NW Japanese-Canadian History

1940

Since the arrival of Nagano in 1877, the Japanese Canadian population in New Westminster continued to grow until they were ordered out of the 100 mile zone in 1942. Much of the community, both residence and shops, were located in downtown New West. However, in comparison to previous years, parts of the community seemed to have moved into Uptown New West and the Sapperton area.

1942

The map shows the Japanese Canadian population in 1942 as listed in the British Columbia and Yukon Directory. The sizes of the circles are reflective of the population size for each regions. With exception to the households located in City of New Westminster, all other addresses were listed as RR1, RR2, RR3, or RR4 which corresponds to the following:

RR1 = Delta (Strawberry Hill and District, Scott Rd and River Rd)

RR2 = Burquitlam District (North Rd and Government Rd)

RR3 = Port Mann District & Pacific Highway

RR4 = Newton District and King George Highway

The largest population of Japanese Canadians appear to be in Delta and the Newton District. There seems to have been a slight decrease in population in the City of New Westminster. The population size of Japanese Canadian being greater in Delta and Newton compared to the City of New Westminster is not a surprise as those districts had more Japanese farmers. (For example, the name Strawberry Hill comes from the abundance of strawberry fields in the area which were often owned by Japanese farmers.)

In January of 1942, regions within 160 km (100 miles) from BC's coast became designated as the "protected area" under the War Measures Act. Men between the ages of 18 to 45 were removed from this area by the federal government and relocated to road camps in BC's interior. On February 24, 1942, all people of Japanese origin were ordered to be removed from the "protected area".[1] A curfew was set for all people of Japanese descent stating they must be at home between sunset to sunrise. By March all Japanese people within the protected area, with exception to Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, were ordered to turn in all motor vehicles, radios, and cameras to the RCMP.

This order forced the removal of approximately 21,000 people (75% being Canadian citizens) from their homes. Of those removed, 8000 were sent to a temporary detention centre at Hastings Park (location of the Pacific Nation Exhibition) where families were broken up by gender. Women and children stayed in the Livestock Building.

From here, people were sent to camps in BC interiors, sugar beet farms in Alberta or Manitoba, or road camps in BC interiors or Ontario.[2]

The homes and properties of the Japanese people were sold off by the government and used for covering the relocation cost.[3]

1945

The map shows the Japanese Canadian population in 1945 as listed under New Westminster in the British Columbia and Yukon Directory. The circle sizes are reflective of the population size for each regions. Addresses were listed as RR1, RR2, RR3, or RR4 which corresponds to the following:

RR1 = Delta (Strawberry Hill and District, Scott Rd and River Rd)

RR2 = Burquitlam District (North Rd and Government Rd)

RR3 = Port Mann District & Pacific Highway

RR4 = Newton District and King George Highway

WWII ended for Japan on August 14, 1945. However, Japanese Canadian people who were removed from their homes were not permitted entry into the "protected area" until 1949.[4]

Although the relocation of people of Japanese decent were ordered in 1942, the map above shows that there were still some Japanese people within the protected area even in 1945. Though all Japanese people appear to have been removed from the City of New Westminster, Delta still had at least 31 individuals still residing in the area. Japanese people may have been able to remain within the 100 mile zone if they were farmers as there were calls by locals to keep some as workers in order to maintain and collect fruits from the larger crops they now owned (local farmers now had larger crops as Japanese owned ones were confiscated by the government). There were multiple articles in the British Columbian newspaper between 1942 to 1943 regarding whether Japanese berry growers should be exempt from being removed beyond the protected zone.