Nikka Yuko project wins international award

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on March 7, 2025.

Herald file photo by Al Beeber Researcher Carly Adams shows one of the elements of the Nikkei Memory Capture Project at the Bunka Centre during last fall's Golden Maple Reception at the Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden will be in the international spotlight March 29 in Montreal when an award is presented for the Nikkei Memory Capture Project.

The project was a collaboration between the garden and a team including University of Lethbridge researcher Carly Adams and University of Plymouth professor Darren Aoki.

They, along with Michelle Day Miles of Nikka Yuko, have been recognized by the National Council on Public History with the Outstanding Public History Project Award.

The award is for a project at the Bunka Centre that details the journeys of Japanese Canadians in southern Alberta. It includes a time map feature wall, an audio journey and a unique booth where visitors can listen to stories.

An interactive installation was added last October in the Dr. Robert Hironaka room in the Bunka Centre called the Mel Murakami Exhibt which explores the racism and anti-Japanese sentiment that were formative in the lives of people and their communities.

Adams says the project was initiated by Aoki in 2011. Born and raised here, Aoki was talking to some members of the local Japanese-Canadian community who were invested in telling their stories and he realized “that this is an area that had been completely missed from a lot of the research studies that had been done on Japanese Canadians around the Second World War and following the Second World War,” said Adams.

Aoki started doing pilot interviews in 2011, and in 2016 he was looking to develop a more serious project and wanted to collaborate with an expert here who was an expert in oral history. That expert turned out to be Adams, at the Centre for Oral History and Tradition at the U of L, where Adams now serves as director.

An application was put in for a national social science and humanities research council grant and at that point, Adams and Aoki reached out to the garden and a partnership was created to have a venue to tell some of those stories, she said.

The timing was excellent, Adams recalled, because the garden was just starting to conceive and design the Bunka Centre.

“They were interested in positioning themselves as more as custodians of history, to have these stories shared within the Bunka Centre,” said Adams.

In 2019, discussions started about collaborations on exhibits in the space and since 2022 exhibits have been up and running and new ones have been developed.

Adams says younger generations of Japanese Canadians are taking more of an interest in their heritage and one focus of the project is what happened after the war.

“We’re really interested in the community and the ways the community was revitalized afterward,” added Adams.

“What happened post-war? Of course, the trauma from the war is always there but we want to know how the community came together to develop and revitalize after the war. So that’s really been the emphasis within the exhibits at Nikka Yuko and a lot of the research we’ve been doing.”

The award citation states “through oral histories and deep engagement with community, this unique and meaningful collaboration between the Bunka Centre at the Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden and the Nikkei Memory Capture Project returned the rich stories of southern Alberta’s Japanese-Canadians to the community and made them publicly accessible in an evocative and transformative storytelling approach.

“This project with its marriage of place, memory and story is an exemplary model of what is possible when organizations engage with communities and individuals to tell stories that enrich our understanding of the historical, social and cultural contributions of its people. The collaboration reflects the community that nurtures the garden and southern Alberta.”

In his own statement, Aoki said “to have acknowledged in this way all those hours and days over years of effort that have gone into discovering and amplifying the histories of our Japanese Canadian community, and in the process, being part of an amazing team with Michelle to make it happen – this is so exciting and very special indeed.

“More importantly, it is the generosity of all those individuals who shared their stories with us, many of whom are now sadly no longer with us, this award is really a recognition of their histories which so profoundly shape our community: we’re just the translators of this experience, and it is humbling and wonderful being able to celebrate their contributions in this way.”

According to Eric Granson, Nikka Yuko’s marketing and events manager, “this collaboration serves as a tangible testament to the enduring legacy of Japanese Canadians in southern Alberta, providing a space where visitors can engage with and contribute to the rich tapestry of local history.

“By housing the Nikkei Memory Capture Booth within the Bunka Centre, the garden not only preserves the stories of the Japanese community but also fosters a deeper understanding and appreciation among visitors. This initiative enriches the cultural landscape of Lethbridge and reinforces the garden’s role as a central hub for cultural exchange and education.”