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14-912: The Powell Street Festival is an ongoing annual festival in Paueru-Gai, Vancouver . Originating in 1977 the Powell Street Festival is the largest Japanese Canadian festival and the longest ongoing community event in Vancouver. The festival takes place in and around Oppenheimer Park . The Festival takes place every BC Day long weekend, which usually lands around the beginning of August. Powell Street Festival features both local, national, and international talent. It also features an outdoor venue with interactive installations, children's activities, craft market, martial arts demonstrations, taiko drumming , amateur sumo tournament, tea ceremonies , ikebana and bonsai demonstrations. This article related to

28-611: A Canadian festival is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Japantown, Vancouver Japantown , Little Tokyo or Paueru-gai ( パウエル街 , lit. "Powell Street") is an old neighbourhood in Vancouver , British Columbia, Canada, located east of Gastown and north of Chinatown , that once had a concentration of Japanese immigrants. Japantown ceased to be a distinct Japanese ethnic area during World War II when Japanese Canadians had their property confiscated and were interned . Although some Japanese returned after

42-446: A makeshift tent city, in protest of the city of Vancouver's attempt to evict homeless people that had been living in the park. Protesters cited the fact that Vancouver, including its parkland, is unceded First Nations' land and the B.C. Supreme Court decision in 2009, which stated that homeless persons are allowed to camp in a public park if no alternative shelters are available. The protesters and campers were given deadline to vacate

56-659: Is held every August, in the first weekend of the month, and is a community celebration of Japanese heritage as well as the alternative and street culture of the Downtown Eastside. Oppenheimer Park Oppenheimer Park is a park located in the historic Japantown (Paueru-Gai) in the Downtown Eastside , Vancouver , British Columbia , Canada . The park was opened in 1902 as the Powell Street Grounds by Vancouver's second mayor, David Oppenheimer , whom it

70-399: Is most notable as being the site of one of the large demonstrations of striking workers during the events of Bloody Sunday in 1938. The Asahi baseball team used the park as its home field prior to World War II. The park remained a popular middle-class family destination until the late 1980s, when crack cocaine trade and abuse began to dominate the park's usage. Since 2004, initiatives by

84-567: Is now part of Strathcona in the Downtown Eastside and the area is informally known as Railtown. Along Powell Street, a few remnants of the former Japanese neighbourhood still exist. The Vancouver Buddhist Church, formerly the Japanese Methodist Church, still exists at 220 Jackson Avenue at Powell, as does the Vancouver Japanese Language School and Japanese Hall at 475 and 487 Alexander Street at Jackson, which

98-536: Is the only property in Canada that was ever returned to Japanese Canadians after World War II. Until the boom in Japanese restaurants in the 1980s, two restaurants on Powell Street were among the only Japanese dining establishments in the city. Oppenheimer Park (Powell Street Grounds) in this area was the home for Asahi baseball team and it is the site for the annual two-day Powell Street Festival , which began in 1977. It

112-603: The Vancouver Police and the Strathcona Business Improvement Association have attempted to return the park to its original image of safe recreation, with some success. The park was upgraded in 2010 with reconfiguration of the pathways and additions of a playground, a basketball hoop and a new field house. In July 2014, members of the First Nations community occupied Oppenheimer Park by creating

126-558: The community, mitigating the need for welfare during the Great Depression. During World War II, Japanese Canadians had their property confiscated and were sent to internment camps and prisoner of war camps , and Japantown ceased to be a distinct Japanese ethnic area. Although some Japanese returned to the area after the war, the community never revived as the properties confiscated by the Canadian government were never returned. The area

140-402: The district was home to three Japanese daily papers (Tiriku Nippo, Canada Shimbun, and Minshu), three Buddhist churches, several sentō (Chitose, Tokiwa, Kotobuki, and Matsunoyu), and a Japanese language school with as many as one thousand students. By 1921, the number of Japanese stores and businesses on the street had reached 578. The kenjinkai (prefecture association) organized mutual aid for

154-529: The mob repulsed by armed Japantown residents who had received warning of the attacks in Chinatown. In spite of injuries inflicted by the residents, the rioters smashed the windows of more than 50 stores and businesses on Powell Street, causing thousands of dollars of damage. The centenary of the attacks was marked by a Riot Walk through Chinatown and Japantown on 7 September 2007. Prior to World War II , in addition to having many restaurants, hotels and businesses,

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168-473: The park on October 15, 2014 after injunction was granted to the Vancouver Park Board to evict the protesters from the site. Over 100 tents remained at the park after the deadline, but the protesters and campers were removed from park and five people were arrested on October 16, 2014 for resisting to vacate the park. During the late 2010s, it was the site of a large homeless encampment. The encampment

182-530: The war, the community never revived to its original state as the properties of Japanese Canadians were permanently forfeited by the Canadian government. As Japantown ceased to exist, the area is often referred to and marketed as Railtown by real estate developers. Japantown was attacked on 7 September 1907 by the Asiatic Exclusion League , which smashed many windows in parts of Chinatown, and then moved on to Japantown. Four waves of attacks ensued, with

196-407: Was later renamed in honour of. The park is bounded by Jackson and Dunlevy Avenues, and Powell and East Cordova Streets. The park's facilities include a softball field, a basketball hoop, a children's playground , and a community centre with bathrooms, meeting space, and public computer access. The park employs two full-time activity coordinators and several part-time staff. Historically, the park

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