Japanese Canadian Monument
“The dream and vision for the monument is that it will envelope the origin story of Japanese Canadians who settled in cities, towns, and villages, primarily along the coast. The tactile names on the wall will help to recognize individuals and families and where they lived before the forced uprooting, seizure and forced sale of assets, incarceration, internment, permanent dispossession, and two waves of displacement.” — Susanne Tabata
Japanese Canadian Monument – Temporary Closure
The Monument site is currently closed to the public in order to complete construction and is expected to remain closed through November. We advise you to please not make any travel arrangements for now.
This temporary closure will allow remaining site work to continue safely. Thank you for your understanding. We will announce an opening date as soon as we are able.
Please email opening@jclegacies.com with questions.
Japanese Canadian Monument – opening week events
Six years in the making, the new Japanese Canadian Monument in Victoria features a 300-foot-long undulating wall of 100 granite panels engraved with the names of 22,000 Japanese Canadians uprooted from their coastal homes in 1942—organized by where they lived at the time—alongside 3,000 children born during this period of rupture. Designed as a space for reflection, education, and reconciliation, it serves to connect historical truths with a collective commitment to an inclusive future.
We extend our deepest gratitude to everyone who joined us on Saturday, October 3 in opening this place of remembrance and healing, whether in person in Victoria or online across the country. Thank you to the community organizations who hosted the 15 livestream viewing parties in Montreal, Toronto, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Lethbridge, Calgary, Edmonton, New Denver, Kamloops, Sunshine Valley (Tashme), Steveston, Burnaby, Ucluelet, and Nanaimo, including three seniors’ residences: Momiji Health Care, Wisteria Place, and Robert Nimi Nikkei Home.
The creation of this Monument and the opening was truly a national endeavour and we thank everyone who put in the incredible effort needed to make it happen. We do this work in honour of our seniors, and to everyone who made sure that they were taken care of properly, Domo arigato gozaimasu.
Guided Tours
Four days of guided tours followed the opening on October 4, 5, 6, and 7, welcoming community members and Victoria neighbours and residents to gather at the Monument in a shared reflection on this history. Nine guided tours were held over four days, introducing nearly 2,000 participants to the interpretive design, the panels, and the Pathway to Justice.
Monument Website
A companion website to the Japanese Canadian Monument was developed as a navigation and research tool, hosting the full database of the names engraved on the memorial wall, helping families pinpoint their ancestors’ specific location on the monument—a process that can otherwise be challenging.
More Information
More details about the Monument, including final completion date, will be released once they are known.
The Japanese Canadian Monument will be managed by the Province of BC, which will work with the JCLS for the foreseeable future. Stay tuned for terms of reference for booking events and other types of group gatherings.
Wall of Names
The Japanese Canadian Monument features a 300-foot-long wall constructed from 100 half-ton granite panels situated within a Japanese garden-inspired setting. Engraved on the panels are the names of the nearly 22,000 individuals who were removed from their coastal homes in 1942 along with the names of over 3,000 children born during uprooting.
The Monument stands as a permanent record of both systemic injustice and community resilience. It provides a sanctuary where families can see their loved ones reconnected to the places they once called home, serving as an enduring reminder of the human cost of state-sanctioned overreach and a tribute to the resilience of the Japanese Canadian community.
Location
The Monument is located at 839 Academy Close, Victoria, BC, a short distance from the BC Legislature, Ross Bay Cemetery, and Beacon Hill Park.
Once fully open, the Monument grounds will be open 24 hours a day and will be lit at night. Parking is limited, although weekend parking is available at St. Ann’s Academy adjacent to the Monument.
The names and locations engraved on the wall provide a stark illustration of a community torn apart by policies that were driven by a confluence of race, economics, and power. To set them in stone here is to ensure they are never again forgotten or marginalized. With its location in close proximity to BC Legislature, the Monument ensures that the community’s history is anchored at the seat of provincial power.
Monument Design Team
In 2022, JCLS consulting architect Jack Kobayashi of Kobayashi Zedda, worked with Susanne Tabata on the first predesign of the Monument, which greatly informed the scope and scale of the project. The BC Government, in partnership with the JCLS, selected the design team of Toronto-based architecture firm KPMB led by founding partner Bruce Kuwabara, who is working in collaboration with Vancouver-based landscape architect Kelty Miyoshi McKinnon of PFS Studio. Chandos Construction is the general contractor responsible for building the project.
Database of Names
In 2023, the JCLS hired and gave oversight to the University of Victoria’s Humanities Computing and Media Centre (HCMC) to compile a comprehensive database of names based on pre-war places of origin. A research team led by Michael Abe spent over a year analyzing 14,500 Library and Archives Canada case files and other primary source documents. The team strove to account for every individual displaced, while a secondary list was developed to honour the more than 3,000 children born into exile and internment between 1942 and April 1, 1949, when Japanese Canadians were granted full citizenship rights, including freedom of movement.
The database of names is available here, with people listed according to where they were living in 1942. Also included is a list of those born after their parents were uprooted and prior to restrictions being lifted on Japanese Canadians on April 1, 1949..
A Generational Debt
At its heart, this project is an act of profound gratitude. We owe an immeasurable debt to our elders who endured the trauma of dispossession with quiet dignity, shielding their children from the full brunt of their suffering while rebuilding their lives from nothing.
This Monument is not merely a list of forgotten names; it is a long-overdue acknowledgment of a community that endured through incredible hardship and injustice and found a way to persevere. By engraving their names in granite, we ensure that our ancestors are remembered not as statistics of a government policy, but as the foundation of our community.
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