Cumberland BC: The Cumberlander Articles Section
Local · 3rd August 2007
Editor, with permission
Visiting ancestor’s grave is important tradition
By Colleen Dane
Record Staff
Aug 03 2007
The 30th anniversary of the Vancouver Island Obon Tour will come through Cumberland next weekend — marking decades of recognition for the Japanese buried in the village’s graveyard, whose families were forced out of the community during the Second World War.
“A lot of people that used to live on the Island — a lot never went back there ... there was a lot of animosity,” said Lori North, president of the BC Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Churches Federation.
Visiting the graves of ancestors, known as obon, is an important tradition in their culture — one that was missing for sites on the Island. It was a need recognized by Kelowna-based Sensei Shinjo Ikuta in the 1950s.
He started a tour that year — visiting Japanese cemeteries around the Island including those in Victoria, Port Alberni and Cumberland. In some cases it was extremely difficult finding lost, unkept or vandalized markers.
The honour of maintaining the obon visits was taken on by a few organizations in the years since, before landing with the BC Buddhist Churches Federation in 1982. They started a weekend bus tour that still visits Japanese cemetery sites on the Island — and they’ll be coming to the Comox Valley Aug. 11.
“We had a much stronger connection with the Village of Cumberland because there is a separate Japanese cemetery,” said North about the location off Union Road. “We’ve had a lot of support from the village.”
That support will continue this year, said Coun. Leslie Baird, who’s organizing a dinner that evening.
“They’re showing their respect for the deceased in the cemetery because you learn from the past,” said Baird.
It’s an honour for the past that the village is happy to share, she added.
Everyone is welcome to the ceremony at 11 a.m., at the cemetery, where there will be some chanting, and a flower-laying ceremony. A dinner will also be held that night at the Cumberland legion. Doors open at 6 p.m., food at 7 p.m. and tickets are $20 at the village office.
For more information call 336-2718.
reportercomoxvalleyrecord.com
By Colleen Dane
Record Staff
Aug 03 2007
The 30th anniversary of the Vancouver Island Obon Tour will come through Cumberland next weekend — marking decades of recognition for the Japanese buried in the village’s graveyard, whose families were forced out of the community during the Second World War.
“A lot of people that used to live on the Island — a lot never went back there ... there was a lot of animosity,” said Lori North, president of the BC Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Churches Federation.
Visiting the graves of ancestors, known as obon, is an important tradition in their culture — one that was missing for sites on the Island. It was a need recognized by Kelowna-based Sensei Shinjo Ikuta in the 1950s.
He started a tour that year — visiting Japanese cemeteries around the Island including those in Victoria, Port Alberni and Cumberland. In some cases it was extremely difficult finding lost, unkept or vandalized markers.
The honour of maintaining the obon visits was taken on by a few organizations in the years since, before landing with the BC Buddhist Churches Federation in 1982. They started a weekend bus tour that still visits Japanese cemetery sites on the Island — and they’ll be coming to the Comox Valley Aug. 11.
“We had a much stronger connection with the Village of Cumberland because there is a separate Japanese cemetery,” said North about the location off Union Road. “We’ve had a lot of support from the village.”
That support will continue this year, said Coun. Leslie Baird, who’s organizing a dinner that evening.
“They’re showing their respect for the deceased in the cemetery because you learn from the past,” said Baird.
It’s an honour for the past that the village is happy to share, she added.
Everyone is welcome to the ceremony at 11 a.m., at the cemetery, where there will be some chanting, and a flower-laying ceremony. A dinner will also be held that night at the Cumberland legion. Doors open at 6 p.m., food at 7 p.m. and tickets are $20 at the village office.
For more information call 336-2718.
reportercomoxvalleyrecord.com
