BETWEEN 1877 and 1928, Japanese men moved elsewhere to help overcome the dire consequences of life in poor, over crowded fishing and farming villages. During this period, Canada was essential for the survival of Japanese family life.

Manzo Nagano, the first-recorded Japanese immigrant at the turn of the century, was soon followed by many young, single, or unaccompanied married men with a desire either to survive or to improve family and village life at home in Japan and eventually return there.

British Columbia was the first choice for the pioneer migrants or Issei. There, they worked in the mines, logging camps, or sawmills, on the railway, or as fishermen in coastal villages. As Japanese men progressed from sojourning to settling, they began sending for brides, wives, and families. They then entered the entrepreneurial ranks as merchants and shop keepers in Vancouver and Victoria. Others used their farming experience in the fertile Fraser and Okanagan valleys; then, as they gained skill and knowledge, they moved into the front ranks of the fruit and market garden industries.

The early immigrants, including veterans of the Canadian Army from the First World War and th Canadian-born children (the Nisei), were victims of racism. Subject to massive discriminatory legislation, they were denied the right to vote. All Japanese Canadians were also excluded from employment in certain industrial sectors, trades, and most professions including the civil service and teaching.

A few months after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Canadian government used the War Measures Act to strip all those of Japanese origin, including those who were Canadian nationals, of their civil rights and property and to order their removal from the West Coast. In 1942, over 20,000 Japanese Canadians were rounded up and shipped to internment camps in the interior of British Columbia or to sugar beet farms in Alberta and Manitoba. After 1945, the Canadian government’s repatriation efforts resulted in 4,000 “voluntarily” returning to Japan and the remainder choosing to relocate east of the Rocky Mountains. These Japanese moved to Ontario, Quebec, and the Prairie provinces. All wartime restrictions were lifted from Japanese Canadians only in 1949 when full civil rights, including freedom to live on the Pacific coast, were restored and the community was granted full voting rights.

As a result of the postwar dispersal, a large proportion of Japanese Canadians now live in Ontario. The 1996 census recorded a total of 77,130 Japanese Canadians (single and multiple responses). Some 33,245 live in British Columbia and 27,825 live in Ontario. Among the cities, Vancouver was the leading choice of settlement with 13,360, followed by Toronto with 10,030. The immigrant generation from Japan has made an indelible mark upon Canada’s resource-based and service industry sectors. Perhaps their greatest influence has been in the West coast fisheries and agriculture. Many of the techniques and much of the gear used in the fishing industry were introduced and developed by the Issei. Drawing upon a wealth of experience in fruit and market gardening, they helped to introduce better systems off arming in the agricultural districts around Mission, Haney, Kelowna, and Vernon, British Columbia.

The second generation of Japanese Canadians (Nisei) and the third generation (Sansei) include many more professionally trained and educated people who have been able to enter a variety of administrative and managerial jobs and merge successfully with the Canadian community at large. The most recent group of immigrants to Canada consists primarily of highly skilled and educated engineers and managers. They began to arrive after 1967 to work in the branch plants of many Japanese corporations and industries. Most settled in Toronto and Canada’s other major urban centres. Before the Second World War, in order to maintain the social cohesion of the group, Japanese Canadians formed a number of organizations, both religious and secular. These included language schools, credit unions, trade associations, friendship groups, prefectural or village district societies.

Three Christian religious affiliations are prominent. The Methodist Church and its successor, the United Church of Canada, have the most numbers but Anglicans and Roman Catholics are highly prominent as well. Congregations of Buddhists and other affiliations also exist.

The early Japanese published a number of Japanese-language newspapers which appeared daily; these included Canada Shimpo (Vancouver, 1924-41), the Tairiku (Vancouver, 1907-41), and the Minshu (Vancouver, 1924-41). The Japanese-Canadian community is now served by several Japanese and English language publications including the Nikka Times and the New Canadian. Japanese-speaking residents of Vancouver, Toronto, and Ottawa are also served by a weekly television program.

Japanese Canadians founded community centres in Montreal and Toronto. The Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre of Toronto, which opened in 1963, seeks to promote a sense of community among the generations of Japanese Canadians as well as to forge strong social and cultural links with the other peoples of Canada.

During the 1980s, the Japanese-Canadian community focused much of its energy on the struggle for the redress of war time wrongs. Spear headed by the National Association of Japanese Canadians (NAJC), the community succeeded in persuading the federal government to acknowledge war time wrongs, to pay compensation to those who had been deprived of their rights and freedoms in Canada, and to promote human rights and multiracial harmony.

In terms of Japanese-Canadian representation in Canada’s political life, a number have been elected to municipal office and school boards in British Columbia. In Ontario, the Honourable David H. Tsubouchi, a Sansei, was elected to the provincial legislature in 1995 and serves as minister of community and social services.

People of Japanese ancestry play a part in just about every aspect of Canadian cultural life. Writers and poets include Roy Miki, Joy Kogawa, and Rick Shiomi. Terry Watada of Toronto shines as a song writer and performer. Artists, painters, and photographers who have won wide recognition include Kazuo Nakamura, Takao Tanabe, Shizuye Takashima, and Tamio Wakayama. Raymond Moriyama is one of Canada’s outstanding architects. His designs include the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (1969), the Ontario Science Centre (1969), the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo, and the Saudi Arabian National Museum, Riyadh. Finally, geneticist, educator, and environmentalist, Dr. David Suzuki, has won much international attention as a broadcaster.