07 Mar 2025
Posted by Kelly Fleck 
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JCCC Past President recognized with the imperial decoration on Sept. 12. Gary Kawaguchi with his wife, Gayle, and Consul-General Takeshi Matsunaga during the ceremony at his official residence. Photo credit: Consulate General of Japan in Toronto.
TORONTO — During a ceremony with family, friends, and community members, Gary Kawaguchi, former president of the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, was conferred the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays by Consul-General of Japan Takeshi Matsunaga on Sept. 12.
The prestigious imperial decoration recognizes Kawaguchi’s contributions to promoting Japanese culture in Canada and friendship and goodwill between Japan and Canada.
“I am delighted to celebrate with all the guests present this evening the accomplishments of an invaluable supporter of Japan, an esteemed leader within Toronto’s Japanese Canadian community, and a treasured friend of the Consulate General of Japan in Toronto,” said Matsunaga.
Kawaguchi is a long-serving member of the board of directors and past president of the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre. He joined the board in 1993 and served as president from 2009 until 2022. Kawaguchi continues to provide advice and support to strengthen the Japanese Canadian community as an advisor to the centre.
With a corporate background that includes Pepsi-Cola Canada, Canadian Tire, Canada Trust, and Look Communications, and the founder and president of PRL Benefits Limited, he brings his business acumen to the various boards he serves on.
He has also served on the boards of the JCCC Foundation, Canadian Cancer Society, Summit Golf and Country Club (president), Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre, and an advisor to the Japanese Canadian Legacies Society.
JCCC Past President Gary Kawaguchi with Consul-General Matsunaga. Photo credit: Consulate General of Japan in Toronto.
“Volunteerism has had a profound impact on my life. I’ve given my time to hospitals and other not-for-profit boards, but nowhere did I find so much satisfaction [than] in getting to understand the community. I would never have had the opportunity to meet so many wonderful families and individuals across Canada, some of whom are in this room tonight,” Kawaguchi said during the ceremony. “Today would have been a very meaningful event for my parents. But I know they were happy to see me eventually get involved in the community.”
Matsunaga highlighted how, under Kawaguchi’s leadership, the JCCC’s activities expanded further to promote Japanese culture to new generations, whether Japanese Canadian or not.
As president, he held careful dialogue with Issei, Nisei, and Shin-Ijusha to ensure the centre would be a place where generations of Japanese Canadians and interested Canadians could gather, preserve, and celebrate Japanese culture.
“The fact that he served as president of the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre for approximately 14 years is a testimony to the trust he has earned,” said Matsunaga.
Matsunaga also highlighted Kawaguchi’s contributions to the JCCC’s expansion. Kawaguchi played a leading role in the large-scale fundraising for the purchase of new land and the construction of the new facility on Sakura Way (then Garamond Court) when the community had outgrown the original JCCC on Wynford Drive in the 90s.
During that time, JCCC transformed itself with the acquisition in 1996 of a new 114,000 sq ft facility on 8.1 acres in Don Mills and sold its original iconic heritage building designed by Raymond Moriyama. Over 16 years, the JCCC invested over $17 million of capital into renovations to create the current cultural centre.
After stepping into the position of the president, Kawaguchi and the JCCC worked hard to attract tenants such as a kaiseki restaurant and a nursery, and build sustainable financial and management models for real estate projects, contributing to the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre’s stable financial revenue basis, said Matsunaga.
Gary Kawaguchi with architect Bruce Kuwabara. Photo credit: Consulate General of Japan in Toronto.
“He’s drawn on his extensive professional experience in the private sector. And somehow, he’s found the intersection between business and culture. And he is on the same journey of trying to understand who he is. But what he understands, as much as anyone here, is the idea of community service,” said Bruce Kuwabara, leading the room in a toast and closing the formal portion of the evening.
Architect, Order of Canada recipient, and friend Kuwabara is a founding partner of KPMB Architects and was the architect of record for the current JCCC. He highlighted the positive impact that Kawaguchi has had on him as a Sansei and on the Japanese Canadian community.
“To be a member of the Order of the Rising Sun is really appropriate because it reinforces everything I’ve witnessed over the last 25 years. Because his contribution, his service, and his volunteerism are consistent, it doesn’t come and go. He conducts himself in his daily life and with all of his relationships in a very consistent and fair way. That’s what we look for in our leaders. That’s what I look for. I look for someone that I can actually trust, and I trust him. And he treats everyone with respect. Now, there is a Japanese value if there ever was one,” said Kuwabara.
“It’s a huge honour, but it’s really well deserved. Gary Kawaguchi, for me, is an outstanding Japanese Canadian. He’s a husband, a father, a man who puts family and community first. He’s a citizen of Canada. He’s a friend, and now he’s a member of the Order of the Rising Sun.”
Kawaguchi has supported and spoken at many other community members’ conferment ceremonies, like Nisei journalist and Second World War veteran Frank Moritsugu in 2019—it’s about time for Kawaguchi to be recognized. During his speech, Kawaguchi paid tribute to the support from tenacious JCCC leaders before him, such as Sid Ikeda and Steve Oikawa.
“I have to give a special thanks to people like Sid Ikeda and Steve Oikawa, [who] both sadly passed away in the last year. Sid was a giant in the community. When Sid asked you to join something, you had no choice. He recruited me—or volunteered me—to the board over 30 years ago. Over the years, Steve was my sounding board for any issue, and we missed them both greatly.”
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