The Cipiyak Project – stories of Japanese connections with Aotearoa

Curator Grace Gassin introduces a new project highlighting taonga in the national collection belonging to Ainu, an indigenous people of 日本 Japan, as well as stories of Japanese migration to Aotearoa New Zealand.

What does a young Japanese migrant from Hiroshima bring with her to her new adopted country? Setsuko Yotsugi brought a few things with her to start a future life in Wellington: hopes, dreams, resilience, and values. Here, her daughter Deb Donnelly tells the story of her mother’s journey to Aotearoa New Zealand and how she kept her connection with her birth country alive.

Various members of the Donnelly family remember their mother and grandmother Japanese migrant Setsuko Donnelly through the cherished Japanese meals and cultural practices she passed on to them.

Ainu scholar, artist, and activist Kanako Uzawa discusses the representation of Japan’s colonial history in museums and public spaces