Japanese Canadians in Pitt Meadows

*Please note this page is still a work in progress*

Japanese Canadian Hall c.1940

Photograph of the Japanese Canadian Hall (Pitt Meadows Nokai Hall) February 11^th 1940

Japanese Canadians comprised around 20% of the population of Pitt Meadows in the 1930s and 1940s. In Pitt Meadows there were around 40 Japanese Families. The booming community farmed mostly berries and vegetables, with some of the most popular being strawberries. It was hard work that necessitated the whole family pitching in to help on the farm. Children learned English quite quickly as they were more integrated in the community due to attending English schools and would often help their parents as translators. They kept the Japanese language alive by speaking it at home and attending Japanese Language School in the basement of the Japanese Canadian Hall. Families worked hard at developing their farms and creating lives for themselves in Pitt Meadows. It was crucial for families to work for themselves as most businesses would not hire Japanese workers. A Japanese Community grew, and they could help each other as they had a mutual understanding of the hardships facing fellow Japanese Canadians.

The Pitt Meadows Japanese Farmers' Association was organized in the 1920s for educational purposes and community activities. It provided information related to agricultural practices and skills through means such as seminars and brochures. Its leadership closely overlapped that of other organizations in the community such as the Japanese Language School. In 1928, it was united with other similar organizations of Japanese farmers in the Lower Fraser Valley under the Consolidated Farmers' Association of the Fraser Valley. The Association ceased to be active after the war broke out in the Pacific in December 1941, when all the Japanese Canadian organizations were ordered to stop operating.

In 1942, during the Second World War, 238 Japanese Canadians from Pitt Meadows were forcibly removed from the community to internment camps away from the coast. Their properties and belongings were sold off with little compensation.

It wasn’t until long after the war, in 1949, that Japanese Canadians were allowed to return home to the coast. Sadly, none of the Japanese Canadians who once called Pitt Meadows home returned. All we have left now are memories and stories of the once vibrant community.

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Learn about the families