Japanese Canadians Celebrate 100 years in Canada

[Background noise, children playing, faint sound of music]

[Guest] Gordon Kodata: We know a little bit about the first Japanese. In fact, he came by accident. It wasn’t planned. He, he thought he was going to end up in America somewhere, but he, he ended up arriving in Victoria on Vancouver Island. And he became quite a merchant, and that is Manzo Nagano from the prefecture of Nagasaki. So, although he came by accident, and perhaps maybe because of that, there was sort of a lull in any kind of immigration from Japan. In fact, the uh, immigration from Japan really – shall we say caught on or increased in number – in anywhere from 1895 to about 1910 when there was quite an influx of immigrants.

[Reporter] Anne Roberts: Why was that? Were the conditions in Japan bad enough to force people to seek homes elsewhere?

Kodata: I don’t think it was related at all to any poor conditions in Japan; in fact Japan in those days, at that time, was, had a very flourishing economy. But I think it was part, first of all, by uh, Japan had literally closed its doors for 300 years. And until, as we commonly refer to his…Commodore [Matthew] Perry from the United States went over and sort of, more or less obligated or forced Japan to open its doors and to get involved on the international scene. That was in 1865. So, perhaps with that kind of relationship with the outside there was a more awareness of what’s going on outside, and when you get that type of awareness you get people – curious people – wanting to see the outside; you get people wanting to go there. And uh, then there are economic situations not only in Japan but in this case we’re talking about uh, for instance the CP Rail being built. They needed labour. There’s pros and cons of that, but nevertheless they brought over a great deal of labour from the Orient and the Japanese was part of that. And the British Columbia economy was dependent on a great deal of, on the forest industry. They needed labour. So uh…

Roberts: So the Japanese were enticed here?

Kodata: Enticed, uh yes. And also once a few of them came over then they might call their brothers or their sisters or their relatives, so there was, yes, enticed, attracted to, and there might have been thoughts that well ‘It’s a country where you can earn good wages.’ There were probably several reasons, but it all came together in the early 1900s.

Roberts: Were they disappointed once they got here? Were the conditions worse and the pay lower than they maybe originally thought?

Kodata: Well, uh, I don’t think there was any great expectation because unlike today means of communication was not as great. So they came with probably great anticipation but with very little knowledge. They came and they, they maybe they thought they could make the riches or maybe they thought they would settle down. I don’t think they came with any great goal. But once they got here, I believe there was a gradual realization that there is a certain amount of discrimination in the labour industry or in the whole social structure, and that definitely did exist in those days.

Roberts: Perhaps the greatest example of that discrimination was during World War II and the evacuation of the Japanese into the interior and the seizure of property. Is there still a bitterness within the Japanese community?

Kodata: Uh, I don’t think bitterness is the right word. And uh, we ourselves do not use that expression, saying there’s bitterness. Things happened. Unfortunate situations developed, and it is primarily because of, there was, were discriminatory practices, and it was unfortunate; it was regrettable. But I do not think there is any bitterness. We hope that such a thing will not happen again. That is probably the main concern.

Roberts: Well, is there any talk or any thoughts still of compensation or something being done about what did happen?

Kodata: Uh, there is talk. There’s always a conversation about that. There’s probably undermining thought that we hope uh, compensation might take place. And in some factions, there may be what we might call a demand on it. But we also realize that uh, we’ve overcome; we’ve suffered but we’ve overcome, and let’s get on with things. There’s also a great technical problem in trying to resolve the compensation – How do you do it, thirty years from the time that it happened?

Roberts: How much have the Japanese been able to retain their culture and language – second, third generations. How many of these kids running around understand Japanese?

Kodata: Language-wise it’s very difficult. Difficult in that the Japanese community in the Vancouver area has uh, somewhat shall we say dispersed into the outlying communities and we do not have a large concentration of Japanese in Vancouver.

Roberts: But you’ve been able to retain the culture more within the family unit?

Kodata: Uh, within the family structure…there’s an interesting sort of phenomenon that has taken place, and that is the second generation who are called the nissei[s], because of their experience, their actual experience of the war, there was a certain feeling that we should not try to retain our culture, our language too much. Now this goes back into the 1950s possibly. However, we find that the third generation, the fourth generations…although they cannot speak the language too well and they may just understand a spattering of it, their interest is uh, is great. And I think it’s not only with the Japanese community. It’s probably because there’s an awareness, there’s a sort of an awakening of the existence of all the ethnic races in Canada. We have been motivated by that as well. So that we find that third generation – the sansei[s] – they hardly speak Japanese but they’re taking a great deal of interest in their cultural heritage. They’re wondering where their grandfather came from and what the country is like. Beyond that they know that they’re Canadians of Japanese ancestry and they see a value in it. And I think this is important.

Roberts: Well happy Centennial to you.

Kodata: Well thank you very much.