Description of Historic Place

Headquartered in Vancouver, Tonari Gumi, "neighbourhood association" in Japanese, is the informal name for the Japanese Community Volunteers Association founded in 1974 with the goal of improving the lives of B.C.'s Issei, or first generation Japanese Canadians born in Japan, many of whom were living isolated lives in Vancouver following their return to the coast after the removal of the 100-mile Protected Area in 1949.

Heritage Value

The institution of Tonari Gumi has historic, cultural and social value as a Japanese Canadian community initiative to help identify housing needs and care for socially isolated elder Japanese Canadians across B.C. whose lives were disrupted by the government-led confiscation of property and the dismantling of historic coastal communities during the World War II.

The association is important for drawing attention to the plight of many of B.C.'s Issei who were left with nothing after the dispossession of their property and their internment, and who had little connection with any place other than their pre-war neighbourhoods. It was formed through a collaboration of Japanese immigrants Canadian-born Japanese-Canadians to re-energize the cultural community and provide help to those in need.

Social value is found in the relationships members of Tonari Gumi cultivated with Japanese Canadian seniors. With increasingly stable funding and support from local and provincial agencies and government, the association developed programs and services for senior Japanese Canadians. Particularly notable was its work with the Japanese Canadian Society for Seniors Housing to provide suitable homes and support such as the Sakura-So seniors housing project.

With the 1977 Japanese Canadian Centennial of the first Japanese Canadian arrivals in B.C., Tonari Gumi affirmed its community and political importance to the Japanese Canadian community through projects such as the Powell Street Festival, the planting of memorial sakura trees in Oppenheimer Park, and the publication of the book Dream of Riches and accompanying exhibit, with the proceeds of the book sale put toward public forums and other activities supporting Redress activism in the 1980s.

Tonari Gumi continues to be socially and culturally relevant to B.C.'s Japanese Canadian community for its ongoing provision of a wide range of services to help seniors, families of seniors, new immigrants and temporary residents who need assistance.

Source: Province of British Columbia, Heritage Branch

Character-Defining Elements

Not applicable