This is a performance festival featuring Japanese Canadian music, dance, and interactive activities for families. Taiko drum troupes with diverse musical styles are the main attraction. The Vancouver Miyake Taiko troupe will feature taiko participation. Then the Vancouver Okinawa Taiko troupe will showcase the drumming stylings characteristic of this tropical archipelago. Finally, the Nori Nori and Komori duo will perform contemporary pieces while the Otowa Ryu Dance Group acquaint us with traditional and folk dance.
You won't want to miss the demonstration by the Vancouver Sumo Sundays Club, with their version of this traditional wrestling form. And you get to participate in the Tanko Bushi or coal mining dance with instruction by Sensei Akemi Komori.
At 1:00 pm, there will be an off-site tour of significant Nikkei figures at the nearby Maple Ridge Cemetery. And Linda Kawamoto Reid and the Maple Ridge Museum have created a brochure for self-guided tours of significant Nikkei sites around the City.
For children, the kid's tent will offer an origami paper folding table and a seed bomb making table. Meanwhile, their parents can dress in yukata or kimono for the photo booth.
On the surface, this festival is meant to showcase contemporary Canadian Japanese talent performing traditional and fusion arts. The deeper meaning of the event is to serve as the first official welcome home for the Nikkei (people of Japanese ancestry) that were forcibly removed from Maple Ridge in 1942 during WWII and were not allowed back for about two decades. While many from this era have passed on with time, their offspring across Canada have known that their roots lie in Maple Ridge. And this festival is one of many measures to restore a missing narrative from Maple Ridge history and to recognize the legacy of Nikkei from the area, who farmed on approximately 230 farms and comprised about 30% of the local population. We hope that these people will feel the warm welcome back home to their roots with this festival .
The CEED Centre's project titled "Remembering the Lost Legacy of the Japanese Canadian Farming Community in Maple Ridge" will further assist in restoring the narrative of this once thriving community once it opens in May 2025.
Festival Schedule 11:00 am-3:00 pm
11:00am | Katzie First Nation Welcome and Opening Taiko Call
11:30am-12:00pm | Vancouver Miyake Taiko (taiko participation included)
12:00pm-2:00pm | Kids Tent Activities
12:00pm-2:00pm | Kimono/Yukata dressing tent
12:15pm | Vancouver Okinawa Taiko
1:00pm-2:00pm | Historical Tour of Significant Nikkei Figures at Maple Ridge Cemetery
1:00pm | Vancouver Sumo Sundays Club Demonstration
1:45pm-2:15pm | Nori Nori and Komori, Otowa Ryu Dance Group
2:15pm-2:30pm | Public Community Japanese Dance Instruction of Tanko Bushi (Coal Mining Dance) by Sensei Akemi Komori
2:30pm - 3:00pm | Maple Ridge Bon Odori