Nikkei 日系 ...anyone with one or more ancestors from Japan, or who self-identifies as nikkei. EXHIBIT BRIEF XI COPANI Eleventh Pan-American Nikkei Conference 2001 JULY 2019-2020 Nikkei 日系 Copyright © 2019 Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre

This publication accompanies the exhibit by the same name at the Nikkei National Muse- um & Cultural Centre, July 2019-2020.

Cover: Mr. Yataro Arikado with Rev. Saito and group; Steveston (NNM 2010.31.5)

Exhibition Video: Adam PW Smith, Cindy Mochizuki and Video Out Distribution, Library and Ar- chives Canada, Tonari Gumi Exhibits team: Asa Mori, Doug Munday, Great Northern Way Scene Shop Graphics team: John Endo Greenaway, Kay- la Isomura, Tabata Productions and Big Wave Design Printing: Rayacom Visual Systems NNMCC team: Carolyn Nakagawa, Dave Bergen, Karah Goshinmon, Linda Kawamoto Reid, Lisa Uyeda, Nathan Yeo, Nichola Ogi- wara, Roger Lemire, Sherri Kajiwara

Publication designed by Kayla Isomura, edited by Sherri Kajiwara Nikkei 日系 Pronunciation: nee-kay Literal translation: of Japanese ancestry Definition: Anyone with one or more ancestors from Japan, and/or anyone who self-identifies as nikkei (XI COPANI ELEVENTH PAN-AMERICAN NIKKEI CONFERENCE 2001)

Introduction The term nikkei originated in mixw), Tsleil-Waututh (səl̓ilwətaɁɬ), Rare heritage film footage from Japan during the Meiji imperial and Kwikwetlem (kʷikʷəƛ̓əm) First the Tomojiro Inouye family restoration, beginning in 1868, Nations on whose territory we collection is projected 14ft tall, to identify Japanese immigrants stand. Japanese Canadians his- offering a portal into early and their descendants residing torically suffered harsh discrim- nikkei life in Canada. in foreign countries. ination on the basis of race, but were also settlers on this unced- A contemporary interpreta- Today, it is widely used within ed land. tion of historic correspondence the Japanese diaspora world- from Muriel Kitagawa is show- wide but often requires explana- In this exhibit, you will find cased in a visually luscious video tion outside of Japan where the stories by and about Japanese installation titled Sue Sada Was label is most relevant. Canadians drawn from the Nik- Here by artist Cindy Mochizuki. kei National Museum’s archive. We are grateful to share the Meet the people behind sto- Objects and stories will be heritage of Canadians of Japa- ries of arrival, the resilience rotated during the run of the nese ancestry on this beautiful of community, and the expe- exhibit, with Phase 1 from July traditional and ancestral land rience of generations through 2019 to January 2020 and Phase of the Musqueam (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm), the intersections of migration, 2 from February to July 2020. Squamish (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwu- racism, identity, and belonging. DETERMINING THE Intersections of Arrival GENERATIONS Stories of nikkei settlers to It was further curtailed in The first to immigrate Canada are as varied as the 1928 and halted completely Issei: from Japan individuals who arrived from in 1941. Canada embraced Nisei: Second generation, first the late 1800s to those who multiculturalism in 1967, its born outside of Japan make their homes here today. centennial year, and race-based Sansei: Third generation, child restrictions were replaced with a of nisei After the 1907 Anti-Asian riot point system. Yonsei: Fourth generation, child in Vancouver, immigration of sansei policy restricted arrivals from Gosei: Fifth generation, child Japan to 400 per year plus of yonsei family members of previous im- Rokusei: Sixth generation, child migrants. of gosei

Cross-hairs of Racism Early arrivals from Japan found to the injustices that Japanese done for their benefit, as in a themselves targets of racial in- Canadians struggled to endure. true evacuation; moreover, the justice and growing economic government tried to make this jealousy. Dominant newspapers, docu- so-called evacuation perma- ments, and speech from the day nent by pressuring Japanese Unable to vote, nikkei were ex- was filled with inaccurate terms Canadians to leave BC after the cluded from public office and that were accepted without supposed threat of the war was many professions. Available question. over. jobs were found in logging, fish- ing, mining, farming, and small Many Japanese Canadian Ghost towns refers to aban- business enterprises. But hard survivors of this time peri- doned towns including many work and cooperation led to od still use these terms to de- former mine sites in BC which excellence in whatever they did; scribe their experiences, but were used as internment camps. further fueling fear and compe- human rights activism during In the 1940s, since the Cana- tition, placing the community in the Redress movement and dian government only used the the cross-hairs of racism. beyond has sought to replace term ‘internment camps’ to re- euphemisms with more accurate fer to prisoner-of-war camps, Departure, exile, forced remov- terms for the situations they these sites of forced detainment al, incarceration, internment, describe. were called ‘ghost towns’. dispossession, detainment: These are some of the words that Evacuation/Evacuees describes Repatriation means to send describe the situation of over a temporary extraction from an someone back to their own 22,000 Japanese Canadians area for the removed individu- country. Almost 4,000 Japanese from 1941-1949. al’s personal safety. Canadians were exiled to Ja- pan under this term, but more Terminology These terms were used to justify than half of them were Cana- the removal of people of ‘Jap- dian-born, and many had never anese racial origin’ from their been to Japan. Language used in the 1940s homes. But what happened to was euphemistic and inaccurate Japanese Canadians was not

Japanese or Japanese Cana- dian/American? Honouring those who faced the Departure, exile, brunt of racism in the country they were born, naturalized forced removal, incarceration, internment, into, or chose to live their lives dispossession, detainment in, it is important to refer to citizens and residents in North These are some of the words that describe the situation America as Japanese Canadian of over 22,000 Japanese Canadians from 1941–1949. or Japanese American and not Japanese.

CAMP LOCATIONS It is also important to recog- Internment Camps Self-Supporting Camps l1 Tashme s1 East Lillooet

l2 Greenwood s2 Bridge River nize that forced uprooting was l3 Slocan City s3 Minto l4 Lemon Creek s4 McGillivray Falls l5 Popoff s5 Christina Lake both a Canadian and Ameri- l6 Bayfarm l7 Rosebery Road Camps l8 New Denver u1 Hope-Princeton can action, not a Japanese one: Harris Ranch u2 Revelstoke-Sicamous Nelson Ranch u3 Blue River-Yellowhead l9 Sandon so-called Japanese internment l10 Kaslo or incarceration was the act of the Canadian and United States governments each detaining 3 thousands of their own citizens. 100-MILE RESTRICTED ZONE

Preferred terminology in Cana- da and the United States some- Revelstoke times varies due to some differ- Port Hardy 2 2 3 Kamloops ences of conditions for Japanese 4 1 Vernon Pemberton Nakusp Canadians and Japanese Amer- 7 8 9 10 Kelowna 3 icans. Below are some recom- Vancouver 6 Island 5 4 mended terms for Canada and Nelson Penticton

Hope

Vancouver 1 the United States, as specified Grand Forks 2 by the Nikkei National Museum 1 5 and Densho respectively: Victoria

Internment* Incarceration* / ** Internment camp* / ** Concentration camp** Second World War* Map from exhibit showing internment and relocation sites in BC World War II/WWII** (originally designed by John Endo Greenaway)

*Japanese Canadian history **Japanese American history GR2.1.1-1 Forced Exile (now the NDP) with Angus and POWER OF WORDS Grace McInnis were great al- Words commonly used in At the outbreak of Canada’s lies. Since many Japanese Cana- the racist climate of early to war with Japan, all persons of dians marked for exile to Japan mid-twentieth century Canada Japanese ancestry were forced were Canadian-born, it became were a powerful tool to margin- to relocate outside BC’s 100- a constitutional debate. alize entire communities. mile restricted zone from early 1942. After years of racially Finally, in 1949, after the Inter- “Jap/Japs” is a derogatory and motivated rhetoric by outspo- national Bill of Human Rights xenophobic truncation of ‘Jap- ken politicians in BC, the mass law was enacted in 1948, Can- anese’. dispersal of Japanese Canadians ada revoked the War Measures to internment camps was akin Act, lifted all restrictions on Jap- “Yellow peril” is a xenophobic to ethnic cleansing. Even after anese Canadians, and granted belief fueled by rhetoric that them the right to vote. “Asians—especially Chinese, the war ended in 1945, a second Japanese, and South Asians— uprooting scattered Japanese Canadians east of the Rockies The New Canadian, October were inassimilable aliens who 17, 1942 brought economic competition, or exiled them to Japan by disease, and immorality,” ac- restricting their return to the cording to Asian American his- coast for another four years. “To the future great- torian Erika Lee. In Canada, this attitude manifested in a number Property of Japanese Canadi- ness of Canada and of government policies includ- ans, originally held in trust, was the part of the Cana- ing the Chinese head tax in sold without owners’ permission 1885; the Chinese Immigration beginning in 1943. Adminis- dian-born Japanese in Act in 1923 which cut off Chinese tered by the Custodian of En- immigration almost entirely; emy Property, forced sales con- this future we pledge and the forced dispersal, exile, tinued into the 1950s. and second uprooting of Japa- our sincere effort and nese Canadians in 1942-1949. Protest our endeavor.” “Fifth column” is defined by the Encyclopedia Britannica as Despite the hardships of war, —Editors of the New Canadian, 1939 a ‘clandestine group that un- internment, and dispossession, dermines a nation’s solidarity Japanese Canadians organized By its final edition from Van- by any means at their disposal.’ themselves as early as 1943 to couver, the majority of Japanese As early as March 1937, the continue the fight for full citi- Canadians has already been up- Department of National De- zenship and voting rights. rooted to internment camps or fense drew up a ‘Report on further east. The newspaper and Japanese Activities on the West Individually, Japanese Cana- its staff would soon follow them Coast of Canada’, including 35 dians wrote letters of protest. to the Kaslo internment camp. men suspected of being mem- Collectively, the National Asso- The New Canadian cooperated bers of an alleged Japanese ciation of Japanese Canadians with government censors to keep fifth column that would work to (NAJC) formed in 1947, orig- Japanese Canadians informed undermine Canada’s security in inally under the name Nation- and connected: at this time, it a potential conflict with Japan. al Japanese Canadian Citizens Half were prominent members was the only community publi- Association, with five chapters of the nikkei community and cation still in print. across Canada. Churches min- none were ever charged with istering to Japanese Canadians any wrongdoing. They maintained a strong tone spoke up over the proposed ex- of optimism in editorials, and ile to Japan, and the CCF party downplayed or omitted the hardships being experienced by readers and correspondents in an attempt to keep morale high and encourage Japanese Cana- dians to make the most of this new stage of their lives.

The New Canadian newspaper on October 17, 1942 (NNM collection)

men from the Japanese Cana- Japanese nationals who were RELIGIOUS dian community were appre- either loyal to Japan over Cana- FREEDOM? hended as security risks, but da, or were considered to be so only one Buddhist, Reverend by the government. However, An intelligence report in 1942 Eon Mitsubayashi, age 33, was not a single detainee was ever accuses Rev. Shinjo Ikuta of arrested. He had previously charged with any offence, nor the Jodo Shinshu sect of the been a reserve officer for the did they receive due process. Buddhist faith of praising the Japanese army but had avoid- Japan’s alliance with the Axis ed participating in any protests powers, recommending that he in Canada, choosing to tend to be arrested if the need arose. his congregation instead. Shinjo was listed as one of 35 Class A suspects considered a During the internment years, threat to national security but he was separated from his wife was issued a permit to leave and son, detained in a POW the coastal area to minister camp in Angler, Ontario until in Lethbridge, Alberta, where 1946. On December 24, 1946, Buddhist communities were the family was exiled to Japan growing due to the nearly on the Marine Falcon, and nev- 4,000 people forcibly displaced er returned. to sugar beet farms in the area. A total of 767 men of Japanese Shinjo’s son Kyojo, and grand- ancestry in Canada were arrest- son Grant who currently min- ed and sent to Angler, which isters the Steveston Buddhist became the so-called Japanese Temple, have extended his Prisoner of War Camp #101. legacy to three generations of Approximately two-thirds of the Buddhist Reverends in Canada. prisoners were Canadian born, An open butsudan in a home arrested for protesting the split with food offerings, c. 1915 In the first sweep by RCMP, 37 up of families, and the rest were (NNM 2012.10.1.3.21) Terry Watada performs a song on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, ON in 1988 (NNM 2010.32.46)

Resilience, Resistance and Resonance “Nana korobi ya oki” (fall down Japanese ancestry resonates guage with which to navigate seven times, get up eight) is throughout nikkei experience in a new land. During the First a Japanese saying apropos to Canada. Like an echo or rever- World War, Japanese Canadi- the perseverance of the Jap- beration, its effect may be hard an soldiers bemoaned the lack anese Canadian community. to define, yet ripples on. of rice on the front. In the dark Despite cross-hairs of racism, years of Japanese Canadian in- the community grew, survived Connecting ternment, food in Hastings Park the dispossession of homes and and the prisoner of war camps forcible scattering of support Through Food was unpalatable and rank. networks in the 1940s, and re- built lives. Food is an undeniable anchor The resilience of the Japa- to home, memory, and belong- nese-Canadian community can Nikkei have fought for justice ing. In the earliest of nikkei com- be observed in the way Japanese and dignity since first arrival, munities there was always tofu, food has morphed in this coun- from challenging voting re- miso, shoyu, sake, and rice, which try, and cookbooks have been strictions and writing letters continue to be staple Japanese a common tool for preserving of protest to forming national cooking ingredients for today. heritage. associations to unite Japanese For the first migrants from Ja- Canadian voices. pan to Canada, food was a lan- Identity

It’s complicated.

What does being nikkei mean in Canada today? Shared experi- ences of immigration and in- justices experienced during the Second World War have served as concertizing events in the Japanese Canadian community. But as new generations of nikkei are born and raised in Canada, multiple ancestries and Cana- dian experiences are becoming more prominent than connec- tions to Japan.

The Nippon Foundation, in col- laboration with the Japanese American National Museum, launched a research project in 2018 to learn about how young- er generations of people of Jap- anese ancestry around the world connect with Japan, or nikkei or Japanese communities at home. Box of recipes belonging to Kinori Oka (NNM 2002.12.3) Results from English-speaking respondents are mixed.

GR410-1 Identity_print vinyl_outline.pdf 1 6/24/19 3:21 PM

Responses from the global nikkei youth and young adult survey, February 2019.

How connected do you feel to the nikkei and/or Japanese community in your home city?

How connected do you feel to Japan?

FEATURED VOICES RESOURCES

The Nikkei 日系 exhibit fea- Language and Terminology tures stories from the following individuals and organizations: Learn more about use of terminology through further resources available at the Nikkei National Museum* and online through Den- • Hirai, Akemi sho** at: densho.org/terminology. • Hirai, Shig • Iwasaki, Lawrence Taiken: Our Elders, Our Stories • Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC) Hearing about personal experiences (taiken) from Japanese Ca- • Kobayakawa, Haruko nadian elders helps us understand the challenges of immigration, • Kobayakawa, Masao the impacts of racial discrimination, and on being nikkei through • Kishi Boatworks the past and present while looking to the future. The interviewees • Kitagawa, Eddie in this project are survivors of the forced removal, internment, • Kitagawa, Muriel incarceration, and forced dispersal of Japanese Canadians during • Miki, Art the Second World War. • Miki, Roy • NNMCC Auxiliary Education Guides • Ohama, Linda • Oikawa, Jinzaburo Teacher resource and student viewing guides that address core • Oikawa, Yaeno competencies of critical and creative thinking, communication, • Oka, Kinori personal reflection, and social responsibility are available at: cen- • Sato, Hanako tre.nikkeiplace.org/education. • Sato, Tsutae • Shimizu, Hide Hyodo Complete video series available at: centre.nikkeiplace.org/educa- • Shimizu, Rev. Kosaburo tion/taiken-video-resources, featuring Aki Horii, Mary Kitagawa, • Shinobu, Saburo Mits Sumiya, and Roy Uyeda. • Shinobu, Sada • Sunahara, Ann Research and Collections • Sunahara, David • Takashima, Shizuye Visit the Charles H Kadota Resource Centre in the lobby from • Tanabe, Takao Tuesday to Saturday, 11 am to 5 pm, or search the collections of • Tonari Gumi the Nikkei National Museum, Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre • Uchida, Chiyoshichi (Toronto), Kamloops Japanese Canadian Museum & Archives, and • Uchida, Kinuko New Denver Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre at: nikkeimuse- • Wakayama, Tamio um.org. • Watada, Terry • Yamake, Shirley In-depth research is available by appointment. For more details, • Yamashiro, Takeo visit: centre.nikkeiplace.org/research.

More heritage exhibits are available online at: centre.nikkeiplace. org/museum-exhibits/online-exhibits.

Left: Images sampled from Featured Voices in the exhibit 6688 Southoaks Crescent Burnaby, BC, Canada t. 604.777.7000 | centre.nikkeiplace.org