By Jayson Dimanno

BEACH RESIDENT and composer Kokichi Kusano

will be presenting the theatrical musical The Nae Project (The Rice Seedling) this month.

The show, which Kusano also performs in, mixes Japan’s theatrical, musical, and festival traditions to examine a story of extreme human pain, compassion, and determination Nae will be on stage from May 5 to 7 at the Harbourfront Centre.

“We’re most excited to share it with people who are not of Japanese background,” said Kusano in an interview with Beach Metro Community News

“We took this play, which was written a couple of years ago, and was written all in Japanese. We wanted to make it more accessible to the audience. We captioned it in English and Japanese; more than 70 per cent was converted into English.”

Kusano added that the production kept the Japanese for the poetry and some of the music as Japanese was the language that sounded and felt right.

The story of Nae is about Kusano going through a hard time in life, with his father dealing with bone

PHOTO: SUBMITTED

The Nae Demon is shown from the production of The Nae Project (The Rice Seedling) which takes the stage at the Harbourfront Centre starting on May 5. marrow cancer. Kusano said this was a “dark, depressing time.”

In the performance, he uses the arts to cope with his emotions. Given what many people have dealt with over the past few years, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a lot that people can relate to, he said, as the characters express these thoughts and feelings in the story.

“It is not a story meant to directly relate to my experience. It talks about people dealing with circumstances that are out of their control and how people persevere through these situations,” said Kusano.

Born and raised in the Beach, Kusano’s mother is of Scottish descent (from Northern Ontario), and his father is of Japanese descent (born in Neys, Ontario). When his father moved to Toronto, they settled in the Riverdale area. His grandfather had a house along Courcelette Road for many years, and Kusano himself grew up in Upper Beaches on Kingswood Road while attending Kew Beach and Adam Beck schools growing up.

“I’ve always bounced back to the Beaches,” he said. “It’s funny because it has changed over the years, but it does not change all that much over time.”

Kusano said he has played many instruments and covered many different musical genres over the years, something that traditional Japanese composers usually do not do, as they only specialize in one genre and one instrument. However, he plays the Shinobue (transverse bamboo flute) and the Shakuhachi (vertical bamboo flute), but Kusano said his favourite is the drums.

“I love the drumming. It is a big part of the performance,” said Kusano, who performed with the Taiko Drumming Team when he was younger. The Nae Project is about much more than the music, he said.

“It is not about the acrobatic musical performances or the musical performers as the centre stage, but how can we complement the costumes, the acting, and the story with the music we play,” said Kusano. “That is the project I wanted to create. This is what the production has become, and I am very pleased with it.”

He said he hopes The Nae Project can go on to play to audiences across the country as some of the other performers are also from Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta.

“[I] hope we have a successful launch and promote it where people want to see it. It was originally written to be performed at the Japanese Cultural Centre in Toronto, but they were not available,” he explained, hoping to find a later date to perform there.

Showtimes at the Harbourfront Centre are 8 p.m. on May 5; 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. on May 6, and 2 p.m. on May 7. For more info about the performances and to purchase tickets, visit https://.harbourfrontcentre.com/event/ nae-the-rice-seedling

Beach residents campaign for the release of Canadian Huseyin Celil

WHEN THE “two Michaels,” Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, were incarcerated in China in 2019, they became the focus of national attention. After nearly three years, 1019 days to be exact, they were set free.

But another Canadian unjustly imprisoned still languishes behind bars in China. He is Huseyin Celil, held for 17 years and counting.

Beach residents and other members of Amnesty International Group 164/123 (Toronto East) are campaigning to win his release. They ask local residents who share their concern about human rights to take part in a postcard campaign to bring this man home. Everyone is welcome to pick up a prepared postcard from one of the locations below, sign it, and mail it. It’s addressed to China’s ambassador to Canada and urges him to press his government to release Celil.

The two Michaels were incarcerated in retaliation for the house arrest in Canada of Meng Wanzhou, wanted on a U.S. warrant for bank fraud in connection with the technology firm Huawei. That story ended well for the two Michaels. Both were set free within 24 hours of Meng’s return to China after she obtained a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. Meanwhile, Celil’s story goes on with little attention and no release in sight.

In 2001, Celil knew he had to get out of China – as an Imam in northwest China, peacefully advocating for the rights of Uyghurs to practice their religion, he had already been imprisoned for 18 months. On his release, he went to Uzbekistan where he met, and eventually married, Kamila Talendibaeva. After obtaining refugee status from the United Nations Human Rights Commission, Celil made his way to Canada and settled with his family in Burlington.

In 2005, Celil obtained his Canadian citizenship and in 2006 the family made a fateful trip to Uzbekistan to visit his wife’s parents who were in poor health. Unbeknownst to him, China had an extradition arrangement with Uzbekistan that resulted in his detention and transfer to China. There, he was charged with terrorism and “splitism,” the pursuit of factional interests independent of the official Communist Party position. Celil’s trial was a sham with no evidence linking him to terrorism. During his trial, authorities prevented him from speaking to his lawyer or presenting evidence on his own behalf. Though a Canadian citizen, he was denied consular representation. Initially, Celil was sentenced to death, which was later commuted to life in prison. In 2018 his sentence was changed to 20 years, starting afresh! Since 2016, no one has been able to contact him; both his location and the status of his health are unknown and he has been denied, and has never received, consular visits. His trial and imprisonment mocks China’s commitment to abide by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and violates China’s own constitutional guarantee of the right to freedom of expression.

In lobbying for Celil’s immediate release, Group 164/123, along with several other groups across Canada, conduct such activities as letter-writing campaigns to Canadian and Chinese government officials and raising money to support Celil’s wife and four sons, one of whom he has never met. The goal of the current postcard campaign is to send over 2,000 cards to the Chinese ambassador. In his speech to Canada’s Parliament on March 24, U.S. President Joe Biden made this remark about “our” citizens: “They’re human beings with lives and families that must be respected. And I’m very glad to see the two Michaels, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, are safely back with their families after more than 1,000 days — 1,000 days in detention.” A standing ovation followed for the two Michaels seated in the gallery. Sadly, no mention was made of our other citizen, Huseyin Celil.

-- Written by Andrew Wilson and Brian Deming on behalf of Group 164/123 Toronto East. Postcards can be picked up at: Beach Metro News, 2196 Gerrard St. E.; Beaches Recreation Centre, 6 Williamson Rd. – see the Community Bulletin Board in the lobby; or, Juice & Java Café, 2102 Queen St. E. – see the Community Board upstairs. This article is based on research provided by Amnesty International and a white paper published by the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. Amnesty International Group 164/123 meets the first Tuesday of every month. For info, email ai164toronto@gmail.com