March 11, 2009

JAPANTOWN MULTICULTURAL CELEBRATIONS IN VANCOUVER

J. Kwan: The Powell Street Festival Society, the Tonari Gumi, the Vancouver Japanese language school and Japanese Hall, and the Vancouver Moving Theatre will be hosting the Japantown multicultural neighbourhood celebration on Saturday, March 28. The event celebrates the history, diversity and enduring promise of Vancouver’s Japantown.

Japantown lies in my constituency on the traditional territory of the Coast Salish First Nation, and it’s the site of Vancouver’s earliest beginnings. Historically known as Little Tokyo, Japantown is situated between Gore and Dunleavy streets and lies along Powell Street.

The first Japanese immigrants arrived in British Columbia in the 1890s and worked in the local mills and canneries of Vancouver. In 1941 the government began its registration and fingerprinting of all Japanese men and women.

When Japan made its attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, all Japanese males between the age of 18 and 45 were rounded up for resettlement. These enemy aliens, as they were seen then, were forced from their homes and relocated to labour camps. Japanese Canadians were finally given their freedom of citizenship in 1947. The government was forced to recognize them as citizens, and they were given compensation.

The Vancouver Buddhist Church, a landmark for the Japanese community, was built in 1906. The church was seized by the government during World War II but returned to the community after the war.

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The multicultural celebration has planned activities including storytelling, community displays, performances, a street procession, a ceremony and gala at the Japanese Hall.

With this day of the celebration, the partners move forward on the city of Vancouver’s historical and cultural review, commemorates the 80th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Canada and Japan, and explores Japantown’s multicultural past and present.

I ask all members of the House to wish them well and wish Japantown a long and vibrant future in Vancouver–Mount Pleasant.