The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 marked the turning point in the lives of the Nikkei in Canada. In response to public pressure rooted in anti-Asian racism, the federal government ordered the forced uprooting of close to 21,500 Japanese Canadians living within the restricted area, 100 miles along the west coast of B.C., and confiscated their property by October 31, 1942. The majority of the Nikkei were forcibly removed from their homes and detained in internment sites in the province, while others were sent to road and prisoner-of-war camps, industrial project sites, and sugar beet farms across the country. (Photo credit UBC Library, Japanese Photograph Collection, Access Identifier: JCPC_29_010)
Located in southern B.C. and today identifies itself as the smallest city in Canada, Greenwood was the first of ten internment sites in the province where approximately 1,200 Nikkei were relocated during World War II. (Photo credit Yuasa family collection)
On June 7, 1964, Prime Minister Pearson referred to the internment of Canadians of Japanese descent as “a black mark on traditional Canadian fairness and devotion to principles of human rights.” It was not until September 22, 1988 that Prime Minister Mulroney acknowledged the federal government’s wrongful treatment of the Nikkei and reached a redress settlement with the Japanese Canadian community. On May 7, 2012, the Province of British Columbia issued a formal apology to the Japanese Canadian community for the internment of approximately 22,000 Nikkei during and after World War II. A decade later on May 21, 2022, B.C. Premier John Horgan announced a $100 million funding initiative in recognition of the injustices committed by the province during the war. The resilience of the first immigrants of Japanese ancestry and their children paved the way for future generations to enjoy the rights and freedoms shared by all Canadian citizens. (Photo by William Milliot on Unsplash )
The Nikkei Legacy Park celebrated its transformation with a 15th century Japanese rock garden at the grand opening of the Nikkei Memorial Garden on July 20, 2025. (Photo credit Ciel Sander)
In 1942, Masatsugu ‘Mas’ Imai was interned in Greenwood, a community which he was to make his home. Mas and his wife, Ritsuko Imoo, raised their children Rita, Wendy, Bernadine, and Cindy there. Mas worked for A&A Service and James Forshaw Ltd. and was active in the local community especially with the Greenwood Curling Club. Mas passed away from cancer in 1978. Jim Forshaw Jr. , whose father James Forshaw Sr. owned A&A Service, described Mas as a valued and trusted employee, but more importantly a wonderful family friend. In 1979, the Hasegawa Museum in Tokyo, Japan was looking to collect and display different species of logs from all over the world. Boundary Sawmill in Midway received a request to obtain a prime example of Western Larch that was 40’ long, premium clear rough lumber, straight grain and no knots. Forester Bill Uphill knew exactly who could fill the order. The crew of ‘Old Guys’ could do the job! For many years, James Forshaw Ltd. was the prime supplier of specialized timber products to Boundary Sawmill/Pope & Talbot. After a brief retirement, James Forshaw Sr. and Alan Cudworth, unretired to resume logging and took on the challenge with the crew of Boyd Foster, Alex Parakin and Rod McKinney. Two trees had to be cut down in case one was damaged. Utmost care was required when the tree was felled. Other trees adjacent were felled to make a padded site for the prime tree to land on. No bark was to be knocked off. Finally, the log was cut in length and wrapped in used conveyor belting for protection. This was the last time James and Alan who were life-long friends worked on an important project together. The Western Larch log was sent by Seabord to Japan to the Hasegawa Log Museum in Tokyo. Before the log was shipped out, James named the log “MAS IMAI LOG” in memory of his friend’s active community leadership. When I took a year leave of absence from teaching on Vancouver Island in 1979 to study conversational Japanese, I was asked to locate this museum and take photos. Fortunately Haruhiko Akazawa, my Japanese friend who worked for C. Itoh Company in Nanaimo, was back in Tokyo and drove me to the museum. In Greenwood, Jim Forshaw Jr. said that Mas was well-known and liked. Over the years, Mas became the defacto manager, accountant for A&A Service and James Forshaw Ltd. Jim went on to say, “What better way to honour the memory of a great person, who lived in a city (Greenwood is the smallest city in Canada) whose people have shown what working together, understanding and patience can achieve.” Sadly, when the bubble burst in Japan, the Hasegawa Log Museum closed.