Ottawa Japanese Community Association & Cultural Centre
Happenings of interest to the Ottawa Japanese community.
Melody of Japan is a wonderful group of Japanese-American singers. They sing in both English and Japanese.
🗓️Date: Sunday, November 30th at 2:30 PM
📍Place: Canadian Martyrs church ( 100 Main Street) – next to Immaculata High School.
They are a truly wonderful choir! Please come along!
Challenging Exile: Japanese Canadians and the Wartime Constitution
November 12 2025
7 – 8 pm EST. Doors at 6:30 pm
Pellan Room at Library and Archives Canada
395 Wellington Street, Ottawa, ON K1A 0N4
FREE EVENT
Join us for the launch of Challenging Exile: Japanese Canadians and the Wartime Constitution by Eric M. Adams and Jordan Stanger-Ross, presented by Library and Archives Canada. In September 1945, Canadian democracy faced a fundamental question of constitutional law: could citizens be expelled on the basis of race? Canada proposed exiling Japanese Canadians to Japan, a country devastated by war. Thousands who had already experienced uprooting, internment and dispossession were now at risk of banishment. Challenging Exile investigates the origins, administration, litigation and aftermath of this attempt at gross injustice and shares the stories of resilience of those who faced it.
How did Japanese Canadians navigate the challenges arrayed against them? Eric M. Adams and Jordan Stanger-Ross detail the circumstances and personalities behind the proposed exile. They follow the lives of families facing government orders that forced them from their homes, stripped their livelihoods and possessions, and deprived them of fundamental rights. They also analyze the constitutional framework of the court case in which lawyers and judges grappled with the meaning of citizenship, race and rights at a time of change in Canadian law and politics.
Unfolding in a context of global conflict, sharpened borders and racist suspicion, the story told in Challenging Exile has enduring relevance for our own troubled times. This meticulous and moving account of a shameful episode in Canada’s past tells a necessary story not only for scholars and historians of law, politics and human rights, but also for lawyers, judges and readers of Canadian history.
Kimono Fashion Show – A Cultural Evening
Join us on November 1, 2025, at the Canadian Museum of History for an elegant celebration of kimono and Japanese culture. This special evening will feature the unveiling of stories and photographs from the Kimono Connections / Kimono Tsunagari Project, made possible thanks to the support of the Japanese Canadian Legacies Society.
Your ticket includes:
Doors open at 6 pm, and the show begins at 7 pm.
Experience an enchanting evening of Japanese culture, timeless tradition, and artistic elegance — a special and unique celebration you won’t want to miss!
Jambican Studio Garden (2969 River Road) is located south of Manotick and is growing a variety of vegetables without the use of pesticides. We would like to offer a vegetable box that includes some Japanese products, such as daikon, gobo, komatsuna, mizuna, and processed food.
The price is $45 including delivery fee.If you could pick up at the Main Street farmers market on Saturday or Jambican farm directly, the price will be $40.
Delivery day October 9th and 16th( more options )
If you would like to order or are interested, please email Kumiko :
jambikumi@gmail.com.
Jambican Studio Garden
We are delighted to bring you news of the Grand Re-opening of the Ottawa Japanese Cultural Centre!
Sunday, October 5th from 1pm – 4pm
Unit B16-2285 St. Laurent Blvd
Ottawa, ON K1G 4Z5
613-731-7939
Did you know at the OJCC we have a children’s play group, traditional and folk dance classes, ikebana and shodō, tea study group, Tomonokai seniors’ club, cooking classes and craft workshops? Come drop by anytime from 1pm – 4pm to see and sign up for all the activities these groups have planned at the Centre this year! Then enjoy some refreshments.
Hope to see you then!
Likewise, every autumn ushers in another Annual General Meeting for both the OJCA and OJCC.
This year’s AGM is set for Sunday, October 19th from 1-4pm.
This year, the OJCA’s AGM will go first, followed by a delicious potluck snack break, and then the OJCC’s AGM will close out the day’s activities. Members-in-good-standing are welcome to attend both or either AGM and to vote on any motions put forward, as well as the 2025-2026 Boards.
