A Proud Heritage

Samurai Code

Japan's famed and privileged warrior class, the samurai, began to decline as the power within Japan shifted from the Shogun to Emperor Meiji during the Meiji Restoration. The Satsuma Rebellion of 1877 saw the defeat of a coalition of the mightiest samurai at the hands of a modern, conscripted imperial army. But 1877 saw the beginning of another era: it was also the year that Manzo Nagano became the first documented immigrant from Japan to settle in Canada. The samurai code outlines the cultural values that accompanied some of the early settlers to Canada, as many young people from the samurai class sought new opportunities in a new land. READ MORE

An unidentified soldier in uniform for the Japanese imperial army, circa 1905. Nakashima family collection: NNM 2011.71.1.26

Fostering Bushido: the Russo-Japanese War

In 1904, Japan entered into war with Russia over competing imperial claims in Manchuria and Korea. Sometimes referred to as World War Zero by historians, the Russo-Japanese War was the first to be fought with modern industrial weaponry. The Russo-Japanese war demonstrated the power of Japan's relatively new imperial army: having already defeated sword-wielding samurai in the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion and Chinese forces in the Sino-Japanese war, they overcame a major European power for the first time. READ MORE

Crew of a Japanese battleship posing with a welcoming delegation in Vancouver, circa 1909-1914. NNM 2010.31.25

The Anglo-Japanese Alliance

In 1902, Britain formed an alliance with Japan to help combat Russian expansionism in the Far East: Britain wanted to protect its interests in China, and Japan its interests in Korea. The friendship between the great British Empire and the rising imperial power of Japan was a factor in the Russo-Japanese War, discouraging Russia's ally France from entering the war against Japan. It also had a role in the status of Japanese immigrants and their families in Canada: anti-Asian sentiment in British Columbia led to a head tax on immigrants from China, but the friendly diplomatic relations between Britain and Japan forbade its colony from restricting newcomers from Japan in such a way. Instead, Japan agreed to restrict emigration in the 1908 Hayashi-Lemieux "Gentlemen's Agreement". READ MORE