This capacity to transform difficulty into constructive and
meaningful activity that had an effect on the non-Japanese society
is reflected in at least two interesting events.
During the 1960s, the Town Council of Raymond established a Cemetery
Day to commemorate the deceased of the community. This civic holiday
came after noting their Japanese neighbours observance of Obon, the
Buddhist festival in memory and honour of deceased family and
friends. Annually, the Japanese community processed through the town
to the cemetery for this service, performed the service of
thanksgiving and returned through the town in procession. Touched by
this humble observance, the town councilors asked the Japanese
community if it would be suitable to make this festival a day for
all citizens of Raymond. As a result, all citizens of Raymond could
mark this day of remembrance.
At Lethbridge, the1967 Canadian Centennial project was the
extraordinary Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden. The garden project was
initiated by Lethbridge's Japanese and non-Japanese civic leaders.
Officially, the project is dedicated to friendship between the
countries of Canada and Japan. But it is equally apt to see the
garden in relation to the struggles of the Japanese Albertan
experience. At the heart of the Japanese Buddhist tradition is the
ability to respond with compassion and understanding from
difficulty. Although Lethbridge had prohibited the Japanese from
living in the city during the war, the collective response of the
Japanese community, after the hardship and injustice of their
treatment during WWII, was the building of a garden of friendship.
In the mid-1960s, as restrictive immigration laws changed, new
groups of Japanese immigrants arrived in Alberta. The new arrivals
were well educated, urbanized and moved fluently into middle-class
society. It is notable that their arrival marked revitalization in
Japanese language learning and cultural expression.
Through the postwar period, intermarriage in the Japanese community
was very high, exceeding 80% by some accounts. As a result, the
cohesiveness of the community is reduced compared to the first 50
years of the 20th century.
It has also largely been the third generation of Japanese Canadians,
some with little experience and memory of this cohesive community,
who sought redress on behalf of their families for the events of
WWII. In 1988, Prime delivered a formal apology on behalf of the
Government of Canada for the wrongful internment and seizure of
property, as well as denial of citizen rights. Individual
compensation was made available for those directly affected and
involved in the events associated with WWII.
Recommended sources:
Sunahara, Ann and David. 'The Japanese in Alberta' in Peoples of
Alberta ed. Howard and Tamara Palmer, Saskatoon: Western
Producer Books, 1985.
Goa, David. J. 'Redeeming the War on the Homefront: Alberta's
Japanese Community During the Second World War and After.' in For
King and Country: Alberta in the Second World War. ed. Ken
Tingley Edmonton: Provincial Museum of Alberta, 1995
Heritage Community Foundation Presents
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