Japanese Language School

A Walking Tour of Japantown by Geoff Meggs and Lorene Oikawa – Saturday November 7, 10:30am–12pm

November 7, 2009 ahamedia Leave a comment

History Walk JAPANESE-CANADIANS AND THE LABOUR MOVEMENT

A Walking Tour of Japantown by Geoff Meggs and Lorene Oikawa

Saturday November 7, 10:30am–12pm

Meet at Vancouver Japanese Language School, 487 Alexander

The Powell Street district around Oppenheimer Park is drenched in the history of the labour movement and the Japanese-Canadian community. Geoff Meggs, Vancouver City Councillor, brings a journalist’s view and curiosity to the walk, while Lorene Oikawa, Vice President of BCGEU, shares her enthusiasm for the stories of the labour movement and Japanese-Canadian history. This walk explores the diminishing reminders of this historic district and the people that brought these streets to life. $10 for non-residents, pay what you can for local residents

http://www.heartofthecityfestival.com/festival-09/november-7/

Categories: BCGEU, Community Engagement, Downtown Eastside, DTES, Geoff Meggs, Japanese Language School, Japantown, Labor Movement, Lorene Oikawa, Media Event, Oppenheimer Park, Politics, Social Media, Twitter, Vancouver, Vancouver Downtown Eastside

April Smith of AHA MEDIA with Lani Russwurm arrival at Japanese Language School to try to see Japan’s Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko in Vancouver Downtown Eastside (DTES)

July 14, 2009 ahamedia 4 comments

Sunday July 12, 2009 was a Historic Day for us in the Vancouver Downtown Eastside. Japan’s Royalty – Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko visit our local Japanese Language School!

What a rare honor for us in the Vancouver Downtown Eastside ( DTES) !

In this video, April Smith of AHA MEDIA and Lani Russwurm’s arrival at Japanese Language School to try to see Japan’s Royal Emperor Akihito and Empress Michikoin Vancouver Downtown Eastside.

This was filmed by April Smith of AHA MEDIA on a Nokia N95 mobile cameraphone. April is passionate and skilled in making Nokia films by exploring mobile media production through the camera lens of a cellphone. For a better quality version of this video, please DM April Smith @AprilFilms on Twitter.

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In the following photos, Lani Russwurm, local Vancouver Downtown Eastside Historian http://pasttensevancouver.wordpress.com and many others wait patiently for Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko to exit the Japanese Language School

In this video, Japan’s Royal Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko exit the Japanese Language School after being escorted by Mayor Gregor Robertson in Vancouver Downtown Eastside with the Emperor waving goodbye in his limo.

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In this video, after Japan’s Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko leave Japanese Language School in the Vancouver Downtown Eastside, Mayor Gregor Robertson poses with Wendy Pedersen’s son and Rika Uto’s son.

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In the following photo, our Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson poses with poses with Wendy Pedersen’s son and Rika Uto’s son.

In the photos below, happy people pose together including our Mayor Gregor Robertson and 2 RCMP officers in traditional dress uniform.

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To see our test livestream videos of this Historic event, please look at

http://www.qik.com/ahamedia

To see 45 photos of the Japanese Royal visit, please see our Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahamedia/sets/72157621279467487/

AHA MEDIA hopes to be able to welcome Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan to our area, the Vancouver Downtown Eastside ( DTES )

July 10, 2009 ahamedia Leave a comment

During the upcoming ROYAL visit from Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan to our area, the Vancouver Downtown Eastside, we at AHA MEDIA will be hoping to be lucky and honored enough to be able to film and take photographs as we welcome the Royal couple to our neighborhood! 🙂

This will be a historical moment in time!! 🙂 What a great honor! 🙂

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Below is text from :

Rod Mickleburgh

Vancouver — From Tuesday’s Globe and Mail Last updated on Wednesday, Jul. 08, 2009 04:40PM EDT

It’s been a long time – if ever – since a prominent royal visited the city’s notorious Downtown Eastside, even in its former, more benign status as Skid Road.

But that’s where the 75-year-old Emperor of Japan and his 74-year-old wife will come calling during their three-day stop in Vancouver.

The rare royal foray into the area by a frail couple, from whom aides warn reporters to expect very, very slow movement, did not land on their agenda easily. It took weeks of intense, behind-the-scenes lobbying to overcome initial resistance to the idea of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko venturing through neighbourhoods few tourists see.

In the end, history won out. The streets of the Downtown Eastside were not always rife with the boarded-up businesses and daily horrors we see today. Once, this was the heart of Japantown, a thriving ethnic community every bit as significant as nearby Chinatown, before internment scattered the residents and delivered their businesses and possessions into the hands of others.

Please see the rest of the story at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/the-downtown-eastsides-royal-visitors/article1208588/

AHA MEDIA attended BOB’s Green Inner-City event at Japanese Language School on June 10, 2009

June 12, 2009 ahamedia 2 comments

Peter Davies of AHA MEDIA attended the following event by BOB 🙂 http://www.bobics.org

Below is text from BOB’s new blog at http://greeningtheinnercity.ca/

Join the Greening the Inner-city team for the kickoff event for BOB’s Green Inner-city Cluster. Learn from local green business leaders such as Toby Barazzuol of Eclipse Awards

and Louise Schwarz of the Recycling Alternative on how being green can be a competitive advantage for your organization.

Topics covered will include:

Marketing Sustainability
Greening Your Organization
Green Buildings and Green Roofs
Recycling and Waste Reduction
Collaborating to increase efficiency
Urban Agriculture

There will be presentations but also peer learning opportunities where attendees can share what has worked most successfully at their own organization. We are pleased to have Councilor Andrea Reimer giving the opening address. She is a leader in BC’s environmental movement and a member of the Mayor’s Greenest City Action Team.

Schedule:

Time	Craft Room 3rd Floor w/ Projector	Tatami Room 5th Floor
10:00 -10:15	Welcome Address – Andrea Reimer – roof top patio weather permitting
10:15-10:30	TBA
10:30 – 11:30	How can being sustainable give you a competitive advantage? How to market your sustainability practices for maximum benefit? – Marketing Green with Toby Barazzuol, Saul Good, and Andrew “Muskie” McKay	What we are doing now that is green in our organization? – Sharing and learning about greening an organization with Kristina Welch and Maureen Cureton
11:30 – 12:00	<!– What current policies are in place in Vancouver to promote the green economy? What changes is the Greenest City Action Team considering to make Vancouver the Greenest City in the World? – Green Policy with Kristina Welch and Kira Gerwing –> TBD	How can you reduce and recycle inputs to your products and services? How can we take control of the complete full circle product lifecycle? – Wasted – The Shift from Recycling to Zero Waste with Louise Schwarz and Seann Dory
12:00 – 12:30	Lunch
12:30 – 1:00	How can you grow your own food? How can the inner-city increase its food security and create green jobs? – Urban Agriculture with Kristina Welch and Chris Hild	What is a green building? Where can I see green architechtural design locally? How can green buildings benefit my organization and the inner-city community? – Green Buildings, Green Roofs, and Energy Efficiency with Toby Barazzuol, Morgan McDonald, and Doug Horn
1:00 – 1:30	How can you play a part in creating green jobs in our community and greening the inner-city? – Brainstorming Sessions led by Shirley Chan, Andrew “Muskie” McKay and TBA
1:30 – 2:00	Closing Address – Toby Barazzuol and TBD

Toby, the cluster, and Strathcona BIA’s efforts were recently profiled in the Vancouver Courier.

To see 37 photos, please see our Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahamedia/sets/72157619651861120/

AHA MEDIA volunteered at Work Less Party on Saturday June 6th

June 9, 2009 ahamedia Leave a comment

AHA MEDIA worked hard while volunteering to do Coat Check at a past Work Less Party party event at Japanese Language School on Saturday June 6th

Work Less party website is http://www.worklessparty.org

Below is a photo of Peter Davies, Hendrik Beune and April Smith of AHA MEDIA waiting for the Party to start.

Below is a photo of the Carnival Band giving a live performance to electrify the evening !

Below is a photo of Paul Preibisch dropping off his coat with us. Paul is a very dynamic man ! http://www.youtube.com/Fire2006

AHA MEDIA is luckily very open minded and we always do our job to the best of our ability 🙂

Below is a pair of boxer briefs that were checked in with us! The owner assured us that they were very clean! 🙂

Since the Work Less Party events are always a costume party – the followoing photo shows a man dressed up as “Drunk and Arrested B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell in Hawaii” complete with Beer can. What a parody!