Gordon Goichi Nakayama (G.G. Nakayama, 中山吾一, 16 November 1900 – 8 October 1995) was

Japanese Canadian are Canadian citizens of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Canadians are mostly concentrated in Western Canada, especially in the province of British Columbia, which hosts the largest Japanese community in the country with the majority of them living ...

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

priest, author and

pedophile Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty a ...

. He was active in his ministry in Western Canada and the Pacific Rim (notably

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

, Southern Japan) for 62 years from 1932 to 1994. G.G. Nakayama has been the subject of controversy surrounding the Anglican Church and their handling of child abuse claims. In 2015 the Anglican Church of Canada revealed that it had received a written confession from Nakayama of his abuse in 1994, and apologizing for withholding the information from the public and the police for over 20 years.

Life

G.G. Nakayama was born in the village of Kurakawa, Ozu-shi, Ehime-ken, Japan in 1900 and immigrated to Canada in 1919. Nakayama settled in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

and was ordained as a priest in 1934 under the

Anglican Diocese of New Westminster The Diocese of New Westminster is one of five dioceses of the Ecclesiastical Province of British Columbia and the Yukon of the Anglican Church of Canada. The see city is Vancouver. The current bishop is the Right Reverend John Stephens. He was ...

. Nakayama helped to build two stone churches and one addition in Vancouver, and in 1941 all three were seized by the City of Vancouver as part of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

seizure of Japanese property enacted by the

Federal Government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

. Nakayama, his family, and all 22,000 Japanese Canadians living in British Columbia were expelled in 1942 from the coast following an Order-In-Council from the Prime Minister's cabinet mandating a 100-mile (160 Km) exclusion zone from the Pacific Coast.

Internment camps Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

were scattered, remote communities isolated from one another. Mobility rights were controlled. Nakayama, as an ordained priest and community leader, was permitted to travel between the camps. It is known that on Nakayama's visits to communities he would often be invited to stay in different homes. This right continued after the end of WWII in 1945 and Japanese Canadians were dispersed across Canada as the Japanese were prevented from living in British Columbia until 1949. After the war ended the Nakayama family settled in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, along with 4000 other Japanese Canadians. Nakayama traveled extensively in his ministry and preached on all six inhabited

continent A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...

s visiting over twenty countries. He was in

, Japan when he was caught by two priests molesting a child. Sent home in disgrace in 1952, Nakayama continued his ministry under the Diocese of Calgary. He and his family resided in Coaldale where he established the Anglican Church of the Ascension and served as minister until 1978. Following his retirement in Alberta Nakayama moved to Vancouver, BC, where he presided over Holy Cross Japanese Anglican Church until his second retirement.

Controversy

Confession

At the age of 94 Nakayama typed a letter dated 28 December 1994 from his home in Vancouver, BC, where he acknowledged his pedophilia and admitted to child abuse by calling it "sexual bad behaviour". He gave this letter to the Anglican Church, leading to being charged with

immorality Immorality is the violation of moral laws, norms or standards. It refers to an agent doing or thinking something they know or believe to be wrong. Immorality is normally applied to people or actions, or in a broader sense, it can be applied to g ...

by the Bishop of

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Barry Curtis Barry Curtis may refer to: * Barry Curtis (actor) (1943–2019), American film and television actor * Barry Curtis (mayor) (born 1939), served as mayor (1983–2007) of Manukau City, New Zealand ** Barry Curtis Park, a park in south Auckland, New Z ...

and his retirement as a priest. The full letter has been published on the website for the

in the following text. No criminal charges were brought against the priest and his crimes and admission of guilt were not reported to the police. The inaction by the Anglican Church in Nakayama's criminal actions of sexual misconduct followed a pattern of neglect by officials in the

Anglican Communion sexual abuse cases The Anglican Communion sexual abuse cases are a series of allegations, investigations, trials, and convictions of child sexual abuse crimes committed by clergy, members of religious orders and lay members of the Anglican Communion. Anglican Chur ...

. This pattern of protecting priests and the Church's image parallels the handling of child sexual abuse cases in the Roman Catholic Church.

Dear Friends, I am very sorry to apologize what I did in the past. I made mistake. My moral life with my sexual bad behaviour. I sincerely sorry what I did to so many people. I hope you forgive me my past mistake. I hope you live a happy life now. Yours sincerely, G. G. Nakayama

Anglican Healing Fund for Japanese Canadians

The Anglican Church of Canada issued an apology on 15 June 2015, for not reporting Mr. Nakayama to police at the time of his confession in 1994. This apology expressed a commitment by the Anglican Church to work with members of the Japanese Canadian community in a healing and reconciliation process. In April 2021, $610,000 CAD of funding was announced by the Anglican Church and the

National Association of Japanese Canadians National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

to create a Healing Fund to support the survivors of Mr. Nakayama's abuse, their family members, and community members in their healing journeys. As part of this announcement the Anglican Church also agreed to cover the costs of a Facilitator/Project Manager to lead a project team. Healing support covers counselling costs, education support, and public education programming. These support programs will be active in the Fund from 9 September 2021 – 9 September 2026.

Literature

Joy Kogawa Joy Nozomi Kogawa (born June 6, 1935) is a Canadian poet and novelist of Japanese descent. Life Kogawa was born Joy Nozomi Nakayama on June 6, 1935, in Vancouver, British Columbia, to first-generation Japanese Canadians Lois Yao Nakayama a ...

, Canadian author and G.G. Nakayama's daughter, confronted her father upon learning of his child sexual abuse and assault and learned that he abused around 300 children, mostly boys, from the ages of pre-schoolers to

adolescents Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the te ...

over his six-decade tenure as a priest. Much of the information surrounding Nakayama's abuse comes from Joy Kogawa's novels, where Kogawa draws from her life experiences with Nakayama and with the internment as major plot elements to create elegant, semi-fictionalized narratives. From ''The Rain Ascends'' and ''Gently to Nagasaki'' Kogawa makes sexual abuse and her struggle with her father's legacy a central focus. Nakayama was also, himself, a victim of child sexual assault.

Reference section

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakayama, Gordon Goichi Japanese-Canadian internees 1900 births Child sexual abuse scandals in Anglicanism Canadian writers of Asian descent 1995 deaths People from Tosa Domain Writers from Alberta