One of the things we love most about Canada is the cultural diversity. It’s easy to find culture-rich pockets and places in cities across our beautiful country, like at Nikkei Place in Burnaby.
Nikkei Place is the largest and most comprehensive Japanese-Canadian complex in Canada. Housed within a relatively small building are the National Nikkei Heritage Centre, the Japanese Canadian National Museum, the New Sakura-so seniors’ housing, Hi Genki Japanese Restaurant, and Suzuya Japanese Market. And with the beautiful Nikkei Garden surrounding the complex, it was easy to imagine we had been transported to Japan.
We were happy to discover that Nikkei Place is very family-friendly. We wandered through the Heritage Centre with toddler in tow, and were met with welcoming smiles. The centre holds many family events throughout the year, like the upcoming screening of One Big Hapa Family. The museum is small, but filled with beautiful photographs and artifacts. And the museum store sells a variety of Japanese art, kids’ books, posters, and more sure to delight.
While we loved the museum and our walks through the garden (which included discussions about why our pockets aren’t for storing rocks), our favourite part of Nikkei Place was the food. The Hi Genki Japanese Restaurant is casual and friendly, with plenty of high chairs should you come, like us, with a squadron of toddlers. The menu is limited, but the portions are large (except for the mini udon bowl, which is only $3 and perfect for little ones) and incredibly delicious. Our favourite was the sake curry, and the tempura ice cream is to die for … trust us. There is always a line up, so bring toys to entertain restless kiddos.
If you’re looking for more grab-and-go, there’s a relatively new addition to Nikkei Place – the Suzuya Japanese market, which is filled with handmade fresh ramen, frozen sushi-grade fish, specialty desserts, assorted soy sauces, and more. The staff are amazing, so if you’re like us and aren’t well-versed in Japanese cooking, make sure to ask for help.
As much as we’d love to visit Japan, the thought of traveling with our kids on a 10+hour flight makes us want to scream. So we’ll stick with the short drive to Burnaby for now.
Nikkei Place: www.nikkeiplace.org
604.777.7000
6688 Southoaks Crescent, Burnaby
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