Carolyn Nakagawa

Carolyn Nakagawa is a playwright and poet living on unceded Indigenous territory known as Vancouver, Canada, where she was born and grew up. She is currently working for the Nikkei National Museum, and writing a full-length play about The New Canadian newspaper and its legacy for present-day Japanese Canadians.

Updated February 2019

culture en

Canada's Nikkei National Museum launches core exhibit with stories of being Nikkei

By Carolyn Nakagawa
17 Jan 2020

What is nikkei? We at the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre in Burnaby, BC, Canada have been asked this question many times since we opened in 2000. Our 1000-square-foot gallery space has hosted a number of informative and fascinating exhibits since then, from pieces of Japanese Canadian history such as our Levelling the Playing Field exhibit on the Vancouver Asahi baseball team (2005-2006); to contemporary art exhibits of Japanese Canadian artists like Yo-in: Reverberations (2012); to Japanese cultural exhibits like Kimono Culture (2017). But we’ve lacked the display sp…

culture en

The New Canadian's poetic spirit

By Carolyn Nakagawa
14 Mar 2019

In 1943, British Columbia MLA Mrs. F.J. Rolston called Japanese Canadians “unimaginative, unromantic and steeped in a cult of deceit” in an address to the Port Arthur Women’s Canadian Club in Ontario. Commenting on this in The New Canadian, columnist K.W. lamented: “We’ve been so many things before, it doesn’t faze us a bit. But “unromantic, unimaginative”! Mrs. Rolston, you cut us to the quick!”1. Already treated as enemy aliens, banished from their homes, and effectively condemned as saboteurs by their own government when the reason for…

culture en

Picture of a Bride

By Carolyn Nakagawa
30 Nov 2016

If there’s one thing we have a lot of here at the Nikkei National Museum (NNM), it’s photographs—we are always sifting through our database, scanning more images, and taking in new donations and loans from different families. That isn’t to say we don’t also have a lot of fascinating artefacts—from old dresses and uniforms to musical instruments, tools, and even swords—as well as artwork, books, and documents, though for me, the photographs feel like the heart of the collection. They’re usually the thing that ends up telling me the most when I&rs…

food en

Nikkei Chronicles #5—Nikkei-go: The Language of Family, Community, and Culture

Cindy Mochizuki's PAPER: a meal within a story; a story within a meal.

By Carolyn Nakagawa
15 Jun 2016

It’s a misty Sunday afternoon, and I am walking down to the ferry dock at the Yaletown Marina. I barely make the recommended 3:15 p.m. arrival time, and a small group of about twelve people is already waiting. Among the group I’m happy to see Momoko and Maki, who both used to work with me until recently at the museum, local writer Lydia Kwa, and of course Cindy Mochizuki, the artist who has brought us all out here. Cindy’s assistant hands out oversized headphones and gives us instructions on how to handle them. Don’t touch the buttons, he warns, as the headphones ar…

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Discover Nikkei

Japanese migrants and their descendants

Carolyn Nakagawa

Nikkei Chronicles #5—Nikkei-go: The Language of Family, Community, and Culture

Series this author contributes to

Nikkei Chronicles #11—Itadakimasu 3! Nikkei Food, Family, and Community

Intercultural Communication Through Sushi

Roger Arakaki, Chef and Teacher

Nikkei Chronicles #11—Itadakimasu 3! Nikkei Food, Family, and Community

Food for Thought—TikTok & Tamagoyaki

The Nisei Women Who Fought—And Won—An Early Redress Battle In Seattle

子どもをサーファーにするため渡米 ― 五十嵐ツトムさんとミサさん

Nikkei Chronicles #12—Growing Up Nikkei: Connecting with Our Heritage

Journal Entry #Lesson 3450: "Sharpen Your Pencils!"

Narumi Ogusuku Ubiquitous Nikkei Artist

Herald Salutes – Staff Sergeant Higuchi

The Morgenthau Diaries and FDR's Troubling Views of Minorities

書評：和泉真澄『日系カナダ人の移動と運動―知られざる日本人の越境生活史』

1992年渡米、目標は「アカデミー賞」— 俳優の井上英治さん

Kizuna 2020: Nikkei Kindness and Solidarity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Tiempos pandémicos: teletrabajo y koden digital

Kizuna 2020: Nikkei Kindness and Solidarity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 e os heróis anônimos

香川県海外移民の父：今雪真一の情熱と功績

第３部：金子正則知事の南米訪問とその主な見解

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Journal Entry #Lesson 3450: "Sharpen Your Pencils!"

Narumi Ogusuku Ubiquitous Nikkei Artist

Herald Salutes – Staff Sergeant Higuchi

The Morgenthau Diaries and FDR's Troubling Views of Minorities

Mercedes Luna: Thriving Within Her Rich Heritage - Part 2

Mercedes Luna: Thriving Within Her Rich Heritage - Part 1

Remembering Roger Daniels

Journal Entry #6am – 8am: "Childhood Delusions..."

Digging up Ways to Honor Her Ancestors—Kyoko Oda and Ireichō

Aloha 'Oe, Dr. Franklin Odo: Remembering a Brilliant Scholar and a Special Mentor and Friend - Part 2

Aloha 'Oe, Dr. Franklin Odo: Remembering a Brilliant Scholar and a Special Mentor and Friend - Part 1

Journal Entry #78.79 Years: "This Mortal Coil..."

Cuando llegue el momento

Journal Entry #At Least 195 Degrees...: "Unusual Tastes..."

Parental Responsibilities

Chapter 11 (Part 2) Picture-Bride Marriages on the Rise

Miye Sugino—Art as Advocacy: “To me, art is a reclamation of identity”

Veteran History – Earl Terao: Kotonk in Paradise

Poetry - Cow 1 Is Not Cow 2

Virgil William Westdale Takes One Last Flight at 104

Journal Entry #5 Great Powers: "I'm Telling You Why..."

No Christmas Like an Inouye Family Christmas

Reflections on a Pilgrimage: The Dust of Poston

Grammy-Nominated Musician Masa Takumi and His Move to the U.S. in 2018

ByFood.com: A Cornucopia of Information for Planning Food Adventures and More in Japan — Part 1

Academy Award Nominated Writer Iris Yamashita Uses Her Lifelong Love of Writing to Forge Her Next Chapter

Dr. T.T. Yatabe, the American Loyalty League, and the Birth of the JACL

Chapter 11 (Part 1) Picture-Bride Marriages on the Rise

How Do Nikkei Living in Japan Spend Their New Year?

Bay Area Man Recalls Career Exploring World for Energy in Exotic Places

Journal Entry #70 MM, B.C.: "Santa Claus is coming to town!"

In Tribute to Roger Daniels: The Father of Us All

Remembering Roger Daniels—A Reflection

William Saroyan and the search for "The Japanese American Novel"

Joe Oishi’s Nursery and The Promised Year

Stone Songs

Reflections on a Concocted Conversation

40 Years of Toronto Taiko with Kiyoshi Nagata — Part 2

'A Heuristic Model' for Historians to Emulate with Other Camps

Nikkei in Motown: Masao Hirata, Diego Rivera and Japanese in Detroit

Journal Entry #2023: "I Resolve to Win the Lotto..."

Japanese Canadian Culture Through a Japanese Lens

A Lifetime Christmas Gift

Two Books That Shine New Light on the Nisei Experience in Japan

Expansion

Recollections from Jerome and Rohwer

ByFood.com: A Cornucopia of Information for Planning Food Adventures and More in Japan — Part 2

Candies Falling from the Sky

40 Years of Toronto Taiko with Kiyoshi Nagata — Part 1