Welcome to Historic Joy Kogawa House

Joy Kogawa is one of 100 greatest British Columbians, accordion to the book authored by CBC Radio's BC Almanac host Mark Forsythe.  Kogawa is listed among the top 10 literary figures including the inaugural Canadian poet Laureate George Bowering, poet Dorothy Livesay and Wayson Chow.

The list was compiled with the assistance of BC Bookworld's Alan Twigg. 

Joy Kogawa's 1981 novel Obasan is  one of "100 most important Canadian books ever written" according to a Literary Review of Canada November 17th press release.

Books are listed in order of publicatiion, beginning in 1545 with"Account of the Second Voyage of Navigation 1535 and 1536" by Jaques Cartier.  Jane Jacob's "A Dark Age Ahead is the newest entry from 2004"

 Obasan is one of eleven books published in the 1980's and the first one by an Asian-Canadian author.  Rohinton Mistry's "A Fine Balance" (1995) and Wayson Choy's "Jade Peony" (1995), are the only other novels listed by Asian-Canadian or South Asian-Canadian authors.

 

Fundraising Drive Launched for Joy Kogawa House

Organizers of the drive to preserve the childhood home of novelist and poet Joy Kogawa were jubilant after Vancouver City Council voted unanimously on November 3 to grant a 120-day demolition delay order to preserve the home and to recognize its historical and cultural heritage. The four month period will allow the Save Kogawa House Committee to raise funds to purchase the property and convert it into a major centre for Canadian and international writers.  

For Kogawa, the West 64th Avenue property became a symbol of lost hope and happiness after Joy, then six years old, and her family were removed from their home and interned in the Slocan Valley in 1942 as part of the forced evacuations and internment of 21,000 Japanese-Canadians during World War II. Joy's family was never compensated for the confiscation of their property. Their house and personal belongings, like those of other internees, were auctioned off at rock bottom prices by the government's “Custodian of Enemy Alien Property” and the proceeds used to pay for the government's expenses in running the internment camps.

The loss of the house and the dispersal of the Japanese Canadian community until their civil rights were restored in 1949 inspired Kogawa’s best-known novel, Obasan, winner of the Canadian Authors’ Association Book of the Year Award in 1981. Its adaptation for children, Naomi’s Road, premiered as a Vancouver Opera production on September 30th and visits more than 140 schools and community centres from Vancouver Island to the Kootenays until May 2006. Roy Miki, 2003 Governor General's Award Winner for Poetry, has called Obasan the most important literary work of the past 30 years for understanding Canadian history.  In 2005 Obasan was selected by the Vancouver Public Library for its One Book One Vancouver program, encouraging all Vancouverites to read this single book.

In her letter on behalf of the League of Canadian Poets, Mary Ellen Csamer wrote Mayor Larry Campbell and the Vancouver City Councillors that “The League of Canadian Poets, representing over 730 professional poets across Canada, supports the effort to save Joy Kogawa's childhood home on 1450 West 64th  Avenue in Vancouver from demolition, and would like to encourage its conversion into a major writers centre for Canadian and international writers. Just as Emily Carr’s home in Victoria and Pierre Berton’s in the Yukon provide a unique sense of the physical space that helped to define those artists, so this building forms an important part of our collective cultural imagination. To create a writers’ centre would be an appropriate and timely action, which would draw national and international writers to the West Coast for cultural stimulation and peaceful retreat.”

In addition to the League, the other writers’ organizations supporting converting Kogawa House into a writers-in-residence centre include the Writers Union of Canada, the Federation of BC Writers, the Playwrights Guild of Canada, the Canadian Authors Association, the Periodical Writers Association of Canada, PEN Canada, the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival, the Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, and the Asian Canadian Writers Workshop. The project has also been endorsed by the Vancouver Public Library Board, Vancouver Opera, the Alliance for Arts and Culture, Heritage Vancouver, the Land Conservancy, the National Nikkei Museum and Heritage Centre, and the National Association of Japanese Canadians.

The Save Kogawa House Committee is looking for one thousand individuals to donate $100 each for the Joy Kogawa Writers-in Residence Centre but would of course greatly welcome donations of all sizes. The Committee is also targeting corporations, foundations and the federal government for support.

Donations can be made through the Vancouver Heritage Foundation which has established a Kogawa house rescue fund and will issue charitable receipts. All donations to the rescue fund receive a tax receipt for the full amount of the donation. Cheques should be made out to “Vancouver Heritage Foundation” and mailed to the Vancouver Heritage Foundation, 844 West Hastings St., Vancouver, B.C. V6C 1C8. Donors are asked to indicate on the cheque memo line: “Save Kogawa House.” Donations can also be made on-line on the Vancouver Heritage Foundation’s website

Speaking at the Vancouver International Writers Festival on October 13, Margaret Atwood declared, “The destruction of the Kogawa home would be a great loss of cultural heritage for Vancouver, for British Columbia, and for Canada. Although Canada scored high on the recent all-nations report card, it scored low on culture, history and heritage. Why destroy more of this precious asset?”

Hi everybody The concert event went well today. About 100 people in the Alice Mackay Room, at the Vancouver Public Library + CTV coverage. Pretty good for very short notice. The event started with Harry Aoki and Alison Nishihara playing Pachabel's Canon on harmonica and piano. Then I welcomed everybody and explained what the SAVE KOGAWA HOUSE committee was all about. I also told people that we were very grateful for the Vancouver Opera Touring Ensemble gifting us with a performance. I had seen excerpts at a Roy Miki lecture, the Vancouver Arts Awards, and still I had tears in my eyes when I saw performances on opening weekend and just last week at the library. Harry Aoki next talked about some of his experiences during the war years, and afterwards at the sugar beet farms in Alberta. He next played some pieces on his double bass that he wrote during that time. A surprise dance performance by Toronto choreographer/dancer Andrea Nann brought a spellbinding tone to the music. Harry closed with a final piece on his harmonica that he played while traveling in Romania and they asked for "Canadian music" - a bit of a hoe-down. Next up was artist Raymond Chow. We introduced the acrylic painting that he has done for limited edition reproduction to help raise funds for SAVE KOGAWA HOUSE (see www.kogawahouse.com). This was the first day Joy had seen the painting. Raymond spoke about how he was inspired by "Naomi's Road" and the pictures to paint the old house with a 6 year old Joy standing in front. I told how when Ann-Marie and I went to see Raymond and the painting on Thursday that he had played us a short rendition of a song based on the story. He then played "House of Joy" for the audience. Introducing the Vancouver Opera Touring Ensemble, I told the audience that they had just returned from Vancouver Island playing an amazling show in Uculet, and also in Campbell River and other places + a standing ovation on Denman Island. The room filled with song from the voices of Jessica Cheung, Gina Oh, Sam Chung and Sung Chung. The audience sat rapt in attention, as the story unfolded. The singers coming up to their 30th performance, as fresh and as exhuberant as each time I have seen them. I am getting familiar with the songs and story, and still - I am amazed at the staging, the acting and the performance. Everybody does such as good job. The applause was healthy and the cast was called back for more bows. I then told the audience that it was easy to see why if Obasan was the book every Vancouverite should read, then Naomi's Road was the book every Vancouverite should see. The audience responded very positively when I asked them "Do you think every Canadian should see Naomi's Road?" Again, I invited people to tell all their friends about Naomi's Road, and about Kogawa House, and that we were accepting donations at the back. I invited the cast back as well as our earlier performers so that Ann-Marie could give each person a gift. I named them each - Gina, Jessica, Sam, Sung, David, Angus, Harry, Andrea, Raymond and Alison. Next, I invited Joy to say a few words. There were tears in her eyes, as she said "There are no words to describe how happy I am.... To the Vancouver Opera Touring Ensemble, Joy said "Everytime I see you perform, I am amazed. It is so wonderful." She looked at Jessica, and said "You're e-mail mentioned how the opera is healing for some people. You're absolutely right.... Everything that is happening. It is all so wonderful." People lined up to buy books at the back and have them autographed. People lined up to talk with the performers. One person came up and talked with Ann-Marie and myself about having Naomi's Road staged at a Heritage Site and splitting 50/50 with the Save Kogawa House campaign. It was a good day.

Here's the program for our special
Save Kogawa House
Celebration and Awareness Concert

November 12, 2005
Alice Mackay Room
Vancouver Public Library
350 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, BC

Presented by
Save Kogawa House Committee

The Save Kogawa House Committee welcomes you to this celebration of our 120-day moratorium on demolition of the childhood home of author Joy Kogawa.

This 1915 home at 1450 West 64th Avenue stands as reminder of the 1942 removal from their homes of men, women and children of Japanese descent. Joy’s memories of her happy life in this modest home in Marpole stayed with her throughout internment in Slocan and inspired parts of her 1981 novel Obasan and the children’s story Naomi’s Road, on which this opera is based.

The opera Naomi’s Road, which premiered on September 30 as Vancouver Opera’s second-ever commissioned original work, is now touring 140 schools and community centres throughout British Columbia.

On November 1, a graft of the cherry tree from Joy’s childhood home was planted at City Hall and Mayor Larry Campbell proclaimed the day Obasan Cherry Tree Day. On November 3, Vancouver City Council voted unanimously to pass an unprecedented order to delay demolition of Joy’s childhood home. This 120-day period allows us time to raise funds so that the house can be purchased and converted into a writers’ centre.

Charitable donations can be made online through the Vancouver Heritage Foundation website at http://www.vancouverheritagefoundation.org/Kogawa.html.

For more information,
visit www.kogawahouse.com and www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com or
contact
Todd Wong at gunghaggis@yahoo.ca or 604-240-7090 and Ann-Marie Metten at ametten@telus.net or 604-263-6586.

SAVE KOGAWA HOUSE
Celebration and Awareness Concert
 November 12, 2005
2:00pm         Introductions
2:05pm         Harry Aoki & Friends
2:25pm         Raymond Chow  Special Presentation
2:40pm         Naomi’s Road - Vancouver Opera Touring Ensemble
3:25pm         Questions and Answers
3:40pm         Closing Remarks and Thank You

Vancouver Opera Touring Ensemble

Cast and Crew
Naomi …………………………………………........................ Jessica Cheung
Mother, Obasan, Mitzi ………………………….......….….. Gina Oh
Stephen ……………………………………...........................Sam Chung
Father, Trainmaster, Rough Lock Bill, Bully …….. Sung Chung

Pianist: Angus Kellett
Stage manager: David Fuller

Music by Ramona Leungen
Libretto by Ann Hodges
Music director: Leslie Uyeda

Commissioned by Vancouver Opera, James W. Wright, general director
Running time is approximately 45 minutes.

Raymond Chow
Internationally recognized as an artist, Raymond Chow’s drawings of Vancouver, Victoria, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles form a unique history of the heritage of the Pacific coast. Raymond is also a pianist and composer who has produced music for ballet, CD and video.

Harry Aoki
Harry’s personal story mirrors that of the role of 10-year-old Steven in the Naomi’s Road opera. Harry had to leave behind his beloved violin, when he was removed from the West Coast in 1942 because he is Japanese Canadian. Today Harry hosts First Friday Forum, a monthly evening of music and discussion at the Nikkei Centre in Burnaby.

Special Thanks
to Vancouver Opera, Vancouver Public Library, Mayor Larry Campbell, Councillors Jim Green, Raymond Louie and Ellen Woodsworth, Vancouver City Council, Parks Commisioners Suzanne Anton and Heather Deal, Gerry McGeough, Diane Switzer, Vancouver Heritage Foundation, Heather Redfern, Marion Quednau, Jackie Byrn, James Wright, Paul Whitney, Ellen Crowe-Swords, Scott McIntyre, James Johnstone, Yosef Wosk, Alma Lee, Hitomi Nunotani, Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop, Don Montgomery, Ricepaper Magazine, ExplorASIAN, Ross Bliss and the many writer associations across the country.

All proceeds go to the Save Kogawa House campaign.


House of Joy

Raymond Chow original canvas of Joy Kogawa as a child in front of the house at 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver in 1942

This painting is created in acrylic on a 14-inch-by-29-inch canvas. Reproductions of the original are available in digital and giclée prints on demand.

Digital prints on paper
2-inches-by-5-inches    Edition: 5,000    Price: $35 each
4-inches-by-10-inches    Edition: 3,000    Price: $75 each

Giclée prints on canvas
7-inches-by-15-inches    Edition: 400    Price: $250 each
12-inches-by-25-inches    Edition: 325    Price: $375 each
18-inches-by-33-inches    Edition: 200    Price: $500 each

7% provincial and GST taxes apply. Please allow two to three weeks for delivery.

To order, please contact Raymond Chow at 604-274-3587, PST 8:30 to 5:30.
 

SAVE KOGAWA HOUSE
Celebration and Awareness Concert

NAOMI’S ROAD opera performance
By Vancouver Opera Touring Ensemble

Special guest, Musician Harry Aoki and friends

Vancouver Public Library
350 West Georgia Street
Alice Mackay Room
Admission is free, all are welcome.

This past week, a cherry tree graft from Kogawa House was planted at City Hall on November 1st, which was proclaimed Obasan Cherry Tree Day. On Thursday, November 3rd, the Vancouver City Council’s Planning & Environment Committee voted unanimously to pass an unprecedented 120-day demolition delay order for Joy Kogawa's childhood home to allow the raising of funds so that the house can be purchased and converted into a writers' centre.

To celebrate these milestones in the Save Kogawa House campaign, a
performance of the opera Naomi’s Road by the Vancouver Opera Touring Ensemble will be presented free to the public on November 12 at 2:00 pm. It will take place in the Alice MacKay Room of the Vancouver Public Library downtown.

The Marpole home is featured in Joy's award-winning novel Obasan and
the children’s story Naomi's Road, which premiered on September 30 as
Vancouver Opera's second-ever commissioned original work and is now touring to 140 schools and community centers throughout B.C.

Special guest musician is Harry Aoki. His personal story mirrors that of the role of 10 year old Steven in the Naomi’s Road Opera. Harry had to leave behind his beloved violin, when he was forced to leave the West Coast because he was Japanese Canadian.

For further information contact Todd Wong at gunghaggis@yahoo.ca
Phone: 604-240-7090
More information at www.kogawahouse.com and www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com

This event is sponsored by Vancouver Public Library, Vancouver Opera, ExplorASIAN, Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop and Ricepaper Magazine.

The following is the basic text of my presentation to Vancouver City Council's Standing Committee on Planning and Environment, November 3rd, 2005.

Hello Council members and guests

Thank you for receiving our request for a delay of demolition  for 1450 West 64th Ave, known as “Kogawa House.”

Thank you also to council for attending the Joy Kogawa Cherry Tree planting and ceremony that took place here on Tuesday.

Save Kogawa House committee is a local and national advocacy committee in existence for two years since Kogawa House first came on the market.

We also thank the owner and representative, for working together with us to seek a peaceful resolution and a win, win, win situation for all parties involved.  The current owner of the house, the Save Kogawa House committee, and the citizens of Vancouver, and throughout Canada.
 
It is our vision to purchase the house from its current owner and transform it into a writers-in-residence centre, to give writers a taste of Vancouver’s multicultural diversity.  This will give special attention to writers of conscience, who can address human rights issues like those that removed Joy and her family away from their home to internment camps for the Japanese Canadians.

I am 5th Generation Vancouverite, my family has lived in Vancouver for 7 generations.  We suffered the racism of early Vancouver, and paid the Chinese head tax, clustered in Chinatown for protection.   After the Japanese Canadians were interned in camps, we were all afraid that what happened to the Japanese-Canadians, could happen to the Chinese too!  The experience shaped our Asian-Canadian pioneer communities, and we tried to be good Canadians, to integrate, and not cause trouble.

As I grew up in Vancouver, I have always related to the Japanese Canadian experience as a shared Asian Canadian experience, due to racism that lumped all Asians together.  But as my family intermarried into the many other ethnicities of Vancouver, I have come to understand that as Canadians, we are no longer two solitudes of English and French, but inclusive of Scottish, Irish, First Nations, Chinese, South Asian and Japanese culture.  Nor are we solitudes at all, but one family that is intermarried to each diverse immigrant group.

Kogawa House is not a Japanese Canadian issue.  It is a Canadian issue.  Kogawa House is not just a Japane-Canadian Internment Redress issue, it is a literary legacy for all Canadians.  By truly embracing the stories of Joy Kogawa’s works and the story of Kogawa House, we can truly say “never again” to a sorry episode in Canada’s history.

I was on the inaugural committee for the Vancouver Public Library’s One Book One Vancouver program, that introduced Vancouverites to Wayson Choy’s “The Jade Peony”  The program made the book come alive through many programs and events from May to September.

Since January of this year, I have been enthused by the idea that Obasan could be the 2005 choice.  I wrote an article citing 20 reasons why Obasan was the best choice including:
1) Roy Miki stating that Obasan is the most important book written to understanding the Japanese Canadian experience;
2) that Quill and Quire named Obasan one of the most influential Canadian works of fiction;
3) that Joy was born in Vancouver and recieved the Order of Canada in 1986.

Obasan is a book that every Vancouverite should read.  

In September, Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop hosted the Ricepaper Magazine 10th Anniversary Dinner, attended by councillors Roberts, Woodsworth, and Sullivan.  And we celebrated Joy with a Community Builders’ Award.

Joy is an author that every community should be so lucky to have.

I attended the Vancouver Opera world premiere of Naomi’s Road.  It brought tears to my eyes, and I wrote a review.  It is the story of two young children who were separate by their parents.  Their aunt takes them on a vacation, and while on the train, they come to the understanding that it isn't a vacation at all - they are going to an internment camp.  During the next 3 years, they will be branded enemy aliens, and they will never see their home again.

Naomi’s Road is an opera that every Vancouverite should see.

We would like to demonstrate our vision for Kogawa House, as a vision for Vancouver, and for Canada.  We will share with you how we will do this, and how writers and Canadians across Canada feel about this, and we hope to touch your hearts and inspire joy in your lives for this city we love.

I hope that we can say that Vancouver loves this book so much that we bought the house and we saved it.

Thank you.

Oh - one more thing....
Just as I arrived at City Hall today, house genealogist James Johnstone gave me a house history of Kogawa House.  He just decided to do this two days ago.  He found that it is one of the oldest houses in Marpole, and lists all the owners to present.  This is just one of the examples of how much this book and this house have moved people.

Thank you.

Writing associations across Canada support preservation of Kogawa House



OUR VISION FOR KOGAWA HOUSE


The Save Kogawa House Committee believes it can preserve that heritage by purchasing the property from its current owner and converting the home into a writers-in-residence centre. Ten writers associations representing several thousand writers have endorsed our proposal and would select members from their organizations to reside in the house for a period of approximately one month each.

This is their vision of the house as well:

Brian Brett, Chair of the Writers Union of Canada:

“The Writers’ Union of Canada, representing over 1,500 professional writers,  supports the effort to save Joy Kogawa’s childhood home on 1450 West 64th Avenue in Vancouver from demolition, and would like to encourage its conversion into a major writers centre for Canadian and international writers.

Vancouver would greatly benefit by designating the Joy Kogawa House as a literary landmark and establishing it as a writers-in-residence centre in which Canadian writers and writers from abroad could write first hand about our complex and evolving multi- and inter-cultural society and how different values and traditions can peacefully interact.”
 
Brian Busby, President of the Federation of BC Writers:

“The house at 1450 West 64th Avenue which Joy Kogawa and her family were forced to leave during the relocation of Japanese Canadians is the central image of her famous novel Obasan, one of Canada’s best-loved works of fiction. The many groups now coming together to save it (whether at its present address or at another location) is one of the strongest yet most diverse such alliances we have ever seen rally round a cause. The emerging consensus favours employing the house as a new cultural centre that would highlight the contributions of Vancouver artists from all backgrounds—not as a shrine but rather as a working place and as a place for work to be seen. This vision includes having the facility in operation well before the 2010 Olympic Games.”

Amela Simic, Executive Director of the Playwrights Guild of Canada, representing over 500 members:

“Playwrights Guild of Canada members add their support to the Kogawa Homestead Committee in their struggle to preserve the house and turn it into a writers' centre. We think that it would be a grave mistake to allow the demolition of Joy Kogawa's home, which is an important landmark for Canadian culture and Canadian history in general. A vibrant writers' centre would put Vancouver on the map along with other cultural centres, like Mexico City with its beautiful Casa del Escritor or Dublin with its Irish Writers' Centre.”

Rosemary Patterson, President of the Vancouver Branch of the Canadian Authors Association:

“The members of the Canadian Authors Association, Vancouver Branch, would like to add their support to the Joy Kogawa House Committee in their efforts to prevent the demolition of Joy Kogawa’s former family home and save it for a writers’ centre as a permanent Olympics benefit for Vancouver and all of Canada.”

Gordon Graham, President of the Periodical Writers Association of Canada:

“The Periodical Writers Association of Canada was founded in 1976 and currently represents more than 550 freelance writers across Canada.  (PWAC) would like to offer its support to the proposal to develop Joy Kogawa’s home into a writers’ centre.  Writers’ centres and retreats, such as the Pierre Burton House in the Yukon, have proved to be extremely valuable to writers, which directly contributes to the further development of Canadian writing. This in turn reinforces our national cultural resources and hence our ability to promote ourselves internationally at events such as the Olympics.”

Mary Ellen Csamer, President of the League of Canadian Poets:

“The League of Canadian Poets, representing over 730 professional poets across Canada, supports the effort to save Joy Kogawa's childhood home on 1450 West 64th  Avenue in Vancouver from demolition, and would like to encourage its conversion into a major writers centre for Canadian and international writers.

Just as Emily Carr’s home in Victoria and Pierre Berton’s in the Yukon provide a unique sense of the physical space that helped to define those artists, so this building forms an important part of our collective cultural imagination. To create a writers’ centre would be an appropriate and timely action, which would draw national and international writers to the West Coast for cultural stimulation and peaceful retreat.”

Constance Rooke, President of PEN Canada:

“PEN Canada supports with immense enthusiasm the idea of turning Kogawa House into a writers’ centre, and of making this venture a central piece of legacy of the [Olympic] games. Certainly, we would make extensive use of this resource. We would use it, for PEN Canada’s allotted time, to house writers-in-exile, brave men and women who have fled oppression in their own countries and sought refuge in Canada. We work very hard to find short-term positions for these writers in universities and libraries and so on, all across Canada, in order to help them find their feet in a new country, and accommodation is always a big part of the challenge we face. You have an opportunity here to do something of historical importance: a chance to turn threatened destruction into a very public gesture of preservation, reparation, and new life.”

Jim Wong-Chu, Executive Director of the Asian Canadian Writers Workshop:

“Joy Kogawa is a pioneer for Asian Canadian literature, and we recognized her with the 2005 ACWW Community Builders Award. Joy’s works and legacy brings us closer together as Canadians, learning to overcome our challenges and diversity. It is important to save Kogawa House as both a literary and historical landmark. Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop supports the preservation of Kogawa House, and the creation of a writing centre.”     

Alma Lee, Founding Artistic Director, and Hal Wake, Incoming Artistic Director, of the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival:

“We understand the historical and cultural significance of this house as part of Vancouver’s literary heritage and believe that all efforts should be made to save it from the wrecker’s ball.”

Sylvia McNicoll, President of the Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers:

On behalf of the members of CANSCAIP I would like to offer our recommendation and support that Joy Kogawa’s house be saved from demolition and be converted to a writer’s retreat.”

Joan Andersen, Chair of the Vancouver Public Library Board:

VPL was honoured to declare Obasan as this year’s One Book One Vancouver. The community’s positive response to both the book and Joy has been most gratifying. Joy has spoken of the importance for her of her first Vancouver home in public meetings and in the media throughout the summer. The VPL Board understands the symbolic importance of this modest house in the history of Vancouver, British Columbia and Canada as well as its significance in Canada’s literary heritage. The Vancouver Public Library Board supports in principle the campaign to delay the demolition of the house with the hope of saving it and converting it to a public use.”

James Wright, General Director, Vancouver Opera:

“Please accept this letter as support in principle from Vancouver Opera to help exercise a ‘stay of demolition’ of Joy Kogawa’s childhood home in Vancouver. We were honoured and delighted to receive Joy’s permission to adapt Naomi’s Road into an opera for young people, which is currently touring in schools across the province.  In its premiere four-performance run at the Norman Rothstein Theatre, before audiences composed mostly of adults, it was a huge hit. We at Vancouver Opera appreciate the historical and cultural significance of this house and believe that all efforts should be made to save it from the wrecker’s ball.”

Tamsin Baker, Lower Mainland Regional Manager of The Land Conservancy:

“TLC would like to express our support towards the efforts to secure the site and building in perpetuity.  TLC is a provincial land trust working to protect BC's places of natural and cultural heritage.  There are many benefits for the community that come from the conservation and long-term management of important heritage places. TLC would be willing to possibly provide support to the community in securing the Kogawa home if the extension to delay the demolition of the house is granted.”

Henry Kojima, President of the National Association of Japanese Canadians:

“The National Association of Japanese Canadians strongly supports the retention of the Kogawa House.  The proposed international writer-in-residence centre in Kogawa House would, indeed, be an appropriate acknowledgement of our nation’s past, as well as be a fitting tribute to the importance of Canada’s multi-cultural society today. We respectfully urge Council to order a temporary protection of the property for 120 days in order that sources of funding can be pursued to purchase the home.”

Fred Yada, President of the National Nikkei Museum and Heritage Centre:

“To the Japanese Canadian community and to Canada, Joy's stories have captured an important aspect of Canadian history, her contribution has enriched Canadian literature, and she has told a story of many of our people with dignity and grace. Most importantly, through her, Canadians have gained awareness and
appreciation for harmony, acceptance, understanding and cultural exchange. We believe that her work, and that a centre dedicated for writing, will be a legacy for all Canadians, today and for the future.”

The Save Kogawa House Committee thanks the current owner of the 1450 West 64th Avenue property for giving us the opportunity to mobilize this extensive local and Canada-wide support to raise the funds and purchase the house as a writers centre.

Paul Yee's letter to the mayor and council via email from Todd:

QUOTE

From : Paul Yee
To: mayorandcouncil AT vancouver.ca
Sent: Monday, October 31, 2005 6:57 PM
Subject: save kogawa house

Mayor Campbell, City Councillors
City of Vancouver

I am writing to add my voice to many others that are asking that you take action to prevent the demolition of the Joy Kogawa House located at 1450 West 64th AVenue in Vancouver.

I have been writing about Vancouver's Chinese Canadians in history and in fiction for some twenty-five years now, and I firmly believe that this house is of historical and literary significance.

It is of especial importance because of its roots in Vancouver's Japanese-Canadian community, which was uprooted and destroyed during World War II by the governments of the day.

The built environment of the past is particularly fragile in Vancouver these days given the tremendous population and development pressures that exist. However, this is an occasion when delicate human memory requires the solid, three-dimensional frame of a house to endure and to flourish.

I urge you to preserve the Kogawa House.

Yours truly

Paul Yee
Toronto, ON

UNQUOTE