During the Meiji era Japanese society became more liberal, allowing young Japanese to venture to other countries. The first known Japanese to settle in Canada was Manzo Nagano in 1877, although there were reported cases of Japanese fishermen shipwrecked along the coast of British Columbia prior to that date. Waves of immigrants followed, young men in particular, to seek adventure, wealth and, in some cases, independence from family obligations.
Japanese immigrants arrive by sailing vessels in early 1900s.(photo: Vancouver Public Library)
Japanese immigrants from Hawaii landed in Victoria,1907.(photo: Ken Kutsukake, Toronto)
The first Japanese woman to immigrate to Canada, and mother of the first child born in Canada, Yo Oya arrived in Vancouver 1887. (photo: Mrs J. Oya, London)
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