Half a Century Teaching Canadian Children: Gladstone Japanese Language School

YOKO & HARRY MURAKAMI

Photograph from 55th Anniversary of Gladstone Japanese Language School

Gladstone Japanese Language School was founded in 1971 by Yoko Murakami. The school started in her home on Gladstone Street with 20 to 30 students. As the student base grew into the hundreds, Murakami-sensei expanded a second floor in her home to accommodate. But even that was not enough, and the school had to move several locations. In 2000, Gladstone found a permanent home at Nikkei Centre.

The school grew over the years to include preschool, kindergarten, middle and high school, and summer school. It also offers cultural clubs and events and has organized many trips for students to Japan. Murakami-sensei’s guiding philosophy is to “teach with passion for education and love for students.” She wants to foster collaboration among students, parents, and teachers to deepen understanding of Japanese culture through the Japanese language, and support students in their personal growth.

In 2026, to celebrate the school’s 55th anniversary, a biographical book, カナダっ子と共に半世紀 (A Half-Century with Canadian Children), was published. The book is available in the Nikkei National Museum Gift Shop. Murakami-sensei and her husband, Harry Murakami, made a generous donation to Nikkei Centre to commemorate this occasion. A bench in Nikkei Garden was dedicated to honor them and the school.

Celebrating Yoshi Hashimoto, Former Chair of the Nikkei Auxiliary Committee!

Celebrating Yoshi Hashimoto's 20 years of community service

Former Chair of the Nikkei Auxiliary Committee

Since its formation in December 2001, the NNMCC Auxiliary has become an integral part of the activities at the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre (NNMCC). Yoshi Hashimoto was appointed Chair at the first Auxiliary meeting in 2001. He was re-appointed Auxiliary Chair every year for 20 consecutive years, until he handed over the gavel in 2022.

Over the years, Yoshi has guided the Auxiliary to success, raising almost $300,000 for the NNMCC through fundraising events. Funds raised have gone toward a variety of projects, including Museum education programs, computer upgrades, kitchen renovations, building and garden maintenance, as well as contributions to both the Resilience and Inspiration fundraising campaigns. One of the Auxiliary’s most significant projects was building the NNMCC Community Kitchen. Yoshi was one of the driving forces to initiate and spearhead fundraising to build the Kitchen. Since its completion in 2005, the Kitchen has more than proven its value - the Auxiliary has produced countless food items for sale at many events, including the annual Spring Bazaar, Craft Market and year end Mochitsuki, as well as for NNMCC events such as Matsuri.

During his tenure as Chair of the Auxiliary, Yoshi traveled numerous times between Abbotsford and the NNMCC. In addition to chairing the Auxiliary meetings, Yoshi could be found in the kitchen helping out wherever he could, whether it was peeling apples for pies or manning the scales to weigh mochi.

Yoshi is a keen gardener and enthusiastic cook. With his easygoing manner and good humour, Yoshi has made many friends and forged good relationships within the Nikkei community. We thank him for his many years of dedicated service, and look forward to working with him at future events.

Thank you for serving as the Chair of the Nikkei Auxiliary for the past 20 consecutive years! Please join in making a donation to Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre in honour of Yoshi Hashimoto!