Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

has a

Japanese Canadian are Canadians, Canadian citizens of Japanese people, Japanese ancestry. Japanese Canadians are mostly concentrated in Western Canada, especially in the province of Japanese Canadians in British Columbia, British Columbia, which hosts the largest ...

community which was established during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as the Canadian government forced ethnic Japanese to leave Canada's West Coast. This community increased in the post-war period as Japanese persons wished to re-establish themselves in a new city.

History

In 1942 the Canadian government forced ethnic Japanese to move from areas on the West Coast of Canada, so many moved to Montreal. The authors of "The Chameleon Character of Multilingual Literacy Portraits: Researching in "Heritage" Language Places and Spaces" stated that in the immediate post-

period, the Japanese in Montreal had a "long invisible presence".Maguire, et al, p
161
Reiko Yoshida, the author of the PhD thesis "Political economy, transnationalism, and identity : students at the Montreal Hoshuko," interviewed a Japanese Canadian at the Montreal Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre; according to the interview many Japanese arrived in Montreal since they could get a fresh start and not stand out. Due to requests from Japanese national parents, the Montreal Hoshuko School opened in 1972. The Japanese population increased in the 1970s. The opening of two Japanese schools, including Montreal Hoshuko, and economic expansion in both Japan and Montreal contributed to the expansion of the Japanese population.Maguire, et al, p
161162

Geographic distribution

As of 2003 there was no particular place where ethnic Japanese were concentrated. E. Bourgault wrote in ''Perspectives on the Japanese Canadian Experience in Quebec'' (''Repartir a Zero; Perspectives sur/ L’Experience des Canadiens d’Origine Japonaise au Quebec'') that Japanese in Montreal historically "lived relatively anonymously" and that they "have avoided visible concentration as a collective, hoping to blend in, unnoticed into the larger population."Maguire, p. 1438 (PDF p. 16/24).

Demographics

Tomoko Makebe stated in ''The Canadian Sansei'' that the 1991 Canadian Census indicated that 2,360 Japanese Canadians resided in Montreal. This figure remained constant, around 2,000, as of the 2011 Census.Crump, p. 118. As of 2003 the Japanese community of Montreal was smaller than that of the city's Armenian and Chinese communities, and as of 2014 the ethnic Japanese make up less than 1% of the city's population. According to the 2011 Census, 510 of the Japanese people in Montreal spoke Japanese at home and a total of 1,280 indicated that Japanese was their native language, meaning that more than 50% of the total number of ethnic Japanese in Montreal do not speak Japanese at home. Dr. Alison Crump, author of the PhD thesis "'But your face, it looks like you’re English': LangCrit and the experiences of multilingual Japanese-Canadian children in Montréal," noted that these Census figures should be interpreted as estimates since the data do not indicate whether racially mixed children with one Japanese parent are counted in the figures. She noted that many Japanese in the city are in relationships with non-Japanese, which could contribute to the low percentage of individuals who reported speaking Japanese at home. As of 2014 Japanese nationals who study and/or work in Montreal and recent immigrants to Canada make up large portions of ethnic Japanese in the city. Many of the recent immigrants have married Canadian persons.Crump, p. 119.

Institutions

The various Japanese organizations in Montreal provide cohesion for the Japanese community.Maguire, p. 1438-1439 (PDF p. 16-17/24). "Although Japanese Canadians have lived relatively anonymously in Montreal since they arrived in the early forties, they have always maintained contact with each other through various community organizations and groups. This kind of networking was essential in the early days following their wartime persecution and it has developed, through the years, into the very structured community on which they are dependent today. (p. 24)" Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre of Montreal (JCCCM; ''Centre Culturel Canadian Japonais de Montreal'', モントリオール日系文化会館 ''Montoriōru Nikkei Bunka Kaikan''), serves as a meeting centre for ethnic Japanese and other persons, a Japanese-language library, and offers ''kodomo-kai'' (child playgroups), ''

ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. It is also known as . The origin of ikebana can be traced back to the ancient Japanese custom of erecting Evergreen, evergreen trees and decorating them with flowers as yorishiro () to invite the go ...

'' (flower arrangement) classes, and Japanese as a second language classes. It was established in 1975. Every August the organization conducts the ''Matsuri Japon'' ("Japan Festival"). The Japanese Canadian History and Archives Committee (JCHAC) is a part of the JCCCM and began actively preserving the history of the community in both Montreal and Canada in 1982.

Education

There are two supplementary Japanese schools in Montreal: the Montreal Japanese Language Centre (MJLC; ''Centre de la langue Japonaise de Montréal''; モントリオール日本語センター ''Montoriōru Nihongo Sentā''),Home page(English)Archive
. Montreal Japanese Language Centre. Retrieved on April 2, 2015. and the Montreal Hoshuko School Inc.; the

Japanese Ministry of Education The , also known as MEXT, is one of the eleven ministries of Japan that compose part of the executive branch of the government of Japan. History The Meiji government created the first Ministry of Education in 1871. In January 2001, the former ...

designates the latter as a ''

hoshū jugyō kō , or , are supplementary Japanese schools located in foreign countries for students living abroad with their families. ''Hoshū jugyō kō'' educate Japanese-born children who attend local day schools. They generally operate on weekends, after sc ...

'', a supplementary school for Japanese expatriates.北米の補習授業校一覧（平成25年4月15日現在）
" ()

MEXT The , also known as MEXT, is one of the eleven ministries of Japan that compose part of the executive branch of the government of Japan. History The Meiji period, Meiji government created the first Ministry of Education in 1871. In January 2001 ...

. Retrieved on May 5, 2014. "モントリオール Montreal Hoshuko School Inc Trafalgar School for Girls, 3495 Simpson, Montreal, Quebec H3G 2J7, CANADA" The Montreal Hoshuko, established in 1972, serves both Japanese nationals and

Japanese Canadians are Canadian citizens of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Canadians are mostly concentrated in Western Canada, especially in the province of British Columbia, which hosts the largest Japanese community in the country with the majority of them living ...

,Maguire, et al, p
162
and its classes are held at the

Trafalgar School for Girls Trafalgar School for Girls (abbreviated as Traf) is an all-girls independent school located in Downtown Montreal, Downtown Montreal, Quebec. The school serves students at Secondary I – V levels, i.e. ages 11–12 to 16–17. The total enrollment ...

. Japanese parents established the MJLC in 1976, and it is held at the '' Collège Notre-Dame''.Location of center

Archive
. Montreal Japanese Language Centre. Retrieved on April 2, 2015. "Location of center Collège Notre-Dame 3791 chemin Queen Mary Montréal, Québec H3T 1X8" The JLC offers a Japanese school year-based trimester Japanese program for children aged three and older, as well as Japanese classes for adults and children who are learning it as a second language.

References

* Crump, Alison.
“But your face, it looks like you’re English:” LangCrit and the experiences of multilingual Japanese-Canadian children in Montréal

Archive
(PhD thesis).

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

, July 2014
Record at

. See: "Japanese Community in Montreal" p. 118. * Maguire, Mary H. (

).
Identity and Agency in Primary Trilingual Children’s Multiple Cultural Worlds: Third Space and Heritage Languages

Archive
. In: Cohen, James, Kara T. McAlister, Kellie Rolstad, and Jeff MacSwan (editors).
ISB4: Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Bilingualism
'. Conference held from April 30 to May 3, 2003. Published May 2005. p. 1423-1445. * Maguire, Mary H., Ann J. Beer, Hourig Attarian, Diane Baygin, Xiao Lan Curdt-Christiansen, and Reiko Yoshida (

). "The Chameleon Character of Multilingual Literacy Portraits: Researching in "Heritage" Language Places and Spaces" (Chapter 7). In: Anderson, Jim, Maureen Kendrick, Theresa Rogers, and Suzanne Smythe (editors). ''Portraits of Literacy Across Families, Communities, and Schools: Intersections and Tensions''.

Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

, May 6, 2005. Start page 141. , 9781135615536.

Notes

External links

From Montreal
- A forum for Japanese persons in Montreal (mentioned in Crump p. 121)
Japanese Canadian History and Archives Committee of the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre of Montréal Collection
McGill University Archives. {{Japanese-Canadian relations Asian-Canadian culture in Montreal