<div dir="ltr">Greetings, everyone. <div><font face="arial, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div><font face="arial, sans-serif">The Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre is proud to announce the completion of our
2023-2024 digitization project <i style="">Behind the
Lens: The Okamura and Banno Families</i>. Over the last year, we digitized more
than 1500 items from the Banno Family Collection with significant materials
spanning four generations of the Banno and Okamura families, from the late
1800s through to 2021. These photographs, paintings, and textual records are
now available for viewing on our database at <a href="http://nikkeimuseum.org">nikkeimuseum.org</a>.</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;line-height:115%"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;line-height:115%"><font face="arial, sans-serif">The project was made possible through the generous funding
of the British Columbia History Digitization Program and the Government of
Canada Museum Assistance Program Digital Access to Heritage. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;line-height:115%"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;line-height:115%"><font face="arial, sans-serif">Ce projet a été rendu possible en partie grâce au
gouvernement du Canada</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;line-height:115%"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;line-height:115%"><font face="arial, sans-serif">The project team is Sam Frederick, Bailey Irene Midori Hoy,
and Lisa Uyeda.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:6pt 0cm 0.0001pt;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;line-height:115%"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></p>
<b>Background:</b><br><i>Behind the Lens: The Okamura and Banno Families</i> digitization project contains valuable materials from the Banno Familly Collection that document 4 generations of the Banno and Okamura families in Japan and Canada. The collection includes records relating to several members of the family, covering their careers in photography, dentistry, and law; their forcible internment in the Kaslo and Tashme internment camps; and involvement in the Japanese Canadian community across British Columbia and the country. The collection also contains many records relating to the Inouye family: Myea Inouye (nee Okamura), Mata Banno’s sister, and her husband Walter and daughter Mayko.<br><br>Paul Louis Tsunenojo Okamura, one of the earliest Japanese Canadian artists, was a photographer who operated several photography studios in New Westminster and Vancouver from the late 1890s to 1931. Several of his studio and informal photographs are included in the collection, including a family album capturing his three daughters, Cana, Myea, and Mata, from infants into adulthood.<br><br>Mata Banno (nee Okamura) was the youngest daughter of Paul Louis and Misao Okamura and the wife of Dr. Edward Chutaro Banno (married May 1942). Mata worked as a dental assistant for Dr. Eiju Miyake. During the Second World War, she was forcibly interned in Kaslo, BC with her husband and later her children Robert and Victor who were born in Tashme and Kaslo, respectively. Lesser known was Mata’s own skill as an artist and many sumie paintings created by her are also included in the collection.<br><br>Dr. Edward Chutaro Banno was the husband of Mata Banno and son-in-law to Paul Louis and Misao Okamura. Dr. Banno was a dentist and activist, involved in the 1936 Japanese Canadian Citizens’ League delegation to Ottawa for the federal franchise. Included in the collection are records of Dr. Banno’s education; photographs and textual records related to the 1936 delegation; and several articles written by Dr. Banno for the New Canadian and the Greater Vancouver Japanese Canadian Citizens’ Association Bulletin on the unjust and racist policies targeting Japanese Canadians.<br><br>Robert Tadashi Banno was the eldest son of Dr. Edward Chutaro and Mata Banno and the first child to be born in the Tashme internment camp in 1943. Robert was actively involved in establishing Nikkei Place, serving as the Founding President of both the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre and the Nikkei Place Foundation. He worked as a lawyer with expertise in Japan-Canada business and trade and Indigenous law. Robert’s records consist of his educational diplomas and certificates, photographs of his travels and family, and records related to his involvement with Nikkei Place.<br><br><div><div>For more details visit: </div><div><a href="https://centre.nikkeiplace.org/2024/04/29/behind-the-lens/">https://centre.nikkeiplace.org/2024/04/29/behind-the-lens/ </a></div><div><a href="https://nikkeimuseum.org/www/collections_detail.php?col_id=F1469">https://nikkeimuseum.org/www/collections_detail.php?col_id=F1469</a> <br></div><div><br></div><div>Take care, </div><div><br></div><div>Lisa</div><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34)"><a name="SignatureSanitizer_m_81168544762160445_m_-1843825290894995504_x_m_4137892175897492330_x_m_3307020010816823469_x_SignatureSanitizer_SafeHtmlFilter_UNIQUE_ID_SafeHtmlFilter__GoBack" style="color:rgb(32,33,36);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.8px"><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:15.3333px;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:rgb(127,127,127)">Lisa Uyeda<br>Collections Manager</span></a><span style="color:rgb(255,0,0);font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;font-size:13.3333px"><br></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34)"><span style="color:rgb(255,0,0);font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;font-size:13.3333px">Nikkei</span><font color="#666666"><span style="line-height:15.3333px;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;font-size:10pt"> National Museum & Cultural Centre | </span></font><span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:rgb(102,102,102)">日系文化センター・博物館</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34)"><font color="#666666"><span style="line-height:15.3333px"><font face="Century Gothic, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:10pt">6688 Southoaks Crescent, Burnaby BC V5E 4M7</span></font><br><b style="font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;font-size:10pt">T</b><font face="Century Gothic, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:10pt"> 604.777.7000 ext.140 </span></font></span></font></div><div dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34)"><a href="https://centre.nikkeiplace.org/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204);font-size:12.8px" target="_blank"><img src="https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1ho5ABamtYBmnc6EU8ko5o0OcMIAfAKkJ&revid=0B0VtjbP9XjT0NlNMT2J2R0hObWl5SjFkZ0hNLzlOMWFkQ0FFPQ"></a><span style="font-size:12.8px"> </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/NNMCC" style="color:rgb(17,85,204);font-size:12.8px" target="_blank"><img src="https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=187L341jk3Ysrs3SkZP0KvEZQQ8QQZiEo&revid=0B2yfCsFWt4IaMUVTeEh4OVBjVE83emxoa1lZb1NqMk0wSURJPQ"></a><span style="font-size:12.8px"> </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/nikkeimuseum/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204);font-size:12.8px" target="_blank"><img src="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=17ZsosahDkiqQCfP2_y740R0EEkIxA7BQ&export=download"></a><span style="font-size:12.8px"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/nikkeimuse" style="color:rgb(17,85,204);font-size:12.8px" target="_blank"><img src="https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1V1aEXgVtWGIsX_LWcdtc2TA_lMokW157&revid=0B2yfCsFWt4IadFd6eDI1YWt1cTdKT3BmeWtLYmRUKzVZMmhzPQ"></a><span style="font-size:12.8px"> </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/nikkeimuse" style="color:rgb(17,85,204);font-size:12.8px" target="_blank"><img src="https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1oIgrutdDTYe6wHamn00jBMoOovKiLnlO&revid=0B2yfCsFWt4IaZm54NGlpM3NnQWZzdnRhc3ppcHZDWXU5TXc4PQ"></a></div><div dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34)"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline">We respectfully acknowledge that the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre is on the unceded traditional territories of the </span><a href="https://www.squamish.net/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(11,87,208);font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline">Sḵwx̱wú7mesh</span></a><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline"> Nation and the Hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ - speaking Nations, including the</span><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(11,87,208);font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline"> </span><a href="https://www.musqueam.bc.ca/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(11,87,208);font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline">xʷməθkʷəy̓əm</span></a><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline">, </span><a href="https://twnation.ca/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(11,87,208);font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline">səl̓ilwətaɁɬ</span></a><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline">, and </span><a href="https://www.kwikwetlem.com/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(11,87,208);font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline">kʷikʷəƛ̓əm</span></a><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline">, whose ancestors have cared for these lands for countless generations. We are honoured to live, learn and gather together, on </span><a href="https://maps.fpcc.ca/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline">Indigenous land</span></a><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="vertical-align:baseline">For more info: </span><a href="http://native-land.ca/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-style:normal" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:rgb(11,87,208);font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline">Native-land.ca</span></a><span style="vertical-align:baseline">, </span><a href="https://maps.fpcc.ca/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-style:normal" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:rgb(11,87,208);font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline">First Peoples' Map of B.C.</span></a><br></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div>