NIKKEI PLACE

The Nikkei Place Foundation is a non-profit foundation whose main role is to preserve Japan's history and cultural heritage, while cultivating its desire to move towards a sustainable future for generations to come and to help communities and children integrate and succeed through specific programs. The garden is home to both Canadian and Japanese plant species. In the entrance hall, a pillar of Canadian red cedar and another of Japanese "hinoki" cypress support the building. If you have a little time, the community centre is particularly rich in original activities, such as workshops on wearing a kimono or making kites, traditional Japanese painting classes or demonstrations of all kinds of martial arts, from aikido to kempo

At the Japanese Canadian National Museum at Nikkei Place, you will learn that, following the Japanese entry into the war and the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Canadian authorities had taken a dim view of this well-established "yellow peril" on the territory. In 1942, the government's paranoia was translated into action: all of the city's Japanese, including ^second- and ^{third-generation} Canadian youth, were either rounded up in camps or deported altogether. Even though the government acknowledged its blunder (in 1988...) and compensated the Japanese, it is understandable that they have since avoided forming a community. Since the war, Nikkei Place is thus their first attempt since the war, imbued with a cautious symbolism.