Victoria's Japanese Canadian Monument: nearly 25,000 names, and how to find one

On October 3, a new monument opened in Victoria a short walk from the B.C. Legislature. It carries close to 25,000 names of Japanese Canadians who were uprooted and interned during the Second World War. For many families in Canada, Japanese-speaking newcomers included, it is now the most visible public record of that history. Below we explain what the monument is, how the names are arranged, and what to know before planning a visit.

What was unveiled

According to the opening announcement from the Japanese Canadian Legacies Society, the monument gathers in one place, for the first time, the names of about 22,000 people of Japanese descent forced from their homes by the government. It also lists about 3,000 children born after the displacement. That is where the "nearly 25,000" figure comes from. Some coverage uses only the 22,000 figure, so the numbers can look different from one article to the next.

The Japanese Canadian Legacies Society (JCLS) built the monument with the Province of British Columbia. The release says it was designed by KPMB Architects and PFS Studio and built by Chandos Construction.

The centrepiece is a wall about 300 feet long. The JCLS monument page describes 100 granite panels, each weighing half a ton, set in a garden inspired by Japanese design. The Consulate General of Japan in Vancouver gives the length as 90 metres. It reports that Consul General Takahashi attended the opening and spoke.

The Campbell River Mirror reported that hundreds of people attended. The project was paid for by a $100-million redress package from 2022, through which the province recognized wrongs it committed against Japanese Canadians during the war. JCLS president Paul Kariya told the crowd the monument can't give back what was taken, but it can "make a positive record permanent."

How the names are arranged

The names are not in alphabetical order. They are grouped by the community each person lived in before the forced uprooting began in 1942. JCLS CEO Susanne Tabata describes those roots as stretching across 200 coastal pre-war communities. The idea is that families can see their relatives linked again to the places they came from.

The list of children is separate. According to JCLS, it covers more than 3,000 children born between 1942 and April 1, 1949. On that date Japanese Canadians gained full citizenship rights, including the freedom to move where they wished.

The research behind the list was long. JCLS says it hired the University of Victoria's Humanities Computing and Media Centre in 2023. A team led by Michael Abe spent more than a year going through 14,500 case files from Library and Archives Canada, along with other primary records.

Along the north edge of the site, a "Pathway to Justice" of B.C. granite boulders marks chapters of the community's story with kanji concepts. According to JCLS, they include Gaman (perseverance) and Kintsugi (making anew what has been broken).

Finding a family member

If you are looking for a relative, start online. The JCLS monument page links to a companion website that holds the full database of names on the wall. You can search it to find where a person appears on the monument.

JCLS warns that this isn't always easy. Names are filed under where a person was recorded as living in 1942, and many people moved often before internment because of social and economic pressure. The website adds background to help families piece together incomplete histories.

In our view, the database may matter as much as the wall itself. It lets descendants anywhere in Canada, or in Japan, take part without travelling to Victoria. The opening already had a national reach: JCLS says community groups hosted 15 livestream viewing parties, including in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Winnipeg and Steveston.

Before you plan a visit

The site is closed right now. Early reports said the monument would close from October 8 until the end of October and reopen in November. The JCLS monument page has since been updated. It now says the closure is expected to last through November, and it asks people not to make travel plans yet. JCLS says it will announce an opening date when it can, and takes questions at opening@jclegacies.com.

Here is what JCLS says about the site once it fully reopens:

The Province of B.C. says the site is directly south of the St. Ann's Academy National Historic Site. It is close to where Japanese immigrants first settled in Victoria in the 1870s. The province also notes that Manzo Nagano, the first documented Japanese Canadian, settled and ran a business in Victoria.

JCLS says the province will manage the monument and keep working with the society. Rules for booking group gatherings are still to come. Japanese-language readers can also check the JCLS 日本語 section, which is linked from its website.

Share what you know

Are you tracing a family name, or planning a visit once the site reopens? Share tips and questions with other Japanese speakers across Canada in the DOJI community. Watch DOJI events for heritage gatherings near you.