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)
Spring, and the month of May in Greenwood means, buttercup flowers, lilac scents, robins and swallows, Boundary Creek open for fishing, marble playing on dry hardened ground, and the maypole dance … May what? May is also the time for the annual school maypole dance, which I dreaded. For this spring tradition, boys and girls partnered, skip around a tall white pole while holding a crepe paper ribbon, the other ribbon end is attached to the top of the pole. This dance is accompanied by music blared over a loudspeaker. The amplified static noise as the needle skates over the vinyl record is the cue for the start of the dance. The skipping pairs, alternating and weaving in and out with other skipping pairs would create a clever pattern at the top of the pole, the skippers would then stop and skip in reverse to undo the weave. This would go back and forth several times until at some predictable moment, a couple’s crepe paper breaks to disrupt the pole pattern. There were other miscues, as dancers didn’t always skip in unison, creating uneven spacing, or dancers would even collide, and the miscues would be evident in the ribbon pattern. Some skipping dancers are now holding a piece of torn crepe, and the still attached pole end now limp or being blown around in the breeze. These miscues would trigger snickering or loud laughter by the audience. The cute traditional dance now becomes an unintended comedic act and for the poor embarrassed dancers, they can’t wait for the finish and dread the talk of the town beyond the event, to subside…until next May.