NAJC Redress 2008 registration form.pdfDates: Saturday September 20, 2008
Location/Time: 3:15pm-5:15pm
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Derek Iwanaka
Karla Mukai
Jason de Couto
Anne Marie Nakagawa
Denise Nawata
John Yamazaki
Moderators:
Derek Iwanaka was born and raised in the suburbs of greater Vancouver. Derek moved to Prince George in 1999 and received his B.Comm at the University of Northern British Columbia in 2001. He went to Japan in late 2001 and spent the next year teaching English at a large private school in Saitama. For over five years, he has worked in the mining industry managing Investor Relations for publically traded intermediate and junior mining companies. Derek is currently serving his third year on the Board of Directors for Tonari Gumi (Japanese Community Volunteers Association).
Karla Mukai grew up in Richmond and graduated from the French Immersion program at Hugh McRoberts Secondary School. She worked for several seasons at the Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site in Steveston giving tours about the Westcoast fishing industry. (Karla’s mother's family (Nakanishi) and her father's family were both involved in the fishing industry.) Karla has a BA in International Relations from UBC (2004), and an LLB from UBC (2007). She will be called to the British Columbia Bar in May, 2008 and will be joinng, a litigation boutique, Whitelaw Twining as an associate in June. In her spare time she enjoys playing field hockey and ice hockey.
Speakers:
Justin Ault is a yonsei, born and raised in Port Alberni, B.C. He received a Rotary Club scholarship in 1988 and travelled to Japan for a year, where he attended high school. While living in Vancouver between 1989 and 1994, he became involved with the Powell Street Festival. He began in "sanitation" and from this evolved into coordinating the food booths and becoming a board member of PSF. When Vancouver hosted the 1993 PANA (Pan American Nikkei Association) conference, he assisted in organizing the youth programs. Upon graduating from UBC (BA Asian Studies) in 1994, he returned to Japan, making his home in Tokyo until 2002. In Tokyo, he worked in lumber sales and then finance as an equities broker. In 2003, he and Lea (wife, business partner and fellow yonsei) opened Hapa Izakaya on Robson Street and it quickly became a fixture in the Vancouver restaurant scene. In 2007, they opened their second location at Kitsilano Beach.
Jason de Couto is an emerging artist primarily focusing on Jazz piano and turntablism. He has collaborated with local writers and artists, Hiromi Goto, Fred Wah, David Khang, and most frequently, Wayde Compton. He graduated from UBC in 2004 with a double major in Music and English; graduated from the Simon Fraser University Education Program (PDP) in 2007, focusing on Music and Language Arts pedagogy; and is presently completing 4th year Jazz Piano Performance courses at Capilano College. He has also recently been hired by both the Vancouver and Richmond School Boards as a band teacher and teacher-on-call.
Anne Marie Nakagawa is a Calgary-based filmmaker and artist. She received her Master of Fine Arts Degree in Mixed Media from the University of Calgary in 1999 and, since then, has gone on to produce numerous documentary films, experimental single and dual channel video work, and multi-media installations. Her NFB documentary film Between: Living in the Hyphen was selected to launch the United Nations Association of Canada’s national initiative against racism and stereotype – A Sense of Belonging – in July of 2006 in Montreal. Between is an experimental documentary that examines how people of bi-cultural and bi-racial origin construct their identity in an officially multicultural society, drawing on the life of seven “hyphenated” Canadians who voice their disparate perspectives on how one negotiates the space between two cultures and races. The film has been the recipient of numerous awards including an Alberta Motion Picture Industry Association Rosie, a bronze plaque from the Columbus International Film and Video Festival, and a Golden Sheaf Award from the Yorkton Film and Video Festival. Ms. Nakagawa is currently working on her next documentary film with the help of a Canada Council for the Arts grant which examines how economics, spirituality and sustainability inform one another within democratic societies.
Denise Nawata was born and raised in Calgary. She graduated from the University of Alberta with a BComm having spent the last year of her studies on exchange in Tokyo at Sophia University (Joichi Daigaku). Denise then resided in Sendai for a year teaching English to university students. Following her time in Japan, Denise returned to Calgary and obtained her LLB from the University of Calgary. Denise articled and practised as a securities associate at Davis LLP before moving to Vancouver and joining the securities and corporate finance group of Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP. Her practise consists of advising issuers in the oil & gas, mining and biotechnology sectors.
John Yamazaki was born, raised and still lives in Vancouver, B.C. He graduated in 1999 from Simon Fraser University with a Communications Degree. John currently owns 2 furniture stores in Vancouver that specializes in custom hand crafted furniture. He has been a part of the Powell Street Festival Society for 7 years and has been President of the Society for the last 4 years.
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Derek Iwanaka was born and raised in the suburbs of greater Vancouver. Derek moved to Prince George in 1999 and received his B.Comm at the University of Northern British Columbia in 2001. He went to Japan in late 2001 and spent the next year teaching English at a large private school in Saitama. For over five years, he has worked in the mining industry managing Investor Relations for publically traded intermediate and junior mining companies. Derek is currently serving his third year on the Board of Directors for Tonari Gumi (Japanese Community Volunteers Association).
Karla Mukai grew up in Richmond and graduated from the French Immersion program at Hugh McRoberts Secondary School. She worked for several seasons at the Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site in Steveston giving tours about the Westcoast fishing industry. (Karla’s mother's family (Nakanishi) and her father's family were both involved in the fishing industry.) Karla has a BA in International Relations from UBC (2004), and an LLB from UBC (2007). She will be called to the British Columbia Bar in May, 2008 and will be joinng, a litigation boutique, Whitelaw Twining as an associate in June. In her spare time she enjoys playing field hockey and ice hockey.
Speakers:
Justin Ault is a yonsei, born and raised in Port Alberni, B.C. He received a Rotary Club scholarship in 1988 and travelled to Japan for a year, where he attended high school. While living in Vancouver between 1989 and 1994, he became involved with the Powell Street Festival. He began in "sanitation" and from this evolved into coordinating the food booths and becoming a board member of PSF. When Vancouver hosted the 1993 PANA (Pan American Nikkei Association) conference, he assisted in organizing the youth programs. Upon graduating from UBC (BA Asian Studies) in 1994, he returned to Japan, making his home in Tokyo until 2002. In Tokyo, he worked in lumber sales and then finance as an equities broker. In 2003, he and Lea (wife, business partner and fellow yonsei) opened Hapa Izakaya on Robson Street and it quickly became a fixture in the Vancouver restaurant scene. In 2007, they opened their second location at Kitsilano Beach.
Jason de Couto is an emerging artist primarily focusing on Jazz piano and turntablism. He has collaborated with local writers and artists, Hiromi Goto, Fred Wah, David Khang, and most frequently, Wayde Compton. He graduated from UBC in 2004 with a double major in Music and English; graduated from the Simon Fraser University Education Program (PDP) in 2007, focusing on Music and Language Arts pedagogy; and is presently completing 4th year Jazz Piano Performance courses at Capilano College. He has also recently been hired by both the Vancouver and Richmond School Boards as a band teacher and teacher-on-call.
Anne Marie Nakagawa is a Calgary-based filmmaker and artist. She received her Master of Fine Arts Degree in Mixed Media from the University of Calgary in 1999 and, since then, has gone on to produce numerous documentary films, experimental single and dual channel video work, and multi-media installations. Her NFB documentary film Between: Living in the Hyphen was selected to launch the United Nations Association of Canada’s national initiative against racism and stereotype – A Sense of Belonging – in July of 2006 in Montreal. Between is an experimental documentary that examines how people of bi-cultural and bi-racial origin construct their identity in an officially multicultural society, drawing on the life of seven “hyphenated” Canadians who voice their disparate perspectives on how one negotiates the space between two cultures and races. The film has been the recipient of numerous awards including an Alberta Motion Picture Industry Association Rosie, a bronze plaque from the Columbus International Film and Video Festival, and a Golden Sheaf Award from the Yorkton Film and Video Festival. Ms. Nakagawa is currently working on her next documentary film with the help of a Canada Council for the Arts grant which examines how economics, spirituality and sustainability inform one another within democratic societies.
Denise Nawata was born and raised in Calgary. She graduated from the University of Alberta with a BComm having spent the last year of her studies on exchange in Tokyo at Sophia University (Joichi Daigaku). Denise then resided in Sendai for a year teaching English to university students. Following her time in Japan, Denise returned to Calgary and obtained her LLB from the University of Calgary. Denise articled and practised as a securities associate at Davis LLP before moving to Vancouver and joining the securities and corporate finance group of Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP. Her practise consists of advising issuers in the oil & gas, mining and biotechnology sectors.
John Yamazaki was born, raised and still lives in Vancouver, B.C. He graduated in 1999 from Simon Fraser University with a Communications Degree. John currently owns 2 furniture stores in Vancouver that specializes in custom hand crafted furniture. He has been a part of the Powell Street Festival Society for 7 years and has been President of the Society for the last 4 years.
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