Nikkei Place Foundation is excited to award two inspiring young people with the Nikkei Youth Athletics Bursary! This $1,000 annual bursary recognizes the achievements of Canadian Nikkei youth student-athletes who foster excellence in sports, academics and community leadership.
“It is important that the Nikkei Place Foundation use our platform to recognize their achievements and look towards how we can continue to support the next generation in meaningful ways.”
– Naomi Kawamura, Executive Director
Congratulations to Kenji Yamamoto and Max Hamanishi, our newest bursary recipients! Their passion for sport and building healthy communities is admirable, and we wish them well in their future endeavors.
Kenji Yamamoto is a second year student at Douglas College, enrolled in the Bachelor of Physical Education and Coaching (BPEC) program. His passion for sports and physical activities developed from a young age. Throughout highschool he played basketball, volleyball, and rugby, but he loved soccer the most. During his time with the Cliff Avenue F.C., his team won many competitions and trophies, including Bronze in the B.C. division 1 league.
He grew up surrounded by great influences, which not only gave him an amazing childhood, but ultimately the passion to become a P.E. teacher. He aspires to be a role model for younger generations, to inspire and help them achieve their highest potential.
Max Hamanishi is currently an undergraduate student-athlete in the Sports Science program, majoring in Kinesiology at Douglas College. He is a varsity baseball player with the Douglas College Royals and has played baseball for 13 years. He was the bronze medal BC team pitcher in the 2017 and 2018 Little League Canadian Championships. Max was also a competitive swimmer for 10 years and competed at the BC provincials each year from 2016 to 2019.
Max studied at Gladstone Japanese Language School and Coquitlam Japanese Language Academy. He spends time volunteering in the community picking up litter on neighbourhood streets and shovelling snow and delivering meals to seniors. Max’s favourite Japanese foods are chirashi zushi and zenzai.
Thank you to all the applicants. We encourage eligible individuals and organizations to apply now for the next bursary.