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Profile 2 - Ken Ohtake

By Bill Hutchins with photography by Bernard Clark

Gene O'ReillyThere’s an old Japanese expression that really gets under the skin of Ken Ohtake: Shikata ga nai essentially means “Nothing can be done about it.”
Well, according to Ken, there’s plenty to be done.
The Kingston resident has never been one to accept the status quo of life and some of the decisions that affect the world around him. He doesn’t seek confrontation, but neither is he afraid to speak his mind about something that concerns him or the community. Think of Ken Ohtake (pronounced oh’-ta-ke) as community advocate, not activist.

“I see myself speaking out when a lot of people are thinking the same thing but reluctant
to say anything. I’m willing
to advocate,” he says during
an interview from his modest brick home near the Queen’s University campus. “I believe that people are reasonable, but when that fails, you have to do something else.”

The Toronto-born baby boomer saw what Shikata ga nai did to thousands of Japanese-Canadians during the Second World War, including his parents, Frank and Miyoko. His mother, who lived in coastal British Columbia at the time, was among 23,000 Japanese-Canadians who had their belongings confiscated and were interned in prison camps. . . .

 
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