Mata Ashita is an intergenerational writing circle for Japanese Canadians.
Mata ashita means see you tomorrow and for us, that means an enduring promise to take care of each other.
Our intergenerational writing workshops offer opportunities for Nikkei folks of all ages and experiences to share stories that matter, confront the transcolonial histories that have shaped us, and widen our perspectives on what it means to be part of this community. This initiative started as a way of making community conversations about mental health and wellbeing more accessible during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we hope to provide a safe space for folks to check-in, reconnect and explore their identities.
Japanese Canadian writing has long been a medium through which our community has found incredible power and meaning, and we hope to continue this tradition with writers new and old. Whether you’re expanding your writing practice or just getting started, Mata Ashita is a place where you belong.
Meet the organizers.
Current team
Sarah is a mixed-race Japanese (yonsei) and French Canadian emerging writer and creative from Tkaronto, treaty 13 territory, who publishes under the pen name Eiko Nori. She graduated with an MA in English Literature from the University of Toronto. As the descendant of World War II Japanese Canadian internees, she has the distinct drive not only to tell stories, but also to speak the unspeakable. Her work is a celebration of femininity, identity, and community formation. She is currently working on a multi-generational haunted house story.
Erica H Isomura is an award-winning essayist, poet, and multi-disciplinary artist of Chinese and Japanese (yonsei/四世) descent. Born and raised on the west coast, Erica currently resides in Tkarón:to/Toronto, ON. Erica is currently at work on a collection of poems and essays, and a graphic project exploring fragmented Japanese Canadian memory.
Megan is a queer, mixed-race Yonsei poet, writer, and overall creative person. She is a settler based on Treaty 1 Territory, the ancestral lands of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and the homeland of the Métis nation, also known as Winnipeg. Her creative work explores concepts of identity, place, and belonging with a focus on intergenerational emotion, memory, and understanding. She also manages Willow Press, a queer-owned, community-oriented indie bookstore in Winnipeg focused on highlighting underrepresented voices.
Megan has been attending Mata Ashita sessions as a participant since day one. She’s eternally grateful for the connections, conversations, and care she’s shared with others in this space and is honoured to be welcomed as a facilitator.
Founding team
Leanne is a mixed-race Yonsei writer and educator who grew up as a settler in Ganatsekwyagon, also known as Scarborough. As a psychiatric survivor, her doctoral work at the University of Toronto is grounded in disability arts and race and citizenship studies, focusing on the intergenerational impact of the Japanese Canadian internment. Her debut novel, Never Been Better, will be published in 2024 by HarperCollins.
Leanne finds inspiration and solace in the collective care of Mata Ashita and looks forward to growing alongside this incredible community.
Sen is a mixed race Yonsei settler from Oahu, Hawaii currently residing on the unceded, occupied territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations also known as Vancouver.
Sen is a multidisciplinary designer and digital storyteller with a background in Cognitive Systems. They are motivated by community media and interested in leveraging emerging mediums to investigate perceptions of the self and the intersections of space, place and cultural memory.
Nicola is Yonsei with Irish, Scottish, German, and English ancestry, who grew up as a settler in Nogojiwanong on Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg territory.
They are a community organizer, mediator, and peer supporter moved by food, plants, art, and human connection. Nico is interested in how we can live with more compassion, kindness, and care towards ourselves, each other, and the earth alongside challenging and resisting colonialism and capitalism in all its forms.
Nico is grateful for the inspiring community that has formed out of Mata Ashita. She always looks forward to connecting with Japanese Canadians through our shared history and present as we build together for the future.
FAQ
We encourage any and all self-identifying Japanese Canadians from any and all creative backgrounds to join our workshops. Japanese Canadian identity is nebulous and many of us struggle to place ourselves within it. If, as you read this, you are wondering if you are Japanese Canadian enough to attend, you are in good company. We invite you to lean into the collective struggle of Japanese Canadian identity with us.
No writing experience is necessary to join – just a commitment to holding space for yourself and others as we navigate what it means to be together in community.
Each session is led by an experienced writing-for-wellness instructor (Leanne Toshiko Simpson) and facilitator (Sen Canute), and will include a community support specialist (Nicola Koyanagi) to help process any difficult feelings that arise.
Our regular Saturday afternoon workshops begin at 12 pm pacific/3 pm eastern and feature a 30-minute Q&A followed by an hour-long writing exploration and an optional 30-minute social time.
A couple days before a session, a Zoom link will be sent to the email you used to reserve tickets. If, for whatever reason, you don’t receive a link, are unable to join the session, or are otherwise facing barriers with your technology, please email mataashitawriting [at] gmail [dot] com and we’ll do our best to help you join!
Whoops! If you have any lingering questions, concerns, or just want to say hello, please reach out to mataashitawriting [at] gmail [dot] com.