Niwayama abstract - Nikkei Studies/Nikkei研究

(title of presentation)

Yuukichi Niwayama

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Abstract

I begin by briefly explaining the history of Japanese
Canadians from the early stages of migration to Canada to
incarceration during World War Ⅱ. Then I explain their
transformation from ‘Japanese in Canada’ to ‘Japanese
Canadian’. Japanese Canadians had to rebuild a broken
community after the war, since their community had been
decentralized by Canadian government policy. Many of them
had to move to eastern Canada. In 1949, Japanese
Canadians regained citizenship and were permitted to come
back to British Columbia. Some went back while others
chose to settle in eastern Canada, for they were in the
process of adjusting themselves to their new locales. Issei
(first generation Japanese Canadians) and Nisei(second
generation) tried to assimilate themselves to the Canadian
mainstream. Then there came the time when Sansei(third
generation) took the initiative in the community. Sansei grew
up immersed in Canadian society. They were outraged by the
way the treatment of their families during the war violated
fundamental human rights.
After Japanese Canadian Centennial, held in 1977, there was a growing tendency to look back on their history. Japanese Canadians organized a committee in order to obtain an apology and compensation for the way their community’s rights had been violated during the war. The redress movement, which developed during the1980s, triggered solidarity among Japanese Canadians. The activists in the movement and some Sansei often used the word Nikkei for the purpose of uniting dispersed Japanese Canadians of all generations.
The word Nikkei is the most recognizable word among Japanese Canadians whatever their generation might be. The word plays a symbolic role in maintaining and reinforcing Japanese Canadians’ network.

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