are
Canadian citizens
Canadian nationality law details the conditions in which a person is a national of Canada. With few exceptions, almost all individuals born in the country are automatically citizens at birth. Foreign nationals may naturalize after living in C ...
of
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
ancestry. Japanese Canadians are mostly concentrated in
Western Canada
Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada†...
, especially in the province of
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, which hosts the largest Japanese community in the country with the majority of them living in and around
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 ...
. In 2016, there were 121,485 Japanese Canadians throughout Canada.
Generations
The term
Nikkei (日系) was coined by sociologists and encompasses all of the world's Japanese immigrants across generations. Japanese descendants living overseas have special names for each of their generations. These are formed by combining one of the
Japanese numerals
The Japanese numerals are the number names used in Japanese. In writing, they are the same as the Chinese numerals, and large numbers follow the Chinese style of grouping by 10,000. Two pronunciations are used: the Sino-Japanese (on'yomi) readings ...
with the Japanese word for
generation
A generation refers to all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It can also be described as, "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–â 30 years, during which children are born and gr ...
(''sei'', 世):
*
Issei
is a Japanese-language term used by ethnic Japanese in countries in North America and South America to specify the Japanese people who were the first generation to immigrate there. are born in Japan; their children born in the new country are ...
(一世) – The first generation of immigrants, born in Japan before moving to Canada.
*
Nisei
is a Japanese-language term used in countries in North America and South America to specify the ethnically Japanese children born in the new country to Japanese-born immigrants (who are called ). The are considered the second generation, ...
(二世) – The second generation, born in Canada to Issei parents not born in Canada.
*
Sansei
is a Japanese and North American English term used in parts of the world such as South America and North America to specify the children of children born to ethnic Japanese in a new country of residence. The ''nisei'' are considered the second g ...
(三世) – The third generation, born in Canada to Nisei parents born in Canada.
*
Yonsei (四世) – The fourth generation, born in Canada to Sansei parents born in Canada.
*
Gosei (五世) – The fifth generation, born in Canada to Yonsei parents born in Canada.
History
Early years
The first Japanese settler in Canada was
Manzo Nagano was the first Japanese person to officially immigrate to Canada.
Biography
Manzo Nagano emigrated from Japan to Canada in 1877, arriving in New Westminster, British Columbia. He became a salmon fisherman working in the Fraser River and later moved ...
, who lived in
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...
in 1877 (a mountain in the province was named after him in 1977). The first generation or
Issei
is a Japanese-language term used by ethnic Japanese in countries in North America and South America to specify the Japanese people who were the first generation to immigrate there. are born in Japan; their children born in the new country are ...
, mostly came to
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...
, the
Fraser Valley
The Fraser Valley is a geographical region in southwestern British Columbia, Canada and northwestern Washington State. It starts just west of Hope in a narrow valley encompassing the Fraser River and ends at the Pacific Ocean stretching from the ...
and
Rivers Inlet
Rivers Inlet is a fjord in the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, its entrance off Fitz Hugh Sound, about southwest of the community of Bella Coola and about north of the northern tip of Vancouver Island and the ...
from fishing villages on the islands of
Kyūshū
is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...
and
Honshū
, historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of HokkaidŠacross the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...
between 1877 and 1928. A Japanese community newspaper for Vancouver residents was first launched in 1897. Around the same time, the Fraser River Japanese Fishermen’s Association Hospital in
Steveston
Steveston, founded in the 1880s, is a neighbourhood of Richmond in Metro Vancouver. On the southwest tip of Lulu Island, the village is a historic port and salmon canning centre at the mouth of the South Arm of the Fraser River. The early 1900s st ...
was established after the local hospital refused to admit and treat Japanese immigrants.
In 1907, the
Asiatic Exclusion League
The Asiatic Exclusion League (often abbreviated AEL) was an organization formed in the early 20th century in the United States and Canada that aimed to prevent immigration of people of Asian origin.
United States
In May 1905, a mass meeting was h ...
was established in Vancouver and, by September of that year, led a mob of rioters who vandalized both Chinese and Japanese neighbourhoods.
In 1908, Canada enacted a Gentlemen's Agreement intended to curb further Japanese immigration to Canada.
Influenced by the American
Immigration Act of 1924
The Immigration Act of 1924, or Johnson–Reed Act, including the Asian Exclusion Act and National Origins Act (), was a United States federal law that prevented immigration from Asia and set quotas on the number of immigrants from the Eastern ...
, members of the British Columbia parliament pushed for a total federal ban on immigration in the 1920s. After several years of negotiations, Japan eventually agreed to reduce its immigration quota under the Gentleman's Agreement to only 150 persons per year.
Internment
In 1942, the
Canadian government
The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in-C ...
used the ''
War Measures Act
The ''War Measures Act'' (french: Loi sur les mesures de guerre; 5 George V, Chap. 2) was a statute of the Parliament of Canada that provided for the declaration of war, invasion, or insurrection, and the types of emergency measures that could t ...
'' to brand Japanese-Canadians enemy aliens and to categorize them as security threats. There were 20,881 Japanese placed in internment camps and road camps in British Columbia;l and prisoner-of-war camps in Ontario. Families were also sent as forced labourers to farms throughout the prairies. Three quarters of them were already citizens in Canada. A parallel situation occurred in the United States, the
Japanese American internment
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
.
The property and homes of Japanese Canadians living in the province of British Columbia were seized and sold off without their consent in 1943. The funds were used to pay for their internment. They also had to "pay rent" for living in the internment shacks that they were assigned. In 1945, after the war, as part of the continued effort to remove all Japanese Canadians from British Columbia, Prime Minister
William Lyon MacKenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Li ...
had his cabinet pass Orders-in-Council to extend the powers of the ''War Measures Act'' and give Japanese Canadians two "options:" to be relocated to another province "East of the Rockies" or to go "back" to Japan though most were born in Canada and had never been to Japan. After organized protests by against their treatment, they were finally given the right to vote in 1949. Mobility restrictions were lifted in 1949.
After World War II
Until 1948, Japanese-Canadians, both ''Issei'' and Canadian-born ''Nisei'', were denied the right to vote. Those born in the 1950s and 1960s in Canada are mostly ''
Sansei
is a Japanese and North American English term used in parts of the world such as South America and North America to specify the children of children born to ethnic Japanese in a new country of residence. The ''nisei'' are considered the second g ...
'', the third generation. ''Sansei'' usually have little knowledge of the
Japanese language
is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ma ...
. Over 75% of the ''Sansei'' have married non-Japanese. ''Nisei'' and ''Sansei'' generally identify themselves not as fully Japanese but as Canadians first who happen to have Japanese ancestry.
Since 1967, the second wave of immigrants were usually highly educated and resided in urban areas.
In the late 1970s and the 1980s, documents on the Japanese Canadian internment were released, and redress was sought by the National Association of Japanese Canadians, an organization representing Japanese Canadians nationally that was headed by
Art Miki
Arthur Kazumi Miki, (born 1936) is an activist and politician in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He was president of the National Association of Japanese Canadians from 1984 to 1992, and is best known for his work in seeking compensation for Japanes ...
from Winnipeg. In 1986, it was shown that Japanese Canadians had lost $443 million during the internment. There were 63% of Canadians who supported redress and 45% who favoured individual compensation. On September 22, 1988, the National Association of Japanese Canadians succeeded in negotiating a redress settlement with the government at the time, under the leadership of Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993.
Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political sci ...
. The settlement included $21,000 for each individual directly affected, which was by 1993 almost 18,000 survivors. The federal government also provided a community endowment fund to assist in rebuilding the community, which is run by the National Association of Japanese Canadians. In addition, to address the more systemic racism that led to the plan and later justifications of the effort to remove "all people of Japanese racial origin" from Canadian territory, the redress settlement included the establishment of the Race Relations Foundation and challenges to the ''War Measures Act''. The Prime Minister also offered a formal apology in the House of Commons and the certificate of acknowledgement of injustices of the past, which was sent to each Japanese Canadian whose rights had been stripped, incarcerated, dispossessed and forcibly displaced.
The younger generation of Japanese-Canadians born in the late 20th century are mostly ''Yonsei'', the fourth generation. Many ''Yonsei'' are of mixed racial descent. According to
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...
's 2001 census of population information, Japanese-Canadians were the Canadian visible minority group most likely to have a formal or common-law marriage with a non-Japanese partner. Out of the 25,100 couples in Canada in 2001 that had at least one Japanese person, in only 30% of them were both partners of Japanese descent. As of 2001, 65% of Canada's Japanese population was born in Canada.
Education
HoshÅ« jugyÅ kÅ
, or are supplementary Japanese schools located in foreign countries for students living abroad with their families. ''HoshÅ« jugyÅ kÅ'' educate Japanese-born children who attend local day schools. They generally operate on weekends, after scho ...
(Japanese supplementary schools) for instruction of the Japanese language include those in Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, London, Montreal, Ottawa, Saskatoon, Toronto, and Vancouver.
[北米ã®è£œç¿’授æ¥æ ¡ä¸€è¦§ï¼ˆå¹³æˆ25å¹´4月15æ—¥ç¾åœ¨ï¼‰]
" () MEXT
The , also known as MEXT or Monka-shÅ, is one of the eleven Ministries of Japan that composes part of the executive branch of the Government of Japan. Its goal is to improve the development of Japan in relation with the international community. ...
. Retrieved on May 5, 2014.
With teachers from Japan:
*
Toronto Japanese School
* - Established on April 7, 1973 (
Showa Year 48).
Without teachers from Japan:
* Alberta
**
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 ...
Hoshuko Japanese School Association (カルガリー補習授æ¥æ ¡ ''KarugarÄ« HoshÅ« JugyÅ KÅ'')
** Metro
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
Japanese Community School (MEJCS; ã‚¨ãƒ‰ãƒ¢ãƒ³ãƒˆãƒ³è£œç¿’æ ¡ ''Edomonton HoshÅ«kÅ'')
* Nova Scotia
** Japanese School of
Halifax (ãƒãƒªãƒ•ã‚¡ãƒƒã‚¯ã‚¹è£œç¿’授æ¥æ ¡ ''Harifakkusu HoshÅ« JugyÅ KÅ'')
* Ontario
**
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
(CA) Japanese School (ãƒãƒ³ãƒ‰ãƒ³ï¼ˆï¼£ï¼¡ï¼‰è£œç¿’授æ¥æ ¡ ''Rondon HoshÅ« JugyÅ KÅ'')
** The
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
Hoshuko (ã‚ªã‚¿ãƒ¯è£œç¿’æ ¡ ''Otawa HoshÅ«kÅ'')
[Contact]
" The Ottawa Hoshuko. Retrieved on February 15, 2015. "æ—¥æœ¬å¤§ä½¿é¤¨ã€€é ˜äº‹çã€€ã‚ªã‚¿ãƒ¯è£œç¿’æ ¡äº‹å‹™å±€ã€€ã€€ï¼ˆä½æ‰€ï¼‰255 Sussex Dr., Ottawa, ON"
* Quebec
**
Montreal Hoshuko School
* Saskatchewan
**
Saskatoon
Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...
Japanese Language School (サスカトーン補習授æ¥æ ¡ ''SasukatÅn HoshÅ« JugyÅ KÅ'')
Demographics
Japanese Canadians by province or territory
Japanese Canadian population by province and territory in Canada in 2016 according to
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...
:
Gallery
File:Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, Steveston (2635520330).jpg, Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre in Steveston
Steveston, founded in the 1880s, is a neighbourhood of Richmond in Metro Vancouver. On the southwest tip of Lulu Island, the village is a historic port and salmon canning centre at the mouth of the South Arm of the Fraser River. The early 1900s st ...
, Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
, BC
File:Vancouver Japanese School and Hall.jpg, Vancouver Japanese Language School
is a language school located in Japantown, Vancouver, BC. Founded in 1906 as , it is the oldest Japanese language school in Canada.
History
The school opened on January 12, 1906 as the Japanese Citizens' School, its construction having been f ...
in Vancouver, BC is the oldest Japanese language school in Canada.
File:Vancouver_Buddhist_Church.jpg, Vancouver Buddhist Temple in Vancouver, BC
File:Founding members of the Canadian Japanese Association at the Japanese Canadian War Memorial.jpeg, Founding members of the Canadian Japanese Association at the Japanese Canadian War Memorial in Stanley Park
Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay. The park borders the neighbourhoods of West End and Coal ...
, Vancouver, BC
File:Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre National Historic Site of Canada.jpg, Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre
Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre is a museum that preserves and interprets one of ten Canadian concentration camps where more than 27,000 Japanese Canadians were incarcerated by the Canadian government during and after World War II (1942 to 1 ...
in New Denver
New Denver is at the mouth of Carpenter Creek, on the east shore of Slocan Lake, in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. The village is west of Kaslo on Highway 31A, and southeast of Nakusp and northeast of Slocan on ...
, BC is designated as a National Historic Site of Canada
National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment
An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of t ...
.
Notable people
See also
*
Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Temples of Canada
The Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Temples of Canada are a group of temples and fellowships that are affiliated with the Nishi Hongan-ji of Kyoto, Japan, the mother temple of the Jodo Shinshu (True Pure Land) sect of Buddhism.
Groups follow the interpret ...
*
Asian Canadians
Asian Canadians are Canadians who were either born in or can trace their ancestry to the continent of Asia. Canadians with Asian ancestry comprise both the largest and fastest growing group in Canada, after European Canadians, with roughly 19 ...
*
Japanese Canadians in British Columbia
The history of Japanese people in British Columbia began with the arrival of Manzo Nagano in New Westminster in 1877. Prior to 1942, British Columbia was home to 90% of all Japanese in Canada. In 2001, 44% of all Japanese Canadians lived in Britis ...
*
Japanese in Toronto
Toronto has a population of Japanese Canadians and also one of Japanese nationals. As of 2010 there are about 20,000 Japanese Canadians in Toronto.Ruprecht, Tony. ''Toronto's Many Faces''. Dundurn, November 8, 2010. , 9781554888856. p238 Adam McDo ...
*
Japanese Americans
are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...
*
East Asian Canadians
East Asian Canadians are Canadians who were either born in or can trace their ancestry to East Asia. The term East Asian Canadian is a subgroup of Asian Canadians. According to Statistics Canada, East Asian Canadians are considered visible mi ...
*
Judo in Canada
The Japanese martial art and combat sport judo has been practised in Canada for over a century. The first long-term judo dojo in Canada, Tai Iku Dojo, was established by a Japanese immigrant named Shigetaka Sasaki, Shigetaka "Steve" Sasaki in Van ...
*
Reference re Persons of Japanese Race
''Reference Re Persons of Japanese Race'' is a famous decision of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which upheld a Supreme Court of Canada ruling declaring a government order to deport Canadian citizens of Japanese descent to be valid ...
* ''
The Vancouver Asahi
is a 2014 Japanese-Canadian coproduced baseball drama film directed by Yuya Ishii, based on the true story of a Vancouver-based baseball team called the Vancouver Asahi which existed before the Second World War. It was released to Japanese theat ...
'', 2014
Japanese film
The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world; as of 2021, it was the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. In 2011 Japan produced 411 feature films that ea ...
described
Asahi (baseball team)
Asahi (æœæ—¥, æ—, or ã‚ã•ã²) means "morning sun" in Japanese and may refer to:
Cities
* Asahi, Chiba (æ—市; ''Asahi-shi'') Wards
* Asahi-ku, Osaka (æ—区; ''Asahi-ku'')
* Asahi-ku, Yokohama (æ—; ''Asahi-ku'')
Towns
* Asahi, Aichi (æ—ç” ...
References
Further reading
* Adachi, Ken. ''The enemy that never was: A history of the Japanese Canadians'' (McClelland & Stewart, 1976)
* Sunahara, Ann Gomer. ''The politics of racism: The uprooting of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War'' (James Lorimer & Co, 1981)
* Ward, W. Peter, ''The Japanese in Canada'' (Canadian Historical Association Booklets, 1982
online21pp
External links
Multicultural Canada websiteimages in the BC Multicultural Photograph Collection and digitized issues of The New Canadian (Japanese-Canadian newspaper) and Tairiku Jiho (The Continental Times)
Japanese Canadians Photograph Collection– A photo album from the UBC Library Digital Collections chronicling the treatment of Japanese Canadians in British Columbia during World War II
Tairiku NippÅ– Japanese-Canadian newspaper published between 1907 and 1941, and now digitized by the UBC Library Digital Collections
{{Japanese-Canadian relations
Ethnic groups in Canada
Asian Canadian
Canada–Japan relations
East Asian Canadian
es:Inmigración japonesa en Canadá