{"id":920297,"date":"2026-10-04T13:02:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T13:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/920297\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T13:02:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T13:02:16","slug":"japanese-canadian-community-in-winnipeg-gathers-to-mark-world-war-2-monument-unveiling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/920297\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese Canadian community in Winnipeg gathers to mark World War 2 monument unveiling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Winnipeg\u2019s Japanese Canadian community members gathered to mark the opening of the new monument in British Columbia honouring the nearly 25,000 Japanese Canadians who were uprooted from their homes during World War 2.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just happy that it is happening, that they are recognizing it,\u201d Marlene Mori, seniors\u2019 club president, Japanese Cultural Association of Manitoba.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd all these names are going to be in a permanent location where they will be memorialized forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beginning in 1942, thousands of Japanese Canadians were forcibly removed from their homes and incarcerated or dispersed across Canada.<\/p>\n

Most attendees were children at the time of uprooting in British Columbia.<\/p>\n

Mori say it saddened to see that very few in Manitoba know the history of their uprooting, adding that it is important to learn that history lesson.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo understand the kind of discrimination that was going on back then, what kinds of consequences it had,\u201d Mori said. \u201cIt is very important. So we don\u2019t repeat it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Atsumi Odaguchi was only a child during the uprooting.<\/p>\n

Her family spent four years in the Tashme interment camp, the largest for Japanese Canadians during World War 2.<\/p>\n

Odaguchi says like many other families her parents never spoke about the reality of the camps.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are the people who are affected the most,\u201d Odaguchi said. \u201cNot the little kids like me. But when I read about it afterwards, I think: \u2018Thank God I was a little child.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the attendees were supporting their family members and say such events help them to learn their untold family history<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t really learn about what happened to my grandmother until I was at the university and not through school,\u201d said Sydney Christie, descendant of interment survivors.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have not been historically involved in our culture and our community and it\u2019s because we were forced away from our people, our homes,\u201d said another descendant of survivors Megan Wray.<\/p>\n

As the monument officially opened in Victoria, 15 viewing parties were being held in communities across Canada.<\/p>\n

\t\tKeep it Factual<\/p>\n

Add CityNews Winnipeg as a trusted source on Google to see more local stories from us.<\/p>\n

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