Kyōdai by Prince Shima
Kyōdai was originally performed live at the Fox Cabaret in Vancouver, BC on December 3, 2022 as part of the program Kyōdai: An interplay of home videos and music from the Japanese Canadian Community.
Presented by the Powell Street Festival Society in partnership with the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre, Japanese Canadian musicians Jason de Couto, Prince Shima, and Āza Nabuko came together to perform a multi-sensory concert experience. These musicians explored the theme of kyōdai (siblings) through the lens of curated, sought-after home videos from pre, during, and post incarceration, produced by artist and video archivist Jeffery Chong.
Kyōdai acts as a rallying call to embrace our heritage, deepen communal bonds, and reveal what’s known and unknown about our relationships past, present, and future.
Prince Shima
Prince Shima (Bradley Kurushima) is a third generation Japanese Canadian settler based on Vancouver Island. He is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer working in the spaces between art-pop and experimental ambient music. He combines analog and digital instruments to create otherworldly landscapes, with the aim of making transportative and transformative music. princeshima.com | @princeshima
Jeffery Chong
Jeffery Chong works with time-based media and photography. His practice is informed by his work as an archival film conservation technician specializing in preserving home movies. His films have exhibited across North America. Jeffery lives and works on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. @chong_ka_heng
From the Archives
This set of archival films highlights the everyday public and private lives of four Japanese Canadian families: the Madokoros, Nishimuras, Kawamuras, and Inouyes. They take place in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario. These home movies are shot on 8mm and super 8 film, which at the time were new and affordable alternatives to the more expensive 16mm home movie format. 8mm and super 8 cameras were light, compact, and easy to use, allowing amateur filmmakers to capture the minutiae of family life, where the passage of time is marked by major milestones such as weddings, graduations, and celebratory annual events. Their saturated colours invoke nostalgia for a simpler time.
Mamoru Madokoro collection
Identified in the Madokoro home movies are Jitsuji and Hiroe (née Tazaki) Madokoro, Mamoru and Peggy (née Okahori), Jim and Molly (née Madokoro) Fukui, Hiro, Peggy’s mother Yoshie Okahori, and Mamoru and Peggy’s children, Elaine, Kelly, and Craig. Filmed in the early 1960s these home movies take place in the lower mainland, and the Kootenays.
- Oct 1960 ; Trip to Vancouver at Madokoro’s ; Wedding Pictures, 1960, NNMCC 2018.31.3.1
- Xmas Day 1963 to Labour Day 1964, 1963 to 1964, NNMCC 2018.31.3.4
Maki and Frank Yosaburo Nishimura collection
Identified in the Nishimura home movies are Maki and Frank Yosaburo (né Kitamura) Nishimura, Eileen, Kim, Arthur, Masanobu (Carl), Masatoshi (Albert), Yukio (Harry) Tatebe and Mink (née Nishimura), Danny and Yo Nishimura, and their children Richard and Douglas. There are also appearances of Reverend Yutetsu Kawamura, Pat and Colleen Oshiro (daughters of Dr. James and Bell Oshiro of Coaldale, Alberta). Filmed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, these home movies take place in Alberta and Ontario.
- Coaldale ; Wedding ; Family gathering ; Baby Richard, 1959, NNMCC 2018.38.2.1.1
- Coaldale ; Baby Richard, Westover ; river, ca. 1958, NNMCC 2018.38.2.1.2
- PEM P.J. Party, ca. 1961, NNMCC 2018.38.2.1.4
- Zoo ; Coaldale parade ; Buddhist Church float ; lakeside picnic, 1964, NNMCC 2018.38.2.1.7
- Zoo ; #2 Harry and Mink’s wedding ; trip to Creston ; Crows Nest Pass ; beet harvest ; Dad’s funeral ; miscellaneous Coaldale, 1959, NNMCC 2018.38.2.1.13
Reverend Kawamura Film collection
Identified in the Kawamura home movies are Yoneko Kawamura (the wife of Reverend Yutetsu Kawamura), Leslie and Toyo Kawamura, and their daughter Nao. Filmed in the late 1970s, these home movies take place in Victoria, Saskatoon, and the Nikka Yuko Centennial Japanese Gardens in Lethbridge.
- 1977 Japanese Gardens ; US tour ; NY ; Chicago, 1977, NNMCC 2018.39.1.1.35
- 1978 Kelowna, 1978, NNMCC 2018.39.1.1.36
- June 1975 ; Family Union Banff Jasper ; B.C. Tour ; 1976 April, 1975 and 1976, NNMCC 2018.39.1.1.42
Tomojiro Inouye Family collection
Identified in the Inouye home movies are Tomi Inouye (née Takayama), Sumiko Kamachi (née Inouye) Masaru, and Shoji or Takeshi. Excerpts from this home movie were filmed in ca. 1940, and takes place in Mayo (now Paldi), near Duncan.
- Pre 1942 ; Mayo, Duncan, ca. 1940, NNMCC 2017.21.1.1.1
Credits
All music written, performed and produced by Prince Shima.
For permission to use please contact the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre: [email protected]
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