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Profile 2 - Ken Ohtake
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By Bill Hutchins with photography by Bernard Clark
 There’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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Profile Kingston and Summer in the City are divisions
of Riverview Publishing Inc.
© 2012 Profile Kingston/Summer in the City/Riverview Publishing
Inc. No reproduction or republication in whole or part without written
permission.
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