JAPANESE CANADIAN MONUMENT OPENS IN VICTORIA, HONOURING A COMMUNITY'S HISTORY AND RESILIENCE
Nearly 25,000 names set in granite create permanent public record of Japanese Canadian history, resilience and renewal
VICTORIA, BC, Oct. 5, 2026 /CNW/ -- A new monument bearing the names of nearly 25,000 Japanese Canadians uprooted from communities across British Columbia and interned by government during the Second World War was officially unveiled in Victoria on Saturday, creating a permanent place to honour their history, resilience and contributions.
Hundreds of Japanese Canadian survivors, descendants and families travelled from across British Columbia and Canada to attend the opening in person, with many more joining by livestream from community gatherings, seniors' residences and homes across the country.
Located near the B.C. Legislature, the monument brings together history, culture and landscape design to create a welcoming public space in the heart of the province's capital. The monument is part of the province's ongoing work to recognize and make amends for the historic injustices committed against thousands of Japanese Canadians whose lives, families and communities were profoundly impacted by government actions. It serves as a place for gathering, reflection and learning about this history and its lasting effects on families and communities across British Columbia.
For the first time, the names of approximately 22,000 people of Japanese descent who were forcibly uprooted from their homes and communities by the government during the Second World War, along with approximately 3,000 children born after the displacement, have been brought together in one place. The names, featured across 100 granite panels, are organized according to communities that people called home before the forced uprooting beginning in 1942. The monument allows families and descendants to reconnect names with the places they came from, making visible the breadth of Japanese Canadian life in British Columbia before 1942.
"For generations, Japanese Canadians carried the memory of communities that were uprooted and scattered across British Columbia," said Susanne Tabata, CEO, Japanese Canadian Legacies Society. "This monument makes those people, places and stories visible again, permanently. It also reflects years of work by the community, in partnership with the province, to honour our elders, restore our heritage, strengthen a living community and ensure this history is carried forward."
For decades before 1942, Japanese Canadians built families, businesses and communities in cities, towns, fishing villages and farming communities throughout British Columbia. Beginning in 1942, following Canada's entry into the Pacific War, thousands of Japanese Canadians in B.C. and across Canada were permanently stripped of their homes, property and businesses and forcibly relocated to internment camps. Thousands were exiled to Japan, even though the majority were born in B.C. and had never been to Japan. Japanese Canadians were not permitted to return to the West Coast until 1949, four years after the war had ended. No Japanese Canadian was ever found guilty of disloyalty to Canada.
"We had a wonderful life on our family's 17-acre farm on Salt Spring Island. Then, when I was seven years old, an RCMP officer came and took my father away. My sisters and I ran after the truck, crying for him to come back, until it disappeared from sight. We did not know if we would ever see him again. From that point on, our lives changed forever, and that is a memory I have never been able to erase," said Mary Kitagawa, survivor.
The monument makes visible both the communities that existed before 1942 and the profound physical, emotional and cultural impact of their forced uprooting, dispossession and dispersal.
"Seeing all those family names on the monument is really moving. The forced uprooting, incarceration, dispossession and dispersal across Canada had an enormous physical, emotional and cultural impact on Japanese Canadians. So much of our history was lost or remains unknown. I hope people come to see all these names together, learn about the communities where we lived and carry that history forward," said Howard Shimokura, survivor.
The monument is the result of years of work by the Japanese Canadian community and the Japanese Canadian Legacies Society, in partnership with the Province of British Columbia. Part of a broader effort to honour survivors and elders, restore Japanese Canadian heritage and preserve this history for future generations, it was designed by KPMB Architects and PFS Studio and constructed by Chandos Construction. The firms were selected through a competitive, transparent process based on cost, design quality and alignment with the community's vision
Following opening week events from October 3 to 7, the monument site will temporarily close for final construction work from October 8 through the end of October and is expected to reopen to visitors in November.
The monument will offer a place for survivors and their families to remember, for Japanese Canadians to reconnect with their community history, and for all visitors to learn about a chapter of Canadian history that continues to shape generations today.
About Japanese Canadian Legacies Society:
The Japanese Canadian Legacies Society (JCLS) was created to honour the legacy of nearly 22,000 Japanese Canadians in BC who were forcibly uprooted, dispossessed and systematically erased from the places they called home beginning in 1942. Built on a historical wrongs framework, the JCLS oversees the implementation of a set of legacy initiatives including Monument, Education, Seniors Health & Wellness, Community and Culture, and Heritage Preservation.
SOURCE Japanese Canadian Legacies Society
Media Contact: Laura Ballance, [email protected], 604-771-5176
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