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Canadians of Mixed Ancestry
The largest increasing segment of the Japanese Canadian population is people who have two or more ancestral backgrounds. With the dispersal of Japanese Canadians throughout the country after the end of the war as a deliberate measure to assimilate them, no cohesive Japanese community emerged and opportunities for young people to gather and meet were limited. The result was the increasing rate of intermarriages and today it is around 95 %, an alarmingly high number. This has implications for the future of the Japanese Canadian community. According to the 2001 government census, over one-third of the Japanese Canadians have Japanese and at least one other ancestry as their identity. Assuming that the birth and immigration rates are constant, the Japanese Canadian population will consist of a majority of people of mixed ancestry within the next decade.
Many people of mixed ancestry have embraced their Japanese heritage and have participated actively in the Japanese Canadian community, others have become so assimilated that their Japanese background has little relevance in their day-to-day lives.
Audrey Kobayashi and Jeffrey Stearns are influenced by their Japanese heritage in their work.
Comments on identity and culture from Canadians of mixed ancestry.
John Endo Greenaway
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