Then and Now
Japanese Canadians Then and Now
This website, designed by the National Association of Japanese Canadians, presents a comprehensive overview of the Japanese community in Canada from its early beginnings to the present. This virtual site will be an invaluable source of information at Canadian Pavilion at the World Exposition in Aichi, Japan from March 25 to September 25, 2005 and exposes visitors to the contributions that Japanese Canadians have made to Canadian society.
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President's Message
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December 2011
Like the iconic Japanese song of immigrants, Watari Dori (Birds of Passage), we are all transients looking for a place to alight and to call home. Fortunately, I have returned to Japan numerous times, but the Japan of my youth has long disappeared . . . [...] Read more →
Community Features
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Belated Justice – the Dr. Gordon Hirabayashi Human Rights Award
At the National Association of Japanese Canadians AGM held in Edmonton Alberta on October 16, 2011, the NAJC unveiled the Dr. Gordon Hirabayashi Human Rights Award at the AGM Dinner. Gordon had been a Professor of Sociology at the University of Alberta during the sixties, seventies, and eighties. [...] Read more →
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MISSION STATEMENT:
To promote and develop a strong Japanese Canadian identity and thereby to strengthen local communities and the national organization; and To strive for equal rights and liberties for all persons-in particular, the rights of racial and ethnic minorities.
VISION:
A strong, unified community founded on diversity and committed to human rights for all for the enrichment of Canada
From The Bulletin
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Dr. Norikazu Nishio: Looking forward in life
I was brought up in Kitsilano so as youngsters all our friends were English-speaking, apart from a few other Japanese Canadian families. I went to Lord Tennyson Elementary and then Kitsilano Junior and High Schools. [...]
It is not enough just to have a birth certificate, certifying one’s birth in Canada. It is not enough to be a native Canadian and expect that mere birth alone is everything: privileges, responsibilities, pride, allegiance. One must grow into citizenship; one must shoulder the responsibilities before there is any real joy in the privileges; one must be vigilant for the honour of one’s country, its integrity, else how can one say with pride: "I am Canadian."
Muriel Kitagawa
full quote
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