Roger Obata, a nisei born in Prince Rupert, B.C., was a life-long civil rights advocate for the betterment of Japanese Canadians. After graduating with a degree in engineering from the University of British Columbia, he moved to Toronto. He helped form the Japanese Canadian Committee for Democracy that later evolved into the National JCCA of which he was the first president negotiating on behalf of Japanese Canadians with the Bird Commission. He volunteered for the Canadian army’s Intelligence Corps and was stationed in Washington, DC, translating Japanese wartime documents. Roger was chair of the Japanese Canadian Centennial Society that promoted and organized national activities in celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the first Japanese immigrant to Canada. During the redress campaign, Roger’s knowledge of the Japanese Canadian community played a major role in the successful achievement of the Redress Settlement. He served as vice-president of the NAJC and was a member of the NAJC Strategy Committee that negotiated the historic redress settlement. In 1991, Roger received the Order of Canada.
Roger Obata (photo: Joan Shimizu)
Roger Obata shakes hands with Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. (photo: John Flanders)
Tribute dinner in honour of Roger Obata (middle) in Toronto.
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