Pre-Order and Pick Up Mochi at the OJCC Before Mochitsuki
Not able to attend Mochitsuki but still want to have some delicious mochi for the holidays? No worries – we got you!️ Fresh Rolled Mochi & Frozen Kiri Mochi will both be available for purchase and pickup before the Mochitsuki event. Order and Pick up your Mochi at the Ottawa Japanese Cultural Centre (B16-2285 St. Laurent Blvd)
Place your order and pay via Credit Card using this Mochi Order Form
Mochi Pick-up Available on the following days:
Saturday, November 30th and Saturday, December 7th
Available for order:
Large Fresh-rolled Mochi Plate – $10.00 per plate *Includes anko/kinako on the side.
Large Kiri Mochi (frozen) Plate – $10.00 per plate *Includes anko/kinako on the side.
Consider pre-ordering your admission tickets and food items ahead of time:
This November, experience a performance like no other at the Tomoni / Go Together showcase!
Watch the magic unfold as Japanese cultural artists collaborate with non-Japanese artists to create something truly unique.
Tomoni / Go Together 📅 Date: Saturday, November 16, 2024 ⏰Time: Show starts at 7 PM | Doors will open at 6:15 PM 📍Location: Carleton Dominion Chalmers Centre (280 Lisgar Street) 🎟️Tickets: FREE—register on Eventbrite to secure your spot! Pay-what-you-want donations are accepted at the door and greatly appreciated in support of our community.
👉What is Tomoni/Go Together? Hosted by Ottawa’s Japanese cultural performance community, Tomoni/Go Together is a Japanese Community Variety Show featuring daring artistic collaborations between Japanese Cultural Performers and invited Artists – A Japanese Community Celebration!
Every two years, we warmly invite non-Japanese artists from a variety of disciplines to collaborate with us and to create something surprising and new.
Riding a wonderful momentum, 2024’s Tomoni/Go Together promises to be its biggest and boldest celebration yet! Expect unlikely and ambitious collaborations that will keep you on the edge of your seat 🙌
This year, our roster of performers include:
Minyo-kai Ottawa Woodwind Project Oto-Wa Taiko Kaylie Kreatrix Montreal Steppers
Le Coeur gai d’Ottawa Gay Men’s Chorus Aki Takahashi
& MORE!
🎉 Join us for an unforgettable evening of beauty, creativity, and entertainment!
Proudly presented by the OJCA in partnership with: 🌟Carleton University Art Gallery 🌟Japanese Canadian Legacies 🌟Ottawa Community Foundation 🌟Ontario Arts Council 🌟City of Ottawa 🌟Embassy of Japan in Canada
Follow our facebook at @ojca-ojcc for more updates and details!
We bring you a wonderful look at Ottawa’s first Obon ceremony, which took place on Bate Island on Saturday, August 10th, before dusk (and heavy rain) descended on the island.
It was a wonderful gathering. The park came alive with the beautiful yukata robes worn by many of this year’s attendees. The festivities began with the making of paper lanterns, which were then hung on nearby trees and around the ceremonial site to help summon the ancestral spirits to the gathering. This was followed by a hearty meal of potluck, dancing, and finally, escorting the ancestral spirits down the river to return them to their homelands.
Thank you so much to event organizers Shigemi Ichino and Mari Wellman, as well as to sound technician, David Okura who supplied expert services and technical support. The whole park was able to enjoy the sounds of our Odori dancing thanks to him!
The screening will take place on Saturday, August 17, 2024 from 3pm – 5:30pm at the Mayfair Theatre (1074 Bank St). Doors open at 3pm. There will be welcoming remarks at 3:15 pm with the film starting at 3:20pm.
The OJCA has organized a special film screening of the film Seagrass (2023) written and directed by Japanese Canadian director, Meredith Hama-Brown.
We ask that attendees try to show up early as we will begin promptly by 3:15 pm, and the Mayfair Theatre will open their concession stand for attendees to purchase snacks. Thank you to the NAJC and Game Theory Films for this special opportunity!
About Seagrass: Set in the 1990s, Seagrass is about a Japanese Canadian woman in an interracial marriage who grapples with the death of her mother. Seeking to find deeper connection in her marriage, she brings her family to a self-development retreat on a remote island. When her distressed relationship with her husband begins to affect the emotional well-being of her children, the family is forever changed.
August is the height of summer in Japan. It is also the month of Obon and it is the most widely observed of Japanese festivals in the summer. Obon is a three-day celebration of ancestors’ spirits that come home to rest. Lanterns are lit to light the way back home. People visit shrines, temples, and family graves during Obon. There is a lighter side during the Obon period, and it is the bon odori, an Obon dance party! Makeshift platforms are built at shrines, temples, parks and other public places and people dance to traditional Japanese music, to the rhythm of taiko drums. Traditional foods are sold, and can include foods that may be familiar in Canada, such as takoyaki, yakisoba, okonomiyaki, ramune (sparkling soda), shaved ice.
At the end of the Obon festival, it is time to say our goodbyes to all ancestors’ spirits by guiding them with lit lanterns to the bank of a riverside, or any waterway, to help float back to their world. The ritual varies slightly between different regions of Japan, and in Ottawa, an Ottawa-made version will be celebrated. The OJCA-CC invites everyone, circle the date and plan to celebrate Ottawa’s Obon.
