of the Tashme internment camp on Aug. 12, 1946.
According to Kikiai website, the area has “remained largely inaccessible to visitors due to private land ownership. Like many internment sites in BC, Tashme was also unmarked until 2018 and difficult to access due to its isolation.” While access has become available through the creation of the Tashme museum in 2016, “many remnants of Tashme remain under private ownership, limiting landmarks to property owned by the museum.”
For this reason, Kikiai said that the group is excited to provide this opportunity for their community. And they are excited about having the public join them for the ceremonies.
According to their site, an Obon is a traditional Buddhist ceremony that “allows people to pay respects to their ancestors and loved ones who have died.” Usually celebrated mid-August, it is believed that the Obon ceremony allows spirits to briefly return to their families.
Meanwhile, a Bon Odori ceremony is a Japanese folk dance that welcomes spirits.
In this instance, Kikiai said that including these ceremonies will help to honour those incarcerated at Tashme and allow generations of Japanese Canadians to connect to their history and communities.
The two-day event starts with formal programming on Saturday, with the activities in the morning, from 10 a.m. to noon, being free to the public. This includes Taiko performances (including a special performance from Tashme survivor Aki Watanabe, who also happens to be one of the oldest Taiko drummers in Canada), the Obon ceremony (led by Reverend Grant Ikuta of the Steveston Buddhist Temple and Reverend Naoki Hirano of the Kelowna Buddhist Temple), and Bon Odori dancing (again led by the temples).
In the afternoon, a closed portion of the event will take place from 12 p.m. until 5 p.m. This portion requires ticketed/paid registration.
From noon to 5 p.m., the schedule/programming will be restricted to paid registrants. This includes a catered lunch by Salishan Catering, poetry performances by Eric Isomura, Laura Fukumoto and Leanne Toshiko Simpson, and a reading of the Tashme project by Matt Miwa and Julie Tamiko Manning.
A more general opening will be available to the public on Sunday.
Sunday’s events start with drop-in activities at the great room in the Sunshine Valley RV Resort & Cabins from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. A double feature will also take place at 6 p.m., at New Hope Cinema.The feature will include a screening of the film Henry’s Glasses and another reading of the Tashme Project.
Tickets for the double feature are $10 and can be bought at newhopecinema.com/show/henrys-glasses-and-the-tashme-project-double-feature .
On both Saturday and Sunday, the museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with entry being by donation.
Registration for Saturday's afternoon events, Kikiai said, will be prioritized for Japanese Canadian families and members of the Japanese Canadian community. Tickets are available from $60 to $85 per person on a sliding scale.
Bus transportation is also available, for paid registrants, from Vancouver (near Burrard SkyTrain Station) with a round trip ticket available from $20 to $45 per person on a sliding scale.
Registration is not needed for the Aug. 18 events, which are all free.
All registration fees will go towards the cost of the programming and rentals.
To learn more about the inaugural event, and how to register, readers can visit www.kikiai.ca/ensoku/.
Founded in 2014, the Kikiai Collaborative is a group in the Greater Vancouver area 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 Japanese descent people together, mostly under the age of 40, from throughout Canada and the United States. In 2023, the group was able to organize their second ensoku which took place at Tashme. The success of this visit resulted in the group working on their upcoming, larger, community gathering.
