Heritage

Onde as Ondas Quebram | Where the Waves Break

Yuko Matsuki — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 18:44:44 +0000

Onde as Ondas Quebram | Where the Waves Break Yuko Matsuki Jul 28, 2025

September 11, 2025 7:00pm - 9:00pm

Event Category

Brazil is home to the largest Nikkei diaspora in the world — sharing similarities with other Japanese diasporas, with key differences. In the essay film “Where the Waves Break”, the Japanese Brazilian documentary filmmaker Inara Chayamiti investigates her fragmented identity by gluing together pieces of her family’s story and the Japanese Brazilian saga, marked by two diasporas between opposite sides of the world: Brazil and Japan.

In this first feature-length documentary directed by a Japanese-Brazilian woman, she builds generational and cultural bridges from an authentic point of view and a curious and affective quest. And by revisiting the past from erased angles, she tells invisible stories from her community. It is historical and current, personal and universal.

A virtual panel will take place directly after the film featuring two Japanese Latin American artists and academics in conversation, Dr. Monica Okamoto and Harumi Lopéz-Higa.

Don't miss this opportunity!

Tickets

Phase in My Journey Exhibition

Samphors Say — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 23:26:48 +0000

Phase in My Journey Exhibition Samphors Say Mar 3, 2025

April 5, 2025 10:00am - June 30, 2025 7:00pm

Event Category

The JCCC Arts Committee is pleased to announce that we will be participating in the CONTACT Photography Festival once again! Phase in my Journey, featuring artist Walter Borchenko and curated by Shin Sugino, will be on view from April 5 to June 30, 2025.

More about the show

The work of Canadian-born photographer Walter Borchenko represents a profound and singular exploration of the Modernist photographic aesthetic. This 20-year retrospective traces a remarkable journey, beginning with the evocative self-portrait, Self Portrait, Hollywood Florida (2006), and culminating in the integration of infra-red techniques in Grassy Brook - Talbot River Road (2024). Borchenko's work transcends homage, evolving the Modernist tradition into something new: a "Modernist evolved" aesthetic rather than a postmodern reinterpretation.

Over the last two decades, Borchenko has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the principles of Modernist photography. His dedication to achieving the essence of the image through meticulous camera work, optics, and lighting- eschewing heavy digital manipulation—is a rare practice in contemporary photography. The singularity of his approach is further heightened by his use of consistent digital capture technology throughout this period, providing continuity and integrity to his artistic evolution.

Borchenko's images are further elevated through the use of hand-made Japanese Awagami paper, which imbues his prints with a tactile depth and subtlety that harmonizes with the Modernist ethos. The Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre is honored to present this unique and memorable exhibition, celebrating Borchenko's evolution of Modernist photography and his contribution to its legacy.

An Artist Talk will take place on May 24 at 2:00pm as part of Doors Open. See details here.

Spirit Place: The Magnificent Woodcut Art of Naoko Matsubara

Samphors Say — Tue, 27 Aug 2024 16:40:04 +0000

Spirit Place: The Magnificent Woodcut Art of Naoko Matsubara Samphors Say Aug 27, 2024

September 25, 2024 7:00pm-January 3, 2025 12:00pm

Event Category

Please note that the exhibit is now closing on January 3rd, 2025 at 12PM due to unforeseen circumstances. This is a few hours earlier than announced prior. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Nature is a sweeping backdrop of inspiration for renowned Japanese Canadian woodcut artist Naoko Matsubara. A distinguished print artist known for creating cheerful and joyful works, Matsubara’s images range from black and white to vibrant colour, intimate to monumental, playful to contemplative.

Spirit Place will explore the work and remarkable career of Naoko Matsubara. Since 1960, Matsubara has had over 80 exhibitions around the world, but none have focused on her creative process and the influence of nature and the architecture of her studio. Spirit Place acts not only as a retrospective of Matsubara’s work, but also a reflection on her creative process and the influence of nature, spirituality, and the studio where she works – her spirit place.

Forty dynamic woodcut prints will hang in the JCCC Art Gallery, along with her rollers, paints, brushes and handmade paper. Photographs depicting Matsubara in process in her studio will be hung, and a short documentary featuring the artist, her work, and her studio, will premiere.

Please join us for our opening reception on September 25th from 7-9:30 PM.

Opening Reception

More programming to be announced shortly!

Mottainai Artists' Walk and Talk

Samphors Say — Fri, 09 Feb 2024 02:43:04 +0000

Mottainai Artists' Walk and Talk Samphors Say Feb 8, 2024

March 9, 2024 2:00pm - 4:00pm

Event Category

Community Event

Exhibition

Heritage

Please join us on March 9th from 2-4 pm in the JCCC Gallery to hear from artists in our current community show, Mottainai(勿体無い): The Beauty of Reclaimed Materials. Mottainai (勿体無い) is a well-known Japanese word that carries a profound message of respect and appreciation for resources and the environment. Artists will give short talks on their featured work and their artmaking process and incorporate the ethos of Mottainai in their work.

Green tea and rice crackers will be served.

Schedule:

2-3 pm: talks by Keiko Shintani, yoco, Lois Schklar, Joy Takahashi, Neli Iordanova, Momiji Kimono Remake Program, Irene Sakata, and Barb Miiko Gravlin.

Short break

3-4 pm: talks by BReal art + design, Laura Shintani, Shuichi, Mui-Ling Teh, Emi Saito, Vera Kabo Tse, Nancy Hayako Peng, Ken Sugamori, and Maryam Pazooki.

See here for more information on the show.

We Are Canada: Celebrating Canada's Multiculturalism Day

SuYen — Wed, 24 May 2023 17:35:14 +0000

We Are Canada: Celebrating Canada's Multiculturalism Day SuYen May 24, 2023

June 27, 2023 3:30pm - 5:30pm

Event Category

Community Event

Conference

Heritage

Asian Canadians across different periods of history in Canada have experienced systemic marginalization. The story of loyalty, perseverance, and resilience found in the Japanese Canadians who enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces despite experiencing acute discrimination is not uniquely Japanese Canadian but can be found in many ethnic minority groups in Canada.

On June 27, the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC) will be hosting a celebration for Canadian Multiculturalism Day alongside other Asian communities in Toronto to honour the connections between the cultural communities collectively. The program will revolve around raising awareness and honouring Asian Canadian Enlistment History. 'We are Canada' will bring different cultural communities together for an afternoon of programming that honours people and stories of Asian Canadians who have served Canada through their enlistment in the Canadian Armed Forces. This event celebrating the cultural diversity of Canada will work to inspire Canadians from different backgrounds highlighting that Canada’s multicultural society makes Canada a better place for all Canadians.

Program for 'We are Canada' will include a panel discussion, light refreshment, and performances. Admission is free and registration is required.

Panel: Unseen

Kanashiro Family Collection, 2022.16.040.

In the early twentieth century, Japanese Canadian women across British Columbia formed Japanese Women’s Associations known as fujinkai. Their primary mission was to support new immigrants coming to Canada from Japan. During the First World War, the Associations worked alongside other women’s associations and the Canadian Red Cross to organize their efforts by knitting pyjamas, socks, and bandages to be sent to the men who were fighting for Canada and the Allies. Their strong support for Canadian servicemen restarted during the Second World War. Nori Kanashiro, a second generation Japanese Canadian remembers his mother, Oto Kanashiro who was part of the Japanese Women’s Association in Ocean Falls, BC, knitting socks daily at the start of the Second World War. In early 1942, 22,000 Japanese Canadians including Oto Kanashiro and her family in Ocean Falls were forcibly removed from their homes without charge or due process.

These stories of women and families’ great efforts to support Canadian servicemen are often forgotten. Relative to this, servicemen from visible minorities volunteer their service to a country that often treats them and their family with a lack of gratitude and exclude them from national narratives. Stories of systematic oppression experienced by servicemen are often hidden – their silence stemmed from a deep need to show for gratitude towards Canada, fear of reprisal if they speak up, and a cultural emphasis on humility. This panel aims to explore the stories within the Canadian Armed Forces to bring to light issues that are often internalized to 1) raise awareness of these being a collective experience; 2) empower communities through conversation to understand, navigate and overcome them.

Chair

Albert Wong, Citizenship Judge

Appointed Citizenship Judge for the Greater Toronto Area in June 2014, Albert Wong had over thirty-nine years of service in the Canadian Armed Forces, serving in various public affairs positions with the military across Canada, with the United Nations in Eritrea and Ethiopia, and in Afghanistan.

He has served on the boards of several volunteer organizations the Mississauga Board of Chinese Professionals and Businesses (CPB) and the Action, Chinese Canadians Together Foundation (ACCT).

Born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Judge Wong is a recipient of the Chinese Canadian Legend Award (2012), the NAAAP 100 award (2015), and the Transformation Award for Public Service (2015). He was named Diversity Magazine Person of the Year in 2016.

He served as the Chief Aide-de-Camp to the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 2013 to 2020 and was awarded the Vice-Regal commendation in 2014

Panelists:

Dr. Lisa M. Davidson, York University

Dr. Lisa M. Davidson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at York University. Her research looks at migration, racialization, and multiculturalism within Canada, with a specific focus on the political and affective work involved in sustaining conviviality and a sense of solidarity among and between diverse groups of people. Central to her research is the question of tolerance. Given that Canada is celebrated as a tolerant nation, she asks, “what then, does it mean to be a tolerated group amidst the implicit, overt, and uneven challenges of invisibility and oppression?”. Lisa is co-editor and contributing author of Filipinos in Canada: Disturbing Invisibility (2012, University of Toronto Press) and more recently, she has published on concerns over multiculturalism, diversity, and belonging within Canadian multiracial protestant churches.

Ellin Bessner

Ellin Bessner is a Canadian journalist based in Toronto. She is the author of a book about Canada’s 17,000 Jewish servicemen and women who fought in the Second World War. The book is called “Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military, and World War II”, and was published by the University of Toronto Press (2019). She also contributed a chapter to “Northern Lights”, published by the Lola Stein Institute (2020). It is the story of the contribution of Canada’s Jewish community to the country’s military record from 1750 to today. Ellin hosts the podcast The CJN Daily: it’s a bite-sized look at news about Canada’s Jewish community, for the Canadian Jewish News.

Ellin was born in Montreal and graduated with a degree in journalism and political science from Carleton University. Her career as a journalist took her around Canada and around the world, working for CTV News and CBC News, and also stringing for the Globe and Mail, The Canadian Press and other organizations. As a foreign correspondent based in Rome, Italy, during the 1990s, aside from reporting on the Vatican, the Mafia, Italian food, fashion, and opera, and of course, on Italian soccer, Ellin also covered several brutal civil wars in Africa. She’s interviewed the late Prince Phillip and the Dalai Lama. She was a business anchor for many years at Report on Business Television, now BNN.

Commander Paul Hong, Commanding Officer, HMCS PREVOST

Born in South Korea, Paul Hong came to Canada with his family in the early 1980s. Paul grew up in Caledon Ontario. He received an Honors Business Administration (HBA) degree from the University of Western Ontario, a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from Osgoode Hall, and a Master of War Studies (MA) from the Royal Military College of Canada. Paul was called to the Bar in Ontario.

As a civilian, in 2008, Paul became an advisor to the Secretary to State for Multiculturalism. He subsequently became a senior advisor at foreign affairs, serving three foreign ministers between 2008-2014. Paul was Acting Chief of Staff to the Minister of Foreign Affairs during the Haiti Earthquake crisis. Paul was also part of the Canadian delegations to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, the UN, NATO and the G8/G20. In 2015 to serve as the Director of Policy to the Minister of National Defence. For the next couple years, Paul served as the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Leader of the Official Opposition at Queen’s Park.

For the past 23 years, Paul served as a Naval Warfare Officer. His past positions included honorary Aide-de-Camp to the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, instructor and head of department at reserve units, senior instructor for the Coastal Operations Officer Course, Executive Officer (Kingston Class Ship and Naval Reserve Division), and ORCA class patrol vessel Officer-in-Charge. He was also deployed at sea for Operations CARIBBE (anti-drug trafficking operations in the Eastern Pacific - 2018) and PROJECTION (to West Africa in 2020), as a team leader for Operation LENTUS (Quebec Floods 2017), was a participant in a leadership seminar in France (2017), and served as the Liaison Officer for Naval Reserve’s Central Region to Joint Task Force Central (2021). He has over 480 days at sea. He completed the Command Development Course (2019) and is presently enrolled in the Joint Command and Staff Program. Commander Hong took command of HMCS PREVOST in May 2022. He is a recipient of the Operational Services Medal, Special Services Medal, Canadian Forces Decoration, the Queens Diamond Jubilee Medal, the Canadian Forces Decoration, the Service Medal of the Most Venerable Order of St. John, and the Provincial Chairs commendation for St. John Ambulance.

Arlene Chan

Arlene Chan is an award-winning author and Chinatown historian. She brings the history, culture, and traditions of the Chinese in Toronto and Canada to life in her speaking engagements and books, many shortlisted for the Ontario Speaker’s Book Award, Heritage Toronto Book Award, Silver Birch Award, and Red Cedar Award.

Arlene is the president of the Jean Lumb Foundation that awards high school students of Chinese heritage from across Canada. She serves as an advisor for Myseum of Toronto and Toronto Public Library’s Chinese Canadian Archive.

Nancy M. Siew, retired Citizenship Judge

After Nancy’s early retirement from public service, she was appointed by the Governor-General in-Council in 2014 as a Citizenship Judge for a term of three years. A fourth-generation British subject in Hong Kong, she is proficient in both English and Chinese. She enjoys the “best of both worlds”. She was educated in Canada, Hong Kong and Switzerland where she earned five post-secondary diplomas and degrees.

A grateful immigrant, she devotes her retirement in giving back to Canada. She started Asian Heritage Month celebrations with Then Senator Vivienne Poy in The Greater Toronto Area (Twenty-one years ago). She chaired several Non-profit organizations such as Veterans Bridging Homes and Tribute to Early Chinese Immigrants Foundation.

From 2018 – 21 she was conferred the title of Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel of the Canadian Forces Military Police Academy.

Having been a volunteer for over thirty years, Nancy was conferred the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal and the Queen’s Golden Jubilee medals by the Government of Canada and recently The Queen’s Platinum Medallion by Senator Oh.

Kathy Grant

Born in Montreal to Barbadian immigrants, Kathy Grant is an educator, public historian and founder of Legacy Voices, ensuring Black Canadian military history, is documented, preserved and shared. Since 2005, Kathy has made educational presentations to municipalities, provincial and federal governments, schools, and community organizations, and works to promote an inclusive approach to storytelling and historical documentation. Kathy led the launch of Veterans Affairs Canada’s Black Canadians in Uniform A Proud Tradition. In 2016, Kathy launched a 100th Anniversary of No.2 Construction Battalion traveling exhibit, displayed at Peel Art Gallery Museum and also at the War Museum. In 2021 Kathy cofounded the website www.blackcanadianveterans.com and was lead historian on the award winning Black Liberators WWII documentary. In 2022 Kathy was History Co-Chair for No.2 Construction Battalion’s National Apology Advisory Committee

Kathy is the recipient of both the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee (2012) and Queen’s Platinum Jubilee medals (2022).

Gary Kawaguchi, Past President Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre

Gary is an experienced corporate executive, entrepreneur and Not for Profit Director. Gary was a corporate officer for 26 years with, Pepsi-Cola Canada Ltd., Canadian Tire Corporation, Canada Trust, Dundee Bancorp, and Look Communications prior to founding an employee group benefits and pension advisory company in 2004 which he recently sold in 2020. Gary has also been a director on the boards of Canadian Cancer Society (3 yr), Summit Golf and Country Club (President), Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre (10 yr), JCCC Foundation (15 yr), and the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (30 yr, and President 2009-2022).

Funded by the Government of Canada.
Financé par le gouvernement du Canada.

https://forms.gle/wJ15VoDg4f8epxje8

Artists Walk and Talk - Artsu Matsuri 2023

SuYen — Mon, 27 Feb 2023 15:22:26 +0000

Artists Walk and Talk - Artsu Matsuri 2023 SuYen Feb 27, 2023

March 26, 2023 2:00pm - 4:00pm

Event Category

An artist walk-and-talk will take place on March 26, 2023, where each artist will talk about their creations, what inspired them, and the process of how they brought their ideas to life. During the last Artsu Matsuri in 2020 the walk-and-talk was canceled due to Covid-19, however this year’s walk-and-talk offers insight into the new ideas and perspectives artists have gained during their time in isolation. This event will provide an opportunity for guests to meet some of the artists and their families as they informally dialogue with art enthusiasts in a casual setting.

Artsu Matsuri is a community based exhibition celebrating art in the JCCC community. This exhibition features the works of 25 artists: Katherine Adachi, David Bernhard, Kumiko Claros, Ruben Claros, Lois Fuse, Barbara Miiko Gravlin, Gerry Yumiko Hewson, Roslyn Levin, Gloria Kagawa, Tsutao Machida, Kai Morrison, Kaz Ogino, Harvey Okawara, Maryam Poozaki, Nancy Peng (Yamada), Michelle Ramos, Irene Sakata, Keiko Shintani, Ken Sugamori, Naomi Tsuji-Tamaki, Jerrold Tanaka, Kayoko Tanaka, Mui-Ling Teh, Rita Wong, and Hiroshi Yamamoto.

Artists Walk & Talk is happening on March 26 at 2pm.

This exhibition is available for viewing until April 21, 2023.

Nuit Blanche Toronto

SuYen — Fri, 26 Aug 2022 14:38:55 +0000

Nuit Blanche Toronto SuYen Aug 26, 2022

October 1, 2022 7:00pm - October 2, 2022 7:00am

Event Category

Community Event

Heritage

JCCC Gallery

The Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre will be presenting three programming during the Nuit Blanche festival featuring three Japanese Canadian artist and one Japanese Brazilian artist: Maari Sugawara, Annie Sumi, Brian Kobayakawa, and Erica Kaminishi. These artworks/exhibits are curated to revolve around concept of the exploration of Nikkei (Japanese Diaspora)’s identities by transnational artists who experience multiple levels of shifting communal memories and identities as well as contingent national identifications.

Schedule

Maru: Immigration Stories Exhibit Tours

Oct 1: 7:30 PM, 9:30 PM, 11:30 PM

For more information, click here. Self-guided audio tour also available.

Artist Talk: Maari Sugawara

Oct 1: 8:30 PM, 10:30 PM

Other exhibits available for viewing - 7pm - 7 am

Place of Pride
Women of Change

Algorithms of Innocence by Maari Sugawara - 7pm - 7am

JCCC Gallery's featured artist for Nuit Blanche this Fall, Maari Sugawara will exhibit a series of immersive audio and video installations entitled, "Algorithms of Innocence". Employing a wide range of mediums such as VR, animation, videography, and stock materials, Maari problematizes aspects of Japanese national and cultural identity and encourages a departure from traditional categories of difference.

Kintsugi by Annie Sumi and Brian Kobayakawa - 7pm - 7am

An anti-racist, interactive, multi-disciplinary, art installation, ‘Kintsugi’ reflects on racial identity, healing ancestral trauma, and the fragmented history of the Japanese Canadian internment. Created with the help of shadow-puppeteer duo Mind of a Snail, the projections are an overlapping collage of landscape video footage, cut-up old letters written by the artists’ ancestors, and playful animations. All of the pieces of this installation are site-specific. Two of the featured videos are present-day footage of the places where internment camps were built during WWII - one where Kobayakawa’s father was born, and the other where Sumi’s grandfather spent his youth.

All in one, one in All no 1 by Erica Kaminishi - 7pm - 7am

Maru: Immigration Stories focused on stories of the Japanese diaspora in the Americas and also features an interactive art installation by Japanese Brazilian artist Erica Kaminishi. Kaminishi is a third-generation Japanese Brazilian artist born in Brazil and in the past two decades, she moved between three continents. In this climate of globalization, Kaminishi’s works have internalized and explored topics relating to transnational migrations focused on notions of identities, generational communal memories, cosmopolitanism, and belonging. All in one, one in All no 1 is an installation that expands beyond its limits and playfully mixes creeds and colors in a unique collective life-art project. However, despite the concept of unity in diversity, it also brings reflections concerning our relationship with each other and the space we inhabit. This installation is a project that brings the public to its visual landscape, inviting them to build a place of reflection, living memory, and fluid identities.

INDEPENDENT PROJECT

Ichigo-Ichie 一期一会: One Time - One Meeting by Helen Kong (Secret Teatime)

Helen Kong, the owner of Secret Teatime, is a ceramicist and tea practitioner. She gathers fellow artists (Justine Wong, Sabrina Tu, and Mika Sato), makers (Satoshi Yoshikawa), designers (Makeshift Collective), tea practitioners (Momo Yoshida and Susanna Sun), and local small business owners to come together with their passion and artistry to create a multi-sensory art installation and tea event for the Toronto public. Participants will be guided through one of three tea rooms: a Japanese, Taiwanese, or Chinese tea space for either a personalized experience or self-guided exploration of tea and spirituality. RSVP online prior to event for limited spots in the Japanese and Taiwanese tearoom (follow Ichigo-Ichie to know when RSVP will be available). Drop-in and rush line opportunities will also be available.

Broken Promises

SuYen — Mon, 23 Aug 2021 18:27:20 +0000

Broken Promises SuYen Aug 23, 2021

September 19 - November 22, 2021

Event Category

Heritage

Exhibition

Grounded in research from Landscapes of Injustice – a 7 year multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional, community engaged project, this exhibit explores the dispossession of Japanese Canadians in the 1940s. It illuminates the loss of home and the struggle for justice of one racially marginalized community. The story unfolds by following seven narrators. Learn about life for Japanese Canadians in Canada before war, the administration of their lives during and after war ends, and how legacies of dispossession continue to this day.

Visiting Hours

Registration for on-site exhibit tour appointments of Maru: Immigration Stories and Broken Promises is now available for booking:

ON SITE VISIT SIGN UP

To learn more about JCCC's Vaccine Policy when visiting the exhibits, click here.

More Resources

Complementary website: Landscape of Injustice - Narrative Site

Download exhibit tour app: Apple Store or Google Play

Broken Promises Catalogue (PDF)

La brochure Promesses Brisées (PDF)

Learn more about Landscapes of Injustice Project: LOI Online Archive

This project has been made possible by the Government of Canada.
Ce projet a été rendu possible grâce au gouvernement du Canada.

https://jccc.on.ca/exhibition-tour-sign-ups

Remembrance Day 2021

Yayoi — Thu, 22 Oct 2020 19:11:03 +0000

Remembrance Day 2021 Yayoi Oct 22, 2020

November 11, 2021 12:00am - 11:59pm

Event Category

Community Event

Heritage

Each year, on November 11, we remember all who have given their time and lives in service to Canada’s military. We remember those who served in WW1, WW2, the Korean Conflict, the War in Afghanistan and various peacekeeping missions. At the JCCC, we specifically remember those Japanese Canadians who have served Canada, even during times when they were not wanted or appreciated.

Sedai Features: Tomi-Taro (Tom) Nishio

Sedai: Tomi . 2012-292. March 31, 2009.

In this clip, Tomi-Taro (Tom) Nishio recounts his time as part of the British Intelligence Agency in India during WWII. He explains the importance of Japanese Canadian nisei like himself volunteered to join the Canadian Armed Forces during WWII, illuminating the anxieties faced by Japanese Canadians after the bombing of Pearl Harbour.

Timothy Takasaki is a Grade 9 student. He is a long time volunteer at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre and Bayview United Church. This rendition of O Canada by Timothy is in dedication to Remembrance Day 2021.

"I've done my last duty to my comrades. They are gone but not forgotten."
(Masumi Mitsui, 1985)

With Remembrance Day only weeks away, we would like to take a moment to commemorate members of the armed forces, specifically the Japanese Canadian veterans. In Stanley Park, Vancouver, the Japanese Canadian War Memorial stands paying tribute to all Japanese Canadians who have served Canada during times of need. The monument was erected in 1920 to remember 222 Japanese Canadians who fought for Canada during WWI.

Plaque at the Japanese Canadian War Memorial, Vancouver, B.C. Image from the City of Vancouver, https://vancouver.ca/parks-recreation-culture/monuments-and-sculptures.aspx.

A lit Japanese lantern stands at the top of the monument, but it was extinguished for over four decades after the bombing of Pearl Harbour and Japanese Canadians were declared enemy aliens of Canada. It was not until 1985 that the lantern was relit in a ceremony by the last surviving WWI veteran Masumi Mitsui. In a photograph taken by Tamio Wakayama during the ceremony, Mitsui at the age of 98, stood tall in full military solute. After the ceremony, Mitsui aptly said in an interview, "I've done my last duty to my comrades. They are gone but not forgotten." (Dick, 2010, p. 447).

Remembrance Day Ceremony Program, 1991. JCCC Original Military Collection. 2005.01.01.50.

During WWII, niseis continue to enlist in the army to fight for Canada. Despite the hurdles, 119 nisei men were enlisted as translators in the Canadian Intelligence Corps. After the war, most continued to serve throughout Asia as translators within the War Crimes Investigation Force and also in Japan during the American Occupation.

Since 1920, beautiful trees were planted in the vicinity of the memorial. While most of us were unable to visit the memorial last spring when the cherry blossom was blooming. As the petals fall with the short live bloom, one can only imagine the beauty and contemplate the symbolisms behind the cherry blossoms and the memorial.

Challenging Exile: Japanese Canadians and The Wartime Constitution Book Talk

Erik Sano — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 15:53:39 +0000

Challenging Exile: Japanese Canadians and The Wartime Constitution Book Talk Erik Sano Jan 6, 2026

February 18, 2026 7:00pm - 10:00pm

Event Category

Heritage

Community Event

Join us February 18, 2026 at 7:00pm for the launch of the latest book from the Past Wrongs, Future Choices collective.

In September 1945, Canada proposed exiling Japanese Canadians to Japan, a country devastated by war. Thousands who had experienced internment and dispossession were now at risk of banishment.

In Challenging Exile, Eric M. Adams and Jordan Stanger-Ross detail the circumstances and personalities behind the exile. They follow the lives of families facing government orders that uprooted them from their homes, stripped them of their livelihoods and possessions, and proposed to exile them from Canada. And they analyze the court case in which lawyers and judges grappled with the meaning of citizenship, race, and rights in times of war and its aftermath.

Check out the Challenging Exile book review by The Globe and Mail here.

Copies of the book are now available for purchase at our Front Desk.

This is a free event reserve your spot: RSVP

Authors

Eric M. Adams is a professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of
Alberta and has written widely on constitutional law, legal history,
employment law, human rights, and legal education. He lives in
Edmonton.

Jordan Stanger-Ross is a professor of history at the University of
Victoria and is the author of numerous works on the history of
migration and race in North America. He lives in Victoria.

Moderator

Masumi Izumi

Professor at Doshisha University and a leading scholar of
Japanese American and Japanese Canadian history.