The Soldiers' Journey
Warrior Spirit
The Japanese kanji characters in the title of this exhibit are pronounced mo no no fu. It is an obscure, ancient term that captures the essence of the early Japanese Canadian men we showcase here. Beginning in early 1916, over 200 Japanese Canadian recruits began military training in Vancouver as the Canadian Japanese Volunteer Corps, intending to offer themselves in service of the British war effort in Europe. READ MORE
The Canadian Japanese Volunteer Corps
Yasushi Yamazaki, president of the Canadian Japanese Association (CJA) from 1909-1917, was a man of ideals. One of the early features in his newspaper, the Tairiku Nippo, was an expose of Japanese prostitution in Canada: he believed that brothels were contributing to prejudice against Japanese immigrants, and discouraged engagement in this profession for the sake of the community's reputation. READ MORE
A Lifelong Fighter: Masumi Mitsui
Masumi Mitsui was born in Tokyo on Oct 7, 1887. The son of a soldier, he tried to enter the Japanese navy, but failed the entrance exam. Feeling like he had failed Japan, he decided to emigrate to North America, arriving in Canada in 1908. He was working as a waiter when he enlisted in the Canadian Over-seas Expeditionary Force to fight in the First World War in September 1916, and was eventually taken on strength in the Fighting Tenth battalion. READ MORE
Dispossession and Return: Kobayashi and Inouye
Despite enduring the horrors of the trenches, and the war injuries that many veterans would bear for the rest of their lives, there was still more hardship to come for those who returned to British Columbia and lived there into the 1940s. During the Second World War, Japan was not ally but enemy, and Japanese Canadian veterans were not exempt from the discrimination and restrictive measures imposed on Canadian residents of Japanese heritage. READ MORE
The Fighting Tenth Battalion
Up to one quarter of Japanese Canadian recruits served as part of the famous Fighting Tenth Battalion. Formed in the fall of 1914, the Tenth started as a somewhat ragtag group: it was assembled from the 103rd Calgary Rifles, the 106th Winnipeg Light Infantry, and other soldiers who found themselves without a battalion. READ MORE