About
Warrior Spirit, or Mononofu in Japanese, dives deep into the military history of Japanese Canadians fighting for Canada. It unpacks the complexities, struggles, honour, and perseverance of nikkei (persons of Japanese ancestry) in the First World War, Second World War, and Korean War.
Since first arrival from Japan in the late 1800s, nikkei who chose to remain and call Canada home, struggled to find their place in this country. As early as 1916 they demonstrated loyalty with their lives by enlisting for active duty with the Canadian army in the First World War. This was not an easy task. Xenophobia prevailed despite their service, and was exacerbated by Canada’s entry into the Pacific War following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Despite the mass forced uprooting of Japanese Canadians from coastal British Columbia in 1942, the end of the Second World War saw many nikkei enlist to prove their loyalty to this country that didn’t want them, mostly as translators, many who returned from service to internment camps or to further forced displacement and dispossession. Even amongst the almost 4000 Japanese Canadians exiled to Japan in 1946, some were recruited by the Canadian army to fight in the Korean War with reasonable pay and return passage to Canada. The enduring resilience, strength, courage, and honour of these dedicated Japanese Canadians are represented in this digital exhibition.
Warrior Spirit 2.0: the Second World War and Korean War
Director|Curator Sherri Shinobu Kajiwara
Writing and Research Susan Yatabe
Website Design and Development Danielle Harumi Jette
Processing & Outreach Archivist Sam Frederick
Collections Assistant Sakura Taji
Assistant Archivist Hikaru Ikeda
Editor David Iwaasa
Contributing Families
We thank the following descendants of veteran families for interviews, loans and donations of photographs, objects, and archival records:
Warrior Spirit 2.0: Second World War & Korean War
Yatabe family, Patti Kagawa, Mark Nishihara, Gerry Oue, Glenna Theurer, Elaine Keating, Gayle Nakamoto, Dee Dee Yatabe Piercey, Naomi Matsui, Max Matsuoka, David Iwaasa, Donna Nakamoto, Linda Kawamoto Reid, Stuart Craig, Garth C. Taylor, Lisa Nakamura, Joanne Rollins, Nancy Kato, Cindy Beatch, Takao Irizawa, and Chuck Tasaka.
Warrior Spirit 1916: First World War
Esther Ayukawa, Tillie Gustafson, Chieko Inouye, Kelvin Inouye, Rob and Chris Inouye, Alfred Iwasaki, David Mitsui, George Shintani, Michiko Yano Shuttleworth, and Elsie Toguri, Ken Noma, and Mary Gray.
Warrior Spirit 1916: The First World war
The first iteration of this exhibit Warrior Spirit 1916 was made possible through the combined efforts of the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre’s team:
Director|Curator Sherri Shinobu Kajiwara
Research Archivist Linda Kawamoto Reid
Collections Manager Lisa Uyeda
Nichola Ogiwara
Karah Goshinmon Foster
Carolyn Nakagawa
Collections Assistants Jessica Gerlach, Audrey MacDonald, Lane McGarrity
Research for the exhibition was completed by Sherri Kajiwara, Linda Kawamoto Reid, Carolyn Nakagawa, Scott MacDonald, and Eiji Okawa. With special thanks to David Brownstein of UBC’s Geography 429 course, David Mitsui, Susan Yatabe, and to important written sources by Ken Adachi, Roy Ito, and Kaye Kishibe.
Special thanks to the creative talents of Zoe Garred of Fleet Objects for exhibit design and John Endo Greenaway for graphic design, and Yvonne Kong for digital exhibit artefact photography.
Exhibition elements by East Van Graphics, Kikori Japanese Antiques, and PacBlue.
Contributing Organizations
While we drew heavily from the Nikkei National Museum archives, we are indebted to the historical archives of the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre in Toronto, the Japanese Canadian War Memorial committee, the Prince Albert Library, the New Westminster Archives, Library and Archives Canada, University of British Columbia’s Rare Books & Special Collections, Simon Fraser University Library Digitized Newspapers, Garrison Petawawa Museum, Multicultural History Society of Ontario, Museum and Archives of North Vancouver, Glenbow Library and Archives and the Globe and Mail.
Thank you to the Vancouver Japanese Language School for the loan of the Roll of Honour which was brought back to them by Sergeant Sainosuke Kubota in 1977, and to Sergeant Kubota who ensured the safety of these precious items through the trauma of forced dispersal and dispossession in the 1940s.
We gratefully acknowledge the financial support from our generous sponsors:
This project has been supported by the Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage Program, Department of Canadian Heritage.
Ce projet a été appuyé par le Programme Développement des communautés par le biais des arts et du patrimoine du ministère de Patrimoine canadien.
The opinions expressed on this website do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Les opinions exprimées sur ce site Web ne reflètent pas forcément celles du ministère du Patrimoine canadien.