NAJC Hosts Free Films in November
On November 16 and 30, NAJC is hosting free online film screenings, part of the Canadian Labour International Film Festival (CLiFF). For 14 years, CLiFF has presented films about workers from around the world. Our annual participation I this film festival continues this year. We will be showing six films (see film list below) at each screening. The film Opera Trans*Formed is about Nikkei-Canadian settler Teiya Kasahara (they/them).
Register for the November 16, 2022 screening and get your free tickets for the 2 hour screening starting at 7:00 PT | 8:00 MT | 9:00 CT | 10:00 ET: https://watch.eventive.org/cliff2022/play/635e9e2f5cd9e0005ccc4aac
Register for the November 30, 2022 screening and get your free tickets for the 2 hour screening starting at 5:00 PT | 6:00 MT | 7:00 CT | 8:00 ET: https://watch.eventive.org/cliff2022/play/635e9eea3dfcfc006f9987ad
Once it is available you’ll have 2 hours to start watching and then 48 hours to finish watching.
Film List (for both nights)
If There Is No Struggle | 13:38 min. US
A young woman discovers the working class history of her neighbourhood through the lens of a 1965 Canon Scoopic 16mm camera and historical figures via Boston’s public art.
Opera Trans*Formed: Teiya Kasahara | 6:43 min. Canada
“If I wasn’t an opera singer, would I be a trans man?” asks Teiya Kasahara, a gender non-binary singer, partway through the film. It’s a dilemma facing gender non-binary and trans singers working in a field whose roles are rigidly defined along gender lines: sopranos and mezzos are cast as women (so-called “trouser roles” aside); tenors and basses as men.
Sugar on the Weaver’s Chair | 60 min. Indonesia (subtitled)
This film tells the story of three Indonesian women redefining their destinies.
SUTRINGAH, is the wife of a palm sugar tapper and faces economic hardship when her husband is paralyzed due to a workplace accident. Sutringah reevaluates her role as a woman, a wife and a breadwinner.
YATI, a woman with a disability, worked all her life for her family’s business. Her idealism conflicts with her father’s traditional views of the business. She tries forging her own path by taking a job at a garment factory where new limits are imposed on her.
MARIA, is a member of a group of widows who work as traditional weavers. When they become competitive with male dominated retailers, they are forced to redefine their work by passing along the weaving tradition to their local youth.
The Hands Of An Elder | 4:50 min. Canada
Dinah Sam is an artist from the Cree community of Chisasibi in the James Bay region of Quebec. She is passionate about her Cree traditions and her art. This is her first film and is about the importance of Cree culture in an ever-changing world. The film focuses on Cree elders making snowshoes and describing their work.
The Umbrella 14:00 min. Spain (subtitled)
This fictional film follows Alberto as he navigates a world not set-up to accommodate him. He undertakes his day-to-day with much effort, and is often met with discomfort, annoyance, and sometimes hostility. This film portrays a fictionalization of living and working with a functional disability. It’s charming and effective in communicating daily struggles of workers who face barriers to full workplace participation. It’s also a reminder that anyone could have an “umbrella.”
What Will I Show You? | 9:32 min. Canada
In the tradition of direct cinema, What Will I Show You is an intimate documentary in which a grandfather and his grandson discuss the past and future of Innu culture. An important, first-person film telling the stories of Innu and their culture, their work, and the immediate impacts of environmental degradation on their lands.
The New Canadian Newspaper Moves to Kaslo
by Lorene Oikawa, Past President NAJC
On November 30, 1942, the first issue of Kaslo edition of The New Canadian newspaper is published. The New Canadian staff was moved to Kaslo in the previous month. The newspaper becomes the primary source of information for the internment/incarceration camps. The government also used the newspaper to disseminate information.
In Ken Adachi’s book, The Enemy That Never Was, Adachi describes the Japanese Canadian community leading up to the formation of The New Canadian newspaper. At the time, Nisei (second generation) Japanese Canadians were protesting against their second-class citizenship. In 1936, they formed the Japanese Canadian Citizens League (JCCL) and their first action was to organize a delegation to travel to Ottawa to appear before the Special Committee on Elections and Franchise Acts in Ottawa to lobby for the right to vote.
BC MPs A.W. Neill and Thomas Reid attacked the credibility of the delegation and scoffed at their well-spoken presentation. The delegation comprised a teacher, Hide Hyodo, an insurance agent, Minoru Kobayashi, a dentist, Edward Banno, and a university lecturer, S.I. Hayakawa.
Hayakawa talked about all the Japanese Canadians who supported the delegation. “We can only point out that like yourselves, we are perhaps a little better endowed with the gift of the gab than those whom we represent, and we are therefore as representative of the Canadian citizens who have sent us, as you are of the less articulate Canadian citizens who have sent you to Ottawa.” Neill, perhaps not wanting to be bested by the articulate Japanese Canadian, said, “…They may represent a few people, but they do not represent the bulk of the people for whom they are seeking votes: They do not represent the condition of Orientals.”
The public did not know much beyond stereotypes and what was published in mainstream publications. Japanese-language newspapers existed, but there wasn’t a medium for Nisei to express their views to the larger public.
The first attempt at an English language newspaper was by Hozumi Yonemura who started The New Age, a six-page monthly, but it only lasted a year. Next was Peter Masuda who edited, The Japanese Canadian which had an even shorter run.
The New Canadian was established in November 1938. The founders included leaders of the drive to organize the Nisei. The Third National Japanese Canadian Citizens League Conference with its keynote theme of the need for Japanese Canadians to move across Canada was reported in its first issue and caught the attention of the mainstream papers in Vancouver and nationally. At first, The New Canadian was only published when funds were available, but soon it would be a weekly.
The first editor was Peter Higashi. Tom Shoyama took over in 1939.
After its forced move to Kaslo, The New Canadian newspaper continued with censorship. Editor Tom Shoyama commented “It is not always possible to present facts, nor can views and opinions be as freely expressed as in pre-war days…” The government resisted some calls to have the newspaper shut down and Tom Shoyama to be incarcerated. It appears the government thought censorship was effective and the newspaper was a valuable resource for getting out announcements.
In order to reach the Japanese-speaking Issei, a Japanese editor Takaichi Umezuki was recruited, and The New Canadian started a Japanese language section. In 1945 the newspaper moved to Winnipeg and then a final move to Toronto took place in 1949. The newspaper shut down in 2001.
