At last, we welcome spring at the end of a dreadful winter! As many of us turn to cleaning and organization with the changing of the seasons, Sedai and the archives of the JCCC hope that you will consider contributing your memories as you consider what to keep and what to "clean up". Old photos and mementos can stir old memories, and what better way to preserve them for the future than to record them through storytelling. A lifetime's worth of memories need not take up much space when digitally recorded – and will be that much more accessible for younger generations as technology continues to change.
Sedai would like to thank our newest interviewees and contributors to the Sedai archives – George Toyama and Louise Masuda. The contribution of your time, your thoughts, your stories, and your memories of days gone by will not only help our inclusive community record, but leave a legacy that can be shared with family and friends for generations to come.
Also, Sedai would like to thank our first mini-interview vignette participant Keo Shibatani, in sitting down with Sedai to briefly record some thoughts and memories on the connections between the Jewish Canadian and Japanese Canadian communities in Toronto, following the war years. The JCCC continues its gear up for the annual Sakura Gala this fall, and aims to highlight and honour the countless Jewish Canadians who displayed strength of character in the respect they showed to many Japanese Canadians resettling east of the Rockies following the war. We hope that in paying tribute and recording these stories, we might be able to pay homage and say thanks to the many property owners, business owners, and individuals who lent a helping hand to those in need – many of whom have now passed on.
If you would like to join in our efforts to say thanks, and have anecdotes or memories of those community connections recorded, we eagerly invite you to step forward and contact us. And as always, if you or a loved one have stories (however many or few!) which you feel could be recorded and preserved, please contact Elizabeth Fujita, Sedai Project Coordinator, at elizabeth.fujita@jccc.on.ca or 416 441 2345 ext 303.