Not supported by government funding, maintaining the school itself was a formidable task.
The school is neither public nor private but communal ( kyōritsu, meaning “sustained together,” is how it styled itself in prewar times). Its board members navigated political pressures in the 1940s to keep the building in their hands.
It also sold properties they left behind without their consent. The Canadian state didn’t just expel “persons of the Japanese race” from the coast. Until early in 1942, this area of town thrived as a vibrant Nikkei neighbourhood. The historic building witnessed dramatic changes over time, not least of which being the destruction of the Japanese-Canadian community by wartime policies. The current premises include a section built in 1928, now designated by the city as a heritage site. The school has served as a pillar of the Nikkei community since very early in the twentieth century. On Alexander Street in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside stands Vancouver Japanese Language School and Japanese Hall. Photo courtesy of Vancouver Japanese Language School and Japanese Hall. Main Body Japanese Culture and Language in the Prewar Canadian “Mosaic”īrowse the UBC Open Collections Japanese-Canadian Photograph Collection here.įigure 1.
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