June 29, 2010 at 10:57 pm · Filed under Canada, Event
Canadians and Canada-lovers alike in Tokyo:
Today’s message is a simple reminder. Lest we forget, tis almost that time of year again normally when we Canadians, and usually our pseudo-Canadian friends, celebrate the beginnings of our lovely nation. For the uninformed but interested reader, July 1st is affectionately known as Canada Day. It is a day celebrated with music, art, food and fireworks all over Canada. I noticed it’s also celebrated in quite a big way as well in London, England (at least for the past 5 yrs).
I tried my best to find out where and how we celebrate it in Japan but was a bit late to find out that only a few small events are happening. The CCCJ is hosting a boat party down at TY Harbour but unless you have a good connection there, it is likely hard to get in as their Canada Day party registration appears to have closed last week. The Shibuya Hobgoblin also is having a casual Canada Day Party that will be held tomorrow from 7.30pm til late. Is that really it? If anyone reading this happens to know of anything else, I’d love to know! Searching for “Canada Day event in Tokyo 2010″ doesn’t really help in English or Japanese though, so not quite sure where to go.
All of this has led me to think that perhaps it’s time we started doing something similar in Tokyo as happens in London every July 1st. There are enough Canadian artists, promoters and producers in town (or close enough overseas) to host something of the like to celebrate the day in Japan.
Would love to hear any thoughts out there about celebrating our culture here in Tokyo.
Jeffrey
Olympians below describe what it means to them to be Canadian.
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Welcome to the blog that never gets updated… until I’ve found something I care about sharing at length. Today that something is the education of the world’s children.
If you haven’t heard of them, Room to Read is an organization that’s simply trying to change the lives of those who aren’t given much of a chance from the outset (kids in 3rd world countries) in order to enable world change in the future.
From their site we can see their vision and mission are very focused:
Their Vision
Room to Read believes that World Change Starts with Educated Children. We envision a world in which all children can pursue a quality education that enables them to reach their full potential and contribute to their community and the world.
Their Mission
Room to Read seeks to transform the lives of millions of children in developing countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education. Working in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations and governments, we develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children, and support girls to complete secondary school with the relevant life skills to succeed in school and beyond.
What they actually do (their programs):
Reading Room — We establish libraries and stock them with local-language children’s books, original Room to Read titles, donated English-language books, games and furniture to create a child-friendly learning environment.
School Room — We partner with local communities to build schools so children can learn in a safe, child-friendly environment.
Local Language Publishing — We source new content from local writers and illustrators and publish high-quality children’s books in the local language to distribute throughout our networks.
Girls’ Education — We provide long-term, holistic support enabling girls to pursue and complete their secondary education.
How you can help, should you so wish to do so:
In Japan, you can free dial 0102 - 52 - 2962 if you have 30 or more books to donate to them. The books will be sent to Book Off, which will assess their value and then send a monetary donation and / or particular books to Room to Read.
Check out the Japanese website for information in 日本語 → ルーム・トゥ・リード HP.
You can also look for the Beers for Books nights at pubs all around the world, which support the charity. Buy a beer and the pub will donate a % of its sales to Room to Read.
I really felt this year would be a great time to give back and hope to help Room to Read from now and into the future, educating the world’s children.
Hope to see you out at one of their events in the not too distant future!
Jeffrey
My first donation of about 100 books collected from friends and neighbours in Tokyo.
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